The right time of bountiful Cocoa harvest

That's what I call a bountiful harvest

I saw two trees last week that have pods coming along. One was bought as a yellow fruited variety and is currently this color after being green. The second was bought with no color description, older tree, but because of freezes in previous years, I have never had fruit this big.

The color of the cocoa pods can only be used as a rough indication to the ripeness of the cocoa. A far superior way is to tap the cocoa pod. When the pod is in its unripened state, the beans are packed tightly inside the pod. When it has been tapped, if the cocoa pod gives a deep, hollow sound, that means the cocoa beans are no longer tightly packed inside but are rather loose, which is a sure sign that the pod is ripe.

Try to scrape the skin and if its not green, it should be ready. I think I see some reddish streaks some if the other Cocoa. I wonder if it is mature. Maybe I will pick it tomorrow to see the maturity of fruit from this particular tree.

The skillful cocoa growers rely on their trees more than their eyesight. The tree's buds may ripen at different times for a number of reasons. Documenting the trees' color, the sounds of the pods, and how and when the buds are harvested gives you a better understanding. You'll make something that was supposed to be a guesswork into good observations which likely creates more abundant and higher quality cocoa harvests for your farm.

Cocoa is great for so many things and if a country does things right, it's a perfect export product.

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