Tree Of Life

The top of the coconut has to be cut open with a cutlass or machete to be able to drink the coconut water. The nut is then cut open to get the jelly.

I remember the coconut vendors in Trinidad and Tobago, they are very skilled at cutting these coconuts, they make a special spoon from the shell of the coconut. We would then use the special spoon to eat the coconut jelly. But of course if you are at home, you would use your regular spoon.

These trees grow best in the tropics where there is an abundance of sunlight, the soil is sandy like and there is regular rainfall.

Basically every part of this tree is used thus the reason I call it The Tree of life.

A Broom can be made from the rib of the leaves of the branches. This broom is called Cocoyea. My mother using this broom to sweep the yard, and she swears that it is the best broom to keep her carpet clean.

In 2003 when I had my surgery, coconut water was all I drank. My mother has a few coconut trees in her back yard. She has the type that does not grow very tall, the average height person can simply stretch and pick a coconut. She calls them Chinese coconut trees. The other types grow very tall and are generally seen near the beaches.

My mother has problems with squirrels, they love coconuts as well, they are so cute but she gets angry when she sees them eating the coconuts on the trees.

When the coconut has matured, they are brown on the outside and the jelly is hard. To get to the now hard jelly, again, the matured coconut has to be cut open with a machete.

After the husk has been removed, there would be a round hard dark brown nut inside. This nut has to be busted open to get to the hard jelly. This jelly can be grated to make coconut milk and to go even further, coconut oil. Normally before I grate the coconut, I will cut them into smaller pieces and every time my son passes through the kitchen, he would always eat a few pieces of the cut up coconut.

The grated coconut (after the coconut milk has been extracted) can be used to make coconut bread, coconut bakes, coconut dumplings etc. The coconut milk can be used in curries, stews, rice dishes.

I have recently learned that the coconut oil is absolutely amazing. It can be used in your hair, on your skin, to cook with and even for weight loss (I am still trying to prove this one). I remember as a young girl, our Indian neighbours used a lot of coconut oil in their hair. Apparently it is good for hair lice. It did not smell so pleasant and their hair looked oily and greasy. But now you can purchase coconut oil in the grocery stores and the smell is pleasant (hardly any smell at all).

My husband uses the husk to make outside fires when he is roasting breadfruit. The husk and the hard shell around the matured jelly are used to make some magnificent craft items. I found this piece at a villa resort which belongs to a friend. A friend of mine loves orchids and she plants them in the coconuts husk, the plants thrives well in them.

I recently purchased some coconut flakes at my favourite health store and I use it to eat my corn flakes. They are not sweet and taste great with my cereal. My son enjoys it as well.

The branches of the coconut tree are used to make roofs and straw hats.

Coir fibres are extracted from the husk - or outer covering of the coconut fruit - after the coconut have spent some time soaking in water, either fresh or salty, and then separated and woven into doormats, mattresses, ropes and even fishing nets.