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Sabahans are a richly-gifted lot.  Everything is available for their taking, that is, if they are willing to slog for it.  Grabbing things through shady and snaky means is another matter altogether.

In terms of gardening, every item, from A-Z, is available.  Don’t believe?  Just go and ask any horticulturist, or the hardworking and brilliant officers of the Agricultural Department, and you will be surprised to be rewarded with loads of beneficial information to boost your gardening activity or even your agribusiness.

Presently, the seniors or the elderlies from six or seven decades ago are in luck as they are still able to recall the peaceful and slow-moving good old days of their childhood and that of their parents and grandparents.  

That era was a real bliss as there was overall safety with very little or no thuggery or thievery.  In fact, many old clunkers in town were left unlocked and yet nothing was lost, but today, there is a complete about-turn.

This is why some kopitiams in town are always full of the seniors who enjoy having a cuppa with old friends and acquaintances while reminiscing the good old days when a cup of kopi-O kaw was only 10 sen, or a bowl of konlao mian was only 30-50 sen.  

That is the nostalgia that is enjoyed by all and sundry whenever they reach their twilight years.

But nostalgia is not just about mee soup, tuhau or kopi-O.  It is also about other edibles such as laksa, pinasakan, kuih lapis, linopot and fruits.  

The latter is one item that is not avoidable even in the deepest jungles where bambangan, belunu or tarap are often seen overloading certain trees.

However, in the more developed and urbanised areas, a number of fruit trees are often found growing beautifully both near and far from the city.  

These include mangoes, guava, ciku, starfruit, soursop, bananas, rambutan, and water apple, among others.

Among the named fruits, water apple is one that is among the most popular fruit trees cultivated since many decades ago.  

Today, the tree is still visible in many rural areas as well as landed properties in the city.

Water apple trees are terrestrial, perennial evergreen and tough woody trees that originate in tropical Asia including S. E. Asia.

 Apart from the common name of water apple, it is also variously known as bell fruit, wax apple, water cherry and jambu air, etc.  The latter, as opposed to jambu batu or guava/stone fruit, is the name that is popularly used among certain communities in Malaysia.

As a common fruit tree, the fruits of water apple are cherished and much loved by every Sabahan.  The bell-shaped fruits are crispy, fleshy, sweet and very juicy.  

Even seniors with only a few teeth left are still able to savour such a juicy and fleshy local fruit that costs way cheaper than musang king durian.

Water apple fruits come in a variety of colours, namely, red, pink, greenish and white.  The bell-shaped fruits have an external waxy and shiny epidermis that feels perfectly smooth to the touch.  

It is likely that this is the reason why many girls love to eat such fruits in the hope that the smooth fruits may translate to smooth, soft and pimple-free tender skins.

Generally, water apple trees are not huge unlike rain trees, ketapang or angsana trees that are often seen in landscapes all over the state.  

The height of the trees are usually between 5-15 metres while the spread of the canopy is about 5-7 metres.  Such a dense crown makes for a perfect location to cool down or have a snooze in its thick shade.

But in nature, such trees are likely to reach greater heights and broader canopies where unchecked growths often allow trees to grow much larger than those in home gardens.

Propagating water apple plants is easy especially when starting from the younger trees.  The branches are easily reachable when carrying out marcotting or grafting to multiply the number of plants.

These are the usual gardening tasks that are interesting enough to result in more plantlets being produced and replanted elsewhere or else sold in the market or roadside warungs.  

When such plantlets are sold, together with other varieties of popular fruit trees such as ciku, musang king, MD2 supersweet pineapple, etc., there is no way to prevent buyers from dropping by to grab some of these fruit tree plantlets.  

This is all the more attractive especially when they are accompanied by the presence of the actual fruits to create a visual impact that is so appealing that loosening the purse strings is the only recourse left for anyone who cares to visit.

Normally, plantlets derived from marcotts or grafts taken from parent plants are likely to come into bearing age within about 2-3 years.  

I have already written about such propagation methods in the past in this column that relevant agencies can leverage on, such as in talks, short courses or demonstrations to really get the points through to rural folks.

This is a godsend for them to aspire to crawl out of the poverty trap, and this is one heady topic the government is regularly blablabla-ing about.  

As such, the opportunity is there for more rural folks to raise themselves to a higher economic level by working on popular fruit trees, multiplying them and converting them into thriving agribusinesses.  

This is also an opportunity for small-timers to produce more of the fruits for more people to be able to enjoy them at a more affordable price.

# The above writer may be reached at: onggrow@yahoo.com