As most people know Barry and myself spent a couple of seasons in the Kimberly recently. I’ve always loved the majestic boab trees, the iconic symbol of the top of WA. Mostly closely related to the baobab trees of Madagascar, the trees are difficult to age, not having regular growth rings, but are estimated to live up to 1200 years. There is a famous boab tree in Kings Park, Perth, which was relocated when the Great Northern Highway was rerouted. Gija Jumulu was placed on a flatbed truck and transported to Perth where it now lives in our amazing botanical garden (planting areas there correspond to the regions of WA so well worth a visit).
It’s hard to find young Boabs in the Kimberley because the shoots are very tasty and the cattle tend to eat them immediately. In fact, at one stage they were commercially grown for their shoots in Kununnurra but not any more. I collected boab nuts where I could find them because I always had an idea I could try and grow them in Perth. Obviously, I plant for posterity!
All the inner parts of the nut are edible. The white pithy stuff tastes a little like lemon sherbet and the small brown seeds are contained within the pith. Aboriginal folk used to roast the whole nuts in the fire and the pith would turn into a creamy custard and the seeds were roasted like chestnuts.
I thought the hard part would be germination so I scarified the seeds and soaked them in two lots of boiling water before planting them out. I only did one nut but pretty much every seed germinated. From what I can gather, if I tuck them into a warm spot and make sure they don’t get winter rain then they should carry on flourishing. I have heard that they can turned into really good bonsai or a great potted specimen.
Which brings me to me next point…I seem to have a lot of boabs started. Would anyone like one? I’ll keep them going until next summer and then repot or you can just grab a seedling. I was so keen to see if I could grow them that I didn’t pause to think whether I should and now I’d feel like a murderer if I destroyed them! I do not have room for twenty odd boabs at my place! So let me know if you’d like one; you could pass it down the family for generations!