# Identification please



## donz (May 5, 2010)

Hey peeps,

Does anyone know what this is? I have a gazillion of them growing on a big tree in my garden - yes a tree not a vine.....so not a normal pea...?


----------



## uffington15 (May 4, 2009)

green beans, we ate them when they were green but have been told you should leave them to dry out.


----------



## Tency (Jun 9, 2010)

donz said:


> Hey peeps,
> 
> Does anyone know what this is? I have a gazillion of them growing on a big tree in my garden - yes a tree not a vine.....so not a normal pea...?


They sort of look like fava beans, but I'm not sure, since the ones back home had sort of a fuzzy exterior?


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

donz said:


> Hey peeps,
> 
> Does anyone know what this is? I have a gazillion of them growing on a big tree in my garden - yes a tree not a vine.....so not a normal pea...?


It could be a carob


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

When ripe carobs are dark brown. The one you have pictured looks like an unripe carob


----------



## donz (May 5, 2010)

uffington15 said:


> green beans, we ate them when they were green but have been told you should leave them to dry out.


do they not grow on vines?


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

uffington15 said:


> green beans, we ate them when they were green but have been told you should leave them to dry out.


Green beans grow on vines not on trees.


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Everywhere you look in Cyprus there are huge carob trees which are protected against being cut down.
Donkeys love the ripe carobs but should not be given too many as they get colic if they overdo it.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

donz said:


> Hey peeps,
> 
> Does anyone know what this is? I have a gazillion of them growing on a big tree in my garden - yes a tree not a vine.....so not a normal pea...?


Pretty sure these are unripe carobs. JoCatalunya gave some useful advice on things to do with them in the Gardening thread - including chocolate-flavoured firewood!


----------



## zilly (Mar 9, 2010)

Certainly unripe Carob beans-- full of goodness ! John the Baptist apparently lived on these alone when he lived in the desert.!


----------



## donz (May 5, 2010)

thanks peeps you have come up trumps again


----------



## JoCatalunya (Mar 16, 2011)

They are Carobs.

Word of warning, don't sit / allow your kids to play under a Carob tree, they rot from the inside out and have a tendency to drop their boughs on ones head at the slightest knock. They spread quite a bit so if you don't want a tree that hogs the garden you might want to trim the new shoots growing from the base. However, this said, the Carob does rot and needs to replace itself and this is how it does it.


----------



## donz (May 5, 2010)

thanks Jo, no kids although I was going to put a little dog shelter underneath as it is a great shady area - no problems with this you think? And yes it's a massive tree!!


----------



## JoCatalunya (Mar 16, 2011)

donz said:


> thanks Jo, no kids although I was going to put a little dog shelter underneath as it is a great shady area - no problems with this you think? And yes it's a massive tree!!


They do grow massive, I have around 50 on my land and they spread if not contained, although it is a matter of choice.

With regards your little dogs shelter, it depends on the tree, the condition and how much you actually like your little dog. Reason I say this is, no matter how solid those branches look they are all rotting from the inside out, every single one of them. It is one of the quirks of the tree and the branches can and do come down without warning. Not just in high wind, the other day I heard a loud cracking noise and a huge branch that I was propping up with an upright suddenly crashed to the ground. There wasn't a breath of wind and no one was touching it. It had just succumbed to the heat and the branch had fallen. 
You can prop branches up using uprights to keep them on the tree for longer than they would normally, the weight of them is phenomenal and sometimes they need a little help. But gravity will without and the branch will come down at some point. You can check the tree by bashing the branches, a solid branch sounds well solid, a rotten branch sounds, guess what, rotten. I know this won't be of much help but it takes practice to learn the sound and it cannot be described. Your dog may live under the tree without mishap or it could be snoozing one day and whallop. Add to the fact that ground spiders, centipedes and snakes all inhabit the area underneath the tree and well I think you can guess it isn't the idyl it appears to be at first glance. You would be better to build a shelter for him with an actual sunshade in my opinion.

If you haven't cleaned under the tree before now then you need to rake up all the old carobs and well you can burn them in your log burner in the winter for a chocolatey scented evening or you can bag them up and throw them. This years you can collect up when they are dry and brown in colour and sell them to the co-operative for whatever they are giving this year. (Harvesting is in August/September). Remember however, before you go under the tree to make a bit of noise and don't just shove your hand into a pile of carobs in case something nastier and venemous is snoozing within. The carobs must be dry and free from rot, do not try taking the old carobs down to the co-op unless they are clean and as I have said free from rot.


----------



## Happyexpat (Apr 4, 2011)

We have two Carob trees on our land, both old. One provides large quantites of Carobs which we use in many ways. The second which is unfortunately close to our house doesn't provide pods but every October it puts out a foul stench and is surrounded by flies and wasps.
Any ideas?


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Happyexpat said:


> We have two Carob trees on our land, both old. One provides large quantites of Carobs which we use in many ways. The second which is unfortunately close to our house doesn't provide pods but every October it puts out a foul stench and is surrounded by flies and wasps.
> Any ideas?


Cut it down!


----------



## JoCatalunya (Mar 16, 2011)

Happyexpat said:


> We have two Carob trees on our land, both old. One provides large quantites of Carobs which we use in many ways. The second which is unfortunately close to our house doesn't provide pods but every October it puts out a foul stench and is surrounded by flies and wasps.
> Any ideas?


It is a male tree, necessary for the female to produce pods but very unpleasant to have around. If you don't much mind having no pods on your other tree, chop the male down. Make sure you get as much of the root out as possible as it will keep on springing up. If it is close to your house I would suggest you have a think about taking it down anyway as the roots can invade the space under your property and cause damage. 
I do not know if you live in the Campo or in a village/town or urbanisation. If it is the former and you aren't particularly overlooked or checked up upon by the Rural Agents then chop away, but if you are at all worried then I suggest you leave a little sprig if you think they might object to the whole thing being cut out. 
Saying that word of warning, some Ajuntaments / Medi Ambient offices demand you ask permisssion before cutting down any tree, if it is clearly visible from the road this might be the case with yours and particularly if it is an old tree also if your neighbours all have female trees and yours is the only male in town (or at least your part of) they might not be too happy. However, my argument is this, if it bothers you that much, plant one of your own, simples or you will keep it but a trimmed down version. 
You can spray the tree itself to discourage flies/wasps from setting up home in it, so you might wish to consider this if you don't want to cut it down, however, they stink like rotting dog poop in my opinion and are absolutely vile to have near the house, so from my side you won't get any argument if the chainsaw gets broken out and you do your worst.
You are entitled to cut off any limb or take down any trunk that is rotten and in danger of causing injury or damage, so you can always play the 'it was rotten' card as well, just keep a piece of old rotten branch to hand to show anyone who thinks to question.


----------



## Happyexpat (Apr 4, 2011)

Funny old world isn't it. We live in Campo but have three close by neighbours all of whom have at least two Carob trees each of which they harvest. We appear to be the only one with a male tree, wonder why that is the case.
I suspect cutting it down without complaints is not an option......


----------



## JoCatalunya (Mar 16, 2011)

Happyexpat said:


> Funny old world isn't it. We live in Campo but have three close by neighbours all of whom have at least two Carob trees each of which they harvest. We appear to be the only one with a male tree, wonder why that is the case.
> I suspect cutting it down without complaints is not an option......


I doubt very much your tree is the only male, there might not be one in the immediate vacinity but trust me there will be another somewhere. If I were you I would trim it back to within an inch of its life. You can do it slowly so as not to stand out. Trim off most of the new shoots first and then any rotten looking branches, do it in the winter and you won't have any problems with the wasps etc. Next time trim it back a bit more until the new shoot you left behind is the dominant tree and I doubt very much folk will give a fig. 
Thing is if at any time you believe the tree to be in danger of causing injury or damage to you or your property you can always ask for permission (if you want to go down this route) via the Medi Ambient to cut it down. They will likely send an engineer out (for which you have to pay) and he will make a report but if they agree with you, you can chop it down and that will be that as they say. Otherwise play the stupid Brit card and hack away. 
My neighbours don't give a fig about spreading pig and chicken poop on their land which makes my life a blooming misery so if I want to cut down a tree, graze sheep inside an electric fence etc etc, my attitude is, 'when in Rome, do as the Visigoths did'.


----------



## Tency (Jun 9, 2010)

JoCatalunya said:


> It is a male tree, necessary for the female to produce pods but very unpleasant to have around. If you don't much mind having no pods on your other tree, chop the male down. Make sure you get as much of the root out as possible as it will keep on springing up. If it is close to your house I would suggest you have a think about taking it down anyway as the roots can invade the space under your property and cause damage.
> I do not know if you live in the Campo or in a village/town or urbanisation. If it is the former and you aren't particularly overlooked or checked up upon by the Rural Agents then chop away, but if you are at all worried then I suggest you leave a little sprig if you think they might object to the whole thing being cut out.
> Saying that word of warning, some Ajuntaments / Medi Ambient offices demand you ask permisssion before cutting down any tree, if it is clearly visible from the road this might be the case with yours and particularly if it is an old tree also if your neighbours all have female trees and yours is the only male in town (or at least your part of) they might not be too happy. However, my argument is this, if it bothers you that much, plant one of your own, simples or you will keep it but a trimmed down version.



Just curious, is moving the tree to another area of the property a possibility at all?
It might be labor intensive, but worth it to have productivity of the female trees?


----------



## JoCatalunya (Mar 16, 2011)

Tency said:


> Just curious, is moving the tree to another area of the property a possibility at all?
> It might be labor intensive, but worth it to have productivity of the female trees?


If it is an old established tree this wouldnt be an option, however the replanting of a shoot might be, that way you keep the male tree in and around the area but away from the house and the big boy can come down.


----------



## Happyexpat (Apr 4, 2011)

*Its huge*

Unfortunately the damn thing is huge and in very good condition! However I like the 'winter' idea and that is what we will do.
Thanks for all the advice!



Tency said:


> Just curious, is moving the tree to another area of the property a possibility at all?
> It might be labor intensive, but worth it to have productivity of the female trees?


----------

