Water and Fertilizer

Cashews grow best in sandy soils, but sandy soils don't hold much water and are generally not very fertile. The trees will still do fine without additional attention.

However, if a good crop is important to you (read: if you want to grow them commercially) then you need to supply your cashew trees with additional water and fertilizer. 

Irrigate during dry periods, and fertilize the trees when they actively grow, as well as during flowering and nut development. (They will mainly need nitrogen and phosphorus, and possibly zinc.)

Harvesting Cashews

Cashew trees flower and set fruit during the dry season (winter), and you should be able to pick them within a couple of months.

The fruit in the picture is ready to harvest. (As with all other fruit in my garden, a beak shaped hole is the sign that it needs picking, ready or not....)

If you don't have birds dictating your harvest times use these signs: the apple has a nice pink or red color (some are yellow) and the shell of the nut turns a dull grey. When the fruit falls to the ground it's definitely ready.

Separate the cashew apple from the nut, and enjoy the apple. Luckily the nuts keep very well inside their shells. You can store them for two years so you don't have to process every batch you pick. Keep them somewhere cool and dry until you have enough to justify the effort of processing them.

Cashew juice is poisonous when mix with milk or it can be risky to drink milk after eating cashew  fruit and therefore a period at least  two hours should be given after the eating cashew fruit or vice verse.

Processing Cashews

You can't just shell and eat cashew nuts like other nuts. Their shell is full of a horrible, caustic liquid that will burn holes into you!

The challenge is to separate the nut from the shell without getting the stuff on your skin, or worse, into your eyes.

One method is to freeze the shells, and then separate the shell from the nut before it thaws. 

You still need gloves and long clothes and I'd also use safety glasses, just in case. The nuts can be eaten raw, but please, please make sure they are not contaminated with any of that liquid!

The roasting method requires oil, and a clear mask and long gloves and sleeves and pants and an apron...

Heat the oil to 210°C and then drop the nuts into it for two minutes. No longer or they will become too brittle. Be careful when putting the nuts in because they will squirt that liquid at you as they hiss and jump in the oil...

When they are ready cool them in a bucket of water, get them out of the shell, and dry them. Yum. (Or so I'm told. I have to admit that I haven't tried that method yet...)

Another roasting method is to heat the nuts for a minute in an open pan with holes (so the caustic liquid can drain away). I think you are supposed to do that over an open fire. Don't breathe in the fumes, and if the nuts catch fire douse them with water... After the roasting you have to put the nuts into sawdust or something absorbent to remove the last of the caustic liquid.

After roasting and drying you can finally shell your cashew nuts.

Sounds interesting,isn't it?

Good luck, and don't despair if you end up with only a few edible nuts the first time around. I'm told it takes some practice. I should probably start practicing or I'll never learn it...

Edit - Delete Show Media Item - Gambia’s cashewnut production will rise to 5,000 metric tons by 2010 - ACA Gambia boss Gambia’s cashew nut production will rise from 10,000 metric  to 15,000 tons by the end of 2012 -say ACA Gambia boss.   Ram Mohan, head of the African Cashew Alliance for the Gambia National Committee, has disclosed that The Gambia’s raw cashew nut production is expected to increase up between ten thousand to fifteen thousand (1000--15000) metric tons  by the end of cashew nut season 2012.  He disclose this report during the recent concluded workshop on the importance of cashew nut production to the cashew nut farmers at the Baobab hotel in the Gambia. ACA is a major industry body that promotes the African cashew sector from production to consumption, and  aims at helping the cashew stakeholders to capitalize on the sector’s potential for economic growth and employment.  The US embassy representative to The Gambia,  told the participants that the US Department of State for Agriculture along with IRD, funded the demonetization project to support capacity building in the cashew sector.  Since then, he went on, IRD has been providing training for farmers with the goal of maximizing the income and capacity of 50,000 cashew farmers and their families, indirectly benefiting an estimated 350,000 people. “To stress the United States government’s efforts to continue in supporting this rapidly growing crop in Africa, USAID has recently given the ACA U$146,000 to improve access to finance for cashew businesses in the region,” he added.  Other participants highlighted some of the constraints that they encountered in cashew nut production and farming that includes lack of fencing for young cashew farm  plantation ,cutting immature cashew fruit or nut by some illegal dealers and lack of storage facility with bush fire are their main problems.  The Gambia cashew nut farmers pledge to share their knowledge with prospect cashew farmers the benefit of the cashew farming both for cash and food security How To Grow Cashew Trees, Nuts And Apples Growing cashews is the easy part. Cashew trees grow like weeds. Roasting cashews, now there's a challenge... what do cashew plants look like and how and where do cashew trees grow? What Do Cashew Plants Look Like?    cashew tree Cashew trees are attractive trees with large leaves and pretty, pink flowers.   Cashews, as you know them, are nuts. But the cashew nut is not the only fruit of the cashew trees. Or rather, the cashew nut is only a part of the cashew fruit. The other part is called the cashew apple. (Although pear would suit it much better...) And if I wanted to be super accurate then I'd have to point out that the cashew apple is actually the swollen stem of the fruit. Anyway, you can see some ripe cashew apples in the picture. The cashew apple looks very attractive with its red cheeks. It's high in Vitamin C, refreshing, very juicy, but a bit acidic. And it leaves a furry feeling in your mouth... I use it together with other fruit in juices or blended into fruit yogurt etc. It's also very nice when dried. In fact, I grow cashew trees more for the apples than for the nuts... The cashew nut is inside the funny looking, kidney shaped shell that is attached to the bottom of the cashew apple. Also inside that shell is a very nasty, caustic liquid that causes severe burns, so be careful when handling it. More on processing and shelling cashews later. Where Can You Grow Cashew Trees? You can grow cashew trees anywhere in the wet/dry tropics. The main producers of cashew nuts are Brazil, India, Vietnam, Africa (Tanzania and Mozambique) and South East Asia. Day temperatures for growing cashews should not drop below 10°C (50F), and cashew trees handle temperatures above 40°C (105F) well. An average day temperature of around 25°C (77F) is ideal. As long as they have some water cashew trees grow like weeds. They are fairly draught resistant and grow well even on marginal soils where other fruit trees would fail. The best soils for growing cashews are sandy soils. Growing Cashew Trees Wild birds and bats are attracted to cashew apples. Especially the fruit bats carry them off and drop the left overs, and that's how I ended up with cashew trees in my garden. I didn't plant them, the bats did. The cashew tree in the picture is on the very edge of my garden. It doesn't get much water, it never saw any fertilizer, and it's as healthy as they come. It's three years old and it's fruiting. (Grafted cashew trees can fruit within 18 months!) What can I say, in my experience growing cashews is super easy... However, since not everybody has bats to plant their cashew trees for them... How To Plant Cashew Trees Fresh seeds germinate readily, so if you know of a cashew tree in your area, or have another way of getting hold of fresh seeds (that's the whole thing, shell and all, not just the nut!), you can grow cashew trees from seed. But be aware that cashew seeds don't grow true to type, meaning, the plant you get is not identical to the parent. (It may not fruit as much or taste as nice.) Some fruit tree nurseries stock seedling or grafted trees. Commercial growers usually propagate their own. If you have a grower in the area you may be able to buy stock of him. If you want to grow your cashew trees from seeds you can start them in pots or put them straight in the ground. Keep them moist and they should sprout within four or five days. Best planting time? When you can get hold of fresh seed. The sooner you plant it, the better. Select a well drained spot (cashew trees don't like wet feet or heavy clay soils), preferably a place that has some protection from strong winds. Mature trees need about 10 metres distance between them, and they grow to 12 metres tall.

M AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF BECOMING AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST IN THE GAMBIA

MY FIRST GOAL IS TO SEE GAMBIA BECOME FOOD SELF SUFFICIENCY

1.Food Security

The Environmental and Resource Management sector aims to increase food production by using new techniques for growing greater quantities and varieties of crops.

n      Cashew trees are growing in popularity but still a widely under-utilized resource. If planted correctly, they can be used as windbreaks, firebreaks, or live fence posts.

n      When planted on inclines, the cashew's root system can provide stability and prevent soil erosion.  Volunteers are working with associations and individual farmers to plant more trees and actively harvest those they already have.

Cashew nuts and fruits can be harvested for income generation. They can be sold locally or exported to Senegal. Volunteers work with community partners on methods of processing the cashew nuts. 

From the fruit, cashew butter and jam are easy to make on the local level, and they can be dried and sold as well.

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  cashew fruit yet to be harvested