Carob

This elegant tree is the great chocolate impersonator! Carob is a delicious low fat food often referred to as "fake chocolate" due to its similarities to cocoa in taste and texture. A Mediterranean tree, it favours arid conditions that are naturally alien to fungus and pests. It is very tough, happily growing in poor soils, it acts as a soil improver and stabiliser as well as providing an interesting crop.  The tree can take up to 15 years to bear pods from a seedling however a grafted Carob such as the Clifford can take less then 5 years. The Carob Tree fruits well into old age with a large tree producing up to 1 ton of beans per harvest. The pods can be eaten fresh and are a delightful lolly-type stick for children to chew on.