Palm Tree Girl

Palm juice is collected from both the male and female flowers. The male flowers will produce for 3 months but the female flowers will provide juice for up to six months. Some Khmer farmers can even harvest the juice all year round but common collection times are from November to March. If one looks carefully you will often see rickety bamboo ladders fixed to the trees. Bamboo containers are left in the tree and each morning, the juice collector will climb the tree to collect the juice that has been collecting overnight. The containers are then strung over one's shoulder or fixed to a bicycle and the collector becomes a travelling salesperson going to villages until all the juice has been sold. On average, 5 litres of juice can be collected daily which is a reliable source of income for those collecting and selling the juice. The juice can also be boiled to make palm sugar. The sugar is boiled, condenses and round, brown tablets are made which are used in Khmer cooking. Palm sugar, seen throughout markets everywhere is often added to food to give a sweet taste Juice can only be harvested after about 15 years of maturity but it depends on the soil type. They are said to be able to produce juice for about 55 years.