This week I stopped by the resort where I got the monkeypod log a friend sawed into boards for me.

Once the wood had cured, I made a bench to give to the resort owner as a “thank-you” for letting us have the original log. When I stopped in at the resort, I saw it sitting in a place of honor at the edge of their restaurant:

Monkeypod wood is wonderful. The interlocking grain makes it very unlikely to split and it’s quite good for carving and finishing:

It’s even good for guitars. Luthier Jeffry Yong plays a mango wood guitar at the beginning of this video, but later on you see and hear a solid monkeypod wood guitar – and it sounds amazing:

Last week I gathered some seeds from beneath the monkeypod tree at the resort and gave them to a friend to propagate. When we get our land, I am definitely planting a few trees. Beyond their beautiful wood, monkeypod trees are also nitrogen-fixers and have edible gum in the pods which tastes rather like honey.