Freshly-Picked Almondfruit ― New Zealand

Ever wonder what almonds freshly picked from an almond tree look like? I never did, until I came across a lovely almond tree at Almond Court Motel in Alexandra, New Zealand not two weeks ago. Check out the pic above. A fuzzy-wuzzy, green-ish exterior (called the hull) surrounds the almond + the almond shell. Inside the hull, a "hard woody shell" lovingly cradles the edible nut. (Be careful when breaking the hull part from the shell part! 3 earwigs crawled outta one of the almond fruits when I opened it, true story!) The almond nut itself, in its 100% natural, un-roasted, un-salted state, is far from crunchy and rather soft when bitten into. Nothin' like freshly-picked Kiwi almonds in small-town Kiwiland.