Its A Neighborly Thing

   A while back, I mentioned how the color orange seems to be tied to a lot of things during fall.  Leaves, pumpkins, the moon, persimmons, etc. all are related to fall in one way or another.  This afternoon, I noticed yet another...orange...or oranges in this case.  The citrus trees are starting to show the ripening of the fruit.  In another week or so, we will have more citrus fruit than we can use. The excess will be carefully picked, wiped clean and boxed to bring to our elderly friends.  A lot of them remember growing citrus trees in their yards and a sampling of the fruit brings a lot of smiles...both theirs and ours.  Sharing the bounty from our gardens is something that I learned from growing up on the farm.  Pop sold his crops but if he found someone in need, he never hesitated to load up the old truck with bushels of produce and share it.  He often would bring enough for a family to can for the winter.  It was/is the neighborly thing to do. 

  Since the trees are so heavily laden with fruit, Son had to build props for under most of the limbs.  Had he not done so, there was a huge chance that the trees would have broken by this time.  Come January, all of the citrus trees will need to be deeply pruned to prevent this from happening again.  A good pruning helps the trees to remain healthy.  Pruning, fertilizing and carefully watching for mildew or black spot is all done before the next buds show.  

  Today, I started collecting boxes to be used in sharing the oranges and making my list of names so I will not forget anyone. Once again, folks, it is the neighborly thing to do.  In this day and time, it seems that greed and neglect has become the norm and helping others has gone the wayside.  Be generous, folks, be kind.