Huge Oranges!

   Last year saw the citrus trees being pounded hard by the weather.  Late fall saw the trees simply loaded with fruit to the point that the limbs had to be propped to keep them from breaking.  Just as the fruit was about to be ready to pick, along came Hurricane Zeta.  I knew that the heavy limbs would break so, after making storm preparations, I started picking as much of the fruit as I could.  Time was short.  I was so thankful to see my niece and her husband drive up to the house.  I knew I could ask for help.  These two never fail to provide helping hands when needed.  For hours we picked.  We filled every basket, box, crate and bag we could find.  As they prepared to leave, we loaded their truck with fruit and they were able to pawn off the stuff on their many friends.  I was thankful not to have to fret over the well-being of the trees during the storm.  The trees did take a beating but at least they were alive.  Many of the limbs had to be trimmed back.

  Then this spring a late freeze hit just as the trees were setting blossoms.  Most of the blossoms dropped which left very few to form fruit.  The blooms that did set fruit were a welcome sight.  I babied the trees all summer and was happy to see that the satsumas and navel oranges had a few fruit dangling from the limbs.  The grapefruit was a lot worse for wear after the freeze and set no fruit.  All seemed well with the others, however.

  Then...today.  Just as the fruit are about to ripen to their glorious sweetness, the deer have decided to help themselves.  Last night about a dozen navel oranges and all of the lower satsumas disappeared.  Uh, oh!  Time to pick again.  So...early this morning, I picked the remaining navel oranges and any satsumas that I could reach.  Tomorrow, I will haul the ladder around and pick any remaining fruit.

  What amazed me is the size of the navel oranges!  While the numbers are low (only one crateful), the size is huge!  I weighed one orange and it was nigh on two pounds!  ONE ORANGE!  Yep, most were about one pound each, which is considered very large but a few were close to two pounds!  Something went right!  Now, I need to start making marmalade, dried orange peel and candied orange peel slices.   The work never ends but I am thankful.