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.

Getting on to that time of year....

  A bit of a cool spell eased in on the Bayou the other night and brought with it just enough rain and cooler temperatures to start the ripening process of the citrus fruits.  The last freeze we had in the spring ruined a good many of the blossoms so the crop is skimpy but what is there will be enough.  I always look at things as plenty regardless if others see it as a "bad" year.  Pop taught us that we should always count our blessings and figure out ways of making things work better for the next time.  The oranges will be enough...and I am happy.

  Actually, the navel orange tree is the only one that has a goodly number of fruits.  The satsumas, lemons and grapefruit are scarce.  With the early cool spell, it makes us wonder if this is to be a hard winter.  Extreme cold for more than just a few hours can do major damage to the wood of the trees.  If the bark splits, the tree almost always dies. Hopefully, this will not be the case and next year will find us with trees heavy with fruit.  If not, we will still be blessed with plenty.  Always are. 

Sleet, Snow and Oranges!

  Yesterday, I had a plan.  That plan included staying inside out of the drippy, icy weather and baking to my heart's content.  It did not work out that way at all.  I baked nary a treat the entire day.  With the temperatures predicted to make a steep plunge, I figured that a few things were a bit more urgent than another platter of pecan tassies.  More lights were needed in the greenhouse so that was of utmost importance.  The greenhouse not only serves as a nice place to keep the potted plants, it provides a small indoor garden space.  Bell peppers, eggplants, tomatoes and herbs do well in pots and give us a few fresh "summer" veggies throughout the winter months.  After that was tended, more firewood was hauled into the small entryway, the small skiff was bailed clear of rain water and every citrus fruit on the trees was picked.  That, my friends, was the hard job.  With the wind chill already in the 20s and sleet falling from the sky, I was cold....very cold.  Mark helped with the fruit, then headed to the grocery store to get a few needed items.  Son is recuperating from a knee injury he got when cutting firewood so I insisted he not get out and risk slipping on the ice.

A few of the oranges from the Navel Orange Tree in the back yard.  This one tree had over 200 oranges!

  That citrus fruit included lemons, satsumas and navel oranges.  I did not even attempt to pick the five kumquat trees.  The tiny, marble-sized fruit will just have to brave the elements!  While the satsuma and grapefruit trees did not do well this year, the navel oranges sort of made up the slack.  Mark and I picked over 200 of the huge oranges off of one tree!  I kept telling him that there were a ton of oranges out there!  

  Now comes the fun.  With only three of us living here, what am I to do with 200 plus oranges?  I surely cannot eat that many before they go bad.  I guess marmalade-making will be a chore for the next couple of weeks.  Ha!  Maybe I have just solved my Christmas shopping dilemma!  A jar of marmalade is a good gift...right?

A Bit of Cool Weather Does Wonders

  Our recent bout of chilly weather seems to have done the trick on ripening the citrus fruit.  The satsumas are super sweet now and the navel oranges are all turning bright in color  I will have to pull the ladder around to the grapefruit trees to snatch one from the tree for sampling. Those, too, should have sweetened with the frost of the past few nights. While most of the country is snowy and cold, the Bayou is looking for more rain come middle of the week.  Hopefully, I will manage to pick a bit of fruit to can before the thunderstorms roll through the area.  Canning is always a great way to spend rainy days.  Between canning and dehydrating the fruit, the house will smell divine and the rewards for all my labor will be incredibly delicious.  I am ready to get this on the move. Kumquat picking shall commence!

  The plan is to leave dozens of fruit on the lower branches for the grandchildren to pick when they come for Christmas.  They can help MawMaw and PawPaw pick the fruit, then later, may be able to help make orange peel candy.  This is always a holiday favorite around here so the candy jars stay filled.  This year, however, I want to try something new as well.  I found a recipe for candied orange slices! No peeling, removing the pith nor finely slicing.  Just thinly slice a whole orange and go from there.  It should be interesting to say the least.  

  Hopefully, with the unpredictable weather of late, we will not have any hard freezes that will throw my picking plans askew.  I think the grandkids will have a great experience doing a bit of "garden work".  Or, maybe this old lady expects too much from kids today.  That, too, should be interesting.

 
 
 

Just a Touch of a Frost!

  The Bayou is to feel its first bit of "winter" tonight.  Well, at least winter by the Deep South's definition.   While it is rare that we have much more than a "heavy frost", the humidity does factor in to make it raw.  Just the other day, a visitor exclaimed that it felt much colder down on the Bayou than it did a few miles in from here.  Yep, it does make a difference contrary to what a lot of folks think.  That said, I am ready!   Personally, cold air makes me feel better!  Also, that cooler air and a possible frost will make our citrus fruits ripen that much quicker.  Although we have been sneaking a few satsumas now and again, the fruit will be much tastier once a frost touches the rinds.

  This is the first year that the navel oranges have done well.  The tree got off to a rough start and had to be moved twice.  I think we finally found its happy place because the branches are loaded to the breaking point.  We are anxiously awaiting the rinds to turn that deep orange so we can all enjoy the sweet goodness settled deep inside the fruit. Grapefruit, satsumas, kumquats, lemons, limes and now navel oranges can be found dangling from branches of the citrus trees.  

  Being able to grow citrus fruit is one of the pluses of living this far south.  The bushes do well and produce abundantly.  Just a few miles inland, the cold air is a bit much for these heat-loving trees.  While the air may "feel" colder here due to the humidity, the base temperature stays just a few degrees warmer than most places.  That water that chills us also provides a blanket of warmth for the plants.  No wonder I feel that this is the perfect place for me!

Hanging in there!

  Rains kept me inside most of the day so there was not a lot of opportunities for photography.  Mark and I did manage to sneak out late this afternoon for a quick hike about the hillside. As we around the canebrake, I was behind the navel orange tree and could see a side of it that is blocked from view during my normal approach.  Wow!  The tree is literally loaded with fruit!  This is a strong, sturdy tree that is relatively young,  Its limbs were doing well at holding up the large soft-ball sized fruits unlike the poor satsuma trees.  

  Just yesterday, I pointed out to Mark that the limbs of the satsuma trees were about to break from the heavy load they held.  Hundreds of fruits dangled on the small limbs.  Looking closely, we saw that some satsumas were already touching the ground.  He and I decided to dismantle the wisteria arbor and build a temporary brace for the satsuma limbs.  This should suffice as an added support.  

  With today's heavy rains, the limbs of the satsuma would have surely broken causing us to lose hundreds of pounds of fruit.  After leaving the orange tree and its luscious looking (albeit still unripe) fruit, we inspected our handiwork under the satsuma trees.  Job well done!  Even though the limbs were saturated by the rains, the framework held. Hopefully, no storms will come and the fruit will all be allowed another month of growth.  It appears that this will be another good year for citrus fruit!