With Citrus, Christmas Can't Be Far Away

Grapefruit - Rio Red

Bounteous amounts of citrus means the calendar is closing in on Christmas time.  Here in Bakersfield and probably most of the San Joaquin Valley, residents with citrus trees are looking for neighbors to unload the bounty.  Citrus is winter's zucchini - but in a very good way.  Citrus is my favorite. The scent is in everything from the bloom to the peel to the fruit.  It's even in the limbs when they are pruned.  Wonderful.  The fruit can remain on the tree for quite a long time so it can be harvested as needed.  Local nurseries sponsor citrus tasting events throughout the winter where gardeners can learn about the different varieties, sample the fruit/juice, and purchase health stock.

Grapefruit is my favorite citrus.  Rio Red is delicious.  My dwarf tree is weighted down with the most fruit ever.  That little tree should give enough fruit to last through the winter months.  No scurvy here.

Navel Oranges - Robertson

The fruit is now starting to gain color that is really accentuated by the rain washed leaves.  Yes, it rained yesterday and just a bit today.  Wonderful.  Some of the oranges have split.  That is probably due to uneven irrigation.  Any split fruit is removed as soon as it is detected and disposed.  2014 looks to be a bumper year for the oranges as well.

Lemon - Pink Variegated

Two of the fruit trees are potted - lemon and mandarin.  Neither have fruit.  The Satsuma mandarin is very young and having no fruit is expected while it develops.  The lemon, however, usually has some fruit.  Currently, it's blooming.  In the photo above, some Leaf Miner damage can be seen in the leaf on the left.  That's only cosmetic.

Leaf Miner Larva

Leaf Miner larva mine just below the surface of the young leaves and the skin of the fruit.  These moth babies are annoying but not scary like the Asian Citrus Psyllid that can carry the Huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening) disease.  Many areas of California are quarantined because of this pest.   That pest is the reason I have not added a lime tree to my citrus collection. 

Asian Citrus Psyllid

In the meantime, it's a joy to work in the soft soil in the garden after some wonderful rain. (Let's not talk about the amount of dirt the wind blew in before the rain.  Yuck.)  All the winter vegetables are experiencing a growth boost with the cooler weather and the rain.

Lettuce - Cimmaron

Garden Update

The weather has been great.  Yesterday it was cool and rainy!  It’s May and it was cool and rainy!!!  Here’s a quick garden update:The strawberries are really producing well.  They’ve been fed (Dr. Earth), irrigated daily, and are enjoying full sun.  The fruit size is large and well developed.  There is some loss to insects; but no loss to birds.  The scare tape and owl kite seem to be great scarecrows.French Breakfast Radishes were planted among the Lemon Squash on 05/15/10.  They germinated today, 05/18/10.  The purpose of planting them with the squash is to repel pests that could damage the squash.  If anyone is new to gardening with seeds and would like to enjoy fast results, these radishes should do the trick.In the holes of the cinder block that form the raised bed for the peppers, I planted some Borlotto Solista Beans.  They are only planted on the north side of the bed to allow for maximum sun to the peppers.  Al Kuffa tomatoes are also sharing the bed with the soon to be planted peppers. A few small oranges are hanging on to the Robertson Navel Orange tree.  I thought this tree might be in danger of being lost; but it looks like it is gaining strength and may grow vigorously.  Sadly, the Satsuma Mandarin was pitched into the green waste.  It’s root system was very small and the tree ended with no leaves.

All the tomatoes have been planted (37 plants) with the remaining to be given away.  Four of the tomato plants were auctioned at today’s meeting of the Daughters of the British Empire. It was a nice day in the garden.

Citrus Christmas

Here in California citrus grows most everywhere.  I have 4 trees in my garden:  mandarin, lemon, orange, and grapefruit.  These are baby dwarf varieties.  Three out of four trees are producing.  The blossoms wouldn’t hold on to the grapefruit.

To me the taste of cold citrus fresh off of a tree tastes like Christmas to me.  When I was a kid, my parents would take us out to the orchards and have citrus shipped to friends and relatives that didn’t have access to fresh oranges.  Of course, there were samples for us to scarf down.  And who doesn’t love the scent of the blossoms?

Here’s how things are looking.

mandarin

navel orange (Not quite there yet.)

variegated lemon