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

Citrus Christmas

Rio Red Grapefruit

Well, well, well.  Looks like all I had to do was to wait a bit and Blogger would sort out the mess that kept me from posting.  Unfortunately, I deleted a few images to try to add space.  If you notice any missing images, please let me know and I'll try to restore. 

This morning, I enjoyed the first of many grapefruits of the season. It was delicious and cold.  Boy did it smell good too.  No sugar required either.  All the fruit trees in the garden are dwarf to enable our aging bodies to easily maintain and harvest.  The orange and grapefruit are in the ground and the lemon (currently blooming - beautiful) and mandarin are potted.  All have fruit except the mandarin. 

Leaf miner damage (Wikipedia)

All of the citrus show cosmetic damage from leaf miners.  The skin of the fruit show some of those squiggle trails as well. I haven't heard reports of the Asian Citrus Psyllid in Kern County yet.  Hope that plight stays away even though it is in adjacent Los Angeles and Tulare counties.  Probably just a matter of time.

For now, we have grapefruit, oranges, and lemons to enjoy throughout the Christmas season.

It's also nice to be able to add to my garden journal.

Tree Inspection

Some notable things are happening this spring in the garden as the trees mature.  For example, most all the trees are holding the most fruit they have ever produced.  At the same time, I thought the nectarine was doomed.  Not so fast.  An inspection revealed at least one viable piece of fruit.  There are others but those are so weak they will most likely blow away with the next breeze.

Nectarine – Fantasia

Citrus blossoms are plentiful on all of the citrus trees – lemon, mandarin, orange, and grapefruit.  The mandarin is the youngest of the citrus and has loads of little mandarins that should be ready around Christmas time.

Mandarin – Owari Satsuma

Lacking in age means this tree is lacking in strength to hold all this fruit.  Most will be lost until the tree is old enough to support the weight.  While inspecting the tree I spotted the thorns that are prevalent on citrus trees.  Holy Cow!

There are several thorns that measure around 5 inches.  Are these thorns?  They sure look like thorns; but mandarins aren’t noted for having thorns.  The thorns don’t appear to be growing from the scion so I can’t explain this nor do I know what to do – if I do anything.  The thorns were growing from the scion with some strange leaves.  Late tonight when I was outside re-examining the thorns to confirm where on the tree they were growing, the fragile branch broke off just like a sucker should.  Problem solved.

This is a tree from Four Winds Growers out of Winters, California.  That’s up by Sacramento.  Now Sacramento is famous for growing loads of blow hard politicians but I’ve never known them to be famous for thorns.  There is most probably no correlation.

Citrus Blossom Time

Longer days, warmer days, and good fertilization along with sweet rain on well drained soil all combined to help create a bounty of citrus blossoms.  The scent will fill the garden along with the wisteria in the coming days.  Most of the blossoms will drop from these dwarf varieties because they are so young; but I’ll enjoy the blossoms for now.

Locally, one of the last citrus tasting events will be held tomorrow at White Forest Nursery.  It’s pretty nice way to sample a variety of citrus to help determine what works best.  A representative from Four Winds Growers is there to provide samples to taste, growing advice, and stock to buy.  It’s a pretty great deal to help get started in growing citrus.

 Variegated Pink Lemon

 

Satsuma Mandarin

 

Robertson Orange

 

 Rio Red Grapefruit

Satsuma Mandarin

The Satsuma Mandarin will be planted in the ground. I think this is my favorite citrus. They peel easily and taste great...just like Christmas. This tree will be planted in the ground on the west side of the shed. These are great to just plain eat; but I like making a sorbet with the juice and serving it in the hollowed out skin.