Monday, November 10, 2008

Yes we can . . . grow citrus





Here it is, just starting to turn wintery and cold, and look, two huge, somewhat cold-hardy, Quanita tangerines just starting to turn color! And in the next bed:  a Nippon orangequat bush just loaded with  .  .  . ORANGQUATS!  They, by the way, are delicious, but fairly tart (that may be because they are not yet ripe, or it may be their nature).  To show you the size, I have placed a cut orangequat next to a dinner fork.  You eat the orangequats skin and all, and I love the taste.  My husband dips them in a little honey first, and that's not bad either.  The other semi-tropical you see here is the fruit of a pineapple guava.  So far I haven't tasted one, but the smell is wonderful.  This weekend I lost about 40 of these: they just fell off the tree and were on the ground each morning.  I'm hoping it was just wind, and that the remaining few mature.

These plants all are in the warmest, most protected part of my yard. Still, I know there is a risk that they will freeze down to the ground if we have a really harsh winter.  They were all seedling plants, however, so I have hopes that they will spring back even if severely winter damaged.