First Satsuma Mandarin of 2013
The tropical Minnesotan attic jungle is producing again this year. This orange was a pleasantly sour punch in the taste buds. The room was filled with a lovely citrus aroma when I peeled away the skin. Can’t wait for the rest to be ripe.
New Additions
I have expanded the ‘tropical Minnesotan attic jungle’ again. I bought six new dwarf citrus trees from Four Winds Growers out in California. I probably shouldn’t have ordered them during the hottest time of the year thus far. The two younger trees arrived looking good. Some of the others seem to have suffered from the heat of being trapped in an unventilated box, inside a baking semi trailer for two and a half days. The little ones are a Valencia orange and a new Kieffer lime to replace My old one that had an unbeatable scale infestation. I aquired a second Improved Meyer lemon tree as well.
Due to many favorable reviews around the web, I also opted to get an Oroblanco grapefruit tree. They don’t get pink/red, but are said to be very pot friendly and unlike most citrus, doesn’t need a lot of summer heat to sweeten the fruit. Sounds like a no brianer to Me.
Then there is the Gold Nugget mandarin orange tree. Which is very bushy and compact, but has been in a state of perpetual drooping since it got here. It doesn’t appear to be dying, but has yet to show Me any signs of changing it’s current mood.
Rounding out the order is a Mexican Sweet lime tree, which does not look the greatest either. All of the most recently grown leaves are curled up really tightly. I am assuming for now that it was heat during shipping that caused these little trees to look so glum. They have been here for 10 days now and none of them look like they are going to die. Maybe they will bounce back after this 90+ degree weather passes. Hopefully I can take better care of these trees than I have with some of My older ones. Having ordered trees from the same grower a couple of years ago and gaining My own growing experience over the last few years, I believe that things should be ok. So long as I can keep the scale away from them.
Dancing Dolphin Vine
I bought this indoor friendly vine three years ago, along with My first citrus trees. It pumps out interesting orange-red flowers that do indeed roughly resemble dolphins jumping out of the water. Plentiful amounts of two and a half inch long blooms have come in waves every few months the whole time I’ve had it. At first, it was just two, four inch branches. After about a year, I re-potted the vine, proceeding to drop it and break off two-thirds of the delicate branches. Left with only one, six inch branch, I got it situated and let it grow. Then, one day I came home from work and found My lovely, quite fragile vine, top down and pot up on the floor. Presumably sliding off its perch on a stool due to vibrations from the construction crews updating the 55-100+ year old sewers and water lines along My street. Again, all but one twelve inch branch had broken off the vine. This time, I gave the broken off bits to My Mom, which she rooted in water and has now potted two of these plants, a little larger than the one I got from the nursery to start with. In the 6 months since the last tumble, a couple new sprouts are coming from the base of the mother plant, but the lone remaining arm of the vine has more than doubled its size. Pictured here is that vine, now 2 feet long and a shot of the parts that were broken off, but are now rooted and growing just fine on their own. This plant should be a mainstay in My living room for many years to come. Such a neat variety of flowers to have around the house.
First Rose of the Year
I’m not even sure what variety of rose this is. It was given to Me by My Mom, late in the season last year. Hard to go wrong with $1 plants from the nursery.. Unlike My Lavender Lace Mini rose, this one is truely tiny. It stands a lofty 5 inches high, giving these nice pale pink blooms with fair petal layering. I put it in the attic with all My citrus trees for the winter, it seems happy.
Tying Knots
Last week, My Brother married His girl-friend of 13 years. Contrary to what many thought would be a large wedding, it was a nice small gathering in Their living room. I guess it had to be, since they decided to make it happen less than a month before hand. It was a nice ceremony. Lots of smiling, laughing and general happiness was flowing through the place. Congratulations Brother and now, officially, Sister!
There was one kind of odd moment, just after the deed was done, the pastor gathered everyone, hand on hand, into a huddle. He spoke a few words and proceeded to start singing a verse. Just as He drew in His breath to start, the music My brother was playing popped up, right on cue: “Where’s Your head at, at, at.” Basement Jaxx played quietly in the backround through the whole wedding, it was pretty funny. Actually, there were two other awkward moments… I hadn’t realized that I was to give a speach and failed to come up with something worth hearing on the spot. Sorry, I feel bad about it! Then there was this pre-wedding photo We did while waiting for people to arrive. I think it’s the best of the day though.
It was a good Tuesday night party that ended up doubling as a photo shoot. There is something to be said for a simple wedding, with little or no money involved. I think this is the best kind of ceremony. It’s all about the people anyways, why bother making it about anything else?
Winter Harvest
This Year was My second mandarin orange harvest. Eleven times more fruit than last year’s haul, which was one orange. The tree that gave Me that orange, gave three this year, in an escalating size range of two, to nearly four inches in diameter. They were VERY sweet and not particularly acidic. The largest one however was quite bland in flavor, I think I picked it too late? My other satsuma tree gave Me eight little oranges. I picked them in varying lengths of time after turning bright orange. Today, I picked the last five, about a month later than I think I should have. Quite a day, plucking fresh oranges from a tree when it is 7 degrees(F) outside..
The fruits from this tree were far more acidic and powerful in flavor, but not as sweet as the ones from it’s sister. They are the same age and from the same source, but I planted them in very different soil mixtures, to see what would work better. I can only assume that this, is what caused such dramatic variation in the experience delivered to My taste buds.
Having also plucked the last meyer lemon, there is just one fruit left growing in My tropical Minnesotan attic jungle. It is the first grapefruit from My nearly six year old ruby red tree.
There is nothing like freshly harvested food. It has been great to experience the cycle of these trees and of course, reap the rewards! I can’t wait to see what I get next year.
I Picked My First Lemon!
I know that having such fruit trees around is normal for many people, but this is Minnesota! One must grow citrus in pots and haul them indoors for the winter. Thus, I am that odd guy who has ‘the glow’ of an artificial sun beaming out of My attic windows for a large part of the year.
Three years in and I am still learning how to keep all these little trees happy, with mixed success. My ‘Improved Meyer Lemon’ tree is not looking the greatest, yet it has 5 little lemons that are ripening, in this, it’s first year of fruiting. Well, there are only 4 now…
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