By George! - A Blog!

Maybe you have relatives coming from colder places and they think the weather is superb. It may be superb for the golfers because of our sunny mornings but our night-time temperatures are hovering close to freezing. It’s that seasonal night temperature that colors up the citrus fruit on our trees in the backyard; not the ripeness of the fruit, so be cautious when your houseguests cheerfully ask “Can I have a grapefruit?” Or an orange or a tangerine or a tangelo”.

So, if rind color is not measure of ripeness, what is it determines when the fruit can be eaten?

Lemons. Skin color is not much of a guide because green lemons can be ready but its usually better to wait for some yellow color to appear.

Tangelos. Skin clor is of some use but the fruit can stay on the tree long past Christmas because the fruit is so ornamentally seasonal.

Tangerines. Strong color is a helpful guide but this fruit, though perhaps the first to be ready, quickly loses quality and the whole crop should, perhaps, be eaten up rather quickly or given to friends and neighbors.

Oranges. Wait until after Christmas to get the best value. Those called “Arizona Sweets” are winter crops whereas Valencias are more summer fruits. Sour Oranges (if you are a marmalade maker) are ready soon after Christmas.

Grapefruit will not be ready until long after Christmas and, in fact, improvethemselves right through until May.

The universal test you need to apply is to try one or two fruit and if the taste is sour you ‘ll have to be patient and try again a couple of weeks later. When the fruit is acceptable take from the tree only what you need for the moment. Picked fruit does not keep its freshness anything like the fruit still on the tree. Start harvesting by picking exposed fruit, in case we get a series of hard frosts. The inner fruit will be protected by the leafy branches and it will stay undamaged longer by being so protected. Frozen fruit is soft and puffy and not nice to eat.

Our funny weather ( warm November, and even December) has kept our trees growing and there are reports that some citrus actually has fruit buds starting to open. This tells us to be ready with a sheet for covering as much of the tree as you can on a cold night. The stronger the cold (down to 28 degrees for a few hours), calls for additionally placing a forty watt light bulb in a metal bucket on the ground in the middle of the tree. The covering should be taken off in the morning to let any sunshine warm things up and then put over the tree again before the sun goes down.

It’s no the time of year to plant citrus trees, despite the temptation of discounted prices. Wait until beginning of March to plant. Meanwhile you can make the most of cool weather ( and perhaps your house guests!!) by getting the planting holes dug. There’s every reason to dig one five feet square and five feet deep.

At a talk I gave the other evening a member of the audience offered a testimonial to such an effort by telling me a story. He dug a hole of this size, whereas his neighbors followed the lazy man’s more recent advice to dig no more than the size of the container the trees came in. Later in the summer a strong wind went through Green Valley and blew over his neighbors’ trees, leaving his trees to stay upright.

You’ve got a few weeks to dig a decent hole. Dig a foot at a time for five weekends–and you’re there, in good time for planting.