Eclectic Red Barn: Lemons, Oranges Oh My!!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Lemons, Oranges Oh My!!

What does lemons, oranges and figs have to do with Christmas - well nothing really.

Since it is a beautiful sunny day here in southern Florida, I hung sheets outside (love the way they smell) and then I decided to make some lemon cookies. I have two lemon trees in pots on our deck and the lemons are ready to be picked. Love this time of year when the fruit trees are doing their thing. Thought I would share them with you.

Ripened Lemons

The sun is really shinning down on them. One of them is drooping down so low that it is almost touching the deck.

Lemon Hanging Down from Tree

I walked out to see what other fruit is ready. We have many fruit trees on our property; figs, mangoes (one of my favorites) oranges, peach, macadamia nut tree and pineapples. We have a supplier that works with the University of Miami in the development of fruit trees that do well in this area. The peach tree was new this year and we had two peaches even though it is still young. It is dormant now.

However, the oranges are producing profusely. All the rain this summer has been great for them. You can see the sun shinning on the oranges below.

Orange Tree with Ripened oranges

This little tree has been on our property since we purchased the home 8 years ago. It has not done very well. Last year we only had 7 oranges and we thought about digging it out.

However, this year it has gone crazy. This little tree has 23 oranges on it. While that may not seem like very many oranges, the tree is only 3 feet tall. See below.

Small Tree with Many Oranges

Because of all the weight from the oranges, we had to prop up the branches so they would not break off. We used tomato cages and stakes for support.

Staked Orange Tree

The fig tree was new this spring and it has been producing ever since. The figs are called turkey figs and they are really good. I have not been able to "cook" with them since my husband eats them before I can use them.