The tree I brought home had a number of small fruits and all but two eventually dropped off. The two remaining oranges grew and ripened until last week when I picked them a few days apart.
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Let the feasting begin...pleasant to the eyes....
Cut into sections. Note there is a seed, so we'll call it nearly seedless compared to satsumas.
How did it taste? Yum! Sweet and juicy as advertised. Very similar to a clementine but a bit sweeter. Then the zest went into cranberry sauce and the peels were tucked inside the Thanksgiving turkey with the aromatics so the entire orange was used.
The tree cost $40 which amortizes to $20 each for two oranges. It's been worth the investment so far as the tree also counts as an evergreen in the landscape. We'll fertilize the heck out of it in the spring and look to amortize and enjoy more oranges next year. Or will this be a sleep, creep, and leap tree? We'll see.
I love the way you didn't waste a drop of your precious fruits! The cost reminds me a little of my gym membership.... every time I get around to going, I calculate how many months of membership I have paid for this one work out and promptly need a lie down.
ReplyDeleteI think buying fruit trees shows immense faith in a plant to produce a crop. Fingers crossed that Orange Frost provides you with a glut of fruit very soon!
It did work out well with the holiday meal and I try to do those types of things whenever possible. I'll revisit the plant next year in this blog to see where we are.
DeleteAmortization can be daunting, shoes for a special occasion are one example I try not to think about.
How exciting! I have a new little orange tree, but I didn't buy it - it was a gift. But it's only 1/2 as big as yours. I can only imagine how thrilling it must have been to watch those oranges growing on the tree. And then to be able to eat them must have been heavenly! I think that was very cheap - you've already had several months of entertainment out of it, and you didn't even have to buy overpriced popcorn!
ReplyDeleteIt was a special event. I like your enthusiasm Holley.
ReplyDeleteGood point, the garden is a nice form of entertainment. We have several other types of fruit trees and anticipating when they will begin producing has been fun.
Glad that your $20.00 oranges tasted good. What a bummer if they had been bitter! Here's hoping for lots more fruit in future years!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm sure our extension agent would have heard from me since he was promoting it big time. It was quite good and we look forward to a time when the harvest is even better.
DeleteGood work. Almost the same price as my veggies around here...lol
ReplyDeleteMr P bought a tangerine tree in spring. He promptly drowned it. I hope he learned his lesson. There were about five on the tree when we bought it. Of course, we got none of them. :( You did MUCH better.
Transplanting is tricky and I expect it to take a few years for the tree to produce.
DeleteThat is nice...and to taste good! Here's hoping you don't get any severe winters for a while, though that might just make it.
ReplyDeleteThis was developed locally so it's rated hardy to 15F, if we get lower than that we have a lot more losses than this citrus tree. Two years ago we were that low and lost very few plants. They took a while to grow back but I was surprised by some that returned.
DeleteLooks delicious! We've harvested quite a few meyer lemons this season and like you, I've tried to use every little bit of them ... even if that means just using the rinds to freshen the disposal! Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteGood idea freshening the disposal.
DeleteWe have one meyer lemon on a new tree this year and I'm hoping we get more next year. A gardening friend added meyer lemon to fresh herb tea from her garden at lunch recently and it was delicious.