One of the things we were most in awe of during our visit to California was Art's sister and brother-in-law's garden-orchard.
They had a little grove of miniature avocado, several varieties of citrus, persimmons and I forget what else. Here is Kay (sister-in-law) picking some snap peas.
And yes, it was very confusing to have two Kays in the house.
We have two Meyer lemon trees in Hawaii. Seems to me almost anyone who has a lemon tree in Hawaii has a Meyer lemon. My sister-in-law, Kay also planted a Meyer lemon tree in California and told us her fruits were so sweet you could drink the juice without adding any sugar.
We were sure she was exaggerating a little because our Meyer lemons are still rather tart though it's supposed to be sweeter. Kay squeezed a tablespoonful for me and it was like slurping liquid lemon candy! (OK... maybe I'm exaggerating just a teeny bit, but not much.) What a SHOCK! I have NEVER tasted a lemon that was sweeter than the oranges we get in Hawaii.
This is our Meyer Lemon tree in Hawaii. We have two of them and they produce a lot of lemons and the fruit is often quite large.
I posted this photo a while ago. My brother took the photo using his Costco card as a size reference. It looks like a huge yellowish green orange.
California Kay's tree is bushier. Maybe it's because she doesn't have mom constantly pruning hers.
And here are her Meyer lemon fruits. They're gorgeous, but smaller (about the size of the lemons you see at the supermarket) and it has those little nipples at the ends.
I don't know. Maybe there's a California Meyer and a Hawaii Meyer. Maybe it's the cold weather California gets that makes them sweeter.
And here are some of the citrus from her grove. Incredible! It must be because they are picked only when they are ripe, but we couldn't get over the sweet flavor. Maybe it's her composting? Maybe the gophers in her backyard are doing some kind of magical chant?
We ate so many citrus fruits while we were in California that it must have been what prevented us from catching a cold while we were there. The only problem is that it's spoiled us for what we get at the markets here.
And if all this wasn't enough to get us feeling jealous, look what else she planted!
Yup! Papayas!
Sigh...
Wow, if gophers make Meyers sweet,think I will plant some. I have enough gophers to do the job but maybe not the climate. Mine in Florida were only
ReplyDeleteho-hum.
How bitter sweet to see Art among the Papayas.
I love the picture of all those wonderful oranges. I'd like one right now, in fact. I wonder why they are so sweet, too. Maybe it's the climate? :-)
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh! What beautiful fruit and those papayas are amazing too, poor Art, it must have stung abit standing beside those after all you have gone through to have them grow,
ReplyDeleteKay I was just showing Garry your post and he said why don't you bring some seeds back, are you allowed to do that, just to see what they do growing in your yard,
ReplyDeleteNo... sigh.... I wish I could or I would bring back seeds. However, there are strict laws about bringing any fresh plant things back to Hawaii or into California.
DeleteArt just checked online for restrictions.... and maybe... just maybe it's possible. I'm going to call the agricultural inspection people and ask them. Thank you for the idea!!!
I remember visiting friends in L.A., and the parent's backyard was full of fruits, except the papaya. Is the gopher's "magic" the gopher droppings? I'm wondering if your relative's grounds and dirt are different than your gravel-scattered area? Maybe they put a bird feeder a short distance away. You could apply some "Miracle Grow" fertilizer to your lemons? You three should join some garden clubs in Honolulu. The local county conservation dept. might test your soil. Or, "just a spoonful of sugar..." DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteIt's true that our dirt is not very good at all and we've not done much to condition it. Mom does use Miracle Grow though.
Deletewow gardening must run in Art's family...
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! They remind me of my father's yard, where he planted all kinds of fruit trees. In fact, tour buses stopped in front of our house to admire his huge watermelon papayas and pumpkin patch. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI'm always envious when I see people who are able to grow such a wonderful range of citrus fruits. But then, perhaps they are envious of our apples, pears and plums.
ReplyDeleteGosh your sis in law is a fabulous gardener! Sweet lemons sound unreal!
ReplyDeleteI think citrus does better there because the environment is so similar to their original habitant. And no fruit flies. However we do have a navel orange that does very well and has sweet juicy fruit.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine citrus fruit right off the tree, but we can do that with apples here.
ReplyDeleteI just did a little checking and the California Kay has the "real" Meyer lemon. I don't know what those big ones you grow are.
ReplyDeleteSo weird... We bought one of the trees and my brother bought the other another time. They were both labeled Meyer lemons. It's a mystery!
DeleteI remember hearing my mom say that the only way to be sure you're getting the same fruit tree is to graft a branch. My aunt grafted her pomelo tree and we planted the grafted branch in our back yard 20 years ago...our DIL told us her grandmother who is known to be a "pomelo expert" said it was the best pomelo she ever tasted. Growing from seeds may be hit or miss I think. Not sure of anything since my gardening is hit or miss lol.
ReplyDeleteL...w
I was walking around the neighborhood tonight and none of my neighbors have the kind of Meyer lemons we saw in California. I'm wondering if California have their own kind of Meyer and Hawaii has their own. Our Meyer is not very sweet. It actually tastes like a lemon. I think we've been had.
DeleteI think you are experiencing envy. I love citrus fruit and rely on importing mine from Florida. I tried to grow a Myer lemon in a pot on my patio, but no luck. Dianne
ReplyDeleteThat's a little Paradise in her yard. Sweet lemons? Not an oxymoron?
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! When Kay asked me to taste that tablespoon full, I was really hesitant but I obediently opened my mouth. What a shock to find it really was super sweet. Totally amazed me. So what is this lemon we have in Hawaii? No idea. It's not sweet though, I can attest to that.
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