Citrus and Peach trees

[PeakOiler]

Well, enough coworkers put enough cash tips (in my tip cup on my desk at work) for some peaches that more than covered the amount I spent on gasoline for my 92-mile round trip commute today. I wish I could do that every day!

I gave a lot of peaches away too.

This evening I harvested another 78 peaches weighing 6.5 kg (14.3 lb). That brings my YTD total to 207 peaches. And all these are essentially from just one peach tree! Yikes! There are still hundreds on the other 12 trees!

If I can't eat the peaches, I might as well make a little money...

[PeakOiler]

It seems I have found a niche market for my extra peaches: My workplace. I've been getting great feedback and many requests for more. I will oblige them as long as the peaches are "marketable."

Many of the imperfect peaches I'm slicing, pitting, peeling and freezing for the next batch of peach wine, which shouldn't be too far away now. I need more bottles. A couple of coworkers are interested in buying some wine too, but I don't know if I need a license for that.

YTD: 49 lbs, 22.4 kg, 256 peaches, not counting what I'm about to go pick this evening...

[furrybill]

PeakOiler I'm totally jealous of all those peaches!

We've had crazy weather here. There were 80-degree days in March, April and May. There was no frost in May but temps got real low. A cherry and plum tree both go fooled and bloomer too early - a cold snap came through and they dropped the flowers - no fruit this year! Another cherry tree was so stressed by the swings in temperature that it died. I planted 3 paw-paws, a nectarine and a couple more peaches a couple weeks back, hopefully they'll do well. Have to get my trellis built for the hardy kiwi. The peach tree is my favorite. It bloomed early and yet didn't suffer from the various cold snaps. There are tons of peaches on it - I'll have to thin them soon. So far as I can tell the apples, raspberries and blueberries were unaffected by the weather except to thrive.

[PeakOiler]

Good luck with your peach trees furrybill. Weather (late frosts, wind, drought, etc.,) has often taken it's toll on my peach trees. This year I'm having a good harvest, but I don't think I will break my record of 494 pounds in 2010.

Meanwhile I'm taking some extra peaches to work tomorrow, where I continue to get asked when the next peaches will be ready. Many of my coworkers are still leaving donations @ $1/lb., or more.

This is peach tree #8:



This one is on peach tree #7:



These I weighed yesterday:



The scale reads 366 grams (0.81 lb).

Edit: I just weighed another 32 peaches, 3.4 kg.

YTD: 36.1 kg (80 lb.) from 406 peaches.

[PeakOiler]

Last week I sold enough peaches at work (as well as giving many away to coworkers) that I bought a 10' x 10' canopy at a local retail store. Today I bought a 6' folding table for the "future peach stand" for $10. Then I sold $10 (@$1/lb) peaches to the guy that sold me the table. I kinda like this.

I harvested another 16.4 kg (36 lb) peaches this morning.

Last time I checked the local grocer (HEB), Texas peaches were selling for $1.48/lb. And my peaches are organic.

I still have to process a lot of the unmarketable peaches - bird or wind-branch damaged peaches that is. I currently have more than enough frozen processed peaches for the next batch of peach wine.

My peach harvest chart is peaking for the season... I may post that later.

YTD: 90.3 kg, 199 lb., 910 peaches.

[PeakOiler]

Today my nearest neighbor, who lives about 1/4 mile away, brought me some cash for some extra peaches I was leaving at his gate. I gave him even more peaches, since I still am a little overwhelmed with the good harvest.

Got another batch of peach wine started today.

Tomorrow I'm taking a bunch of peaches to a friend's birthday party to be passed around to the guests. Guests were encouraged to bring something that goes well with peaches, such as ice cream. I'm giving my friend and his wife a bottle of peach wine.

Cheers!


YTD: 108 kg, 238 lb from 1,031 peaches, and I haven't weighed the ones I picked this morning.

[PeakOiler]

A couple of days ago I found one baby grapefruit on one of the little trees and the tree has also blossomed again. It seems pretty late in the season for it to blossom. Citrus are weird.

Fortunately the peach harvest season is almost over. YTD 1,078 peaches weighing 118 kg (261 lb). I think there are only about tree peaches left to pick. Whew!

btw, I did use 2.47 kW-hr of electrical energy as fuel (for electric water pumps) to help produce the peaches this season. ($0.30 of electricity.)

[PeakOiler]

My final peach totals were 1,100 peaches, weighing 120,5 kilos (266 lb).

I made a peach pie using stevia extract instead of sugar. Turned out quite well. I still have to limit the portion (1/8 pie slice per serving). Froze most of it.

It's almost time to rack the current batch of peach wine a second time.

[PeakOiler]

I've begun harvesting some of my citrus.

So far, I've eaten one navel orange, (two remain). Below is the largest orange that is still turning from green to yellow. It'll eventually turn orange over the next couple weeks:



I've got nine grapefruit on the way. They'll be ready to pick in the next 4-6 weeks. Here's one of them:



I've already picked about five lemons. More are almost ready:


I ate one satsuma mandarin (tangerine) this morning (it was delicious!), one is in the fridge, and about 32 more are almost ready. Here's some of them:



I think I'll get over 70 citrus fruits this year!

[PeakOiler]

Our first freezing temperatures of the season around here are mostly from mid November till the end of the month. I've already brought the minneola tangelo and pineapple into the house right next to the 6x6 ft. south-facing window. (The picture was taken at night).



That little tree has seven fruits on it! I had to use an old sock to help support the fruit.

I plan on bringing the lime, two grapefruit, and the avocado trees into the house. The rest of the citrus trees will go out to the greenhouse or in a temp hoop-house again (right against the house), and I might just transplant one of the lemons and one more satsuma into the ground this fall. I've already started construction of some enclosures using material from the salvaged carport. I want to configure a chiminea (or two) to help warm the in-ground citrus when needed. wip

[PeakOiler]

A picture of some of the Citrus and Peach Trees on Dec. 1:



You can see in the picture three of the 13 peach trees, which have now lost nearly all of their leaves, and some of the citrus on the front deck/porch. Some of the lemons and satsuma can be seen near the center of the pic.

The front yard is essentially brown from the lack of rain. YTD rain 16.55". Normal use to be around 30" per year. One of the seven 1,550 gallon rainwater tanks, behind the lattice, is ready for a recharge. (See the two 3" downspout pipes from the gutters along the metal roof?) I'm down to less than 3,000 gallons of collected rainwater. I hope we get some good winter rain. We'll see.

You can also see some of the 3/4" PVC irrigation pipe outlets near the base of the trunks of two of the peach trees.

The sheet plastic is currently pulled back from the PVC pipe "hoop-house" framework on the deck to let more sun onto the citrus.

[PeakOiler]

The first pink grapefruit I've harvested this season weighed 604 grams (1.33 lb). I haven't eaten it yet. It's currently in the fridge.

Shown below are a few of the others that aren't quite ready yet.





I added a little bit of sphagnum peat moss to each of the pots today.

[PeakOiler]

Today I juiced a dozen lemons yielding 500 ml. That brings my YTD total to 799 ml. I froze the juice in the solar-powered freezer.

Still nine lemons in the fridge and about 20 left on the trees. Some of these Meyers lemons are getting pretty big.

Ate half the pink grapefruit that I harvested on 11/27 today. Excellent.

Covered the citrus trees with Plankets today in preparation for the possible freezing temperatures Monday and Tuesday night.

[PeakOiler]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I was working on some enclosures for the in-ground satsuma trees. I'm still not done, but this is what I have so far:



A chiminea next to the enclosures can help against Jack Frost too. You can see about half the chiminea in the picture.

I am enclosing one side with metal salvaged from the carport damaged in a storm last May and the other sides with plexiglass or equivalent. A very large shipping crate is currently around the satsuma tree I recently transplanted. I'll use the Plankets to cover the trees, as well as burning an incandescent light when the temperatures dip below freezing:



When the threat of freezing weather is over in a few months, all the enclosures can be easily dismantled.

I still have a lot of salvaged material to use:


YTD I've harvested 95 citrus fruits, my new all-time annual high!

Family and friends are getting a lemon in their Christmas stockings.

[PeakOiler]

Today I'm going to bake two more peach pies using fruit harvested earlier this year for the holiday get-togethers. I still have about 20 pounds of frozen peaches.

I need to start another batch of peach wine.

[PeakOiler]

Update on temporary mini greenhouses for two of my satsuma tangerine trees:

I removed the southwest side of the old shipping crate that was placed around the tree that I recently transplanted, and so far has been protecting the young tree from the freezing temperatures, and then I attached some plastic sheet to the 1x4 studs of the crate. You can see the protective film partially pulled back from the plastic sheet. The plastic is so clear, you can't see it.
In the background of the picture above is the 1,550 gal rainwater tank that collects from Shed #2 and the main greenhouse. It currently has about 500 gallons of water in it. The main greenhouse currently houses the blood orange and a few of the Meyers lemon trees.



The picture below shows the satsuma tree inside the crate:



Finally, the view from the open end of the enclosures:



Today is a very pleasant day, with blue skies, an ambient temperature of ~69F. When the temperatures drop below freezing, this south end will be enclosed.

I was concerned the tree in back wasn't getting enough light being enclosed on three sides by wood, so by replacing the southwest side of the crate with plastic, the tree will get more light.

When Spring comes around, and the threat of freezing temps is over, it will be easy to dismantle the enclosures.

[PeakOiler]

Today I ate 1/4 of a homegrown pink grapefruit. Delicious! Since bringing the two potted GF trees into the house, the remaining six fruits have still not fully ripened. Almost ready. So the slow supply of homegrown citrus continues...

The seven small minneola tangelo fruits are finally beginning to turn orange.

The Garden Logbook is getting updated.

[PeakOiler]

Yesterday I harvested the fourth pink grapefruit of the season:


The scale indicates 792 grams, (1.75 pounds).



I think I'll cut it up tomorrow morning.

Harvesting grapefruit at this time of year is new to me. Over the last few years the fruit was all ripe by January. There are still three more fruit on one of the potted trees.

[PeakOiler]

An Update on the Citrus and Peach Trees

With some decent Spring rains, the peach crop may do well. We'll see. I would prefer to use rainwater only, but with the continuing severe drought, I'll have to use the city's chlorinated hard water. I think the last freeze of the season is behind us now, so the peach blossoms won't be hurt.



This morning I continued digging a hole for my first Meyers lemon tree transplant into the ground. The potted lemon tree is in the background in the image below on the hand truck. It's just getting to big for it's plastic pot, which is crumbling away after being in the sun for so many years, and too big to get through the greenhouse doorway with the hand truck, so it's time to put it in the ground.



I finished juicing all but one lemon this morning, yielding about 550 ml. I froze the juice.

I still have one and a quarter pink grapefruits to eat, and one more small tangelo.

All of the peach and citrus trees are in flower now.

The Honda Insight now has over 220,000 miles on it. I've almost driven from the Earth to the Moon.

Less than 580 commuting days left to go! (~29 months). I can hardly wait till retirement! Will that little car last? I may have to replace the main battery one more time.

[Shaved Monkey]

We had the driest 6 months on record
I still got about 200 odd peaches but very small
I got a few citrus on the trees now but not heaps
The long dry and the recent flooding hasn't been kind to them.
The plan is to install more water tanks and maintain the moisture over the dry to give them a better chance.
I have just 90% filled my new 24,500 litre tank and will purchase another 3 or 4 smaller ones to catch the over flow in the wet season.