The Brochure on a Backyard Fruit Bounty
Many a summer night I would lay in my bed with the window open (this was before we had air conditioning) and hear them on the branches talking to each other and crunching away.
Today I’m going to talk about something that is very prolific. Our tangerine tree. Just when you think you can’t hear about anything more in my garden, right? Well this tree is the epitome of prolific. If you were going to look at the original investment and the annual output, the return on investment is incredibly beyond any expectations.
My parents decided to plant it sometime in the 70s. I remember that part. I’m not sure why they chose a tangerine tree, but we already had a big walnut tree. I think originally the area was a walnut farm because there seemed to be a lot of walnut trees scattered throughout our immediate area. And one of the oldest homes on our block is a farmhouse style home with a barn as the garage. Go figure. Now I can count just one walnut tree and it’s on the same property with the farmhouse. Ours died many years ago. I can’t say we actually ate many of the walnuts. They were usually taken over by the raccoons, if you can believe that. Many a summer night I would lay in my bed with the window open (this was before we had air conditioning) and hear them on the branches talking to each other and crunching away. They were literally like a little gang of bandits in the tree. I could hear them talking to each other in raccoon language and rustling through the leaves and harvesting the nuts. It was great fun but not so conducive to sleep!
As a child I found it interesting how walnuts grew. They would form a green fruit of sorts. At least that’s what it looked like. If you cut into it – because I was kind of a curious child and I, and I did that – the center was all liquid-y. Then after a while, the shell would form and the liquid would form the actual meat of the nuts. And the green parts, the outer green covering, would turn dark or even black and fall off. Then you could see the shell. The raccoons would leave the outer green or black coverings but also the hard shells. They were good at getting at cracking into one of their favorite foods.
There was also a big plum tree that was really more of an ornamental plum if you will. The fruit never seemed to be THAT good, but we did eat them. You had to really work to get the flesh away from the pit and they had to be really ripe to not be tart. We didn’t give much of the plums away because they were never really that good. Maybe they didn’t get enough sun or something. The tree was right up next to the garage, so maybe that was part of the problem. I tend to believe that the tree had been here when my parents bought the house. It had purple fruit and purple leaves. The bark was almost purple too. But it’s gone now.
We also planted an apricot tree next to the plum tree which didn’t seem to last long. It’s a tough thing overall because being in a canyon you don’t get a full day’s worth of sun, and with the two huge oak trees behind our property now, there’s also a lot of shade. The tangerine tree got the admirable spot in the middle of the backyard and the most sun of any spot we really have on our property. Now if I could plant a tree on our driveway, that would be the next most sunlit spot. Obviously that won’t work out too well.
Every year this tangerine tree has produced fruit like a real trooper. Some years of course are better than others. Some years the fruit has more seeds. Some years the fruit is a bit sweeter. The tree now has grown to really shield our back patio. I would say it’s about 20 to 25 feet tall and maybe 20 feet in diameter in some parts. We planted it in a narrow bed between the patio and the driveway, and it has found its way.
A while ago I was worried that it wasn’t doing so well, and I went online to read more about tangerine trees. The leaves were all kind of turning yellow and falling off and just didn’t look that happy. I discovered that in general tangerine trees live only about 50 years or so. YIKES! I started doing the math with my fingers, counting off the decades and realized that perhaps our tangerine tree is an elder stateman after all. Here I thought as a tree it might be sort of evergreen. Timeless. Outlive me! I started thinking about it more. Taking better care of it. Best not to take it for granted. Be nice to it! The yard would be really empty without it and planting another one, well, it would take a long time before it would fill in where this one left off. I started letting the hose drip on it for a time during the hottest weeks so that it would at least be nourished. Talked to the folks at the nursery about how best to feed it. It has served us well. It deserves the best care. Like our big redwood tree in front, it’s a member of the family.
I know that at least it’s home to the hummingbirds. Although I can’t seem to see the nest we believe that’s where some of them live, near the top. Then they have quick access to one of their feeders I hang on the patio. When I take the fruit picker that is on top of a long pole so that I can get the fruit at the top, the hummingbirds get more active and start buzzing me, so they must be trying to defend their territory.
After he retired, and maybe even before that my dad used to enjoy sitting outside in the sun with the dog and picking a few to eat at a time. With the dog laying at his feet, the two of them would commune with nature. Every time I look at the tree now I think about that. And yes, sometimes I pick one or two and sit out there with our current dog and commune with nature. They are easy to peel and make a good snack.
This year they seem to have fewer seeds and are sweeter than other years. I’ve been out there picking several days a week. The thing is that you have to really get rid of the fruit every year so that the tree has a better chance of being healthy, for one, and also producing better fruit next year. Now there are probably hundreds of tangerines on the tree. Still. I’ve picked a lot so far. I’ve given them to friends, neighbors, folks at the barn. It’s good fruit. Our former trainer who used to take care of our horse suggested that Dallas might enjoy eating a section or two, and when she was eating one herself, gave him a couple of pieces. And I was surprised that he actually liked it! Horses aren’t just about apples and carrots! Now, I wouldn’t feed him too much of this fruit, but a bit here and there I guess is okay.
Everything seems to be so pricey these days and tangerines are in the markets now too. It looks like they are still about $2 to $3 a pound which isn’t bad, but free is free! When I go on walks, my little doggie and me, I see a lot of our neighbors have other citrus trees. Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and even kumquats. Growing up I always associated citrus trees with Florida, but we’re doing okay here ourselves! And I heard about a couple of volunteer groups, nonprofits, that will come out and help pick all the fruit on your tree and then turn around and give it to the homeless. One here locally is called Food Forward. I’d be open to that, but so far I have a long list of people who want the fruit this year. Still it’s something to consider. Fresh fruit is something that a lot of shelters don’t necessarily receive for their clients.
This year we’ve received a lot of rain. We’re not experiencing drought conditions so much. I’m hoping it’s not TOO much rain and the tree remains happy. The optimal scenario I think would be that it could dry out a little in between storms. We’ll see how the weather pans out. And a couple of years ago I planted an apricot tree again in the yard, near the tangerine tree. I love apricots, especially ones right off a tree. Last year we got two. Yes, two apricots. I should say I got one and the squirrels got the other one. It’s good to share, right? Sharing is caring. Well, it’s a big difference between that and the tangerine output. Still, we have a goal to work towards!
Well fellow fruit lovers, that’s all I’ve got for today. Now I’ve got to go pick some more because it looks like there’s a break in the rain. Next week we’ll tackle another topic together. I hope you’ll join me.