Sweet Stroll and Sour Oranges

Only that traveling is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better. — Henry David Thoreau, Journal

Photo by A. Barra. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

For the first time in a long, uncountable time, I took a morning stroll. Rather than count the miles or my heartbeats per minute, I wanted to meander along in the morning – feel the morning – and take stock of the wider bounty in my neighborhood.

My original objects of gastric interest – wild sunflowers and prickly pears – though I found other useful things along the way – cut grasses and brush piles for biochar and mulch, mesquite for late-summer pods, and belladonna for I know not what good purposes.

But what came home with me were three bitter oranges, fallen ripe from a neighbor's tree into the yard.

Those who live in the Rio Grande Valley know that wild and semiwild oranges are extremely sour, more like lemons, and a little bitter. So I squeezed them for the juice, which I mixed with water and sugar to make a kind of sour-orange-aid or lemonada (¿naranjada?). Lovely way to start the morning.

I think the bitter oranges would be excellent to make marmalade, and the juice would be great for a marinade for grilled chicken or seafood, or to make ceviche.

As I do want these hardy fruits growing in my yard – and as I'm trying to do everything on the cheap – I'm going to use the seeds to grow my own bitter orange trees. It will take many years to produce fruit (maybe 15), but I'm in no hurry. Here's a great video showing how to grow from seed.

Orange growers typically use cuttings from preferred varieties, such as navel or Valencia, grafted to bitter orange rootstock. This cuts down on time. But I like the hardy bitter oranges, and I suspect sweeter varieties have a diminishing horizon due to citrus greening disease, which is now in the Rio Grande Valley. It's better to go with the survivors.

#permaculture #oranges #gardening #perennials