next….Citrus

One big advantage of being in Florida is the availability of citrus. I have learned a couple new names. Valencia and Hamlin these are juice oranges.  They keep pretty well and are good to eat or juice.  I had never paid any attention, but I must have heard of the Honey-Belle.  It is a sweet orange, but does not keep well. Every one knows the Navel, It peels good and is good for juice or eating.

There is a road side, honor system spot on Estes Road East of Eustis that sells the fresh fruit. Juice oranges are $5 half bushel honey belles, Navels and Tangelo’s $6 for half bushel.

96% of all citrus is picked by hand using wooden ladders and canvas sacks. The average Picker earns about $10 an hour. Since it is becoming hard to find pickers, they are experimenting with mechanical harvesters, they account for the 4%.

Citrus is a great fruit but it does not ripen once picked. Any orange that hits the ground stays there because it is damaged by rot or disease. Unlike apples that you can eat  from off the ground.

An Orange reaches a certain sweetness when it is still green, and can be picked for juice. The Orange blossom is a sweet smell, the orange tree will bloom with fruit still on the  tree. The smell carries for miles!

When I first came down I thought there were two harvests, but not so, only one a year.

I think the best juice is a combination of all the oranges.  You can imagine the amount of waste bi-product of the orange, some is incinerated and some processed for cattle food. In towns where they process the juice you can smell the peel,pulp and seeds, not as bad as the paper plants were at one time, but you can smell it.

I am always amazed at the amount of oranges hauled to the plants.

I love tangerines, but they are not a BIG thing here in Florida. Saturday we walked to the local farmers market and one lady was selling her tangerines for a $1 a dozen.  Grapefruits were 5 for a dollar.

I believe the Texas Red Grapefruit is redder than the Florida reds, but I am not sure. Texas also has some great citrus.

We have a half bushel to juice now, probably tomorrow.

Thanks for coming by the log.

Nite Shipslog

PS: (Not bad logic)

I’d rather live with a good question than a bad answer.

—Aryeh Frimer

****************************************************

1955 VW, the first car I ever did see that was not built in America.