Days 508 - 542 Citrus aplenty...but a drought?

Here we are at the end of December and I had to water the citrus trees. Never have I had to water any fruit trees after November 1st, but we have only seen a trace of rain this December...bummer for the ski season and I had to do some watering.

I have to say that the quality of the mandarins are as good as ever. The magical flavors that come from a fresh-picked citrus jsut cannot be bought at the supermarket. I did a little experiment the other day with a mandarin that was sitting on my desk for a few days (perhaps a week) vs. one that I had just picked that day. The one off of my desk tasted like store-bought citrus. It should of course because the ones in the store are just like that. Picked at least a week ago!!

With the lack of rain, I am taking advantage of the time to prune my trees. Did copper spray for the peaches and nectarine trees and have pruned all but the grape vines. No skiing, so I might as well get it done so that when the snow does come to the mountains I do not feel like I need to stay home to tend the garden.

Last year we picked 1080 mandarins and it looks like we are on target for another big harvest. What looked like a light year has me doing a double-take as the fruit starts to change color and "magically" appears on the trees. We are a bit over 250 mandarins for the season so far. Not sure it will be over a 1000 this year, but we should be picking through January and perhaps into February.

By the end of the week, I want to have a tally of what has been harvested for the year and a half that I have been on this quest. Stay tuned!! It should be interesting to see what comes out of a single yard that is planted well.

A five-week summary if you do not want to read the details:
Kale: 5 bunches ($10.00)
Lemons: 17 ($8.50)
Limes: 5 ($1.25)
Mandarins: 237 ($59.25)
Apples: 41 ($17.50)

Year 2, Day 143
1) 2 mandarins

Year 2, Day 144
1) 6 mandarins

Year 2, Day 145
1) 18 apples

Year 2, Day 146
1) 24 mandarins
2) 4 limes
3) 2 bunches kale

Year 2, Day 147-150
gone

Year 2, Day 151
1) 7 mandarins

Year 2, Day 152
1) 4 mandarins

Year 2, Day 153
1) 4 mandarins

Year 2, Day 154
1) 5 mandarins
2) 5 apples

Year 2, Day 155
1) 4 mandarins

Year 2, Day 156
1) 3 mandarins
2) 8 apples

Year 2, Day 157
1) 9 mandarins

Year 2, Day 158
1) 3 mandarins

Year 2, Day 159
1) 6 mandarins

Year 2, Day 160
1) 5 mandarins

Year 2, Day 161
1) 7 mandarins

Year 2, Day 162
1) 7 mandarins

Year 2, Day 163
1) 10 mandarins
2) 4 lemons

Year 2, Day 164
1) 1 mandarin
2) 2 lemons

Year 2, Day 165
1) 8 mandarins

Year 2, Day 166
1) 8 mandarins
2) 4 apples

Year 2, Day 167
1) 8 mandarins

Year 2, Day 168
1) 6 mandarins
2) 2 apples

Year 2, Day 169
1) 10 mandarins
2) 1 lemon

Year 2, Day 170
1) 16 mandarins
2) 1 lemon
3) 1 bunch kale

Year 2, Day 171
1) 12 mandarins
2) 6 lemons

Year 2, Day 172
1) 6 mandarins
2) 1 apple

Year 2, Day 173
1) 11 mandarins
2) 1 apple

Year 2, Day 174
1) 11 mandarins
2) 1 apple
3) 1 bunch kale

Year 2, Day 175
1) 4 mandarins
2) 1 apple
3) 1 bunch kale

Year 2, Day 176
1) 26 mandarins
2) 3 lemons
3) 1 lime

Year 2, Day 177
1) 4 mandarins

Five-Week harvest: $96.50

Total Produce Harvested : $2686.00
Total Honey Harvested: $360.00
Expenses: $330.00