Nothing is better than an orange fresh off the tree!
Every once in awhile I get a hankering to be able to grow my own tropical fruits. I still remember the orange I had when I was on tour with my college symphony. It had been fresh picked from the tree that morning. As I ate it, it dripped all down the front of me, it was so juicy. We had a lot of laughs over that, and I had the best orange I’ve ever had.
Different areas provide different opportunities for growing plants. Here in the mid-Atlantic our acidic clay soil provided us with at least 5 pounds of blueberries this morning, and that was primarily from just 2 plants!
The idea of walking out on a warm, sunny morning and picking a fresh orange, grapefruit, lemon, or lime right off my own patio, since they have many patio trees available for citrus, is intriguing. Looking at new homes in tampa and visualizing myself sitting on the patio with a sparkling swimming pool and my own little tropical fruit stand growing around it, has crossed my mind once or twice, especially on cold, icy winter days when the powers gone out and we’re trying to stay warm under quilts until it returns. Florida looks really good right about then.
Of course I’d have to try my hand at other tropical fruits, as well. Especially mangos. I love mangoes. Did you know there are over 60 varieties of mangoes? All we get here in the state, at least for the most part, are two. So, I would include a couple different mangoes, as I don’t think I’d have space for all 60. I’d also try some bananas, papayas, date palm (oh my goodness that would be good, really fresh dates), and coconut trees.
My neighbors might not like it in the beginning, but when I start to share the harvest with them I’m sure they’d change their tune.
Another thing about Florida is all the ocean front to play in. Here I have to drive 5 hours just to get to any ocean, and then it is often so windy that the sand stings you and the sand flies bite like crazy. I’ve been to Florida a few times and really enjoyed their clean sandy beaches. Oh, and don’t forget the cool seashells you can find down there. I was there once, right after a storm and found dozens of the coolest shells ever. I’ve got them stored and when I redo my second bath I’m going to cover the frame of the mirror with all those shells to make my bathroom look like a seaside cottage bath.
It’s always fun to imagine what it would be like to live in some new, exotic place. What plants you’d like to grow. Who knows, maybe someday I might just reside in Florida, but for right now I think I’ll go grab a bowl of blueberries, something I’d not be able to grow in Florida. There are always tradeoffs, so remember to enjoy the bounty your area has to offer. Every location has its specialties.
