It is Time to Get Serious!
Woman in the Middle | February 25, 2014It is the end of February folks and I decided this past weekend that it was time to get serious about getting those delicious oranges off the tree and distributed to neighbors, friends and coworkers. Mind you, that had already been going on since the end of December, but those were the “wimp” oranges, the ones I could pick just by reaching out and plucking them off the tree. But there are more, many more left on the tree.
As you can see, there are still quite a few oranges way up high, and I can’t reach them without a ladder. I am not going to drag the ladder out of the garage so yesterday I brought out the big gun – the orange picker.
This handy-dandy item allows the homeowner with a full-grown orange tree to reach way up high and gently yank an orange off its stem. It then falls a few inches into the basket, safe and sound. Here is a better photo of the basket:
However, it isn’t quite that easy for all the high up oranges. Let me show you another photo:
Can you see all those oranges hiding deep in the tree? They are too high to reach and are buried so deep amongst the twigs and branches that the orange picker is useless. That is when I bring out the really big gun – Hubby! I think he sees it as a challenge, kind of like a computer game. He finds a way to ease that orange picker deep into the tree to get those hard to reach oranges. Sometimes he turns the orange picker around and uses the handle to try to knock the oranges out of the tree. Whatever the case. he is the one who is sent in to get the last of the hard to reach oranges off the tree.
Lots of people have orange trees in my neck of the woods. But my orange tree isn’t a regular Navel, it is a Red Navel, or a Cara Cara orange tree. So I can usually get folks to at least take a few. I had a meeting at my house last night and everyone got a free parting gift – oranges! Today I am going to juice some for Hubby. Yep, it is that time of year and it is time to get serious!!!
OMG! I would kill for some of those oranges! By the time they get to me commercially, they don’t taste the same.
Kate, you will just have to come visit me next January. Miss out on some snow, and have all the oranges you could possibly want!
I so love oranges so I am so jealous I would love to have an orange tree.
Oh how I envy you the orange trees! I had them growing up in Florida along with so many other tropical fruits. Good health, good taste – an unbeatable combination. Wish I were your neighbor.
You just need to come to So Cal next year during orange picking time! You can come by and have all the oranges you could possibly want!
They look delicious! Sweet of Hubby to help you out. I was going to suggest a neighborhood child to climb the tree. My boys used to love to climb our apple trees to get the ones at the very tip top.
The orange tree is filled with little dead twigs, very scrathcy. And I don’t think the branches are strong enough for climbing. But not a bad idea….