Finally found a local store that sells citrus fertilizer, had two hard freezes in two days and the leaves and fruit froze off the kumquat tree. Had been looking locally rather than ordering on line and finally found some at Walmart, a store I seldom go into except when I need sneakers, which I did. My fifteen year old sneakers gave up the ghost this morning, they were just starting to fit and feel real good.
Got up this morning, got into long pants, long sleeved shirt, by 2 pm I was in shorts and a tee shirt. I do believe spring is here, I hope that is a tree statement as I abhor cold winds, and all the things that go with winter.
Dear wife spent some time today looking at seeds and plants. I took her credit card and hid it as we have a container full of all sorts of seed packets. I'm fighting her to keep her flowers out from the base of my fruit trees. Most flowers can't be eaten and they just suck all the fertilizer away from my trees. It's a mighty struggle but some day I will WIN.
We've been getting a bit of rain and it appears Ma Nature is turning south to warm us up some nowadays.
I finally got the pear tree pruned and now I can fertilize the kumquat and may be able to get it bigger and I need to open it up a little more. My old kumquat was about seven years old when I left it behind when we moved. Each fall we would pick about three five gallon buckets of really nice fruit and make all sorts of stuff from the fruit. One of my favorites was kumquat wine, nice flavor with a citrus back taste, next up was kumquat marmalade, then jelly, then just eating out of hand or putting on a shebab stick with meat in between. I do need to get that tree bigger. Of course it's living in a hole in the clay with good stuff in the hole, may never get bigger unless I can get a backhoe in the backyard and make it a bigger bed. Did that with the pear tree and it is going strong.
It's a beautiful, sunny day in the mid seventies, maybe spring is really here or it is really April Fools Day.
George