Nice bit of rain here. The blueberries were super plump, juicy and sweet this morning. I wholeheartedly recommend picking berries in the morning after it rains. 
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Well it certainly has been an unusual winter. Even today we are getting a light mist after another .02" of rain here yesterday in the bay area. Very strange for N Cal to get any rains into May. But weâll gladly take it. The next navel orange growth has really fired up.
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Arenât Valencias now coming into season? They must flower in âŚwinter?
I grow Washington Navelâs and the latest bloom has taken off. While last years crop gets a little riper (providing the tree rats donât get them firstâŚgrrr).
When grown outdoors in temperate continental U.S. climates, true oranges flower in the spring and ripen the following year in early-to-late spring or summer depending on the cultivar; i.e., like avocados in the same conditions, the crop ripens in 12-18 months. In contrast, when grown in the tropics they ripen in 6 to 9 months.
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Oh crazyâŚi guess i didnât realize that take that long to ripen. Even with the summer fruits (melons/stonefruit/etc) i still buy oranges from time to time.
Richard,
When you pick oranges in California Iâm assuming the next crop is pretty far a long by then correct? When I picked Grapefruit and tangelo in Florida the only crop was on the tree at one time. I saw kumquat ripening at once as well. Those were all ripening in February.
Donât lemons have various stages going all at once? Ripe fruit/flowers/etc???
No, theyâve just set and maybe the size of marbles.
Same is true here.
My kumquat fruits 2-3 times per year.
Yes. I have 3-4 crops per year from a single lemon tree.
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As Richard said, they are about the size of marbles at this stage. They will be beginning to get ripe enough to eat around mid-late dec here in Nor Cal. But if you leave them a couple more months they become extremely sweet (like orange soda) at least inland.
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Valencias ripen in June for use here. Richard explained it well. LONG flower to fruit time. They are often referred to as our âsummer orangesâ, versus our navel oranges, which ripen in the winter, as most citrus do.
http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/midknight.html
http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/frost_valencia.html
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This is interesting! The weather models are predicting a late-season storm for California for right around June 8th.
That would be wonderful. Hope it makes it all the way down to San Diego county 
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I didnât realize we were the cause of your water shortage.
Our Busted Plug Firehydrant must be on the same water line. The stream of water flowing from the âbustedâ hydrant is crazy big.
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ehhhhh ⌠We use all our water for something much more important
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I found the problem, someone left the water on over here in the East.
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Superb thread keep it going guys!
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