Monday, November 30, 2020

What Was That Sound?

The "food lovers" holiday has past and we now must dust off the treadmill (or in my case the elliptical). That extra five or eight pounds is not going to go away all by itself. Now we must also promise ourselves to eat super healthy for the next few weeks until Christmas (or other holidays at this time of year) when we can eat all the bread we want again. 

To also improve my health, I have been trying to increase my hours of sleep and one would think with the shorter days that this would be an easy win...not. So I was up at 5:30 A.M. this morning and listening/watching a course I am taking on photography via my laptop. The house was almost quiet except for the TREMENDOUS wind and rain we are getting today.  It would come in waves and then stop for a few minutes.  I paused the laptop video to refresh my coffee and just before I stood up, I heard a thick thud coming from the kitchen.  Had a tree branch hit the side of the house in this angry storm?  Did something fall over behind me in the kitchen?  Was I still alone with hubby sound asleep in bed or was someone stalking about the house in this dark morning?
 
I did not panic because it was a familiar sound.  It came from my citrus orchard in the corner windows of the kitchen.  The "thunk" was the fall of a Kafir lime about the size of a golf ball as the tree shed its ripe fruit.  It does become a prickly treasure hunt when I try to retrieve the green orb and nine times out of ten it falls into the farthest corner.





I am growing a Meyer Lemon tree, a Calamondin tree, and a Kafir lime tree inside and all super pruned so that they fit!  The large pots sit in plastic bins (ugly I know) because I have to really soak the trees each week.  They are mostly root and little soil, so I also fertilize every six weeks or so.  The Kafir and the Calamondon are full of fruit.  That means this winter I will get lots of fresh vitamin C.  These windows do not have the coatings that most windows have to reduce sunlight on fabrics and floors.  The timed lighting is necessary or trees would be dropping leaves as well as fruit!

I made turkey curry last night and the citrus was a nice addition sprinkled over the top of dishes and added to our beverages.


If I closed my eyes I could pretend I was eating in a small breakfast lanai on Bali.

25 comments:

  1. Your trees look very healthy, and that fruit looks delicious! I'm glad it was just the "thunk" of a big lemon falling. :-)

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  2. You are creative in every way including citrus tree growing.

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  3. What a neat corner! But I remember that you are a master gardener.

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    1. Yep, very nice and sunny...uh, when it's not raining, that is.

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    2. Have had to research this as houseplants were not part of our course.

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  4. That is very cool or "lit" as my granddaughter says.

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  5. Magic stuff. All my plants are outside on the deck. They get watered once a week, and late week we pour off the water so we do not have mosquitos. LOL Sometimes we also remember to water our neighbor's plants....she has been gone many years.

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    1. A reason to get out of the house!!

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  6. That is so funny! Thud and chasing down limes. I'm glad it wasn't anything serious.
    Maybe wrapping plastic grass mat around planters?

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  7. I envy your garden! I had to look up Calamondin tree so I learned something too. Thank you.

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  8. We grew a Meyer lemon tree before we discovered there is a Hawaii Meyer and a California Meyer. The California Meyer is super sweeter. Your indoor citrus orchard looks awesome!

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  9. I admire your citrus garden. You seem to have mastered how to keep your trees happy and producing.

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  10. I have never seen anyone but you grow citrus indoors. You are the master, Tabor.

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  11. Wow. Your own greenhouse in a corner of the kitchen.

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  12. I, too, admire you indoor orchard. Your trees look to be thriving in their corner. And a lime falling would be the best possible thud one could hear in the night.

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  13. Love your indoor orchard. All we have is philodendron ... and not because we like it, but because it's the only thing we can grow.

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    1. Some succulents are easy and I am now growing a Hoya carnosa, the porcelainflower or wax plant, which is VERY slow to grow and bloom but requires very little care.

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  14. I wish that I could grow indoor citrus like this! I would love that.

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  15. I used to be able to grow house plants and loved doing it but wrong windows both in Oregon and Tucson. And then there are cats who like the tables that might grow a plant

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  16. That is amazing growing fruit inside. Well done. You don't have a marijuana hidden in there do you?

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    1. My goodness, no. It is legally available not too far from here, but it is a bit of a drive.

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  17. Something crashed loudly on my roof last night causing me to leap three feet in the air off my bed and my two furry bed-mates to do likewise. I'll pop out shortly to see what it was. Whatever it was will have to stay there because there is noway I am climbing up there... no way I could!

    My generous little lemon tree is loaded with baby fruit. Now I'm waiting and waiting for the fruit to grow and ripen I love the lemons off my little tree.

    Take good care, Tabor....:)

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  18. Oh, that's wonderful growing those trees indoors. I had a variety of dwarf citrus, 2 oranges, lemon, lime plus my favorite -- Mandarin orange. I hadn't setup the drip system when suddenly my husband died, then an extended trip east to celebrate his life with friends and my trees didn't get watered so died in summer heat. They had become pretty much all root in pots, too. I never resumed that gardening with new trees but miss those mandarin oranges. I don't have indoor area I could have trees and if outside on patio would need to be able to move them a few times in winter due to instances of freezing temps and I'm no longer able to physically handle such large plants.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.