Citrus and My Dad
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Posted by Robert Dailey Mar 1, 2009 |
Some of my fondest memories are working with my dad in our little citrus orchard in rural Louisiana.
It wasn’t very big, maybe 20 trees. But it had variety.
We had lemon, grapefruit, kumquats, satsumas, Louisiana sweets, and a navel orange.
Many of the trees we had grafted ourselves, with the help of Mr. McCrory, retired principal of the nearest high school.
Mr. McCrory was, I guess, about the closest one could come to a master gardener back then. He was better at grafting citrus than the extension agent, who was a pretty good gardener himself.
Dad and I would drive out to a little nursery out on U.S. 90 between Crowley and Jennings and buy some trifoliate stock and buds for several different varieties.
We’d graft a lot of trifoliata to get a few trees (if we were lucky). But some of them took. And turned into healthy, productive trees.
In late summer and early fall, we kids would lie on the soft St. Augustine grass under the Satsuma trees, pull the fruit, peel it and eat it right there.
I have never really liked oranges. But the tangy sweetness of Satsumas is heaven to me still. And the tartness of home-grown lemons and limes squeezed into freshly brewed tea, with a few sprigs of fresh mint, is hard to beat. And I still like to pop whole kumquats into my mouth, especially if they’re tart enough to make my eyes water.
In fact, since I don’t have an orchard anymore, I think I’m going over to the market today and see if I can pick up some little Clementines.
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