![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm just now eating my first orange of the year from my potted orange tree. It appears to have weathered the frosts just fine (supposed to be cold-hardy to 20 degrees.) This orange had a bird-nip in it, so even though I wanted to wait to harvest them until later, I decided to take it down before bugs got in it. All my citrus-growing farmer's market friends tell me the longer I leave them on the tree, the sweeter they get. Instead of one honking huge orange like I got last year, I have 11 very small ones. And unlike last year's slightly soapy flavor, this one is SWEET!
The Last Survivors!
So, despite the fact that, in Austin, we have *almost* no freezes during the year, the freezes we *do* have evidently still count. I personally think this is very unfair, except when it's conveniently killing fleas I haven't been able to exterminate any other way, because the amount of effort necessary to grow vegetables in a 365-day growing season is *WAY* less than in a 362 day growing season. The idea that some kind of random weather event can cause so much trouble when it happens so seldom does *not* sit well with me.
So, anyway, all five of my still-producing tomato plants were wiped out by two nights of sub-zero temperatures. These are all that are left. One new clone did survive, because of it's proximity to the soil, but likely I'm going to start over with better tomatoes anyway. The cherry tomatoes I got from Big Red Sun rocked, but the other two varieties were never all that vigorous.
My oranges and grapefruits are looking oranger and yellower all the time.
So, despite the fact that, in Austin, we have *almost* no freezes during the year, the freezes we *do* have evidently still count. I personally think this is very unfair, except when it's conveniently killing fleas I haven't been able to exterminate any other way, because the amount of effort necessary to grow vegetables in a 365-day growing season is *WAY* less than in a 362 day growing season. The idea that some kind of random weather event can cause so much trouble when it happens so seldom does *not* sit well with me.
So, anyway, all five of my still-producing tomato plants were wiped out by two nights of sub-zero temperatures. These are all that are left. One new clone did survive, because of it's proximity to the soil, but likely I'm going to start over with better tomatoes anyway. The cherry tomatoes I got from Big Red Sun rocked, but the other two varieties were never all that vigorous.
My oranges and grapefruits are looking oranger and yellower all the time.
