Short on Time, Heavy on Fruit

We are now in countdown mode for the move. In 17 days, we will be pulling away from the house here. I've been doing my best to lift what plants can make the move with us, but we will be leaving so many things behind. Most of them have put on a significant amount of fruit, and I've been out every morning to give them verbal and liquid (water) encouragement. I had such great hopes that I could harvest some portion of the bounty that is in the garden, but it looks like we're going to run out of time. Since the new owners aren't interested in the garden, I fear it all may go to waste.

I'm trying not to fret about the fruit.

The pomegranate, which struggled in its first two years, is a little out of control now. I've made arrangements for a neighbor to adopt it, so at least I can relax about that one. I know she'll take great care of it and enjoy those juicy seeds it's developing.

This little gem needs about a month more

These will take quite a bit longer

The lime tree is weighed down by a full crop of fruit, which I suspect might be its last season since it has finally succumbed to the citrus greening that has been wiping out all of the citrus in Florida. I'm sorry I won't be able to fill my baskets to overflowing with these again.

Too small for picking

The fig tree has long been a source of frustration for me. It taunts me every season by putting on tons of those little balloons of sweetness and then getting a rust fungus and dropping all of the fruit too soon. This year, thanks to the drought, I've been spared the disappointment of rust, but I'm still being teased by that tree. It's been covered in at least a hundred fruits for a couple of months, but they have not changed size or color in all that time. I'm beginning to think that they'll all be perfect a day after we leave. All I ever wanted was one jar of fig preserves. One jar. Happily, I took a cutting of this thing, and it's already rooted, so its offspring can continue abusing me in Georgia. 

Thou wast not born for preserves, infuriating fig!

Finally, my pineapples have been growing steadily, but they won't be ready for picking for another couple of months. For me, this is the most heartbreaking bit of leaving the garden. Each pineapple takes a year and a half to appear, then another six months to grow and ripen, so the taste of incredibly sweet and juicy fruit in my mouth just minutes after cutting it off of the plant is the reward for the long wait. Now someone else will enjoy the sweet taste of my garden success. I am so tempted to dig up one and take it with me. 

I have my eye on the small one to the right...

I have time to make two more posts from the garden in Florida, and then a new adventure begins in Georgia…on 5 acres. Stay tuned. It should get pretty interesting.