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Re: Edible street trees, citrus

   Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 16:26:53 -0800 (PST)
   From: "R. Beer" <bbeer@u.washington.edu>

   On Tue, 6 Jan 1998, Meg Vivers wrote:

   > In Athens they have orange trees as street trees.

My first thought when I read this was, oh wow, cool idea, but too bad it
wouldn't work for me since you have to water the trees in summer.  Then I
realized that Athens is a similar climate to mine (what is the rainfall
like?) and that we don't water the 3 citrus trees taht are already here and
they do just fine (cept for some oranges spliting after forming in the dry
season then getting lots of rain).

   Just for the record, those orange trees are a very sour type,
   (Calmondin?).  They are as sour as a lemon; the peel is very loose like
   that of a satsuma but with more loose pith inside; the sections are about
   half the bulk of the fruit.  It's great for putting in tea; and you can
   make a really nice orangeade-like drink from them.  

Here's the Sunset Garden Book blurb: Sour Acid Mandarin Oranges.
Calamondin (1 of 3 varieties): Fruit looks like tiny (3/4 - 1 1/2 inch)
orange.  Hundreds hang from tall, columar plant (8-10 feet, even as
dwarf).  Most atrractive in containers.  Flesh is tender, juicy, sour, with
a few small seeds.  Primary use is as an ornamental; not a fruit to eat
fresh.  Skin and flesh good in marmalades.

   Most of the Greeks
   ignore them, save for some people who make a sweet out of the peel of
   those, as well as that of another one with a much thicker peel and more
   pithy interior.  Maybe that one is Seville orange?  They are both called
   "nerantzi" in Greek.  

Here's the Sunset blurb on the Seville:  Under Miscellaneous.  Sour orange,
Seville Orange (Citrus aurantium).  Makes large hedges, street trees, lawn
trees.  Fragrant flowers.  Spectacular orange-red 3 inch fruits in
clusters.  Gruit is bitter and makes excellent bitter marmalade.  Tree
grows to 20-30 feet with 15-20 spread; dense foliage.  Plant 6-10 feet
apart for tall screen, 3-4 feet apart (prune heavily) for hedge.

   My Iranian friends in Athens used to sneak out at
   night and get the fruits for squeezing into tea; they would also make
   preserves/jam out of the blossoms themselves.  It's pretty tedious work; 
   each blossom has to have the green stem end cut off, but the result is
   pretty amazing.  You can also dry the flowers and put a couple into
   brewing tea. 

I make wonderful tea out of my orange blossoms too.  Even more tedious than
what you describe is taking off one petal at a time so the fruit will still
grow on the tree :-).

I hadn't thought about using a citrus as a street tree, but I suppose it
would work.  A little spiny though.  The fruits aren't messy even when they
fall and there's very little leaf litter.  The trees grow fast, take well
to pruning, are the size I want, and produce lots of fruit.  The catch for
me is, we already have 4 citrus trees.  2 lemons and an orange came with
the house.  And we bought an OroBlanco grapefruit (crossed with pummelo)
because my SO wants white grapefruit (it's hard to find in stores) and this
is a variety that ripens with the low heat of the Bay Area.

The grapefruit is about 3 feet high and in a container.  We are planning to
espalier it on a sunny wall of the house.  Perhaps we should plant it as a
street tree instead?  Anyone know how high it gets?  The Sunset just says
the Marsh Seedless Grapefruit gets to 30 feet or more, less than half as
high on dwarf rootstock.  It doesn't give a height for the pummelo.

Hmmm....I'm thinking here...I really want a kumquat.  I love them.  Though
it says height is variable from 6-25 feet.  A mandarin orange would be
nice.  Definately no more lemons (and no limes, even though I like them).  

Does kumquat get enough heat in the zone 16 parts of Oakland, CA?  Our
oranages and lemons are fine, but they require less heat.

Thanks, Meg, for the idea...

Cyndi
_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California            Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Disabled, chemically sensitive, wheelchair user          Organic Gardening only
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me.  Maybe there's                     Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG)                   cnorman@best.com
__________________________________________________ http://www.best.com/~cnorman
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