Mango Mania

Hello Friends,

This was an unexpectedly busy week and I have a lot of catching up to do in blogland reading. I will be stopping by your blogs this weekend to see what you have been up to. This week was my first week back on contract for the fall semester. Fall! I cannot believe the fall semester is here already. I enjoy all of the seasons but I especially love the fall colors, scents and feel. We do not really have an autumn season where I am in Florida so I have to simulate the season change with fall scented candles and colors.

Before we get into the fall feel, we need to enjoy the summer fun. J and I went to the Mango Festival in our home city. We were slightly disappointed in the festival overall, but it was nice to see some mangos.

 There were not a lot of mangoes a the festival. This was about it. One tent with some mangoes around. We did get some good BBQ pulled pork sandwiches!

The temperature was in the high 90s and the heat index was well over 100 degree so we made it a short stop. Here is a pony I snapped  a photo of on my way out.

The majority of festivals and outdoor events in Florida do not occur in June, July or August because of the heat. Unlike places up north, we usually enjoy outdoor festivals September through May, the other nine months of the year. Unfortunately, the mangoes are ripe and ready to go during the hot summer days, so the Mango Festival will always occur during the scorching hot days of the summer. Hopefully next year our backyard mango tree will produce some mangoes for us!

Have a Fabulous Friday,
xo Susan

Growing Citrus in Florida - Oranges tree, lemon tree, mango, and tangerine

Good Morning,

You may remember J and I have a mango tree, tangerine tree, and a lemon tree in our backyard. We have only live in our house for 2 years and planted the trees ourselves, so we have not had a great harvest yet. The lemon tree held up the best and is more like a bush than a tree, so J and I wanted to get a couple more citrus trees/bushes to fill the empty spaces in our garden.

This winter and last winter we had some cold spells that killed all of the plants (and they did not grow back). Now you may be thinking, it was never THAT cold here, but where I live in considered a sub tropical climate, so temperatures below freezing can be devastating to the wildlife and indigenous plants. Over half of our landscaping died last winter and the leftovers were cut down to see if they would re-grow. They did not. So yesterday, we planted a calamondin orange tree and a ponderosa lemon. We may get one or two more to add to the space too.

Ponderosa Lemon

Calamondin Orange

Lemon on the left, Orange on the right



Back of our home. Tangerine tree on front left, mango on the front right. The rest of the trees are in the garden. And there is the lanai (screen in) that I am always working on!

 Well now you know what we were up to this Sunday. I also was pricked by a thorn on the lemon tree, and possibly bit by some sort of bug too on my little (pinky?) finger. My finger stung and is now swollen right where it bends. Hopefully it does not prevent me from crocheting today. Well this morning I am off to drive up north a couple hours to see baby McKenna!!! Photos to come....
XOXO Susan