Citrus picking is exhausting work!

In the Niagara Falls area we have many fruit crops, but given the cooler climate, none of them are citrus fruits. Here at our current home in Phoenix, we have:

A ruby red grapefruit tree 

A navel (I think!) orange tree

And a lemon tree

So, today I went to check out the trees, to see if we'd have any fresh fruit to eat. The homeowners had already given their permission to eat the fruit, and in fact left us a note telling us to eat and drink anything in the house. Now that's a welcome!

Not knowing how to determine when citrus is ready for picking, I tried the approach that if I pulled and they came off, then they were ready. Well, that didn't work at all. So, I tugged and twisted until I managed to get one of each.

Here are the fruits of my labour. We don't eat grapefruit, so it's difficult for me to judge that one. Somewhat surprisingly, the orange was ripe, and the lemon looked ripe, but I wasn't willing to taste it! However, we did share an orange from the tree today and it was delicious.

I must have been tired from all my "farming" today, as Greg managed to snap this photo later in the afternoon. Content maybe, but not a glamorous pose!

Note the temperature on the wall thermometer. There are two thermometers in that shaded area, and they both registered 90 degrees today. The forecast called for a high of 75, but Greg and I agreed it was much warmer than that.

We're not missing the Canadian winter weather at all.