Marmalade Lady and the Grapefruits of Wrath

**Bugbear** · 14th January 08, 12:55 PM

Here's a little side story to the pictures of Sylvana and me that were posted at this link.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/c...x.html?t=33679

I grow oranges and citrus fruit in my small, backyard orchard. I have an old navel orange tree that has been grafted onto a sour orange rootstock, and this combination along with a few secret horticultural tricks usually results in sugary, candy-like oranges. A good deal of them end up with Sylvana.
This year she has decided to make marmalade with part of the navels along with some of the tangelos i grow. Sadly, not too many people want the grapefruit I grow. My grapefruit tree is usually prolific each year in it's fruit production, except that one year that it only made one fruit the size of a bowling ball. There will be no grapefruit in the marmalade, so I have to eat the grapefruit. I have to do this every year, and it usually takes three months at four or five grapefruits a day. Um... I do get sick of grapefruit toward the end of that.

** Thanks, all of you, for posting.

**Pleater** · 14th January 08, 05:23 PM

How about making a melomel with grapefruit juice and honey? You can always chill it to keep the alcohol content low, just high enough to preserve the freshness of the flavours, or if you are a drinking man, ferment it to where the alcohol concentration kills the yeast.

That would at least spread out the time for consumption to the whole year.

**Bugbear** · 14th January 08, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Pleater

How about making a melomel with grapefruit juice and honey? You can always chill it to keep the alcohol content low, just high enough to preserve the freshness of the flavours, or if you are a drinking man, ferment it to where the alcohol concentration kills the yeast.

That would at least spread out the time for consumption to the whole year.

That's true... I could also have grapefruit marmalade made as well. I guess there lots of ways they could be preserved. Just realized, I don't have a bee hive or know much about that, so I don't have honey, not that I couldn't buy it.
I don't drink, but I have made wine in the past, and the juice could be blended quite well into the wine and stored for a very long time as well. Guess the alcohol could be boild or distilled out though. I also have a vineyard section in what's left of my tiny orchard, they're Tomsons green, but can be used as wine grapes. I don't have space for the storrage of most of that though, LOL! Um, I almost live off the land in that way. I used to go out into the garden and just eat the okra or brockly and so on, right off the plants.

**string** · 14th January 08, 06:02 PM

I am jealous that you can live like that. I can't seem to even keep houseplants alive in my dorm and even to buy fresh veggies from the store kills me budget. I miss real food from home, winter break has spoiled me horribly. I have spent the last month eating venison and veggies froze from the garden.

**Bugbear** · 14th January 08, 06:30 PM

Hi String, we can grow different vegetables and fruit all year round out here.

**Bugbear** · 14th January 08, 06:40 PM

I'm switching a lot of crops over to desert plants, though, to see how little water I can use. Thanks for posting String.

**Riverkilt** · 14th January 08, 09:44 PM

Dang, that's about the only thing I miss about Phoenix. Was there 30+ years and had a LOT of various citrus, even a pecan tree at one home.

Got a bright idea and lopped off the top of a pineapple and planted it in a south facing microclimate where the refrigeration dripped into sandy soil. Figured it was a lot like Hawaii. It worked. It rooted and grew and produced a delicious pineapple. I lopped the top off that second pineapple and planted it and it also grew a pineapple. I lopped the top off the second pineapple and planted it. It rooted and grew but never produced a pineapple. First one came from the supermarket.

So, if you're adventurous and have a damp sandy south facing place to plant...don't know how many folks have grown pineapples in Phoenix...but I have.

Ron

**northernsky** · 14th January 08, 10:05 PM

Boy...too many fresh grapefruits...what a delicious dilemma to be in! Wish we had that problem up here on the wet coast! They are selling for about 1.25 each right now--unless you want the pinks or ruby reds...they are even more. If I were you, I'd go for the marmalade.mmm grapefruit marmalade

**Bugbear** · 14th January 08, 10:34 PM

Ya, Ron, pineapples grow well here.

**Bugbear** · 14th January 08, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by northernsky

Boy...too many fresh grapefruits...what a delicious dilemma to be in! Wish we had that problem up here on the wet coast! They are selling for about 1.25 each right now--unless you want the pinks or ruby reds...they are even more. If I were you, I'd go for the marmalade.mmm grapefruit marmalade

The peals are a bit thick, but they do well here.