I live far from sunny Florida where I grew up but occasionally I come across things that remind me of my childhood, like plants funnily enough. The other day walking home from an international play group with my daughter I saw fruit growing on a tree and it immediately reminded me of the neighborhood I spent the most time in as a child. Maybe you can tell me what the fruit is, because I couldn't decide if it was a loquat, a kumquat, or just an orangish berry??? Anyway, I remember eating these fresh off a neighbors tree as a kid. (Thinking back I wonder how I even ended up at this neighbors house, they lived a couple streets over and I don't remember them having kids, ahh, kind of scary!) Oh yeah back to the point, they had a huge tree full of a fruit similar to this one. They would wash it there on the spot or send home a plastic bag full. It was one of the nice things about Florida, the amazing fruit you could grow in your own yard. 
At my Mom's house we had a grapefruit tree, which if you didn't deal with it in time would end up being quite messy. No one likes to clean up rotten fruit from the yard. Near one of my Dad's old apartments there was a banana tree, that's pretty amazing to see in person. And I also remember endless amounts of berries lining a friends road, something I pay a lot of money for here in The Netherlands. I never really appreciated fresh fruit when I lived in Florida, maybe it was my age, maybe it was the fact it was cheap (if not free) but living across the ocean in a fairly cold climate I realize certain fruits aren't always in season (logical) and that if you want them you have to buy the imports. I don't miss the Florida heat, but I do miss the tropical fruits. Any of you ever see a plant or fruit and your mind immediately takes you back 10 to 20 years?
At my Mom's house we had a grapefruit tree, which if you didn't deal with it in time would end up being quite messy. No one likes to clean up rotten fruit from the yard. Near one of my Dad's old apartments there was a banana tree, that's pretty amazing to see in person. And I also remember endless amounts of berries lining a friends road, something I pay a lot of money for here in The Netherlands. I never really appreciated fresh fruit when I lived in Florida, maybe it was my age, maybe it was the fact it was cheap (if not free) but living across the ocean in a fairly cold climate I realize certain fruits aren't always in season (logical) and that if you want them you have to buy the imports. I don't miss the Florida heat, but I do miss the tropical fruits. Any of you ever see a plant or fruit and your mind immediately takes you back 10 to 20 years?
Danica,
ReplyDeleteThe leaves and woody limbs definitely look like some sort of apple. It may be a crabapple. We saw some miniature apples at the grocery store recently that looked like that, almost like a Rainier cherry.