Grapefruit

countrynaturals 10/5/2019, 1:48 pm

A few years ago, Katie rescued a little grapefruit tree from the clearance table at a big box store. Now the thing is about 8' around and loaded with fruit. I should be celebrating, but this variety is awful. The fruit is huge, sour, and the skin almost 1/2" thick. Worse than that, the only family members who like grapefruit, aren't allowed to eat it. Is there anything I can do to put these puppies to better use than chicken food/compost?

YEE-HAH! I FOUND IT! The stupid thing is a Pomelo! Google says if it has white flesh it should be sweet, so maybe the one we got back a few years ago was picked too soon. I may be back here apologizing for my harsh words in a week or 2. blush

countrynaturals 10/5/2019, 3:08 pm

hunker.com wrote: Leave the fruit in place as long as possible before harvesting. The trees may flower and fruit more than once per year, but the main crop of fruit begins to ripen on the trees around November. The rind yellows as the fruit ripens.

I probably didn't wait this long last time. Embarassed

hunker.com wrote:Store the fruit for up to three months. As the fruits age, the rind will become wrinkled and deeper yellow, but the fruit inside will be sweeter and juicier than fresh-picked fruit.

I definitely didn't do that. Now I'm starting to get excited about these things. Is it November, yet? bounce

**sanderson** 10/10/2019, 4:45 am

The skin on the sections is bitter. I was introduced to it by my Filipino DIL. Her family uses it in traditional dishes. Never tried it.

countrynaturals 12/8/2019, 6:25 pm

sanderson wrote:The skin on the sections is bitter. I was introduced to it by my Filipino DIL. Her family uses it in traditional dishes. Never tried it.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll make sure not to eat that part. Mine are just starting to turn yellow. They survived a hard frost in November. I think I'll leave them alone until the first of the year unless we get another freeze before then.

countrynaturals 2/1/2020, 1:59 pm

I was wondering what to with all the skin when I peal these puppies. Here's what I found:

Dengarden wrote:After you have skinned the fruit, you will notice that there is a light fragrant fruity scent. This comes from the essential oil of the fruit, and is a natural deodorant that you can use in your drawers, cupboards or wherever you would like to place them for a fresher sense of smell.
Thoroughly dry the skin in an oven till it is crisp and dry. Alternatively, just place the skin at a very sunny spot over a few days and the peel will turn dry and crisp.

They went on to say it has mild insect repellent properties and that all citrus can be used this way. geek

OhioGardener 2/1/2020, 4:15 pm

countrynaturals wrote:I was wondering what to with all the skin when I peal these puppies. Here's what I found:

They went on to say it has mild insect repellent properties and that all citrus can be used this way.

Just don't put citrus rinds in the worm bin - the worms will go the other way to get away from them instead of digesting them.

countrynaturals 2/8/2020, 10:23 am

OhioGardener wrote:
countrynaturals wrote:I was wondering what to with all the skin when I peal these puppies. Here's what I found:

They went on to say it has mild insect repellent properties and that all citrus can be used this way.

Just don't put citrus rinds in the worm bin - the worms will go the other way to get away from them instead of digesting them.

Thanks, OG -- good to know.

I now have a big basket of these on display, and they've started giving off a wonderful fragrance. I will definitely use these peals to make my house smell good. Cool

TCgardening 2/8/2020, 12:19 pm

Cold weather usually sweetens Florida citrus. Your hard frost my do the same.
Citrus greening has taken my orange trees.

countrynaturals 2/8/2020, 12:40 pm

TCgardening wrote:Cold weather usually sweetens Florida citrus. Your hard frost my do the same.

Thanks, TC. We rarely get a hard frost, and especially not in November. If we never get another yield like this one from this tree, we'll know why, now.

Citrus greening has taken my orange trees.

Yikes! That sounds so nice, but I looked it up and it's awful.

countrynaturals 3/10/2020, 3:55 pm

countrynaturals wrote:I was wondering what to with all the skin when I peal these puppies. Here's what I found:

Dengarden wrote:After you have skinned the fruit, you will notice that there is a light fragrant fruity scent. This comes from the essential oil of the fruit, and is a natural deodorant that you can use in your drawers, cupboards or wherever you would like to place them for a fresher sense of smell.
Thoroughly dry the skin in an oven till it is crisp and dry. Alternatively, just place the skin at a very sunny spot over a few days and the peel will turn dry and crisp.
They went on to say it has mild insect repellent properties and that all citrus can be used this way.

We opened our first pomelo, today. It was pretty good -- did not need extra sweetener.

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