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Glen's avatar

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Janisse Ray's avatar

Thank you!

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Wendy Jo Ledbetter's avatar

Janisse, I enjoyed reading about the different varieties of fruit and the photos. Lemon curd was a favorite of my Mother's and I would always make sure we had some for the holiday season. You inspired me to capture my memories on all things citrus! Happy to share via a private email. :-)

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Janisse Ray's avatar

That does my heart good, Wendy Jo.

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Wendy Jo Ledbetter's avatar

Janisse, I LOVED reading this post! Thank you sharing.

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Janisse Ray's avatar

What part was your favorite to read about? Plants? Cooking? Citrus? Family?

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Katie Weinberger's avatar

Lovely writing. I appreciate how much information is in this one short newsletter!

I’m curious about your cleaner with the vinegar soaked orange peels. Is there anything else to it? I’m guessing one just removes the peels and viola, the vinegar is scented with orange...

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L.M. Marsh's avatar

Oh, yes, that’s true. Every place has its own special joys!

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Misti Little's avatar

The only grapefruit I have ever loved was a wild one growing in the Hickory Hammock WMA west of the Kissimmee River. Truly, finding wild citrus in Florida is the one of the many things I miss about that state. Interesting to know Georgia is coming into growing citrus, now, too. We grow some here in far NW Houston and had to baby them during the Snowpocalypse of February 2021, complete with heat lamps powered by our generator and plastic sheeting. At some point they will get to big for future storms like that and I can only hope they will pull through our zone pushing. I know so much habitat was destroyed for Florida's citrus groves but I do miss that season a lot.

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Janisse Ray's avatar

I like that term "zone-pushing!" Yep, pushing the zone. Thank you, Misti.

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L.M. Marsh's avatar

Wonderful article! While we in upstate NY can only dream of citrus growing in our yards, the lovely colors in Bret Wagonhorst’s photo can be found in the leaves of early November.

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Janisse Ray's avatar

You have apples, and we don't, not really. And you have cherries. I envy that, L.M.

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Karen Davis's avatar

Wow! That’s amazing.

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J. P. Dwyer's avatar

Thirty-two years ago, when we first became 6&6’ers splitting our year between New England and FL, we discovered FL citrus. We read about Marjorie K Rawlings moving south and living in a citrus grove while writing trying to support her family. We visited her U of FL protected homestead, and that visit determined how we remodeled our own Cedar Key property. Tiny houses connected by an open yard instead of a larger multi-room building. That was an inspirational and life changing visit. One never knows where ideas will be found. In the ‘90s, north FL winters most of the time involved multiple freezes, so our early attempts at growing citrus didn’t work well. Besides, we found that we enjoyed our twice monthly shopping excursions to Ward’s in Gainesville, and picking up our hand-selected citrus there or at roadside stands. This year, we left FL, and sold our Cedar Key place. We really miss southern citrus a lot. One thing about aging is you realize you cannot have everything you want all the time. So, when we stumble across a nice FL navel orange or a plump grapefruit in our local market, we enjoy both the taste and the memories those pieces of fruit deliver. The fruit usually brings with it a remember-when discussion. This posting brought back a lot of fond memories of Cedar Key winters. Thanks.

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Janisse Ray's avatar

Your sentence "This year, we left" sent a pang through my heart. You've got such a great outlook on aging, but letting go is not easy. I am sure that Cedar Key misses you, and when I say "Cedar Key," I mean both the place and the people.

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J. P. Dwyer's avatar

When we left Cedar Key the last time, we had every intention of returning as we had for each of our thirty-two years the following fall. But, illness and a lingering fear of contracting Covid and suffering complications from the virus because of our underlying illnesses changed everything. So, we sold our Cedar Key property with everything in it just like many folks do when they inherit a distant relative’s Florida home after their relative has died. We had a neighbor send a few boxes of personal items north, but essentially, we left all the items that had contributed to our southern life behind. The folks who purchased our Cedar Key home received everything as part of their purchase. Now, occasionally, we’ll say something like, “Oh, that was left behind.” Cedar Key friends have told us that they feel strange because there were never any goodbyes. One day we were part of the community, and then, we were gone. No tears, no hugs, just a few phone calls and the occasional email. The Cedar Key chapter over.

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