Citrus Saturday

We started our day with an early group hike at Lake Perris State Recreation Area.

It was basically a flat walk without too much new to see.  Terry poses beside the Brittlebush in all its glory. We had bought a state park seniors' pass that was good until the end of the year.

In the visitors' centre, one of the staff was frantically looking for a brochure to give someone.  It sounded interesting, so I asked her about it. "It's only 20 minutes down the road, "  she said. 

A tour of an orchard with sampling privileges! As we arrived the smell of citrus blossoms assailed our noses. 

A volunteer docent led us through the
groves of trees, not paying too much attention
where the actual path was.  He had his own favourite spots.

He pointed to the rows of palm trees surrounding the park, and said, "They're pretty useless, and have to be trimmed continually in case a palm frond hits someone on the head."  They did delineate where the roads were, though.

Canvas sleeves protect from sharp spines

At practically every tree, he stopped, pulled out a very sharp knife from his pouch, and cut the fruit into sections for us.  There were six of us, so it wasn't too difficult.  First he handed us a plastic food-type glove. After a while we could see why, as the juice dripped down our chins and all over our hands. We ate and ate to the point of satiation, so many different samples. If anyone refused a sample, he would just throw it under the trees, as we did all our peels.  Not only did we eat samples, but we were also given bags in which to collect fruit to take home.  We weren't allowed to pick directly off the trees until he said, "Now you can pick one," or he would do it for us.

Navel Oranges

These are the oranges that made California famous.  In 1873, Mrs. Eliza Tibbets got two young Bahia or Washington navel orange trees from the Department of Agriculture.  This orange was sweeter  and more flavourful than the Mediterranean oranges the mission padres had planted along the coast, and their thick skins made them conducive to shipping. Later, we went to a street corner in Riverside, where these two trees are still growing, protected by a fence, and commemorated by a sign and a plaque.

Kumquats look like miniature oranges and are eaten skin and all.  I've rarely seen them in a grocery store. 

Did you know limes turn yellow as they ripen?  But no one likes to see yellow limes!

These are called Lemonade Lemons and are variegated with these green stripes on the outside.  Inside, they are faintly pink, making you think they might be sweet, but unfortunately they don't have a taste to match their description.  They're pretty sour, but we had to try those, too. 

This is an ancient type of citrus that candied peel is made from!  I'm glad they thought of a use for it!

The blood orange was the best!  The first time I saw these sold was in Bratislava, Slovakia, where they had been imported from Turkey. Delicious!

Then we were given another bag so we could gather our grapefruit samples.  We were shown several different kinds, including a sweet light yellow variety, and the famous Rio Reds that we associate with Texas.  We took a few of each, whatever could fit into the stretchy mesh bag.

Then we went to wash our sticky hands.

It was only 30 miles along the freeway to get back to Cherry Valley.

What an awesome excursion, one we hadn't even planned!