Nature decides about color, shape and more
Originally oranges came from China, but since the 18th century the sweet or sweet sour fruits have come from Spain, Morocco and South africa. They need a lot of sun, just as my love and I do. Recently we needed to plant new orange trees, partly because some of them had not grown well, the Monday types, so they got exchanged for fresh ones. So, now we need to pay more attention for optimal growth. Paying daily attention to your orchard is an important factor to provide yourself with good quality fruit and healthy trees. And determine in time where to make changes, where otherwise things could go in the wrong direction. Just like taking care of your own life, altogether with love and dedication.
Every year we have some 900 kilos of oranges available. In different kinds and remarkable is that I am short on it every year. Partly because we drink our orange juice on a daily basis and when our children come over they do the same. But also because they are needed as ingredients for other products. Like making marmalade. Orange marmalade or “Mermelada de naranja” in Spanish and “Mousse de naranja” are some of our core orange products. But next to that I need the orange juice and the peel for different purposes. Among these purposes is my use for making my special Marmalade de kumquat. We need some explanation on the kumquat in one of my coming blogs.
What color is your choice?
It is a fact that citrus fruits contain a lot of vitamins and other valuable stuff and are a real boost to your immune system when regularly used. If you do not want to have it too healthy you can add some liquor to your freshly squeezed orange juice. Spoil yourself with a nice glass of vodka and orange juice. My favorite was Campari-orange, but since I had my workshop about alcohol distillation I am less fond of the coloured spirits. Now I could easily drift away, when talking about spirits I am fond of, one of my guilty pleasures. So, let us stick to the story about changing color.
At this particular moment some of our orange trees have oranges that are slightly changing the green. When we visited the surroundings of Valencia last week we saw a lot of trees with complete orange coloured oranges. The smell of the beautiful – white and a touch of Rosa- blossoms in the orange and lemon trees is seductive. It is a natural perfume which seduces you when you walk by. Nature is always calling you when you are ready for it.
Did I already tell you that you yourself could enjoy our beautiful finca and stay here as a guest? Or, this is a bigger project of wellness, let me help you with your grounding and consequently your footprint, because I am an experienced coach. Specialized in high achievers in business and relationships. Imagine sitting with me as your coach in the orange orchard!! Have a look at my profile on Linkedin.
Take your time, sin prisa (without hurry)
Luckily for us it is not necessary to harvest them all at once. In fact this would be impossible for us, because we can not process this volume. So, the last ones can be picked in June, before it is turning really warm in this area. But for the commercial growers around Valencia, they make their business quickly and in a short time all the orange sweeties are picked and the beautiful sight of an orange field is gone. We ourselves can happily enjoy this sight from our trees for a much longer time.
Brazil appears to be the biggest exporter of orange juice, I always thought Spain to be. But Spain still is one of the biggest exporters of the oranges, whatever it is used for. Perhaps this is also because during my childhood, with Santa Claus on the 5th of December, a typical Dutch party, my mother and father always gave e a lot of oranges and mandarins as part of the presents on that day. To me it appeared that Santa Claus brought these presents also from Spain. And in some way it happened that way. Nowadays I can pick them myself daily from the trees, without the help of Santa claus..
With all the colors on our finca, the challenges, and our family, guests and clients visiting us we have a wonderful and colorful life. Join us to experience this feeling of wellbeing and book your stay at https://fincalibertad.es/
There are lots of possibilities to explore in these surroundings, like walking, climbing, visiting beautiful spots, authentic restaurants, beach, scuba diving, cycling..
Next blog will be about olives. Olives do not turn orange, that would be something. Harvested in October they are green. If you leave them till March they will turn black.
¡Hasta luego!
Un abrazo de Mónica