adventure in loquats and other backyard fruit-and a special request to readers of this blog!

(THIS is why we have a VW bus-easy to load with fruit!)

i have been awaiting the loquat season excitedly...

ever since our loquat-a-paloza last year, i have been waiting like a little girl on Christmas night for the one month when loquats are in season, so delicious-yet a total pain in the a$$. not only is the season a split second, but once you pick them, they last about 2 days before they start going brown...but that's not all-

(Caitlin seeding and cleaning)

anyone who has had this Chinese fruit that looks and tastes more like an apricot than a kumquat knows that they are small and have 2-3 seeds in them...can't eat the seeds, they are known to be toxic.

(toasted loquat seeds-more to come on what i do with them...)

so last week, gustavo and i went to Tustin to pick fruit. we were lucky in that the tree we picked from had the larger variety of the fruit-SO much easier to deal with and it seems like they were ready a little earlier than the smaller version which was on a tree a few yards away. that day we were able to pick almost 2 baskets of loquats, tangelos, mandarin, lemons and a few find ugli fruit (more to come on that!)..what a score!

(from one small tree-we were able to have almost 2 baskets!)

(leaving Tustin, and noticing a lot of fruit trees...)

so what did we make?? 4 cases of loquat butter and a special brew-loquat n' honey vodka!...won't be ready for a few weeks at leaast, but will give an update!


if you have any fruit trees that you want me to pick or you can pick and hand over-i will give you a few jars of whatever i make....viva Spring!