もう４月なので庭のトゲ無しリスボンレモンを収穫することにしました。寒い冬の間、目を楽しませてくれました。
Since it is already April, I decided to pick the lemon fruits. This tree is a thornless Lisbon lemon. I enjoyed looking at the fruits during the cold winter months, remembering the warm summer season.
Flower buds are already out, so picking the fruits helps direct the energy towards tree growth.
タイガは柑橘類が嫌い。
Taiga is not a fan of citrus fruits.
青いのも全て収穫。
うちのプチマル金柑は色づきが極めて遅いです。犬の散歩中にあちこちの庭先で１月頃から色づき始めている金柑を眺めていました。
The seedless kumquat named 'Puchimaru (or Petit-maru)' ripens very late, at least in my garden. Ordinary kumquats with seeds start ripening in late January and I have been looking at them ripen as I walked through the neighbourhood during dog walks.
I picked all the fruits, again, to redirect the energy towards the tree's growth.
玄関に入ろうとしたら、「かまってよ」の視線を投げかけてきました。ごめん、かーちゃん忙しいんだわ。
As I was entering the house, Taiga threw a glance at me saying "I'm here, mom." Sorry, I have other things to do.
去年プチマルの開花中、うちも含めて地元の他の柑橘類の開花が全て終わっていたので、100%自家受粉で結実しました。そのおかげでセールス文句どおりの種無しです。
When my kumquat tree was in bloom last summer, all the citrus plants in the neighbourhood had finished flowering. So, the tree relied on self-pollination completely. As a result, the fruits were free of seeds just as the advertisement says about this variety.
糖度計によると22.1%です。２年くらい前に実付きで苗が届いたとき、糖度は19%だった記憶です。じっくり収穫を待ったことで糖度が上がったのでしょう。実際に食べてみると、なるほど甘いです。しかも種が一個も入っていないので食感が良い。
The sugar content was 22.1% - one of the highest levels in citrus fruits. Waiting to pick the fruit until April probably helped raise the sugar content. As I ate the fruit, it really was sweet. Moreover, it is so pleasant without seeds.
開花後の幼果の状態。雄花は蕾のうちから分かるので完全花だけを咲かせましたが、今のところ１個も落ちることなく着果しています。
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
２階に置いてあるトゲ無しリスボンレモンは、無加温の部屋で越冬したあと、最近の暖かい雨を受けて新芽がどんどん伸びています。
The seedless Lisbon lemon plant on the balcony is growing vigorously, thanks to the warm rains we have had recently. I love the new growth with dark leaves.
There are many clusters of young fruits after the flowers. I had removed all the male flowers early on and the remaining flowers self-pollinated - an experiment I wanted to try. After the flowering was over, not one young fruit has fallen.
幼果の間で優劣がついたら減らそうと思っていましたが、どれも勢いがあるので、苗の体力を節約するために、少し間引きました。
In fact, I was waiting to see growth variation among the strong and weak but, since all of them seem vigorous, I picked some of them to conserve energy.
