Gold in the streets

Posted on December 9, 2005 by Gene

I didn’t think about future cleanup when I planted my orange tree, but I am beginning to see the necessity of maintenance. It turns out that there are quite a few orange trees in my neighborhood — just as an aside, I might point out that any kind of fruit tree was rare back home in Arlington, Virginia. I heard tell of an apple tree here or there, but mostly the trees were just leafy. Anyway, it harkens back to the days when San Jose was one big orchard, before they were all plowed under for over-priced housing and warehouse-style buildings housing high tech companies.
So, there’s an orange tree in my neighbor’s yard to the east, another to the south, and a few doors down on the west is a huge tree that overhangs the fence over the street. The oranges are beginning to drop off, rolling down the street, where I nearly stepped on one walking Diego last night.
I know little about fruit, especially about when it is ready to pick. My tree is dotted with small green lumps, so it is fairly obvious that I probably won’t have any ripe oranges this time around — unless they continue to ripen and will be ready in the spring; I’m told that the fall is the time for oranges. Eh, what do I know? Anyway, the next time I walk Diego down that way, I might just reach up and pick an orange. Did you know that in California, any fruit overhanging a property line is fair game?