Score! Neighbor knocked on my door. "Need some oranges?"

[pinto]

He was doing a big trim on an orange tree in his back yard.

Loaded with Valencias, no less. He's a retired orange grower. Had an operation in the valley, lives here now.

Was sure to remind me - "cut some of the stem with the orange, they last better that way".

Neighbors, a good thing.



(on edit) I want to re-gift his generosity. Something simple. Thinking a fig tart. Good crop in the market this year. And a plate I can pull off.

[hollysmom]

1. I miss my sweet neighbors,

I used to get roses from one of them and the other let me swim in her pool. Now I have neighbors who put up 6 foot fences so they can have their privacy. Little did they know I stopped several burglaries by seeing into my neighbor's yards. Not to mention that I shared my extra produce with them when I went to the Peach farms.

[Jenoch]

2. My father is retired

and lives fulltime Minnesota. In the winter, he lives in Arizona. He is almost 82 but he leads a group of retired folks who pick citrus all over Mesa. They average six to eight pickup loads of oranges and grapefruit each week. What they don't give away to their neighbors and friends goes to a food bank. Last winter they donated over 6,000 pounds of fruit.

My dad also has two lemon trees, a valencia tree, navel tree, and a ruby red grapefruit tree in his backyard.