A fruity kind of day

My husband loves fruit. Love isn't even a strong enough word for what he feels about fruit. While visiting his cousins in Italy this past fall, I learned that it might possibly be a family thing. Or a Sicilian thing. Maybe not just his thing.

Two years ago, he and my cousin discovered peach picking at Green Acres Farm and after that first trip, it's now something that we do annually. Yesterday was our 2016 peach picking adventure.

There might be closer places to pick peaches than Green Acres Farm in Yalaha, Florida. If so, we haven't heard of any. This makes for a really nice half day outing. It's a little over an hour away from home. We drove to Green Acres the quicker way which is down the Florida Turnpike to exit 314 and then east to Yalaha.

The fellow who greeted us as we pulled up gave us a bucket each for peaches and a bucket each for blueberries. (We'd already gone blueberry picking once this season, closer to home, at Misty Meadows Farm. I'll mention here that we passed lots of signs for many different u-pick blueberry farms during our travels yesterday.) We ended up picking 3 buckets of peaches and not quite one of blueberries. You pay by the pound. Yesterday blueberries were $4 per pound and peaches were $3 per pound. Cash is the method of payment accepted so be prepared. Also, I'd advise you to check online to make sure that these farms - or any u-pick farms - before heading out just to make sure they have crops available for picking.

Green Acres told me that their blackberries are running late this year - and that their crop is going to be really small. Another reason why it makes sense to call ahead and check before getting in your car.

Since it's a bit later in the season (by one week), the blueberries we got yesterday were on the larger side in comparison to what we picked two weeks ago. But the peaches. Oh, man, the peaches. Heavenly. They were firm and sweet and tree ripened and wonderful! If you're not familiar with Florida peaches, they are slightly smaller than Georgia peaches. I guess it has to do with the fact that we don't get as many chill hours down here.

If you've never gone picking before, here are some picking tips.

Normally, our next stop would be at the nearby famous Yalaha Bakery. This is a destination on its own. It's an authentic German bakery that sells amazing breads and pastries and cookies. It also has a deli counter using genuine German recipes open for breakfast and lunch. There are tables for eating both inside and outside so don't let weather deter you from venturing out to the bakery. They used to have a grill outside on the weekends serving all kinds of wursts. I haven't been there on a weekend in a long time so I'm not sure if that's still the case. Most Saturdays and rare Sundays have bands performing on the stage outside. If the weather is fine, there's no better place to go for a picnic lunch. A picnic lunch that you don't have to pack for yourself!

Yesterday, though, following along with our fruit theme, we drove over to A Natural Farm in Howey-in-the-Hills to look at fruit trees and to learn about growing fruit trees in Central Florida. It's very tricky growing many things in our part of Central Florida. We're above the frost line (meaning we do go below freezing during the winter). Unlike northern gardeners who go to great lengths to winterize their fruit trees, we don't need to. Because we can have a nice mild winter. But it can get mighty cold. We need special varieties of trees that are cold hardy to at least 18 degrees F, if not a little colder. Even then, our fruit trees need to be carefully protected when there's a risk of freezing temperatures overnight. Luc spent time with us making recommendations of what might best grow in Citrus County. Even though Howey-in-the-Hills is just a little more than an hour away, they don't get the freezing cold nights that we get here. And then there's also the required chill hours for any type of tree. (All this is material for another blog on gardening in Citrus County, one that I'm not qualified to write!)

After our visit to A Natural Farm, we headed home on a longer more scenic route. We followed SR48 back into Citrus County (Floral City). There's a historical market on SR 48 that I've always been curious about. Yesterday, I decided to stop and check it out. What I found was a historical marker for The Battle of Wahoo Swamp. I correctly guessed that this was part of one of the Seminole Wars.

If you're interested, the inscription reads as follows:

 The Battle of Wahoo Swamp occurred nearby on November 21, 1836.

 The 2d Seminole War, a seven-year clash caused by rivalry between 

 Indians and settlers over central Florida lands, had begun almost a year

 before. By November, Indian forces had converged on Wahoo Swamp

 to fight General (and Territorial Governor) R.K. Call's army. On 

 November 21, about 2500 Tennessee Volunteers, regular army artillery, 

  Florida militiamen, and hundreds of Creek Indians advanced on a  

  one-mile front. In the wild melee that ensued,the Americans pushed 

  their foes across the slough south of this marker. Indian return fire 

  killed Major David Moniac, a Creek regular army officer, who had 

   led a charge across the swamp. Army commanders halted the pursuit 

  at nightfall due to the seemingly impassable terrain and lack of supplies. 

  Army casualties were low; Indian losses remain unknown.

I don't think I've lived in Florida for a long enough time to fully understand all the implications of the two Seminole wars. But it is pretty cool that there are historical markers pretty close to where I live. The more interesting thing that I saw on the spot of this historic marker was the sign for Primitive Camp Grounds. I plan to do more research on what exactly this means and will report back once I have some answers. (As an FYI, most camping to me is pretty primitive.)