What a crop of Kumquats!

Back on the 27th August I wrote about a little Kumquat tree that the Terreros ladies had bought me for my birthday and was so proud that I had managed to keep it alive long enough for it to grow fruit and to start to ripen.



It was watered lovingly every day through the intense summer heat and then when the temperatures fell I realised that it was necessary to reduce the amount of water I was giving it as all the fruits were growing so rapidly they were splitting their skins and the fruit inside was turning mouldy.



We then had the rains of October and the strong winds meant the tree was moved to a sheltered spot to protect it - oh, how this tree has been nurtured.



However, moving it to a sheltered spot meant out of site out of mind and it hasn't had the tender loving care over the last few weeks that it deserves



UNTIL YESTERDAY .....



when I remembered it. In the past couple of weeks when it has been ignored save for a couple of hours of sunshine warmth each day and the odd downpour of rain.



Such treatment obviously suits it, the fruits have been able to grow at a pace which didn't split the skins, the sunshine has turned them a proper orange and the little tree has delivered a sizeable crop of perfect orange fruits.



Not bad for a beginner, eh? And no, we haven't tried eating one yet - maybe we should!