Loquats and Lemons

I couldn't believe it when my friend Audrey told me she still had loquats in her tree and that I should come over and pick them.  The tree is in her backyard on a slippery slope so you have to watch your footing on the way down.  I happily climbed that tree last month picking the succulent little orange yellow fruit.  But there's always that chance that a branch could break or I could go off balance and fall pretty far down and roll all the way to the end of the hill.  But it's worth it and it's fun.

I never had a loquat until Audrey introduced me to them this year and I can eat handfuls a day.  They have 3 big seeds inside which take up about 30% of the fruit.  They are juicy, sweet and healthy too.  They are a good source of vitamin A and fiber.

I picked almost 10 pounds.  I put most of it away in the fridge to save until June.  The rest are going to disappear fast in the next couple of days.  They are refreshing and make a healthy snack or dessert.

She also gave me some lemons from her tree that was just dripping with fruit.

So why is it okay for me to glean so much food from my friends?  Because if it's not picked, it will just fall off and rot on the ground.  And if you tasted one of these juicy little fruits, you wouldn't want to waste them either...