ripe for the taking? (Phoenix, Tempe: place to live, gardens, eat)

[getyourbone]

My wife and I are soon to be relocating from Baldwin WI to Phoenix.

We have quite a few questions but I will start by asking only one:

are the fruit hanging in public parks free for the taking and are they worth picking?

I guess that was really two.


Thanks

Steve and Jess

[DJipa]

Originally Posted by getyourbone

My wife and I are soon to be relocating from Baldwin WI to Phoenix.

We have quite a few questions but I will start by asking only one:

are the fruit hanging in public parks free for the taking and are they worth picking?

I guess that was really two.


Thanks

Steve and Jess

I don't know of any public parks with fruit trees, however that doesn't mean that they don't exist. Or are you referring to the other kinds of fruit in public parks? lol

[getyourbone]

We were in town recently looking for a place to live and my wife had an interview. While she was at the interview, I ended up driving by a park on 35th ave and the canal (southwest of metrocenter) that had orange trees. I pulled in and walked around and there were a bunch on the ground but looked a little over ripe. Also the trees lining old litchfield park are citrus. I really wanted to try and get a couple but didn't want to get arrested (wisconsin man arrested for theft of city property - 25 years to life!) for a small snack.


By the way, I know the novelty of citrus trees will go away but being from wisconsin(basically twincities, minnesota), It is pretty fun to see something we only have in grocery stores.

[Captain Bill]

Call the Park Service departments of the particular city and ask them.

[ibarrio]

My neighbor (old guy/maybe 83 yrs old?) told me that the fruit is tasteless. I guess they use a type of tree that does not produce good fruit.

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by getyourbone

We were in town recently looking for a place to live and my wife had an interview. While she was at the interview, I ended up driving by a park on 35th ave and the canal (southwest of metrocenter) that had orange trees. I pulled in and walked around and there were a bunch on the ground but looked a little over ripe. Also the trees lining old litchfield park are citrus. I really wanted to try and get a couple but didn't want to get arrested (wisconsin man arrested for theft of city property - 25 years to life!) for a small snack.


By the way, I know the novelty of citrus trees will go away but being from wisconsin(basically twincities, minnesota), It is pretty fun to see something we only have in grocery stores.

While there are some great trees all over the valley, some in parks and along the road are "ornamentals" -- it's possible the fruit trees you saw were sour orange. They look real pretty, but will take your tooth enamel off. Sour orange is a very strong stock that can survive our harsh summers. So even the orange tree in my back yard, which is valencia, is grafted onto a sour orange. I found this out the hard way. I was so excited to finally have about 100 oranges on my tree this last season. Opened one up - all ready to make orange juice. and YIKES! SOUR!!!!

I had to cut the sour orange stock all the way to the ground and start nursing the poor little grafted Valencia that had been overshadowed.

If the skin on the orange is really rough, it may be sour.

You probably wouldn't get arrested. Our cops here have their hands too full to worry about you taking an orange off a tree and eating it. If it's in someone's yard, that's another thing. But most people don't mind letting you have one if you ask.

That being said, you CAN plant your very own orange tree when you get here. Just remember my lesson. Look for the tag around the grafted part - or some kind of paint marking. And make sure you nurture that and don't let the suckers from the sour stock take over.

I'm originally from South Dakota, and even though it's been 40 years since i lived there, I still love the fruit trees we have here and am amazed and delighted that I can go out to my yard and pick breakfast. I have a lemon, nectarine, and orange tree in my yard. My neighbors have plum and grapefruit and we trade off. When you get here, with a little care and education about desert gardens, you'll be sharing your fruit with all your friends in no time.

[YAZ]

At work, there are usually bags of grapefruits waiting in the break area. My friend at Honeywell used to bring in pomegranites (sic?).

I forgot how to spell today, LOL.

Man, those are yummy.

[JustinH]

Our friend has orange and other citrus trees growing in his back yard in Tempe.

We seen them all over the road driving around a few streets in tempe, I forget where.

[MotleyCrew]

We have a client in Sun City and their tree was dropping all these oranges and I inquired if they were edible. She said no, they are ornamental only. I can't tell the difference.

[Uhuh]

No.. You will either be arrested for theft, or the fruit will be disgusting.