Who would have thought these little gems could bring so much joy?
They really have—and they’re still a long way from being fully grown. This is the most success we’ve had so far with our Navel oranges, and it’s exciting to finally see some progress.
We have three orange trees that have been in the ground for about two years now. During that time, they’ve flowered and even set tiny fruit, but nothing ever really developed beyond that early stage. So you can imagine my surprise when I checked on them the other day and found small—but noticeably larger than ever before—baby oranges hanging on.
One of the other trees is showing similar signs too, which gives us even more hope. Now we wait and see if they continue to grow into the big, juicy fruit we’ve been dreaming of.
These trees share their patch with our lemons, limes, and mandarins. They’re all unirrigated, relying mostly on what nature provides. That said, during the past summer (late 2025 into early 2026), we gave each plant a bucket of water—about 25 litres—during a particularly relentless heatwave. We were genuinely concerned they might not survive.
We did the same for our finger limes, cinnamon myrtle, and lemon myrtle trees, all of which were struggling in the extreme conditions. Thankfully, coming out the other side of that harsh summer, everything is looking healthy and thriving again.
It’s amazing what a bit of resilience—and a little help when it counts—can do.
