Playing the long game

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For a while now, I've been meaning to begin writing a new blog post, but couldn't seem to find the exactly right starting point (if there is such a thing). Some advice from one of my PhD committee members came to mind, "At this stage, don't think --- write!". So, once again, I find myself putting that wise mentor's advice into action.

We just harvested our first pineapple since 2018! Way back then, I was writing my dissertation from our little apartment on the eastern end of Indianapolis while I worked my first big kid job (full time, salary, benefits, meetings where people say stuff like "aligned", the works). Our daughter was just a few months old and learning to crawl around --- faster each day, much to our first-time parental concern.

This is, as I recall, a dwarf South African pineapple. As you can see in the picture, it is quite small. But it is absolutely bursting with flavor, which you would expect given that it is stem-ripened rather than picked green and shelf-ripened. It has a hint of orange in its hue, different from the almost neon yellow that you expect from a pineapple from the grocery.

Now, fast-forward to today. The fruit grew right out the top of the bush on a tall stem, and stayed there for a few months. Then, without any warning, it developed a hint of yellow, and in less than a week, hit that golden, yellowish-orange and gave off a fragrant pineapple smell.



Upon removing the crown, we planted it in some nice, drainable media and watered it thoroughly, to begin the long process of brewing up another one. This is the third pineapple we've gotten off this plant since we got it (harvest the fruit, cut and plant the crown, repeat).

What else do we have brewing? We just finished kumquat season back in late September, though we had a bit of trouble with disease. My hunch is that because the immature, green fruit had to spend its early life in the garage over last winter (minimal sunlight, though the garage does have a few small windows), this was more of a problem than usual. The tree remains healthy, and we bought a small greenhouse, which should be a real shot in the arm (or branch?) for the plants. In addition to a handful of propagated kumquat seedlings, we have one more pineapple bush, plus the newly planted crown from this recent one, we have a Meyer lemon tree, and a tangerine tree. The tangerines should be ready between New Years and Easter, by my estimate. I have mango, orange, and grapefruit on my radar...assuming we have the space. And that I get permission.

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