Starting to look like some integration into the community is gradually happening in our "new" place. Most likely largely thanks to our near constant presence in the yard, either taking care of plants or tinkering with the bikes. And of course the awesome neighbor-children have done their part spreading word that despite being gaijins, we don't actually bite. I guess it also helps that that every now and then there is a box with free-to-take plant seedlings in front of our gate.
That family with children have been friendly, open and helpful from day one four months ago or so; the old gentleman from the couple living across the street has graduated to nodding and smiling at us, the lady is nice and polite but rarely seen; the family on the third side still ignores all of our efforts at saying "hello".
And the over-the-fence neighbor from the fourth side came over again today to say hi, ask about what plants I had, tell us that he and half of the plants in his garden are from Okinawa, ask to toss all leaves we pick up on our paved side into his yard, and gift us with a self-grown pumpkin and the fruit of some sort of a wild lemon.
That first is not a kabocha, but also not the Estonian pumpkin - recommendation was to either fry or use it in soup - experiment waiting to happen, after which some of the seeds will get to dry and grow, come next spring.
And a short biology lesson insert triggered by the second. The systematics of citrus species is insane and still partially untraceable... And you might just as well forget all the labelling you've seen in supermarkets - it's probably wrong. For example, what we call an orange, is actually a hybrid of a pomelo and a true mandarin. As are all the rest of the "non-true" mandarins. As is a grapefruit, with the difference that after the initial crossing, the result once more hybridised with an orange that is a hybrid of... well, you get the point. Limes have popped into existence from different parts of the web of the genus and can be either crosses of citrons and mandarins, or sweet or sour oranges, or micranthas, whatever those are. And then there are bergamots and bitter oranges and clementines and oroblancos, tangelos, mandelos, lumias, kumquats, yuzus, etrogims etcetc. With that genetic mess as a background, it's likely not a surprise that not all Citrus grow true to type from seed. However, that particular risk I believe is much lower than in the case of, for example, apples.
In summary, there really is no way to know what we actually got, nor what trees, if all goes well, will grow out of the seeds I kept, nor even what are the trees grown from the lemon seeds from last year. In any case, the small round dark green thing was acidic as anything, but besides that quite tasty, and as a result of keping the peel, our living room now smells wonderful.
Was supposed to write this in Estonian, as practice, but that language module of brain just completely refused to switch on today. M.o.t.t.
Cheers,
Hedi
