• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pinch My Salt

Food, Recipes, and Photography

  • About
  • Contact
  • Recipe List
  • The BBA Challenge

Fall Harvest: Persimmons, Feijoas, and Meyer Lemons

November 14, 2013 by Nicole 9 Comments

Fall Fruit

My kitchen counter is filled with slightly unusual fruit this morning.  While persimmons and Meyer lemons are common and popular here, they aren’t as familiar or easy to come by in other parts of the country.  I had never even heard of a Pineapple Guava, also known as Feijoa, before we bought this house and noticed the egg-shaped fruit dropping like crazy from the two large tree-like shrubs bordering our courtyard.  I have a feeling that many of you haven’t heard of or tasted a pineapple guava either.  You should, they’re delicious!  The persimmons aren’t actually from my yard – my cousin Cristin has a tree and delivered a bag full of them.  I just thought I’d highlight some of what’s currently ripening in the backyards of Central Californians right now.

We’ve been living in this house for close to 10 months now and we have really enjoyed seeing what surprises our mature backyard has to offer with each new season. In the early spring, we had two big patches of Lady Jane tulips pop up followed by a surprise (huge) lilac that had been somewhat hidden behind and inside a huge Myrtle.

Lady Jane Tulips

Surprise Lilac

Spring through summer brought us lots and lots of flowers – our gorgeous tulip tree, several varieties of roses including a monstrous Cecile Brunner outside our bedroom window that is probably as old (and nearly as big) as this house.

Tulip Tree

Cecile Brunner Rose

We have a big glossy camellia next to the tulip tree in the courtyard that fills with blooms, bottle brush buzzing with hummingbirds and bees, and a wonderful old Rose of Sharon with a seemingly endless supply of purple blooms that fall each night and regenerate each morning.  There are more I’m forgetting and then there are the things we’ve added ourselves (mostly gifts from my family): gardenias, azaleas, hydrangeas, lilies, another lilac, lavender, and several different annuals that are mostly still blooming thanks to the California sun.

We learned over the summer that vegetables will grow well just about anywhere we stick them in the ground and we had towering tomato and cucumber plants of several varieties, a watermelon patch, crookneck squash, zucchini, hot peppers, sweet peppers, eggplant, and more.

Garden Patch

The end of summer brought us more vegetables than we could handle as well as a good crop of black mission figs.

Fig Harvest

And now it’s Fall, which is announced in our backyard with bright yellow lemons and the repetitive thud of Pineapple Guavas (aka Feijoas) hitting the ground.

Meyer Lemons

Feijoas or Pineapple Guavas on the Ground

Our Autumn harvest will also eventually include olives, although the tree my Dad planted for me over the summer is so tiny that this year’s harvest will only be about ten olives.  Hey, it’s a start!

Baby Olive Tree

Soon winter will be here and our big tangerine tree in the back will add to our citrus bounty.

Tangerines Turning Orange

Winter will also bring oranges, grapefruit, and sweet limes from neighbors and family. Someday I hope to have our own blood oranges and limes growing in the yard. But we have plenty to keep us busy and well fed for now!

So tell me, where do you live and what’s being harvested in your neck of the woods?

Filed Under: Gardening, NaBloPoMo

Previous Post: « Wordless Wednesday: Autumn in Central California
Next Post: Cookbooks on the Couch »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    November 14, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    Wow! What a great backyard! Even though I live in an apt building, it's rather small (8 units) but has a large backyard area. I'm lucky to have lemons (just a few yellow ones) and a grapefruit tree! I didn't realize grapefruit was a fall/winter citrus. Now I'm excited. My neighbor and I tried our hand at summer veggies but were only moderately successful. Great basil and late summer squash but only a handful of tomatoes and some unfortunate tasting bell peppers.
    Reply
  2. Janette@culinaryginger says

    November 14, 2013 at 4:43 pm

    Wow, you can give Ina Garten a run for her money with that garden. Just lovely (and just a bit jealous).
    Reply
  3. Joanna says

    November 14, 2013 at 6:34 pm

    Those persimmons r wonderful, purchased a few the other day for persimmon cookies .99 apiece enjoy your bounty. You have an amazing yard!
    Reply
  4. Alejandra says

    November 14, 2013 at 6:36 pm

    Oh my gosh! I'm so jealous of your bounty. Your garden is stunning!!
    Reply
  5. Pamela says

    November 14, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    Loving all your beautiful fruits, it's one of my dreams to grow fruit.. maybe one day my climate will change. ;)
    Reply
  6. amanda says

    November 14, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    what an amazing bountiful harvest your space (and you) provide! i've heard of the pina-guava but i've never actually tasted one! describe! i wonder if that's one I can get here? can't wait to see what you do with them!
    Reply
  7. Winnie says

    November 15, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    Gorgeous! I wish I lived in CA right about now ;)
    Reply
  8. Eileen says

    November 15, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    I see you basically live at my house. :) We've been buried under an avalanche of pineapple guavas every October for several years, and we still don't know what to do with them! Also, are you sure those are black mission figs? They're usually more teardrop-shaped and entirely dark purple, with no green anywhere. I don't know what other kind these might be, though.
    Reply
  9. Sean says

    November 19, 2013 at 4:17 pm

    So, so jealous. Have you ever eaten the blossoms from the feijoa? They're delicious!
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Posts by Category

Copyright © 2025 · Privacy · Terms and Conditions