I planted three satsuma trees in the spring. And although they are very small, they have fruit on them. My neighbor is selling hers in her stand, so I took a look in the back, and sure enough, they were ripe. Winter in Southern California is not so very cold, but my gardening has slowed. I picked an avocado to see if it would ripen off the tree. The passion fruit vine is making a comeback after being choked by the banana trees. Oh, the banana trees… my gardener recommends removing them all, as they are wreaking havoc in the area, but they are so pretty, and hides my garage… we will have to think on this one.

There are no other fruits that represent the fall season to me as persimmons do – well, pomegranates are a close second. My sweet elderly neighbor gave me a bunch of hachiyas. I have been figuring out the best way to ripen them: the “window sill method”, the “persimmons in a brown bag with a banana method”, and “the persimmons with cotton balls dunked in vodka method”:

So far, the window sill method is the most ineffective, but that may be since I have a patio overhang that limits direct sunlight. The banana method seems to be working. I am waiting on the vodka bunch. What will I do if/when they all ripen at the same time? I found a recipe for persimmon pudding I am itching to try. I can always freeze them too. Here are some photos from my young back grove. I have a fuyu and a hachiya tree. I planted them about five years ago, but the hachiya had a setback. I thought I lost it after the second year, but two little sprouts grew, and this year, it even bore fruit – three to be exact :-):

And here is my fuyu tree & fruits – they are sweet, crunchy, delicious, and best of all can be eaten right off the tree.

Well, wouldn’t you know it. The woman at our local farmers market was right. Green bell peppers really do ripen to beautiful reds and yellows – I guess I picked them too early in the past. Here are some of the peppers from my garden:

My vegetable garden seems to have managed the worst of the heat this summer. We’ve had a bumper crop of tomatoes, egg plants, squash, and peppers. Now if I could get the family to eat more vegetables…

Here are my little helpers – Koko and Hiro, enjoying the sun on the trellis bench: