Door Yard Citrus

At least, that's what we used to call it. Growing up in Miami meant lots of oranges, limes and grapefruit there for the picking. Neighbors each grew different fruit so that when harvesting time rolled around we could all share in the variety! A healthy citrus tree could produce many hundreds of fruit. That was until a bacterium brought in from Southeast Asia caused an infection called Citrus Canker and it found it's way into South Florida in the '80s. The Canker is not harmful to humans but does cause citrus trees to drop their leaves and fruit prematurely. Even though the fruit is safe to eat, the canker causes blemishes on the fruit making it too unsightly to be sold.  To 'save' the commercial citrus industry, the State of Florida decided the best tact would be to destroy all of the backyard citrus trees, even ones that showed no signs of the Canker. Crews would go from yard to yard destroying the people's trees. After all of that destruction the canker still took it's toll on the commercial groves. The Citrus industry, for the most part, has left South Florida. Many of the groves, cleared of dead citrus trees are now planted in pine...a renewable resource, or built on for housing developments with such ironic names as 'Orange Blossom Estates'!  Sad :(