#hardy orange

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Late afternoon forage in the woods

[paulpingminho]

[david6of7]

Hardy Orange

Photography by David Velez

#davidvelez #david6of7 #fruit #hardyorange #abstract #bw #blackandwhite

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Flying Dragon Orange Jelly 🐉 🍊

This is the first time I’ve cooked with these little oranges that litter the ground in the pine woods to the side of the house in the autumn. In the past, I sliced and dried them to make Christmas ornaments.

They are quite bitter as well as sour. Several of the articles I read while researching them suggested using them as lemon substitutes. The author of the recipe I used said that though many people claimed they could be used for marmalade, that she, as a marmalade lover, found the peel too bitter. So, I decided to take her advice and go straight to the jelly recipe.

I was delighted when rummaging through the drawers to find that my mother-in-law has a vintage lemon juicer—the perfect size for these little oranges. They fit in the cup as though it was made for them, and I quickly juiced 24 oranges to make a cup of juice (I halved the recipe).

After adding the sugar to the juice for the second boil, I took a quick sip and a sweet and a sour taste exploded in my mouth. I foresee myself using this jelly to make sweet and sour glazes, possibly with a bit of chili pepper for heat (maybe for some wings), as well as watering some down into syrup at Christmas to substitute for the orange juice called for in my wassail recipe.

Recipe:

https://mariannewillburn.com/how-to-make-poncirus-marmalade-from-hardy-oranges/

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Trifoliate Orange Cleansing/Banishing/Protection Wash

I made up my lemon cleanser, but substituted flying dragon orange. The orange is very strong and bitter, and acidic like lemons. Plus for sympathetic magical purposes the plant itself is incredibly thorny.

I put a thorny branch in the bottle with the cleanser.

1 part flying dragon orange (trifoliate orange/hardy orange) juice

1 part vinegar

2 parts water

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Flying Dragon Orange Soda 🐉 🍊

I measured four tablespoons of the flying dragon orange jelly that I made yesterday and heated it in the microwave for 20 seconds to reduce it back to syrup. I poured it over ice, topped it with 8 oz. club soda, and voila, homemade orange soda from my own tiny little oranges. Super refreshing!

Commercially made sodas must have so much artificial color added.

[dvoeverie-stitches]

A Different Direction

I took a left into the woods instead of a right yesterday. I saw a little opening in the greenbrier and orange brambles that I hadn’t seen before. Maybe things are a little more open as autumn becomes more of a presence.

There was at least a half acre to an acre covered in trifoliate orange. I will never gather or use all the oranges I found. And, if I can get to them next year, there are easily double the beautyberry bushes—it was too late this year, most of the berries had dropped or been eaten by birds.

I went ahead and made the orange banishing/cleansing/protective wash that I’d been tossing around in my head and I’ll freeze the juice from the rest until I decide what I want to make with yesterday’s harvest. I’ll have plenty more peel to dry for my polaz.

There are still plenty on the forest floor for some Christmas decorating ideas I have:

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The flying dragon orange jelly 🐉 🍊 turned out so good.