Nature is all around us, but it feels even more present here. I see the sea everyday, I walk through the garden, I watch birds, cats and dogs playing all around. In the garden connected to my building, there are several different trees and plants. I’m very fascinated by the mandarin trees—they have a lot of fruit on them right now, but will also have flowers at other times of the year. I can’t wait to see how they change throughout the seasons. They are surrounded by other plants too, like cacti, lemon trees, vines and kumquat trees.
These trees have skinny trunks and almost oval shaped leaves. The mandarins are a bit like squished oranges, a bit more oval than sphere, otherwise, they are almost the same as oranges! They peel easily and separate into little slices. Mandarins are sweeter and have a stronger flavor than standard oranges. The trees grow little white flowers which develop into the fruit. They are evergreen, meaning that they keep their leaves all year. Even though January may not seem like the time of year for sweet bright fruit, the trees are full of ripening mandarins!
