http://www.prattvilleprogress.com/article/20091111/PROGRESS01/911110304/1041/progress01
December 2, 2009
BEATING THE ODDS
Local woman's satsuma trees loaded with fruit
Hybrid citrus rare outside coastal area
By Don Fletcher
Progress staff writer
Barbara Goodson peels a juice-filled satsuma she
just picked from one of the fruit-laden trees in the
yard of her Prattville home.
-- Angelique Suzanne, Progress
Barbara Goodson might not be a gambler, but the Prattville woman has certainly beaten the odds by growing fruit-bearing satsuma trees in central Alabama.
Goodson, who four years ago planted seven trees with hopes that at least one or two would survive, has seen a bumper crop this year. The seven trees have not only survived, they have flourished.
The local woman said her late brother -- Ben Rigsby, who lived in Foley -- brought the trees to her. Her other brother, Johnny Rigsby of Prattville, planted them for her.
The retired rural mail carrier -- who also grows plums, pears, nectarines and figs in a backyard orchard -- said her late husband, J.L. Goodson, who she labeled as the family's "real gardener," didn't offer much hope that her project would be a success.
"J.L. had the green thumb, and he told me they would never grow," she recalled. "He lived long enough to see them bear fruit, but he never saw a crop like this."
The male gardener's pessimism was apparently well placed.
According to a Web site maintained by the University of California at Riverside, climatic conditions suitable for growth of satsumas, which are native to the Orient and are among the most cold-tolerant of the citrus fruits, exist within a relatively limited area of the United States.
UCR researchers report that the citrus is usually found only in "parts of northwestern Florida, in a narrow strip extending along the Gulf of Mexico across Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana into eastern Texas, and in the thermal belt of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley basin of California."
Goodson explained that several factors played a part in her healthy horticultural handiwork, which is located on the eastern side of her home, between a brick wall and a six-foot high privacy fence.
"I just set them out on the eastern side of the house, so they would be protected, and let them grow," she said. "They get good morning sun, and no north winds. The fence keeps the wind off them, and the heat reflects from the brick wall to help keep them warm in the winter."
The satsuma grower said she had doubted during last winter's coldest periods that this year's abundance of fruit would become a reality.
"Last winter, it was cold," she recounted. "I just knew they wouldn't survive, but they did better this year than they had ever done."
She said she helped the trees along by using a product that many home gardeners don't consider when trying to raise hard-to-grow plants and trees.
"I used Epsom salt; I guess it helps neutralize the soil," Goodson said. "All I know is that when I use it, all of my trees do better."
Epsom salt is high in magnesium sulfate, which can be used to correct a magnesium deficiency in soil, since magnesium is an essential element in the chlorophyll molecule. It is most commonly applied to potted plants, or to magnesium-hungry crops, such as potatoes, roses, tomatoes, peppers and cannabis.
According to Auburn University's Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Web site, the small, sweet, and nearly seedless fruits were introduced to the state in 1878 and for several decades represented a thriving industry.
But they lost favor with farmers when several large freezes before World War II destroyed crops and all but eliminated plantings. Today, AAES researchers are studying how to make satsuma plants heartier in freezing temperatures and to reestablish their production in south Alabama.
Goodson indicated that her plans for the juicy, tangerine-like fruit she grew didn't include becoming part of the agricultural commodity industry, not even the establishment of a roadside produce stand. She admitted that her feat was a rare one for this area.
"We're going to eat them," she laughed as she picked a handful of the ripest offerings. "I have plenty of family members and friends who will help me get rid of them, and that's how we plan to do it. I'm not 100 percent sure that mine are the only ones around, but I've never seen any others in Prattville."
