Hacker News Reader

Comment by throw0101d | Hacker News Reader

Meta: giving oranges as gifts at Christmas was a bit of a thing in the past when they used to be much more rare during winter: from Valencia/Ivrea for Europeans, and California/Florida in the US.

* https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-we-should-br...

In the US the Interstate system helped reduce shipping and logistic costs across state lines, and so oranges became more prevalent and less 'special' post-WW2.

View on HN

They also had a wild system for growing citrus fruit in trenches in the USSR.

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/04/fruit-trenches-cul...

I've always wanted to try it in my own cold environment.

I've seen Youtube videos of people growing citrus, among other things, in colder climates in "greenhouses" made of plastic sheeting heated by a thick layer of woodchips which slowly decompose and give off heat.

There are (were?) also dedicated "juice trains" running from Florida to various destinations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_Train

Also the passenger train immortalized by Johnny Cash's "Orange Blossom Special": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWz5NzY3Zck

"Rouse and Wise wrote the Orange Blossom Special song as a fiddle tune."

With the characteristic doppler effect of a rapidly passing train horn simulated by the fiddle player.

That Orange Blossom Special, doesn't run through Waldo any more.

Tangerines (or satsumas) over Christmas were a treat in the north of England when I was a kid.

Granny Smith and Pink Lady were also considered treats when it came to apples, compared to the usual golden delicious or braeburn.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com