Wednesday 2 April 2014

The test is all in the taste

Two days later, and all four mandarins have now fallen on their own accord. The one that, from the outside, looked the best, was already soft and mushy, so I hoiked it. This was the next to fall. The skin did not look "picture perfect", but there were no seeds, and plenty of juice. However, it lacked in flavour. Let me check Daley's cultivation notes.

Dwarf Mandarin - Okitsu Wase (Satsuma)
Seedless, good flavour, low acid and high TSS. Satsumas are cold hardy and form a compact growing tree. They are the earliest mandarins in the marketplace.

So ... I went looking in some Californian forums for hobby citrus growers. Sataumas are ready BEFORE the skin is fully orange, so pick early. They mature well on the shelf. If you wait until the skin is ripe on the tree, the fruit inside will have spoiled. Bingo!

2 comments:

MargaretP said...

Most citrus are sweeter after a frost, so early varieties may not be so good.....but not sure if this applies to mandys.Talk to someone at a local nursery for what does well locally.
Most kids are happy to eat mandarines, when they are little you can cut out the centre "stringy" bit with the seeds and this makes them easier to chew.

Julie said...

Alannah has always loved Manadarins. SHE HAD A SEGMENT OF THIS ONE, TOO. wE DON'T HAVE FROSTS HERE IN cASTLECRAG - TOO CLOSE TO TH WATER, AND GENERALLY JUST TOO TEMPERATE.