Citrus - an early spring delight
When is citrus at it's
best? Consumers often ask us this question.
In recent years, stores
have started to carry "new crop" citrus in mid to late fall,
usually in October. But this hasn't always been the
case. We used to get the season's first orange or
tangerine as a welcome treat in our Christmas stockings.
So what has changed?
Citrus growers, at some
point, decided that it would be better to pick and ship
their product earlier in the season, in the hope of
receiving a premium for their early season crop.
Early Varieties
One way that growers could do this was to develop new
varieties that would mature earlier. Researchers and
growers have done this, but in doing it, they have
sacrificed flavor for earliness. While the new
varieties look good, they lack the flavor and sweetness of
later-maturing varieties.
Ethylene gas
Another way that growers do this is to use ethylene gas.
These days, the gassing of citrus is a standard practice in
the early season in large-scale citrus groves.
Ethylene gas draws the
green chlorophyll out of slightly immature fruit, giving the
gassed fruit the appearance of mature fruit. While the
gassed fruit looks good, it also lacks the flavor of
tree-ripened fruit.
Tree-ripened fruit
The only way to grow citrus that is really sweet and
beautiful is to let the fruit ripen naturally on the tree.
The longer the fruit hangs on the tree (up to a point), the
higher the sugar levels climb.
When picked at its prime,
tree-ripened fruit is "to die for".
Other factors
There are a few other factors that can affect the flavor of
citrus. One is cold nights (chilly, but not freezing).
A little chill is good for citrus in that it raises the
sugar levels and helps to remove the chlorophyll from the
fruit, turning it from green to orange.
Many organic growers grow
a "cover crop" between the trees in an orchard. The
cover crop, among other things, helps to bring minerals to
the surface, into the trees and ultimately into the fruit,
giving a more natural flavor.
Growing for flavor
Goodness Greeness strives to support those organic growers
that make a special effort to grow citrus for its flavor.
These growers leave their fruit on their trees until the
sweetness and the flavor is just right. They risk
losing their crop to frost by doing this, but if the fruit
survives the cold, the flavor is exquisite! By picking
citrus at it's prime, these growers provide a product that
we all crave and look forward to year to year.
And the answer is ...
So, when is citrus at it's best? The answer is simply
when the fruit has reached maturity on the tree. This
usually starts in December and continues until mid to late
spring. By March and April, we typically have the best
selection of citrus of the year.
So now, in late March, the variety
of citrus is
excellent and the quality and flavor are really top-notch. When else do we see:
Navel and
Valencia oranges
Blood oranges (from Italy and the US)
Ruby Star grapefruit (Oro Blanco)
Kumquats, Minneola tangelos, lemons and limes,
Mandarin and Honey tangerines (all from Florida)
all tree-ripened by
growers who care about flavor, as well as land stewardship.
Please take this seasonal
opportunity to support all of the organic citrus growers
whose hard work make this variety and flavor possible.
You can now get
"best of the season" organic citrus at your local market. If not, email us here at
newsletter@goodnessgreeness.com and we'll help you
locate them. |
