Taste Test: Dweet Tangor.

Well today i decided that it was time to crack open & try one of my Dweet Tangors. They all seemed to have fully coloured up and look about the perfect ripeness to eat. So here we go.......

It was quite a large fruit, bigger than your usual supermarket Navel with a rigid, thick, pebbled rind that was surprisingly very easy to detach like a Mandarin.
Once peeled it had very little albedo left on the segments which were easy to separate for a very easy eating of the fruit.
Taste-wise it was very enjoyable. Very sweet but with just a slight tang at the end. 
Taste was mix of a rich Tangerine/Mandarin with Orange finish very flavourful.
Flesh was orange coloured & very juicy but quite delicate like a Mandarin not dry at all.
There were about 5 seeds present but for its size didn't seem to problematic.
Overall it was a very pleasant fruit to eat, way better flavour than an Orange almost like eating a giant Satsuma. 
Im excited about the up-coming Blood Oranges that are next to harvest. Still about two weeks i reckon so i can try and get some good blood colour going!

  

  

"Buddhacello" made with Buddha’s Hand Citron

After bottling my first batch of Limoncello with great success (it is very delicious!), i got to thinking that i could finally have something that i could make use of my elusive Buddha's Hands. Since there is no juice or pulp inside these squid-like fruit i have only ever used them in my fruit bowl as decoration and to scent the room with a light citron aroma. So tonight i harvested two of these beautys off my tree and with great difficulty zested them up and then added the zest into a bottle of vodka. 
I started off having to wash the hands quite thoroughly as due to some bizarre reason the hands are like a haven for ants. I actually had to wash, scrub & rinse about three times to rid of all the ant stowaways. Then to zest them up i had to slice each "tentacle" off to reach every bit of precious zest.
Once zested it was as easy as adding the zest into my Vodka bottle, rinsing it off and a long wait of about a month until i add my sugar syrup and complete my glorious "Buddhacello"!
I'll keep you posted how this turns out in about a month but i have a good feeling about this.

  

Zested Tentacles.

How to make Limoncello.

 

I was browsing the Citrus Growers Forum the other day and came across a post about making your own Limoncello. I had always thought that Limoncello must be a closely guarded secret kept by old, weathered Italian grandfathers. Well, it turns out all you need to make truly amazing Limoncello are some good Lemons, a bottle of Vodka, and Time.
It has taken me far too long to realise how delicious, and how astoundingly easy, it is to make your own Limoncello, and with Lemons currently being in season it is perfect timing to be using them.
I first came across it in Melbourne whilst working with some incredibly funny and extremely traditional Italians at Stellini Bar. I remember someone brought in a bottle of viscous yellow liquid which was kept in the freezer and was the best, pulled out of the freezer & poured straight onto ice during those hot Melbourne summers. Limoncello is smooth and sweet with an intense lemon flavor. It can be sipped on its own, mixed into sparkling water, or shaken into cocktails. Limoncello can range from very sweet to super tart and citrusy, as the maker of the limoncello, that's something that you get to decide.

The great thing about Limoncello is how easy it is to make. Its simply infusing lemon peel/zest into vodka. No distilling or secret ingredients required. After letting the peels and vodka mingle for anywhere from a few days to a month, it's strained, mixed with sugar syrup, chilled and just like that, we have Limoncello!

Standard lemons are just fine for making limoncello, though you can also branch out into other citrus fruits like Grapefruits, Oranges, Yuzu or even the mysterious Buddha Hand-Buddhacello!

You only use the lemon zest for this project. I've found this easiest to do with a microplane thats on my grater, but you can also use a vegetable peeler. Just try to get the skin alone and as little pith as possible. With the leftover lemons, you can make a batch of Lemonade or Whiskey Sours.

The alcohol prevents any mould or bacteria from growing on the zest. Once strained, the limoncello can be kept in the freezer for at least a year, and likely much longer. If your limoncello is over a year old, discard it if it tastes off or you see any mold growing in the bottle.

1. Peel the lemons: Use a Microplane or Zester to remove the zest from 15 lemons. Try to remove only the outer yellow skin and as little of the pith as possible.
2. Cover the peels with vodka: Transfer the lemon zest to a 1 litre bottle of Vodka and screw on the lid.
3. Infuse the vodka: Let the vodka and lemon peels infuse somewhere out of the way and out of direct sunlight for about a month. The longer you let the vodka infuse, the more lemony your Limoncello. Most of the lemon flavor is extracted in those first few days, but you'll also get a stronger, bolder flavor the longer you let it sit.
4. Strain the vodka: Line a strainer with a large coffee filter and set it over a big enough vessel. Strain the infused vodka through the filter. You may need to stir the vodka in the strainer if the flow stops.
5. Prepare sugar syrup: Prepare a sugar syrup of  5 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar, bring the water to a boil and stir in the sugar to dissolve; allow to cool. Add desired amount to the infused vodka, taste, and add more simple syrup to taste. You can play with the ratios of water to sugar here, More water will dilute the alcohol base, making a less alcoholic, milder, and smoother-sipping liqueur. More sugar will make a sweeter Limoncello.
6. Bottle the limoncello: Insert the funnel in the neck of one of the bottles and fill with Limoncello.
7. Chill and store: Chill the limoncello in the fridge or freezer for at least 4 hours before drinking. Limoncello can be kept in the fridge for up to a month or the freezer for up to a year (and often much longer!)

  

My Fruit Tree Inventory.

   

For those of you interested, i did an inventory of my fruiting plants as of today - 94! 45 of which are Citrus. Its quite a collection for such a small property (500m2). As you may know, there is always room for one more tree friend, so it may still continue to grow! It is however getting more & more difficult to find a spot for new friends to go in. When these guys all get full size it will be a literal Food Forest which i really like the idea of. When planting, i have always tried to do so with the principles of Permaculture Food Forests in mind (though i have a mix of Fruits, Natives & other Tropicals). Tall Canopy Trees provide shelter from the harsh, drying summer sun to the smaller trees & shrubs. Then, with smaller yet bushes & ground covers to cover the ground to protect & prevent drying out of the soil. I haven't fully adopted Permaculture or Organic principles but i like the idea of both and like to adopt them as much as possible to try & be as ecologically responsible as i can. As far as cultivar choices go, i primarily choose based on fruits that are rare & unusual; that you won't usually see at the supermarket. Fruit such as Fingerlimes, Blood Orange, Yuzu, Kumquats and Figs. All which are exquisite and should be more popular but often don't travel or store well, or are just too unusual for the mainstream market.

Limes

6x Tahitian
2x Australian Fingerlime
2x Key Lime
1x Kusaie
1x Kaffir

Mandarins
1x Scarlett Burgess
1x Miho
1x Silverhill
1x Encore
1x Satsuma
1x Okitsu Wase
1x W. Murcott Afourer

Oranges
3x Moro Blood Orange
1x Sanguinelli Blood Orange
1x Tarocco Blood Orange
2x Cara Cara

1x Cipo
1x Bergamot
1x Seville

Lemons
1x Meyer
1x Eureka
1x Lemonade

Kumquats
1x Nagami
1x Indio Mandarinquat
1x Calamondin
1x Meiwa

Tangors/Tangelos
1x Tangor Dweet
1x Tangor Ugli
1x Tangor Kiyomi
1x Tangelo Seminole

1x Grapefruit
1x Pomelo

2x Yuzu

1x Buddha Hand
1x Chinotto

Feijoas
1x Apollo
2x Golden Goose
1x Mammoth

Peaches
1x Golden Queen
1x Pixzee
1x Bonanza
1x Black Boy

Apples
1x Pacific Rose
1x Initial

Passionfruit

3x Black

1x Red Banana

1x Sweet Granadilla

2x Coffee

1x Banana
1x Nectarine
3x Avocado "Hass"

1x Plum "Black Doris"
1x Pear "Beurre Bosc"

1x Nashi Double Graft "Hosui" with "Nijiseiki"
3x Blueberrys
1x Cape Gooseberry
1x Gooseberry Invicta
1x Elderflower
1x Lemon Myrtle
1x Mulberry
1x Pomegranate "Wonderful"
1x Tropical Apricot (Dovyalis hebecarpa)
1x Fig

1x Blackcurrant

1x Redcurrant

1x Mountain PawPaw

1x Guava

2x Lemongrass
1x Chilean Guava

Tamarillos
2x Red
2x "Bold Gold"

Grapes
Albany Surprise
Niagara

Raspberries

Aspiring

Ivory
  

Key Lime Pie Recipe

My Mum Brenda, who lives down in Katikati in the Bay of Plenty, popped up to visit 

the other day and luckily for me she brought me a big bag of Limes from her Lime trees. I gave her a few trees a few Christmas's ago and helped plant them in and she is always very generous in sharing her excess produce. I still have some on my trees too but i manage to get through them fairly easily. With such a haul i thought that i should make a Key Lime Pie as i have wanted to try the recipe out for a while now. Though these limes are Tahitian Limes, i don't think there should be much difference in flavour. This is a staple recipe from the Florida area (i.e.: the Florida Keys) where Key Limes used to reign supreme. Nowadays due to Hurricanes that have wiped out a lot of the Key Lime Plantations in Florida, a lot of the US's Key Limes come primarily from Mexico or Guatemala. Floridian Lime orchards were subsequently replaced with the less thorny Persian (Tahitian) Lime.Here's the Recipe:

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:
4 Egg Yolks
1 cup Fresh Lime Juice
2 x (414ml) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs or Ginger Nut Crumbs
6 TBS (60gm) Butter, melted.

Directions:
1. Combine crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Press mixture into the bottom of a 12-inch springform pan. Bake at 180º C. for 10-15mins. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the Sweetened Condensed Milk and the Eggs and mix until the eggs are fully incorporated. Add the key lime juice and mix again until well mixed. 

3. Pour mixture into the cooled Pie Crust. Bake at 180º C for 15-20mins until the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged.

3. Let fully cool before slicing. 

4. Top off with whipped cream on the top if desired as below or perhaps Meringue.

"Tequila" Key Lime Pie:
Add in 1-2 TBS of Tequila into the Filling mixture before filling the Pie Crust.

Kumquats

Kumquats are Citrus with edible fruit that closely resembles that of the Orange but it is much smaller, being approximately the size and shape of a large Olive. They differ also by having edible sweet rinds with relatively sour flesh inside. Kumquats are a cold hardy Citrus.

The plants are native to Southern Asia. The earliest historical reference to Kumquats appears in Chinese literature in the 12th century. They have long been cultivated throughout Asia in India, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune, collector for the London Horticultural Society, and shortly thereafter into North America. 

They are slow-growing small trees, from 2m to 4.5m tall, with dense branches, sometimes bearing small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers are white, similar to other citrus flowers. Depending on size & maturity, the kumquat tree can produce hundreds or even thousands of fruits each year.

Here are the varieties available in New Zealand:

Nagami Kumquat: is oval in shape. It has a relatively small number of segments (four to five) and contains 2 to 5 seeds. Nagami fruit have a deep orange colour and a distinctive flavour. The rind is pleasantly sweet with very sour juice & flesh. A mature specimen can bear a crop of up to 3500 fruits. Nagami is in season from April to July in NZ. This was the first kumquat to arrive in the Western world. The plant was introduced from China to London in 1846 by Robert Fortune, plant explorer for the Royal  Horticultural Society. I have a Nagami in my garden at home but is currently very small.

Indio Mandarinquat: came about from an open pollinated seedling that sprung up under a large old Nagami tree at UCLA. It is a kumquat-mandarin hybrid with orange bell-shaped fruit much larger than a typical kumquat. The sweet peel is eaten along with the tart flesh for a unique flavour combination. This variety usually blooms during the summer months and produces abundant crops of fruit that stay on the tree during the winter months. Indio looks like a giant kumquat, with similar tangy-sweet flesh and edible rind. A very decorative tree. I have one in my garden at home quite large at 1.5m and is four years old. It is however a very reluctant fruiter and I've only ever had two fruits off him. This spring i'll give him some extra TLC to see if this helps with fruiting. Maybe some Potassium in the form of ‘Sulphate of Potash’ to promote the growth of flowering buds (and therefore fruit).

Meiwa Kumquat: is thought to be a natural hybrid between the oval Nagami and round Marumi kumquats. The most distinctive features of this Kumquat are the short round form, the more numerous sections (commonly seven), the very thick and sweet rind and comparatively sweet flavour, and the low seed content. Many fruits are seedless. This is the best kumquat variety for eating fresh as it has the sweetest juice and is the most popular Kumquat in NZ. I tried one at the Garden Centre the other day & it has surprisingly sweet skin! The flesh is still a little tart though. Meiwa was introduced from Japan between 1910 and 1912. The tree is a dwarf, frequently thornless, the leaves differ from those of other kumquats in being very thick and rigid and partly folded lengthwise & pitted with numerous dark-green oil glands.

Eustis Limequats: are a hybrid of Mexican Limes & a Round Kumquat made in 1909. Trees are more cold-tolerant than a regular lime but not as hardy as the Kumquat. Fruit is used much like a Lime. I tasted one recently and it was like eating a Lime so i don't really see the appeal apart from the novelty factor. Limequats are oval or round, 2-4 cm wide with thin, pale-yellow, smooth, glossy skin with prominent oil glands. Inside the flesh is edible but very acid like a Lime. It is light greenish in 6 to 9 segments, juicy, with 5 to 12 small seeds. Trees are early ever-bearing but mainly in autumn to winter. The tree produces pure-white flower buds and flowers prolifically.

Calamondin: is an acid fruit that is most commonly grown in the Philippines.  It is believed to be a natural hybrid of a Kumquat & a Mandarin Orange. It is also sometimes called a Calamansi.  It is an unusual but beautiful tree, its form is upright & columnar, the leaves are small & dense giving the tree a fine textural appearance.  The fruits are small, round, & orange at full maturity ripening around May. The orange flesh is acidic, juicy, and contains a few seeds. Calamondin trees flower and set fruit intermittently throughout the year, adding to the decorative appeal of these trees.  It can come in variegated form, which i have at home, with yellow & green marbled leaves and striped fruit ripening to Orange colour. The fruit have a thin sweet mandarin flavoured skin and a tart sour-mandarin flavoured flesh. Culinary uses are mainly to add a citrus zing to drinks. Other uses are for citrus flavour in baking & Marmalade.

Making It Rain: Rainmaker Gesha Coffee Project.

A couple of weeks ago Supreme Coffee did their first limited release of a very special coffee, the Rainmaker Gesha from La Soledad in Guatemala. They were lucky enough to be visiting La Soledad in 2013 just as their Gesha trees were first able to produce enough cherries to generate a tasting sample. Fast-forward three years; the coffee trees are maturing and producing more fruit, and they received the first shipment of La Soledad Gesha ever exported. The Rainmaker Gesha is a special coffee for several reasons. Mainly for its excellent flavour profile and exquisite quality. But perhaps most importantly, this coffee gives us a window into the process involved in developing new exciting coffee varietals.

I managed to secure a bag to taste when it was released (which was lucky as it sold out within one day of release!). Taste wise is was pretty amazing. Usually i'm not that great at picking out the different notes of the flavour profiles but this one was very clear Apricot, Brown Sugar & Mandarin. I think because Supreme like to roast on the light side for their filter coffees it really helps the fruity, floral notes to really shine through.

Since this varietal of Coffee is so special, i asked Coffee Supreme when i ordered if they could include a few green beans so i could try to grow seedlings from them. 

This page will be the beginning of a process hopefully of growing these Gesha Trees. I firstly soaked the beans over-night in water and then planted them in potting mix. I'll leave them on my window sill covered in plastic to try & germinate them. Fingers crossed!

Gesha is probably the best-known single variety of coffee, this type has been made famous by plots of it being cultivated on land owned by the Peterson family in Boquete, Panama. The Petersons' farm, Hacienda la Esmeralda, has become a kind of a trademark spot for the coveted plant, which originated near the Ethiopian town of Gesha and was planted in Panama as a Leaf-Rust resistant type in the 1950s. Geshas can also be found in Honduras and Colombia among other origins, and they continue to command exceptional prices on the specialty market. The most striking thing about Gesha variety coffees is that they taste nothing like their Latin American counterparts: Instead of the chocolate and mellow-but-crisp acidity that quality coffees from Panama typically express, these are more delicate and intensely floral, not unlike the heirloom Ethiopian varieties. With notes of Jasmine, Orange Blossom, sweet Clover Honey, lightly toasted Green Tea - well cared for Geshas are a stand-out on a cupping table. Rainmaker's flavour-profile is Apricot, Brown Sugar & Mandarin.

Here is some more info regarding Rainmaker courtesy of Coffee Supreme......

La Soledad is run by Raul Perez, and named after Raul's grandmother, Soledad de Carmen. Raul inherited the reins to the farm from his father, who had worked it for the previous 30 years. While Raul has continued the family’s commitment to producing quality coffee, he has led La Soledad a step further by employing processing techniques and cultivating coffees previously unseen on Guatemalan mountainsides.
Raul’s newest project, the Scorpion Selection, focuses on developing small amounts of diverse and exotic coffee varietals that introduce new flavours to La Soledad’s traditional taste profile. And as expected, the coffee is produced with the same high standard of care and processing the farm is renowned for.

The first fruit to come out of the Scorpion Selection project is the Rainmaker Gesha.

In 2007, at a time when the Gesha variety was still a closely held industry secret, La Soledad was lucky enough to secure about nine seeds of the variety to begin their plantation. From these seeds, Raul and his team successfully grew five trees. It would, however, be another five years before these trees were able to produce usable seeds to expand the farm.

By 2013, La Soledad was able to cultivate enough seedlings from their original tree stock to plant one hectare of land. Selecting the right area to establish the Gesha plantation was the next critical step. Raul selected a plot about 1600 metres above sea level that would shelter the trees from wind and maximise their exposure to early morning sunshine.

Raul also decided that the Gesha plantation would be the first section of the farm to be planted in a new grid system that set an equal distance of three-square metres between each tree. The belief behind this formation was that the trees would be better assisted in growing into bigger and stronger plants that could outlast other plantation’s planting systems.

Each row of the grid is oriented east to west to exploit the available sunlight hours. The more sunlight the trees can absorb, the more energy they will have to produce new cherry and develop the full fruit flavours, complexity and sweetness synonymous with Gesha, but with the added La Soledad character and clarity.

After almost ten years, La Soledad is able to harvest just enough green coffee to be able to share it with their closest allies and friends who have invested in growing strong relationships with the farm.

Taste Test: Kusaie Lime

I've had this Kusaie Lime now for about 3 years. I brought it by mistake as i thought it was another name for Key Lime which i have heard good reviews of. It is however, a different Lime. When i first tried one i used it as a wedge for a Corona and instantly disliked it due to a weird Camphorous flavour. It was then banished to the back of the garden. Today however i noticed the tree is laden with about 20 fruits so i thought i would give him another chance. So i juiced three with my Lime squeezer and made some Lime-onade with the Soda Stream. When just using the juice only, the lime is actually really good similar to maybe a spicy Meyer Lemon in flavour. Sweet, floral and spicy. I think it is the peel that is the source of the medicinal, resinous flavour so i recommend avoiding for lime wedges or zesting. I'll be definitely using the rest of the fruit on the tree now and taste them further. I went on to make a Mescal Margarita that night and it was exceptional! I have to say though, Tahitian Lime is still the favourite for flavour in my opinion. The elusive Key Lime though, is still yet to be sampled. Kusaie is also quite an ornamental fellow if just grown for that purpose alone. Lots of pinkish-white blossoms and then yellow fruits to follow.

Kusaie should be regarded as a yellow-fruited form of the Rangpur and therefore called the Kusaie Rangpur.  The tree is indistinguishable from other Rangpurs and the fruit differs significantly only in colour. Almost certainly this variety originated in India. It was introduced into Hawaii from Kusaie Island, of the Caroline group in Micronesia in 1885. Kusaie is said to have local importance as an acid fruit in the Hawaiian Islands.  Elsewhere in the United States it is a collection item or oddity.

Avocado - Avo-geddon

As many Aucklanders may be aware we are currently in the midst of Avogeddon. Where for some it seems like the end of the world has arrived where they can't enjoy their usual Avocado & Vegemite on Vogel's toast without shelling out up to $9 each for an Avo! Avocados have become the Uber trendy essential ingredient of the minute with the Active-wearing, Almond Mylk Latte, Green Smoothie sipping types. And it's this popularity that is driving prices up and creating scarcity. This is compounded also by a lot of our NZ Avos going directly overseas as exports, further creating scarcity back here in NZ. We are only just now in my cafe finding relief with new season Avos trickling in but usually Haas won't officially mature until July.

One of the most longed-for fruit trees by home gardeners is an Avocado. Being a native of Central America, Avocado culture is very ancient and was a staple diet for many cultures. The fruit is great in so many dishes including one of my favourites: Guacamole (recipe below). Unsurprisingly, given their Central American ancestry, avocado trees only thrive in warm locations. A light frost will burn any tender growth, and anything cooler than -3°C will kill a young tree. The best growing areas in NZ are Northland, Auckland, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay & Bay of Plenty where the majority of NZ Avo farms are in Katikati. 

At home i have one grafted Haas Avocado tree planted inground and another two that grew out of the compost randomly that are in pots. My thoughts are i'll only have the one inground as they grow in to quite large trees eventually and can use the potted plants as pollinators perhaps.

GROWING GUIDE

Below ground, the roots are very sensitive. The deep-growing tap root (a long slender root, similar to a big carrot) loathes heavy, clay and wet soil. The roots are susceptible to the fungal disease phytophthora, which thrives in difficult dirt. Avocado trees need excellent drainage, which means free-draining soil or, if unavailable, planting into a raised bed.

Site selection is very important to provide a warm, sheltered position for your valuable avocado tree. As well as the soil requirements, the site should be protected from wind and be warm and sunny. 

The best time to plant avocado trees is in late spring when the soil temperature is warming, which also reduces the likelihood of wet feet. This is also the main time of year that most avocado trees arrive at garden centres, probably to ensure the greatest chance of success when planting. Take care when lifting your new avocado tree from the garden centre or nursery. You should pick up the bag, not using the trunk as a handle.

VARIETIES

Around the world, the most popular variety for commercial growers and in home gardens is
the pebbly-skinned 'Hass'. With its long harvest season, excellent flavour and good flesh-to-seed ratio, 'Hass' has dominated production since it was spotted as a seedling in a Californian orchard in the 1930s. Hass is still considered the best option for the home gardener, usually supplying fruit from July until the following February or March. If you have room for two trees though,
'Reed' (ripening from February to May) has fantastic quality fruit with delicious, creamy flesh.
This is a green skin fruit with a hard shell-type skin, so it can a bit tricky to know when it's ripe. With a thicker skin than 'Hass', the flesh will only give very slightly when gently pressed. 'Fuerte' is another good variety, which has large fruit with a nutty flavoured flesh, ripening from August to October. 

PROPAGATION

Avocado seedlings are one of the easiest seeds to germinate. I think everyone has tried the avocado stone, toothpicks, cup and windowsill technique. Unfortunately, though, these seedlings can take up to 10 years to fruit, and the resulting avocados are likely to be of poor quality & not the same as the original fruit that the seed came from. The seedlings can be raised, however, until the stem is around pencil thickness, then grafted with a selected variety, such as 'Hass' or 'Reed' if you have such skills. Or else grafted Avocados are available at the Garden Centre but these are one of the most expensive fruit trees you'll see.

BLOSSOM & HARVESTING

Avocado trees have an unusual flowering system, in that the flower has both female and male organs. The female opens first for a couple of hours, closes, then the male opens for two or three hours, then the flower closes.

Avocado varieties are split into A and B types. In the A type ('Hass' and 'Reed'), the female opens on the morning of the first day and the male opens on the afternoon of the second day. In the B type (like 'Fuerte'), the female opens on the afternoon of the first day, and the male on the morning of the second day. Temperatures during this process are critical – dropping below 21°C  will make the flower opening more erratic.

Avocado trees have a prolific flowering period, with large clusters of blooms. Bees and other insects move the pollen between flowers. Flowers that are successfully pollinated form fruit. In commercial avocado orchards, pollinator varieties are planted, but in a home garden situation, usually one tree is sufficiently self-fertile.

Once fruit has set it takes up to a year for the fruitlets to mature – one of the longest times from flowering to fruiting in the orchard. The fruit will be mature, but interestingly, won't actually ripen until harvested.  They should be clipped from the tree using secateurs, to avoid damaging the skin and keep the stem "button" in place. 

TREE CARE

Once established, avocado trees require very little care: simply pruning to the desired size and shape. Bear in mind that avocado trees produce fruit on new growth, so clipping around the periphery of the tree will lower yield (although that trimming may be necessary to control size). Most Avo orchards i see will prune out the centre of the tree to let in as much light as possible into the canopy and to keep it at a manageable size.

Guacamole Recipe

3 Avocados.

1/2 Red Onion.

Chilies - Jalapenos or Hot Sauce.

1 Tomato.

1 or 2 Limes (or Lemon).

1 bunch Coriander.

Salt & Pepper.

1. Peel & roughly mash Avocados

2. Finely dice the Red Onion then rinse under water in a sieve.

3. Core & Dice the Tomatoes.

4. Juice the Lime

5. Finely chop the coriander.

6. Finely chop the chilies add to taste.

6. Add all the ingredients into a bowl & stir.

7. Season well with Salt & Pepper.

8. Garnish with extra Coriander & serve with Corn Chips.

For an added authentic flavour add in 4 large roasted Tomatillos. If you haven't tried Tomatillos i highly recommend looking into them for your mexican recipes. For more Mexican inspiration, check out my book "Viva la Mexico" it's a free download at www.blurb.com/ebooks/379548-viva-la-mexico

Currently In Season: June

With all this cold weather lately we can now say its officially winter. The cold temperatures have also started to colour up all the citrus especially the Oranges which are all starting to be ready to harvest. As they become ripe i will give a review below of the taste & look of each that i try.

Cipo
Cipo Oranges are a unique weeping selection of orange with sweet and juicy fruit with a slight pineapple tang that are ready from late June. Ideal for pots to show off its weeping form. 

I tried one on the 9th June still quite tart and would say they need a few more weeks to sweeten up. Really just regular Orange flavour so far none of the promised Pineapple flavour notes that i could tell. I will try another soon & report back. Fruit size was on the small side but it is its first fruiting season. 
June 29th: Good amount of sweetness now. Fairly normal Orange flavour as you would taste in supermarket Oranges. Will wait another few weeks to see if the flavour develops more.

 

Cara Cara
Cara Cara oranges are a early to mid-season navel orange. Initially they were a cross between two navels and a mutation then occurred on one branch of Washington navel orange tree, it was discovered in 1976 at Hacienda Cara Cara in Venezuela.  Now, they're largely grown in California.
Cara Caras have the same round shape and bright orange rind as traditional navels. What really sets these oranges apart is what's on the inside. Cara Cara oranges have distinct pinkish-red and orange flesh this is due to Lycopene. It's not just their beautiful color that makes them stand out, they have a remarkable taste that goes right along with it. Compared to traditional navels, Cara Caras are sweeter, slightly tangy, and less acidic, with a hint of red fruit, like cranberry or blackberry. They are also seedless.

I tried the one below on 13th June it has the signature dark orange, slightly pink look to the flesh that you'd expect from a Cara Cara. Taste was still a little tart & puckery these guys will also need to wait a few weeks to sweeten up.
Update: June 28th: Good amount of sweetness now & interesting berry flavours have developed.

 


The next picture is about a lesson i learnt in relation to young citrus trees. We've all heard the nerdy nurseryman telling us to take off all the young fruit in the first year or two. I would scoff at such talk thinking i want to try that fruit as soon as possible! This year my young Cara Cara worked really hard to produce about 6 Oranges for me. Unfortunately the fork in the central leader couldn't bear the weight of them all even though it was staked for support it split the tree in half. A sad day indeed. Now i will have to prune off that whole side & wait for new growth to balance out that side. Luckily i have another larger Cara Cara as a back up for next year. Lesson to be had was let your tree grow to a point that it is strong enough to carry the weight of its fruit. If not you must thin the fruit to a sustainable amount or support the limbs with adequate stakes. I also figure that in its first few years that it would be a better idea for the tree to focus its energy on building its root system and structure than to produce fruit.

Mandarin: Scarlett Burgess
I tried one today as the fruit are almost completely coloured a bright deep orange with only a few tinted green. The fruit i tried was beautifully sweet with good rich mandarin flavour. Only negative would be the seeds: about 3 per fruit. I ate a supermarket Mandarin to compare afterward and it was pale in comparison for its watery flavour and wasn't as crisp & fresh no surprise.

 

Blood Oranges: Moro & Sanguinelli

As at 19th June still yellow in colour looks like maybe late July will be ready.

 

Tangors

As at 19th June still light green