Backyard Citrus Harvest

Here on November 16th I'm almost through my fall citrus harvest.  This year has given me the best citrus season I've had yet.  The reason is two-fold:  my trees, planted in 2009, are finally getting large enough to bear significant amounts of fruit; and last winter was quite mild with no spring freezes or excessively cold winter temperatures.

A Changsha Mandarin cut open to reveal the juicy interior and large number of seeds

Changsha Mandarins in late October

Changsha Mandarins are too seedy to eat off the tree so we used these for making "orange" juice.  If you've never had juice from Changshas, expect a much stronger flavor with a more of an orange-reddish color than what you'll typically find from grocery store orange juice.  It takes a fair number of these mandarins to make a glass of juice (at least ten) but the end result is definitely worth it.  Changsha Mandarins look amazing cut open, and the smell is slightly more intense than your typical Valencia or Navel orange from the grocery store.  Changshas are cold hardy -- our lowest temperature last winter was only 20 degrees and even the completely exposed Changsha Mandarin branches I didn't cover had no visible damage.

Admiring a glass of freshly-squeezed Changsha Mandarin juice

My son helping pick Owari Satsumas

Two closely-related varieties of Satsumas both yielded fruit for me this year:  Brown's Select and Owari Satsumas.  The Brown's Select Satsumas ripens about 10 days ahead of the Owaris, but both have a similar sweet orange taste and share the same outside appearance and internal structure of any of the sweet citrus varieties.  While about half of my Satsumas were seedless this year, none had more than 4 or 5 seeds per fruit -- not too bad!  If you're just getting started in growing citrus in your non-tropical backyard please select at least one variety of Satsuma to begin with.  They're similar enough to sweet oranges to satisfy your expectations in taste, shape and color, plus they're cold-hardy and easy to grow.

Owari Satsumas are exceedingly easy to peel, even for a four-year old child. 

Yuzus in my backyard, ready to pick at the end of October

And lastly, the Yuzu tree really had a banner year for me.  Bright yellow in color and with a fragrant taste of about 80% lemon, 10% lime, and 10% something else I might loosely describe as pine, each fruit yielded about an ounce of juice.  With the incomparable culinary skills of my wife put to use, we've enjoyed Yuzu bars made in the same manner as traditional lemon bars, Yuzu pie made like Key Lime Pie, and even delectable Yuzu ice cream.

I want to focus on the Yuzu ice cream since it's probably the best vehicle for experiencing the true taste of Yuzus alone.  When I first suggested trying to make Yuzu ice cream I didn't know if it was even possible -- doesn't acidic citrus juice curdle milk upon contact?  My wife found a recipe online that gets around that potential problem and made excellent-tasting ice cream.  She adapted her recipe from a Lemon Gelato recipe found at this link from tasteofhome.com.

Recipe for Yuzu Ice Cream

1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons grated Yuzu peel
3/4 cup Yuzu juice
2 cups heavy whipping cream


In a small heavy saucepan, heat milk to 175°; stir in sugar until dissolved. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Add Yuzu peel. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches at least 160° and coats the back of a metal spoon.

Remove from the heat; strain. Stir in Yuzu juice. Cool quickly by placing pan in a bowl of ice water; stir for 2 minutes. Stir in cream. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a freezer container; freeze for 2-4 hours before serving. Yield: 1-1/2 quarts.


Give it a try, you'll like it!

I've got several other citrus trees in my backyard that are still a little too young to bear fruit.  They've all put on several additional feet of vegetative growth this year so I'm hopeful I'll be able to expand this list and add several new fruit experiences to this blog next year:  Ichang Lemons, Sanbokan Grapefruit, Ambersweet Oranges, Croxton Grapefruit and Ten-Degree Tangerine.