Satsuma orange
Years ago, when pondering what I could do to live a more sustainable life, I realized I’d need to obtain most of my food locally. Being reared on grocery store food, where everything is in season all of the time, I struggled to imagine not only living without certain fresh foods at certain times of the year, but also living without certain foods altogether. At the time, I lived in a place where subtropical plants wouldn’t grow. As I tried to imagine myself living as sustainably as possible, I couldn’t see myself living without citrus. During most of my childhood, I’d started every day with a glass of orange juice. The smell of torn lemon rind, the tang of a tangerine–it would have been too much to lose. I’d have to move to a warmer climate. Now I’m happy to report that I live in a warmer climate, on the cold northern edge of the subtropics. Agricultural zone 8. Warm enough for citrus, but just barely.
We’ve had a pair of satsuma orange trees in the ground for 8 years. This year was a banner year for one of them. Satsumas are cold tolerant to at least 18 degrees F. or reportedly even lower temperatures for brief periods. Satsumas have a low number of seeds and they are very easy to peel. Their segments separate easily–all in all, a very tidy citrus fruit, great for on the go snacks and for kids.
I don’t water much. The Satsumas have thrived during a hot, droughty year when lesser plants died. If you want to grow citrus outside of the Rio Grande valley in Texas, Satsuma is the variety of choice.
Information on harvesting:
http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/harvestingtext.html
Thanks for the story and the link - I’ve been thinking about unpotting my Meyer’s Lemon and planting it in the ground. The Lemon might survive outdoors, but this Satsuma sounds even more promising with cold tolerance of 18ยบ. Eight years is pretty long ago - guess I can’t ask for any current advice on a source for the trees!
Annie the Garden Blogger
Comment by Annie in Austin — November 5, 2006 @ 10:00 pm
I have a neighbor who put his Meyer’s lemon in the ground and claimed to have great success. I followed suit and put one in last spring, the tree seems to be responding well, but I haven’t harvested any lemons yet or been through a winter.
Among other sources, I’ve purchased Satsuma trees from the Great Outdoors Nursery (http://www.gonursery.com/). Last time I was there a few weeks ago, they had them in stock.
Comment by snort — November 23, 2006 @ 7:08 am
I love that place! Thank you for the information ~ I brought my Meyer’s Lemon inside this winter; it had some almost ripe lemons, along with tiny just-developing fruit which I didn’t want to lose.
Annie the Garden Blogger
Comment by Annie in Austin — December 8, 2006 @ 4:25 pm
DOES A SATSUMA TREE NEED POLONATION? THANX JRW
Comment by JAMES WRENTZ — May 14, 2007 @ 11:58 am
Presuming you mean cross pollination, it’s my understanding that Satsumas don’t need cross pollination. They’re mostly seedless, so it makes sense that they’re parthenocarpic (I looked it up on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_orange).
Comment by snort — May 14, 2007 @ 8:31 pm