HARDY PLANTS

Harvesting Satsuma mandarins in the snow (2024)

Mid-November sees the start of the Satsuma mandarin harvest.
This year’s November was warm and sunny in Ticino, until the 21st.

The tangerine trees (Satsuma Owari) have grown well this year, and there are more tangerines.
Roughly half the trees bear a lot of fruit, the others only a few.
Harvested by hand, or rather with a chisel. We rely a little on color, but mostly on touch. When the mandarin yields a little to pressure, it’s ready.
We pass the trees one after the other, touching each fruit. And don’t forget to disinfect the chisel between each tree.
Satsuma mandarins ripen slowly. From November 15, we pick 5 to 10 kilos a day. And also the last Feijoa guavas.
Satsuma can be stored for 2 or 3 weeks, outdoors or in a cool place.
They stay juicy and fresh with no problems.
Then on November 21, the weather took a turn for the worse. It suddenly turned cold and began to snow.
In just a few hours, we change seasons.
By the end of the day, 10 centimetres had already fallen. As much more will fall overnight.
Everything is in black and white, except for the mandarins.
The next morning, the sun returned to melt all that away.
The snow cover is still thick and heavy. There will be a few broken branches.
But the trees have held up well and the fruit is still there.
The following night the temperature dropped 4 degrees below zero.
In the morning, picking resumes to see if the mandarins have frozen or not.
They didn’t freeze. They peel as easily as ever and have remained very juicy.
In our experience, the Owari variety is strictly seedless.
Or at least: in two years we haven’t found any yet.
The Satsuma have passed their first winter test without suffering too much.
The harvest continues, hopefully until Christmas.
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