Lemon, Calamondin, and Kumquat
Let me start off by saying that while citrus trees are my favorite plants, I'm just not that crazy about sour citrus. Sure, you can use them in cooking or to make lemonade, but you can't just pick one off the tree and eat it (or at least I can't). I just can't get too excited about fruit that isn't palatable without lots of added sugar. Most people I know with Meyer lemon trees wind up giving away most of the fruit anyway, because what do you do with 300+ lemons!? I still have lemon juice in my freezer from 2009! I still grow some sour citrus, but they're mostly restricted to containers. Real estate in the yard is reserved for ready-to-eat fruits like tangerines and grapefruits. In spite of the drought, this year I'm picking Improved Meyer lemons, calamondins, and kumquats.
The Meyer lemon is thought to be an orange-lemon hybrid that was discovered by the legendary fruit explorer Frank Meyer, and brought to the United States from Beijing China in 1908. If you see a tag that says 'Improved' Meyer lemon, this simply means that it came from a source that was certified to be free of the Tristeza citrus virus. It blooms profusely every year, and is a favorite of the honey bees. Even though small, and in a container, my tree set somewhere around 30 fruit this year, each about the size of a tennis ball. The lemons themselves are very juicy (but with lots of seeds), with an excellent lemon flavor which I prefer to supermarket lemons.
The Meyer lemon is thought to be an orange-lemon hybrid that was discovered by the legendary fruit explorer Frank Meyer, and brought to the United States from Beijing China in 1908. If you see a tag that says 'Improved' Meyer lemon, this simply means that it came from a source that was certified to be free of the Tristeza citrus virus. It blooms profusely every year, and is a favorite of the honey bees. Even though small, and in a container, my tree set somewhere around 30 fruit this year, each about the size of a tennis ball. The lemons themselves are very juicy (but with lots of seeds), with an excellent lemon flavor which I prefer to supermarket lemons.
Improved Meyer lemon in a 30-gallon container.
The calamondin (aka 'acid orange') is thought to be a natural cross between a sour mandarin and a kumquat, and it is also produces bountiful crops of fruit. The fruits are small, no bigger than a golf ball, and are both extremely flavorful and acidic. Eating a calamondin after eating miracle fruit was perhaps one of the best things I have ever tasted in my life! In his book, Dr. Randall commented that he would almost always rather have a calamondin than a lemon or lime, and I would have to agree. My favorite use of the fruit is to just squeeze them into a glass of ice water. The trees are valuable because they can flower and produce fruit almost year round, although mine definitely produces more heavily in the winter.
Calamondin in a 10-gallon container.
Finally, I've been picking Meiwa and Changshou kumquats. These fall into a little bit of a different category than other sour citrus , because while the juice is very sour and tart, the peels are edible and sweet. When you bit into one, you get hit with both sensations simultaneously, and the result is very tasty. Personally, I think the Meiwa kumquats are just Ok, but the Changshou are outstanding. According to the late Dr. Nagle the variety commonly sold as 'Changshou' is probably a hybrid, and not the true Fortunella obovata, but it is delicious whatever you call it. Due to the terrible weather this summer, some of the fruit have been dried out and not worth eating, but others have been just fantastic. I like to snack on one or two every time I pass by the tree when I'm working in the yard. I'll definitely be planting this tree in the ground this spring.
Changshou kumquat in a 30-gallon container.
You may be asking, what about limes? Well, I had a Mexican lime in a large pot for a couple of years, but the harsh freezes this past winter killed it. I tried to protect it, but it just didn't pull through. I'm also growing a Lakeland limequat, a hybrid of the Key lime and a kumquat from Lakeland, Florida, but it didn't set fruit this year. It is more cold hardy than a lime (about the same hardiness as a navel orange), but still has a very nice lime flavor, and makes an excellent marmalade. I'm planning on making a few mixed batches of lemon-calamondin-kumquat marmalade this coming weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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