Our stallholders are bringing lots of deliciously sweet and tart citrus to Coburg, Carlton and Alphington right now. Read below to find out which markets our citrus farmers are attending this winter.
Go Just Nuts- Carlton Farmers Market
Currently, The Washington Navels, Blood Oranges and Cara Cara oranges are colouring up beautifully as the frosts have been great. Lisbon and Eureka Lemons, Imperial Mandarins and Grapefruit are at the market now.
Eric predicts a four month orange season with his varieties. Intense sweetness is hitting the fruit now while earlier season citrus is more tangy.
Regular customers wait for a July variety that he calls Granddaughter’s Oranges, as they are his granddaughter’s favourite. They will be in limited supply as he only has around 20 trees.
Doron Citrus- Carlton, Coburg and Alphington Farmers Markets
Doron’s famous Mandorons are Japanese seedless mandarins. The specific varieties are Miho satsuma and Okitsu Wase satsuma. Satsumas are a loose skinned type of mandarin that are very sweet.
With Doron’s careful farm management, he has achieved a Brix level (sweetness measure) of over 13, where most other mandarins measure around 11.
It is a better season than the last few years because there hasn’t been much rain, and therefore not much rot. Doron prefers less rain so he can control the amount of water the trees get. He expects the season to last until mid August.
The Orange Lady- Coburg and Carlton
Over the course of the citrus season Gabs brings a dozen+ varieties to market. It is an early season for their farm, with a good amount of medium sized, juicy fruit. She predicts the season to run until November.
Eureka and Lemonade lemons are now at market. . FJ Navels, Cara Cara and Washington oranges are in season. Late season Valencia will see us through with oranges until about November.
Grapefruit and tangelos have just come in over the last few weeks while Blood Oranges have just made their first appearance!
Our citrus farmers drive from the Sunraysia region on the Murray River to Melbourne every weekend. That’s 6 hours each way!
See you at the markets this weekend!