Gold Nugget or Crazy Good Mandarin?

Gold Nugget Mandarin-Bird Back 40

I'll be honest. This past winter restored my faith in citrus. I had one of the best citrus harvests ever on the Dancy Mandarin. And since Mr. Freeze steered clear of much of the Bird Back 40 this past winter, my citrus and avocado plantings sailed right through a mild winter and bloomed like something special this spring.

Know what that means? It means a record harvest later this fall for the Bearss Lime, aka Gin and Tonic, tree. That's what it means! Because when it comes to a mean Gin and Tonic or a mean Tom Collins, a juicy Bearss Lime or three is absolutely essential. That my friends, is fresh drink heaven.

Mister Snow Miser (Not Kind to Citrus)

Last winter was also a far cry from the devastating winter of 2013. Yes -- 2013 was just as dry, if not more so, than 2014. But what 2013 had that 2014 didn't was a long and extended stay by Mister Snow Miser. Do you remember him from your ABC Holiday specials? He's got a thing or two for icicles, and unfortunately he stuck around for far too long in December 2013. By the time he finally departed, the lemons had shriveled into unappetizing black lumps. Oh -- and half of the Gin and Tonic tree decided to take a dirt nap.

Good riddance to 2013!

Part of this past weekend was dedicated to restoring the damage that took place during 2013. The Clementine Mandarin that also checked out permanently that year was replaced this past weekend by something rather special. Say hello to the Gold Nugget Mandarin, plus a little something else extra special.

Yours Truly With Gold Nugget Prize

Do you know how difficult it is to find and purchase a standard sized mandarin tree in this day and age? Try this one on for size: Extremely Difficult. The primary supplier for all things citrus in California, Four Winds Growers, will provide you with plenty of dwarf citrus offerings. You want a dwarf lemon? No problem! Dwarf lime? Got them right here in spades! Dwarf mandarin? Take your pick! Standard size lemon, lime, orange or mandarin? Better luck next year, son.

Why is the primary supplier of citrus in California focusing on dwarf selections? Good question! Ask! I've tried. It's tough to get a straight answer. So what's the problem with dwarf citrus offerings? Dwarf sizes often result in small harvests. The days of that 30 foot tall and 30 foot wide citrus tree are quickly disappearing. Say hello to citrus trees that grow no larger than six or seven feet -- and like it.

Mandarin Trees-Green Acres Nursery

This past weekend just happened to be that very special weekend that the Sacramento Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) held its annual citrus scion exchange. You want something special when it comes to all things citrus? Visit the CRFG exchange. You won't find everything under the sun there -- but it's pretty darn close.

I'd heard some good feedback about the Gold Nugget Mandarin. A recently released mandarin developed within the University of California, Riverside citrus breeding program, the Gold Nugget holds up well against freezing conditions (a plus) and also ripens at a time (early March) when most mandarins in the Bird Back 40 have come and gone.

Gold Nugget Mandarins

I tried to find a standard sized Gold Nugget tree. I failed. Miserably. Although the Bird Back 40 is studded with standard sized citrus trees of every shape and variety -- finding a standard sized Gold Nugget was proving to be rather impossible. So, I settled for what was available that day at Green Acres Nursery: a Gold Nugget mandarin tree on dwarf root stock.

BUT -- obtaining that Gold Nugget mandarin tree was just the first part of the battle. You see, that tree would become the root stock that I would use for other varieties offered through the CRFG citrus exchange. I was particularly interested in obtaining scions for two different varieties: the Minneola Tangelo and another variety offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It's so new that it doesn't even have a name yet -- and may never have one. It's known only by number: The 6-15-150.

6-15-150 Mandarin

As soon as the wife that is Venus spotted the scions marked with the number of "15-150," she broke into a wide grin and blurted out "the 5150 mandarin? That's crazy good stuff." That's all she had to say. Consider us sold. Before we departed Maddox Park on this particular weekend, the Gold Nugget Mandarin had been outfitted with a graft of what promises to be a "crazy good mandarin."

The newest mandarin tree to grace the Bird Back 40 has already found it's permanent home. It sits in the spot once occupied by the long-gone Clementine. It's not that I've given up on the Clementine. That's also a right fine mandarin. But all mandarins are not the same. Some have a little more trouble standing up to deep freezes. The Clementine, unfortunately, isn't as cold tolerant as I would like. And since Mr.Snow Miser does like to pay a visit every once in awhile, it's probably best to stick with mandarin varieties that can survive an icicle-challenged night or two.

Dwarf Mandarin Trees-Green Acres Nursery

The graft, which is completely wrapped in grafting tape to keep it safe from water intrusion, hasn't sprouted yet. It may never sprout. Grafting isn't 100 percent foolproof. I know this to be true because my success with citrus grafting is nothing to write home about, unless the piece appears in "Failure Magazine." That's why I had someone with a more experienced hand do the grafting work for me. That's the advantage of membership in a group like the CRFG. That's where you find the really special scion wood -- and someone who knows what they are doing.

Will it turn out to be our favorite mandarin, provided the graft sprouts to life? Good question. I can't tell you. As one CRFG member is fond of saying, "my favorite mandarin happens to be the one I'm eating at that particular moment."

Wise words indeed.

From San Diego With Onions

007 Likes Onions in his Martinis

OK. So it's not quite as flashy as From Russia with Love. It may not even contain the intrigue, action, drama, special effects (OK, none of that). It doesn't even have an Auric Goldfinger or Rosa Klebb -- though SMERSH (Death to Spies) just might be involved here. What this blog posting does have, however, is a mystery. It's a deep, dark, somewhat smelly mystery that might never be solved.

Not even by the great 007, James Bond.

Onion Plant Starters

I bring you the case of the Missing Madcap Onions. The no-show scallions. The ghostly gibbons. OK, that's enough. They are like the onions you see pictured to your left. These onions are now planted in the Bird Back 40. There are three different varieties here, representing red, yellow and white.

So what's the mystery you ask? I'll tell you. The onions sets you see planted in the Bird Back 40 are "replacement" onions. They represent a second, rush shipment from Dixondale Farms in Texas. As for the first shipment? Where is that first shipment? Nobody quite really knows. And that's were the mystery begins.

It was South Natomas gardening zen-master Nels Christensen who first suggested last fall that we "tag team" on our order of onions this year. It made sense. Why pay for two shipping charges instead of one? Plus, the onions get somewhat cheaper when you buy more of them. So, by combining the order we paid less for them and avoided an additional shipping charge. As Wile E. Coyote once summarized: Our thinking was "genius."

Online Tracking for Onion Plant Starters

And then, the United States Postal Service got involved.

I love online tracking. I'm not sure who started it first, but everyone uses it now. It allows you to track a package or special order as it makes its stops here and there before arriving at your front door. Online tracking even informs you when that package will arrive at your front door.

In the case of Nels Christensen and Bill Bird, online tracking told us our 2013 shipment of onions from Dixondale Farms had arrived at the West Sacramento Postal Sort Facility on February 9th, a Saturday. With this information, we could expect a Monday or Tuesday delivery.

Super Star (White) Onions

The package never arrived.

This prompted a worried call from Nels to the West Sacramento USPS office where he received the response of: "Onions? We don't have any onions."

It seems our onions had vanished. Nobody was quite sure where they went. Five long days went by and still no onions, and worse yet, no response from the USPS. But, on February 15th, a single-word item appeared in our online tracking system: "Missent." Well! Where did they send them we wondered? Mars? Why would it take five days to locate a box of fresh onion plants? They'd certainly be stinking up a storm right about now.

Red Candy Apple Onion Starters

More information appeared in our onion online tracking that very same day. The missing box of onions was reported at the West Sacramento sort facility again. Well, this was good news! Right? This meant we could expect delivery by the next day!

Or so we thought. Two days later we learned that our wayward batch of smelly onion plant starters had been shipped to San Diego. It's not Mars, per se, but gardening is rather local. Nels and I don't have garden plots in San Diego. We have them in Sacramento, Natomas to be exact.

Replacement Box of Onion Starters

So how did the onions wind up in San Diego? That's a good question. Not even the USPS could tell us. In fact, if you called the USPS sort facility in San Diego they would claim: "Onions? We don't have no stinkin' onions," or something that effect.

You would think that the online tracking system would be updated with the message of "Really, really Missent," or "We screwed up bad there, bud." But nary a word crossed the online tracking system for four days. At that point? Our missing box of onion plants was on the move again. This time they were destined for  Carrizo Springs, Texas. That is where they had been shipped from originally two weeks ago. But instead of turning around and heading back to Sacramento, the USPS decided to send our quite-ripe box of onion plant starters back to the grower.

Venus Plants

Why? Good question! I told you this was a mystery! Ah -- but it gets even better.

I emailed Dixondale Farms with the request for a photo of our missing box of onion plant starters because I wanted to see the damage that had been done to it after two weeks of moving from one USPS sort facility to another. Dixondale Farms emailed back with the response: "We can't. The box was empty."

So where is that first shipment of onions? We can only deduce that someone, somewhere got a surprise delivery of half-dead onion starters with the code names of "Candy Apple Red" and "Super Star." And this person is now wondering if they've become the unwitting target of SMERSH (Death to Spies). Think about it for a moment. How many people get deliveries of smelly, half dead onion plant starters? Would you be a tad bit concerned?

Where are the onions? Rosa Klebb might know...

I'm pleased to report that during this Great Onion Adventure, the good folks at Dixondale Farms rushed a second delivery to our front door and this one actually arrived, on time, and in fairly good condition. The onions are planted. The onions are growing. And there's nothing quite like an onion starter from Dixondale Farms. Venus and I planted our first bunch of onion plant starters last spring, and we were munching on a whopper of a harvest through late fall and early winter.

You'll even find a bit of "Super Star" and "Candy Apple Red" in our moderately famous "Roasted Garlic, Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Salsa." Yeah, those onions are THAT good.

But as for that first shipment of onion plants? You're guess is as good as mine, 007.