When I was a kid, a long time ago, oranges and grapefruit were expensive and a special treat for the holidays. Even lemons were not yet household staples and, unless you lived on the Gulf Coast or Florida, semi-hardy citrus fruit like satsumas and calamondins and kumquats were almost unknown. Now, with seemingly cheap transportation (since we are not paying full cost), dozens of kinds of citrus are available all year, almost everywhere, courtesy of the corporate fruit industry which, to maximize in-house short-term profits, uses chemically-assisted monocultures complete with accompanying residues and prettied up with dyes and coatings.
And we buy into this because it is convenient and tasty and, as everybody knows, citrus is “good” for you. But I can’t help wondering just how “good,” in terms of consequences, our insistence on out-of-season or exotic food is, especially long-term. Hopefully the pluses at least partially offset the negatives of the environmental disruptions from monocultures and poisonous chemicals used and petroleum burned for transport. It does seem we act selfishly and shortsightedly in putting our whims and indulgences ahead of our (and more importantly our children’s) security and wellbeing. Of course we could grow at least some of our own citrus and other fruits in backyards or even as a local farm crop.
What I am proposing is that we begin to focus more on local or regional production for food security. And there is a delicious citrus fruit that we can produce here in middle America with little trouble and no pests. This most cold hardy of all citrus is suitable for growing in USDA Zones 8, 7, 6, & even 5B, climates where the extreme winter low temperature stays above -15° F. outdoors. Most winters here in middle Tennessee we can expect temperatures to go down briefly to around zero° F. In 1994 when we experienced a brief negative 11°F., our citrus didn’t even blink.
The botanical name of this citrus with temperate climate potential is Poncirus trifoliata. It is a genus with only one species. This unusual citrus is native to central China and naturalizes well here. There are two heritable forms – the larger (to 20’) typical or type with straight two-inch thorns and ‘Flying Dragon’, a dwarf (to 8’) with ornamental contorted branches and hooked thorns which appear dragonesque in winter when they are leafless. Both forms have 2” fragrant, white, self-fertile flowers in early spring. There is no real common name although they are sometimes referred to as the Trifoliate Orange.
The ‘Flying Dragon’ form, if set out on two-foot centers, can be used as a “fedge” (a food producing hedge) and is effective as a living boma, an impenetrable barrier suitable to fence livestock or even deer ... or people. Either form makes a unique and productive specimen in the landscape.
Even though some books say it is inedible, the fruit is similar to a seedy lemon but with a unique flavor that pleasantly combines lemon and grapefruit and mango. This fresh citrus, if allowed to after ripen on the counter then rolled and squeezed makes a great ade – no sugar needed!
The flavor of this Dragon Juice Ade, while a bit sharp at first, sweetens and mellows nicely after a few hours and is very pleasant even at room temperature. The juice can also be frozen for winter use – we substitute it in Key Lime Pie recipes (it never fools anyone, but when Sue takes one to a “potluck” there is never any left).
The peel can be candied or made into marmalade or used as zest. The seeds, dried and ground, are a nutraceutical similar in phyto-medicinal benefits to grapefruit seed meal. In Korea the young leaves are parboiled and used as a green vegetable.
On the downside, the fruit is small (2” ±), seedy, resinous and only available in the fall (beginning in September). On the plus side, this citrus is drought tolerant, although if the dry spell lasts too long it will affect fruit size. Then there are the thorns – yes, I get stuck working with them, but I’ve never had an infection. Anyway, I don’t reach into the thorns. Instead I use my walking stick to shake the branches and any ripe fruit falls to the grass-covered ground where they are easy to collect. I do this once or twice a week in season. A plus here, the uninjured fruit will stay good for up to three months unrefrigerated on the kitchen counter. Any injured fruit should be used as soon as possible or juiced and frozen.
We usually use the last of them around New Years, when we must go back to using the long distance trucks if we want fresh citrus ... or we could return to eating locally and seasonally which long term is healthier for us as well as the planet and certainly more sustainable. By spring we start missing and pleasantly anticipating our own local citrus. The one with the very small “environmental footprint” ... and unique flavor!
In the fall, from our Earth Advocates Research Farm booth at the Franklin Farmer’s Market, we offer fresh citrus fruit as well as other unusual produce on Saturday mornings. In the appropriate seasons for planting, we also offer several sizes of potted hardy citrus along with a variety of other useful plants for edible landscaping, a la Permaculture –all proven to do well in middle Tennessee – year ’round. Seeds of this hardy citrus and other useful plants are available from the ethnobotanical catalog of J.L. Hudson Seedsman in California (www.JLHudsonSeeds.net). See also the article, “Consider a Living Fence” in Acres, USA magazine, Issue #537, March, 2016.
Most of us can see that things in general are not going well and most of whatever is going on over the horizon with food or any other aspect of our lives, we only know (?) about through our sensation-oriented media. And apparently “food” is not sufficiently exciting to warrant much coverage. That will change when we are hungry.
With food at least we have choices and we can “reselect” for local or regional production, lessening food insecurity by taking back some of our autonomy. A hundred years ago, according to the book, “Kitchen Literacy” by Ann Vileisis, almost every household kept a vegetable garden. And while I’m not yet that old, I do remember that during the war (WWII), when mama, my sibs and I stayed with this relative and then that one around the country, there were always what were called “Victory Gardens” and maybe a few rabbits and/or chickens to feed the family and “do our part.”
I remember that our little bit of help was always welcome. Now we are facing a far greater threat from diminishing resources (water, topsoil, pollinators, variety extinctions, etc.) and an increasingly erratic climate. Then we saw the benefits of multiple local food sources. I believe it was Bernard Baruch who said, “In times of peril, apathy is the unforgiveable sin and the irredeemable error.” Now almost no one keeps a garden at all. Ostensibly because we’re busy and food is cheap ... unless you factor in the true cost to our health and environment.
Seems we might benefit from some timely reevaluation of our situation. Maybe beginning with food. By growing some of our own, we become coparticipants/coproducers rather than “consumers”. This will also get our hands in the dirt, the original probiotic, and help heal our estrangement.
This tough, tasty, attractive hardy citrus is a good addition or a place to begin rejoicing as a locavore and responsible citizen of my favorite planet.
Adam Turtle is an ethnobotanist, bamboo researcher and Fellow of the Linnean Society. He and Sue Turtle are founders and co-directors of Earth Advocates Research Farm, Summertown, Tenn.
From The Progressive Populist, May 1, 2019
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