Citrus briefs

• The Valencias are starting to arrive in US stores -- time to get out the juicer ~ Recipes

• "India: State dream of sweet oranges turns sour" ~ Link

• The San Francisco Chronicle has done a new Lemon-Lime soda taste test. Winners and number of votes received are: Sprite -- 65; Stars and Stripes Stars Up -- 54; Ditto (Safeway) -- 49; Sierra Mist -- 47; Santa Cruz -- 41; 7Up -- 35; Izze Esque Limon -- 27; RW Knudsen Spritzer -- 17. ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• Coolness award: "Microplane Citrus Tool" -- a grater, scorer and stripper. Americans can still innovate. ~ Link

• The culinary benefits of using citrus zest ~ Link

• The Awrey brand Lemon flavored poppy-seed cake Gourmet Toastums that we tried out are pretty good -- especially for prepacked food. What they need is a Key Lime flavored poppy-seed toaster cake.

• Lemon-Lime Pound Cake ~ Recipe

• Pictured to the right -- Iced Lemon Cookies ~ Recipe

• Feeding your citrus organically ~ Link

The industry

• South African citrus growers have already started shipping this season's crop -- and they expect to be in full swing by the end of the month. ~ Link

• Florida’s 2007-08 orange crop is expected to be about 3o% bigger than last year. But will farmers be able to afford to get the crop to market and then will price conscious consumers spend as much on fruit this season? ~ Link

• Still, Florida's whole citrus industry is fighting for survival. (Isn't that always the nature of agriculture?) ~ Link

• Jamaican growers are not optimistic -- mismanagement and miscommunication has created cash flow issues. ~ Link

• Australian growers are expecting a back-to-normal crop -- meaning increases over last year. ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• New South African citrus label ~ Link

• Why dilute all that great fruit flavor with vodka? ~ Link

• The Florida Department of Citrus named Kelly Boe of Whiteland, Indiana winner of its "Back to the Grove" recipe contest. Boe's winning recipe is for Orange Couscous with Cinnamon Vinaigrette. I bet it would be great even without "the zesty flavor of 100% Florida orange juice" -- any orange juice will probably do. ~ Recipe

• Australia's largest citrus exporter to the US expects to ship 25% less fruit this season compared to last year -- blame the high Australian dollar and competition from Peru. ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• Good tips for growing container citrus ~ Link

• Step by step (picture by picture) directions for potting citrus ~ Link

• John France, long-time organic citrus grower, talks about the challenges of going organic. ~ Link

• If you do use fertilizer go "slow release" ~ Link

• There are times when you might want to keep the bees out of your trees ~ Link

• Moving forward in the conversion of citrus waste to ethanol ~ Link

• Make your own citrus-based household cleaner ~ Link

• I got some of the TrueLemon sample packets of "crystallized" orange, lemon, and lime. They're good enough -- fun and fizzy when you add to Diet Coke. I thought the orange had a slight aftertaste when I added it to water. They'll send free samples if you want to try it out for yourself.

• Citrus Sandwich Cookies ~ Recipe

Citrus briefs

• Frost has damaged some California citrus ~ Link

• Lemon-lovers' ricotta pancakes with blueberry sauce ~ Recipe

• Watermelon Citrus Cooler ~ Recipe

• How citrus scents lift moods ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• Kaffir limes from Asia ~ Link

• How to avoid overwatering and other great citrus tips ~ Source

• Herb, citrus, olive salad ~ Recipe

• A Fresno County (California) citrus grower is suing the county because his fruit was restricted from the market after the January 2007 freeze devastated the crop. He had harvested three days before the freeze but wasn't allowed to move his fruit to the market. ~ Source

• Kumquat, limau pagar ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• Citrus leafminer damage is cosmetic but poses no real danger to tree ~ Link

• Despite the tough conditions created by the ongoing drought and low water allocations faced by many Australian citrus growers, consumers can expect high quality, great eating Australian Navel oranges and mandarins this autumn/winter. Australia’s favorite mandarin variety, the Imperial, will be available from this month and Australian Navel oranges will be in stores in May. ~ Link

• Florida lawmakers are considering a bill which would allow citrus growers to plant noninvasive Australian Pines as windbreaks. The goal is to block the wind-borne citrus canker. ~ Link

• Seventy-five percent of US oranges are grown in Florida. The sunshine state’s citrus processing industry produces nearly all of the orange juice consumed in the country, resulting in up to five tons of citrus waste each year. Options for turning that waste into something useful are limited, so the possibility of using citrus waste as a feedstock for ethanol plants is being closely monitored. ~ Link

• A modern citrus refrigeration complex with a capacity of storing more than a half million tons of fruit for export is near completion in Matanzas, Cuba. Cuba exports citrus to Europe. ~ Link

• Produce department tips for picking out choicest fruit ~ Link

• Summer melon salad with honey citrus dressing ~ Recipe

Mammoth Orange moving

The city of of Chowchilla in California's Central Valley hopes to buy the abandoned Mammoth Orange juice stand which sits along Highway 99 just outside the city. They would move the 10-foot-high citrus replica downtown and reopen it for business. ~ Link

These orange food and juice stands were almost ubiquitous along Highway 99 in the 1950's (pre-McDonald's). I think the Chowchilla restaurant was the last functioning orange before it closed a couple of years ago -- about the time we moved from California to Guam -- to make way for the highway improvments.

Citrus briefs

• Recipe: Citrus-Cream Cheese Pull-Apart Rolls -- I'm gaining weight just from looking at the picture.

• The annual community citrus drive in Scottsdale, Arizona collected over 121 tons of fruit from neighborhood trees. The drive serves a dual purpose -- removing excess fruit that attracts roof rats to the area and providing food for area food banks, senior centers, Native American tribes, and the Maricopa County Jail system. Since 2002 they've collected a total of over one million pounds of citrus.

• Kumquats 'the little gems' of North Florida

• New study: Protracted consumption of large quantities of grapefruit or grapefruit juice may increase risk of breast cancer.

• The Asian citrus psyllid has shown up in Hawaii and is threatening their citrus crop. Hey guys, we feel your pain. We've got them little buggers here on Guam, too.

• Squirt is back -- this time with a new brand extension energy drink -- Squirt Citrus Power. Not as tame as the original.

• Free -- Sunkist's Citrus flavor Wheel -- food prep tool

• Life history of the Lime Butterfly

Citrus briefs

• Citrus greeting cards -- cute

• 27 household uses for citrus -- mostly various kinds of cleaning solutions, air fresheners, and pest controls. Creative.

• Tangerine primer

• Citrus-Apricot Vegetable Glaze ~ Recipe

• How to grow citrus in containers

• Here on Guam we go through cycles where we have increases in the number of the wonderful black butterflies which live on the island. Unfortunately, one of their favorite places to lay eggs are the tips of the young citrus leaves. And if left unattended a caterpillar or two can devour a seedling in a day. So I check daily -- sometimes twice daily -- for the little white mustard seed size eggs on the bottom of the leaves. Pesticides are unnecessary if you catch them at this stage.

Citrus briefs

• Florida growers are trying again to put the squeeze on imported citrus. This is the kind of thing which keeps the price of OJ high. ~ Link

• A dozen ways to get your cold-fighting citrus fix ~ Link

• Ginger citrus rice ~ Recipe

• Triple citrus bars ~ Recipe

• Product review: Citrus Deodorant ~ Link

• "Coaxing out 'shy' fruit" ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• From the beautiful and secluded Ojai Valley near Ventura, Calif., comes the delicious Ojai Pixie tangerine, a sweet, juicy and seedless variety that puts the popular clementine to shame... ~ Link

• Use citrus peels and ice cubes to deodorize your garbage disposal ~ Link

• In Michigan they are debating whether a slice of orange belongs on the side of a brew. ~ Link

• Tiger Woods is hawking citrus Gatorade ~ Link

• In Arizona more than 300 homeowners are involved in the United Food Bank's citrus gleaning program. ~ Link

• Baystater woman discovers California citrus -- epiphany ~ Link

• You can use citrus juice to substitute for alcoholic beverages when cooking ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• More advice for the home grower -- fertilizer and water -- Florida specific but transferable info ~ Link

• What they're saying in Jamaica -- history and benefits of oranges ~ Link

Citrus briefs

• Growing citrus in Santa Cruz, California ~ Link

• Turn your KitchenAid into a juicer for $20 ~ Link

• Florida brings in the big guns! The Florida Department of Citrus and the Florida Citrus Commission have announced that they have contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to find solutions for citrus greening and citrus canker, which have devastated the industry for years. ~ Link

• Citrus Growers in Central and Southern California are having a great year. ~ Link

• Queensland's mandarin growers expect an exceptional good crop in 2008, while orange growers in the south struggle with drought conditions. ~ Link

• Maintaining your home citrus ~ Link

• Oh my, this looks incredible -- citrus stuffed chicken ~ Recipe

• What's a yuzu? ~ Link