TO PICK OR NOT TO PICK

My little calamondin orange tree, Calamondin X Citrofortunella mitis, never fails to produce a winter crop of delightful small fruit and is the only one of my potted citrus favored with a place in the house over the winter. It can do no wrong. In spring the air is perfumed by its flowers, the foliage stays bright green throughout the year and the fruits are perfectly formed spheres of orange. Native to China the calamondin was introduced to North America around 1900. It is one of the hardiest of the citrus and will withstand temperatures down to 20º It is perfect for container culture.

This year, unlike my other citrus, the tree overcame a battering from hail in late spring which removed all citrus flowers. Lemons and limes called it quits but the calamondin produced another flush of blooms to delight us once again during cold winter days.

A little research led me to a recipe for calamondin orange marmalade. Being of English heritage we grew up eating marmalade on our breakfast toast, and still do. Not the sweet orange marmalade that is sold here but marmalade made from bitter Seville oranges grown in Spain. Calamondin fruits are very tart so maybe marmalade made from them would be more similar to that made from Seville oranges. I decided to give it a try.

First of all I had to overcome the urge to just leave the fruits on the tree. Maybe I could start by making a couple of jars just to make sure I liked the end product. I found the easiest way to deal with the fruit is to cut the fruit in half, remove the pips and squeeze the juice into a glass measuring jug. There is very little pith so the whole fruit can be used.

Just a quick pinch between the fingers and remove any stray pips, then cut the remaining peel with pulp into fine strips.

I tied the pips in a muslin bag as I had seen my mother do when she was making jams. It is supposed to be a source of pectin.

Then it all went into the pan along with ¾ cup of water for every cup of peel and juice. Boiled down for about 15 minutes and then into the fridge overnight to develop the pectin needed for jelling.
Next morning I measured the contents and added some more water, 1cup of sugar for every cup fruit and boiled down until the jelly stage was reached at 220º I also like to test putting a small amount on a very cold plate to see if it wrinkles when a finger is drawn across. I potted up but not before I had a little taste. Good and tart-perfect.

You can be sure as that all the other little oranges will get the same treatment next week. For now we will enjoy the little tree with its winter bounty for a few more days.