While the smoke from the Camp Fire has impacted the air quality, local mandarin farmers are reporting the fruit, which is just now coming into season, is unaffected and this year’s crop is good.
At Mt. Ida Mandarin Ranch, Chris Layton, said he hasn’t noticed any effect from the smoke on the fruit: “Our crop is better than last year. The fruit is sweet, possibly sweeter than last year. It’s hard to tell in terms of final numbers this early in the season but I’m thinking our yield will be above average this year.”
Mandarin season runs from mid-November until the fruit is gone which is typically around the end of December to the beginning of January. Locally, farmers grow Satsuma mandarin a sweet, juicy, seedless and easy to peel fruit originating from Japan more than 700 years ago.
According to chicoer.com¸ several mandarin ranches provide gift box shipping and also sell directly to the public from their farms seven days a week, which is good news for those who’ve made mandarin eating and giving a holiday tradition.
