When I was in my early twenties, post college and waiting to start graduate school I was hanging out at my parents place and the neighbors let me put in a small vegetable garden in the vacant lot next door. The soil was a light sandy loam (old marine terrace, we were a couple blocks from the beach) and the area had been used for farming strawberries and Lima beans before houses were built. I grew a few crops, (the green beans were amazing in that soil) but it was the French breakfast radishes which became noteworthy. I didn't harvest all of them before I headed back to school and so they went to flower. They ended up crossing with the wild European radishes that are quite a common weed along the SoCal coast. The wild radishes grow long diakon type roots but a very fibrous, sharp tasting, and pithy. As luck would have it seeds grew from the cross with generous winter rains and when I came home for spring break they were harvestable. It was the best of both worlds, a daikon style radish with the creamy mild flavor of perfectly grown French breakfast radishes. I only wish I'd kept some seeds going from the offspring though I think that sandy soil had a lot to do with it too.
I just discovered the wonders of the Sumo orange this year when I overheard a woman telling another shopper at my local Kroger that it would change his life. I can’t speak for him, but based on my experience, she wasn’t wrong. Thank you for the timely deep dive into the secrets and mysteries of this enormous fruit!
I'm another sumo evangelist. It's a citrus like no other!
Unfortunately it's both expensive and hard to find in the part of Australia where I live (where the introduction story of sumo is also full of twists and turns).
It is becoming a little more common as young trees begin to produce more. But since a lot of local citrus is being sent overseas as a premium export - our seasons are reversed, so our exports are 'out-of-season' for the northern hemisphere and in high demand - I'm not sure how long this will last.
Fortunately I stumbled upon an alleged sumo sapling for sale two years ago and snapped it up. Now it's a waiting game for me - this long-lived tree takes a while to grow and start to yield, and I can't even be 100% sure I have the right tree since mislabeling does occasionally occur, and the sumo genetics are pretty strongly protected by the industry here. But I live in hope!
My husband found sumos in our local Sprouts a few years ago and loves them. I think it was the bumpy skin that caught his eye, because we'd never heard of it.
My favorite apple is the Cosmic Crisp, which is a pretty recent development. And I did a piece about a year and a half ago about an apple farmer who was working on a variety that tastes like jelly beans.
Oh, I'm very curious to taste a jelly bean apple! Have you tasted those recent grape varieties like cotton candy grapes? They're almost too sweet for me!
I haven't had the cotton candy variety because I knew they would be too sweet. I love moon grapes, which have an intense jam flavor but aren't overly sweet.
I believe both varieties are grown by the same grape grower in California.
I was in Taiwan last November and had a sweet lemon for the first time… like biting into lemonade in citrus form! Crazy. I also think ground cherries blew my mind the first time I had them. To me they taste like a complex vermouth.
I had no idea there was anything special about sumos! I will make sure to sell one out before the season ends. Thanks for the tip!
When I was in my early twenties, post college and waiting to start graduate school I was hanging out at my parents place and the neighbors let me put in a small vegetable garden in the vacant lot next door. The soil was a light sandy loam (old marine terrace, we were a couple blocks from the beach) and the area had been used for farming strawberries and Lima beans before houses were built. I grew a few crops, (the green beans were amazing in that soil) but it was the French breakfast radishes which became noteworthy. I didn't harvest all of them before I headed back to school and so they went to flower. They ended up crossing with the wild European radishes that are quite a common weed along the SoCal coast. The wild radishes grow long diakon type roots but a very fibrous, sharp tasting, and pithy. As luck would have it seeds grew from the cross with generous winter rains and when I came home for spring break they were harvestable. It was the best of both worlds, a daikon style radish with the creamy mild flavor of perfectly grown French breakfast radishes. I only wish I'd kept some seeds going from the offspring though I think that sandy soil had a lot to do with it too.
Oh, wow! What an amazing story!
I just discovered the wonders of the Sumo orange this year when I overheard a woman telling another shopper at my local Kroger that it would change his life. I can’t speak for him, but based on my experience, she wasn’t wrong. Thank you for the timely deep dive into the secrets and mysteries of this enormous fruit!
So glad you've joined the Sumo cult too!
I'm another sumo evangelist. It's a citrus like no other!
Unfortunately it's both expensive and hard to find in the part of Australia where I live (where the introduction story of sumo is also full of twists and turns).
It is becoming a little more common as young trees begin to produce more. But since a lot of local citrus is being sent overseas as a premium export - our seasons are reversed, so our exports are 'out-of-season' for the northern hemisphere and in high demand - I'm not sure how long this will last.
Fortunately I stumbled upon an alleged sumo sapling for sale two years ago and snapped it up. Now it's a waiting game for me - this long-lived tree takes a while to grow and start to yield, and I can't even be 100% sure I have the right tree since mislabeling does occasionally occur, and the sumo genetics are pretty strongly protected by the industry here. But I live in hope!
I hope it's a true Sumo and that you get a bumper crop before too long!
My husband found sumos in our local Sprouts a few years ago and loves them. I think it was the bumpy skin that caught his eye, because we'd never heard of it.
My favorite apple is the Cosmic Crisp, which is a pretty recent development. And I did a piece about a year and a half ago about an apple farmer who was working on a variety that tastes like jelly beans.
Oh, I'm very curious to taste a jelly bean apple! Have you tasted those recent grape varieties like cotton candy grapes? They're almost too sweet for me!
I haven't had the cotton candy variety because I knew they would be too sweet. I love moon grapes, which have an intense jam flavor but aren't overly sweet.
I believe both varieties are grown by the same grape grower in California.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for moon grapes - I’m not familiar with that variety.
Look them up, they're wild looking and really do taste like Concord jam.
They've been available in our stores (Phoenix) for seven or eight years, so I'm surprised they aren't available nationwide.
So cool - I've NEVER heard of the Sumo orange but this is exciting...
I was in Taiwan last November and had a sweet lemon for the first time… like biting into lemonade in citrus form! Crazy. I also think ground cherries blew my mind the first time I had them. To me they taste like a complex vermouth.
I had no idea there was anything special about sumos! I will make sure to sell one out before the season ends. Thanks for the tip!
I've never tried a sweet lemon – I'll keep an eye out for that one!