Author Topic: Commercially grown owari satsuma in Oregon?  (Read 640 times)

swincher

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Commercially grown owari satsuma in Oregon?
« on: February 04, 2021, 01:54:48 PM »
About a month ago my local grocery store had some citrus labeled as owari satsuma grown in Oregon, but there was no farm named. I got a bag, and they were very tasty, I'd say even better than most of the generic "satsumas" they usually have from CA. Each fruit had between zero and one seed, which I heard are almost always true to seed (nucellar), so I germinated them.

I've tried to figure out what farm they came from by googling, because I'm curious whether they were in greenhouses (I assume so), or just a particularly hardy selection of owari that maybe I could try in a protected spot in my Seattle yard.

Does anyone know of any commercial operations growing owari satsuma in Oregon?
« Last Edit: February 04, 2021, 01:58:38 PM by swincher »

brian

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Re: Commercially grown owari satsuma in Oregon?
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2021, 10:42:30 AM »
I'm not aware of this particular grower but after recently reading about the vast greenhouses growing tropical fruit in Nordic countries it re-affirms my belief that you can grow anything anywhere if you have a good greenhouse setup.

Let me know if you find out who this is, I am curious too

There seem to be a lot of nurseries in Portland, but even they acknowledge you can't grow citrus outdoors there.

citrange

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Re: Commercially grown owari satsuma in Oregon?
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2021, 11:35:47 AM »
There is a private grower in or near Corvallis, Oregon that has sold satsumas in small quantities from their greenhouse.
They have a website waywardspark.com but it doesn't seem to be currently updated.
However you can see an article about their citrus harvest in 2013 by clicking on the link below. (It can be slow to appear from the archive.)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180817214023/http://waywardspark.com/satsuma-harvest-and-sale/
I don't use it, but you may find more info on Instagram at @waywardspark

swincher

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Re: Commercially grown owari satsuma in Oregon?
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2021, 12:14:34 PM »
There seem to be a lot of nurseries in Portland, but even they acknowledge you can't grow citrus outdoors there.

There's a narrow strip along the southern coast of OR that is zone 9b and some citrus could probably do ok there in microclimates, but yeah most of the state would require a greenhouse or pretty significant protection.

There is a private grower in or near Corvallis, Oregon that has sold satsumas in small quantities from their greenhouse.
They have a website waywardspark.com but it doesn't seem to be currently updated.
However you can see an article about their citrus harvest in 2013 by clicking on the link below. (It can be slow to appear from the archive.)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180817214023/http://waywardspark.com/satsuma-harvest-and-sale/
I don't use it, but you may find more info on Instagram at @waywardspark


Great info! I, too, do not use instagram, but this is the closest to an answer I've seen yet so good job sleuthing!
« Last Edit: February 05, 2021, 12:21:14 PM by swincher »

brian

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Re: Commercially grown owari satsuma in Oregon?
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2021, 12:28:04 PM »
Nice!

Last week I donated a few xerox boxes full of fruit from my greenhouse to a nearby food bank because I couldn't eat any more and I was sick of trying to get people to take it off my hands.  They asked me where I got it... I told them I grew it in a greenhouse down the street.  They were kind of skeptical until I showed them pictures.