RECIPES

Wednesday 18 May 2022

Grapefruit With A History

 

For some few weeks, Son has been wanting to plant a fruit tree at the back of our section.  He has ummed and aahhed over a few different options, but finally settled on a grapefruit.

I went with him out to Wairere Nursery near Gordonton and we chose a good-looking specimen of ‘Golden Special’ that he has now planted.




‘Golden Special’ has an interesting lineage, being a recent improvement on ‘Morrisons Seedless,’ which has been this country's most popular grapefruit for many decades.

‘Morrisons Seedless’ was developed by Mr Morrison (who else?) of Warkworth, from stock that arrived in the country from the Orient via Australia in the 1860s.  Governor Sir George Grey was one of the first to plant the variety, growing it in his extensive gardens on Kawau Island.

It could arguably be called the first grapefruit to be grown in New Zealand.

The tree is evergreen, and has waxy white flowers that smell heavenly.  Large golden fruit ripen from July through to November.  The taste is delicious, being slightly acidic (perfect for marmalade), but then sweetening more as the season advances.




Nothing tastes as good as the food you grow yourself 😊

Margaret.

 

16 comments:

  1. That looks a good sturdy tree - hope it grows and flourishes and provides you with grapefruit in a few years. I wonder if climate change will mean one day we'll be able to grow citrus easily here

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  2. Citrus fruit in your own backyard is about as good as it gets.

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  3. That looks a very healthy specimen! Thanks for the history of the fruit in N.Z.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  4. Oh - good luck with that one. We hope it does well and will check up from time to time as we will need to grow something in our NZ home to replace the marmalade supplies we create from the sour oranges that grow everywhere here. We had more or less decided that it would have to be grapefruit - eating and juicing oranges are too sweet for our marmalade tastes.

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    1. Oh yes, oranges are much too sweet. I like my marmalade to be really quite bitter, meaning I have to make my own as commercial ones are always too sweet.

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  5. I love grapefruit. I cannot imagine being able to walk outside and pick my own.

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  6. I couldn’t agree more. I can’t even imagine being able to grow grapefruit in the back year. Watching the tree grow over the years is a treat too.

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  7. I´m sadly on the wrong half of the world for such adventures.
    Oh, I can only imagine the beauty, smell and taste! Hugs, enjoy!

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  8. Very interesting. Where we live it is way too dry to plant fruit trees. Plus, the deer would destroy them!

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    1. I'm glad you are able to comment here as I have been trying to comment on your blog but they never come through. I'll keep trying :)

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  9. Oh i'll bet those blossoms will be a Spring Joy!

    Hooray for deciding on a specific tree.

    🌼🌱🌼🌱🌼🌱🌼

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  10. I love grapefruit but I confess, I do give it a lot of sugar! How wonderful to be able to pick your own!

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  11. It will be a treat once that little grapefruit tree begins to bear fruit. I'm sorry we didn't plant fruit trees when we first moved here. With a some protection we could have grown peach, pear, cherry and I'm sure others., Too late now.

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  12. Good choice! Especially for marmalade lovers. I know you will really enjoy watching it grow and fruit.

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  13. Sounds yummy. How quickly will you get fruit? I mean will it be next year, or does it happen the first year you plant? Hope all goes well. Popped in from a mutual friends blog, it's always fun to meet new bloggers.

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    1. Welcome Sandy. If we are lucky we may get one or two fruit over the next couple of years, but as the tree grows larger we will receive more (it may take several years before it reaches full maturity).

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx