Bag of clementines
Oh my darling, oh my darling,Oh my darling, Clementine!
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Click here, for the complete lyrics to Oh My Darling Clementine.
Clementines are a type of mandarin orange. You know, those cute little, bitty orange segments that you can find in the grocery store, either in tin cans, or clear plastic jars. We LOVE mandarin oranges at our house. Clementines are available in the fall down here in south Florida. I started getting them a few years ago, when I saw a small crate of them at Costco.
Perfect Little Packages
They are perfect little snacks, easy to peel and seedless. They remind me of a tangerine, but with a sweet orange taste, and no seeds. I almost never buy regular oranges, just a bit too big for a snack. Since clementines are only available for a short time, I buy them whenever I see them at the grocery store. Today I found a large net bag of them at my local Publix grocery store. A little bit disappointed that they didn't have them in the wooden crates like I usually find them. My husband and kids like them too, always nice to have a healthy snack for a change.
Clementine Facts
Clementines are normally imported from Spain, Morocco and other parts of North Africa. But my bag says it came from Chile. The Produce Pete website mentions that "Clementines have been available in Europe for many years, but the
market for them in the United States was made only a few years ago,
when a devastating freeze in Florida made domestic oranges scarce and
expensive. A lot of oranges, including clementines, were imported from
Europe, and clementines started to catch on. Over the past few years
they've become increasingly popular, and as the demand has gone up, so
has the price."
Snack Time
We've even found mandarin oranges in individual size plastic cups, 6 cups to a package. My daughter, the vegetarian, likes to pack those in her school lunch,much more interesting than a cup of boring applesauce. The individual cups are also great to take along on road trips, much neater than trying to open a full can of mandarin oranges in the van.
Clementine Trees
I would like to grow a few clementine orange trees, but I'm not sure if they can be shipped to Florida or not. Most citrus fruit trees aren't available for Florida shipment. I'll wait until we move to North Carolina, then I'd like to grow a tree or two in a large container. That way the clementine can grow outside during the summer, then be brought indoors, or inside my greenhouse (wishful thinking?) for the winter. A quick search on the Internet found clementine trees available from $24.99 to $325.00, depending on the size and variety.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva
