Here in the Waikato, if you choose the right varieties, you can eat citrus fresh from the tree all year round. At our place, mandarin ‘Silverhill’ is the first to ripen in April, and by August the glowing colours of tangelos, limes, grapefruit and lemonades light up the garden.
To avoid damage (which can attract the lemon tree borer), always harvest your citrus fruit with secateurs. Citrus trees provide their own storage system… the fruit keeps better on the tree than in the fruit bowl. So just pick as you need them.
