Not much of a picture. But, this is the ENTIRE crop of Atlas Mandarins from my tiny little tree. We planted the tree a year ago. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to let such a young tree fruit, but we just couldn't bear to pinch off all of the little guys. So, I left this one. Slowly, slowly it got bigger and bigger. I had to add a support because the little tree (it is all of 2 feet tall) was leaning perilously towards the ground. Slowly, slowly the fruit changed from deep green to lime green, and in the last 2 weeks, more and more orange.
Since we were not going to be home the next few days, I clipped it off and brought it with us. We peeled and ate it tonight. What a wonderfully tart flavor, juicy and seedless too. I think it would be better to leave on the tree another week or so, but it was still eminently edible. Here's hoping our crop at least doubles next year!
