News from The Grove

The sweetest and most colorful time of year on our farm is nearly here!

Farm Updates

We are proud to announce that we were officially recertified as an organic farm by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)! It is important to us that we continue to grow the healthiest, most sustainable, freshest fruit we can for our community and customers near and far.

We also have a new addition to our family! Welcome our newest little cutie on the farm, baby Luke! This mandarin and holiday season will be an especially memorable one.

Ordering Tips

Please keep in mind when you select your order week that shipment dates may vary depending on the weather. We only pick fruit when it is dry to ensure quality and freshness. We sell out quickly and hope to accommodate as many loyal customers as possible. Feel free to email us with questions and special requests to info@sandjmandarins.com.

Also, note that we will be closed for farm pick-ups this season. We are working toward getting our fruit to a local retailer. Please keep an eye out for an announcement soon.
Thank you for supporting our small family farm!

Warmest regards,
Dan and Nicolina 

We’re Nicolina and Dan, and we are happy to announce that we are the new owners of S and J Mandarin Grove. We hope to continue the wonderful tradition of growing delicious organic mandarins in the beautiful Placer County foothills. Our family could not be happier with this beautiful mandarin grove we now call home. Beautiful bursts of orange color are now decorating our orchard. We have been waiting anxiously as the trees have taken their time to ripen this season.

Mandarin oranges have a low calorie count and a high number of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.

• Oranges are second in size to the grapefruit. This citrus fruit has a thick skin, is round in shape, and has a tart flavor.
• Mandarins are a type of orange and the overarching category that Tangerines, Clementines, and Satsumas fall into. They are generally smaller and sweeter than oranges, a little flatter in shape, and they and have a thinner, looser skin that makes them easier to peel.
  
• Tangerines are a specific type of mandarin orange. They are a bright orange color, slightly tougher skins, and their flavor is a little less sweet and a bit more tart.
  
• Clementines are the smallest type of mandarin orange. They are super sweet, seedless, and have red-orange skins that are smooth and shiny. The mandarins you see in grocery stores called Cuties and Sweeties are Clementines. They are easier to peel than tangerines, but not as easy to peel as Satsumas.
  
• Satsuma Mandarins are a specific type of mandarin orange, originating in Japan more than 700 years ago. They are a lighter orange, sweet, juicy, and seedless. They are also the easiest variety to peel. The most tender, easily damaged type of mandarin, Satsuma mandarin oranges are harder to find fresh in stores.

At S & J Mandarin Grove, we primarily grow and ship certified organic Owari Satsuma Mandarins.

We also have a small number of super sweet Clementine mandarin trees that ripen later in the season. We only sell this small variety at our Newcastle, California orchard and at the Sacramento Certified Farmers’ Market. Come visit us.

The tradition quickly spread eastward. Each year when the mandarins arrived in the United State from Japan, they were shipped across the country in orange rail cars altering everyone that the mandarins were back for the holidays. The arrival of the Japanese mandarin oranges soon came to symbolize the beginning of the holiday season and the tradition of giving mandarins as gifts during the holidays spread across the country.

In European holiday tradition, Saint Nicholas is said to have put gold coins into the stockings of three poor girls so that they could afford to get married. Over time, the Japanese tradition of giving mandarins as holiday gifts merged with the European story and mandarins became a symbolic representation of the gold coins, and again a symbol of good fortune and wealth.

In Russia, mandarin oranges are traditionally used as Christmas tree and New Year tree decorations. For Russian New Year celebrations, mandarin oranges are practically a necessity. In Soviet times, mandarin oranges were difficult to come by. The small citrus was so scarce that they were served on the Soviets’ tables only once a year, during the New Year holiday. Soon the aromatic scent and sweet flavor of mandarin oranges became associated with the New Year holiday.