PAUMA VALLEY, Calif. ? The vista from the foothills of Mt. Palomar recalls classic citrus labels, a sea of green dotted with bright orange fruit. Frost-free, with south-facing slopes, pure water and good drainage, this is among the best land in Southern California for growing Valencia oranges and one of the last redoubts for an iconic but besieged crop.
The Valencia originated in the Azores and was sent in 1876 from an English nursery to California, where its exceptionally fine flavor and late season led to its prevalence as the state's most widely grown citrus fruit until 1970. At its peak 60 years ago, California grew 123,000 acres of Valencias, 90% of them in southern districts, from Ojai to Escondido.
Today just 38,000 acres remain statewide, with just a 10th of the southern plantings, 11,000 acres. Production is still declining, although not as rapidly.
What happened? Competition increased from navels and many other fruits, and from orange juice shipped from Brazil in supertankers. As orchards aged and became infected by disease, they bore lighter crops and smaller, less valuable fruit, and most growers succumbed to development. And now there's a new disease threat, perhaps the most dangerous yet.
Even so, Valencias are still among the most abundant crops at local markets, and for quality and availability there is none better in the world. Used for juicing and for eating fresh, Valencias have a few seeds and don't peel as easily as navels, but their juice has a richer flavor, and it doesn't develop delayed bitterness after a few days, as navel juice does.
In the Central Valley, which grows three-quarters of the state's crop, the season starts in March and runs through October but peaks in the spring and fall. Shipments slow in summer, when fruits in many groves become green again and less attractive, although their flavor is unimpaired.
Southern California Valencias are somewhat smaller and have thinner skins but arguably better flavor. Valencias grow best in intermediate climatic zones, like Santa Paula to Piru in Ventura County, or Pauma Valley in northern San Diego County, where it is often cool in the mornings and evenings, and hot in the afternoons. Some Southern California growers harvest as early as April, when the fruit is still tart, but peak quality arrives now, in late June and July. Regreening is a problem only in the hottest areas.
The commercial harvest ends in late fall, when local navels begin and Valencias get too soft to ship, but many farmers market growers pick through the winter. Late-harvest Valencias are easier to peel, and their juice is dark, syrupy and super sweet, too much so for some tastes. Ultimately acidity drops and the flavor become insipid.
Bob Polito grows 42 acres of Valencias in Pauma Valley and nearby Valley Center, and sells top-quality oranges and juice at the Santa Monica, La Cienega and Venice farmers markets. Easygoing and phlegmatic, he loves the groves he has farmed since 1981 but is pessimistic about his industry. Water cutbacks and sky-high water prices have forced him to remove a third of his trees.
Now Polito fears that huanglongbing, a bacterial disease deadly to trees and spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid, will destroy his groves. The best hope for long-term survival is to kill the psyllids, but he thinks it's futile to spray in Valley Center, where neglected small plantings and backyard trees abound.
In Pauma Valley, larger growers prevail, and they have banded together to conduct area-wide spraying, the only efficient method. But it is unclear if they can succeed while nearby areas provide a source of psyllids for re-infestation. The fate of Southern California's most emblematic crop hangs in the balance.
food@latimes.com
Source: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-farmers-market-print-20130706,0,2346754.story?track=rss
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