While many visitors head to California in the spring to see the state’s famous wildflower superbloom, it can be overwhelming with the crowds. Instead, head to Ojai, in California, to enjoy another natural phenomenon — and it is one that you can taste.
April marks the beginning of Ojai Pixie Month which celebrates the harvest of pixie tangerines, the small, seedless, easy-to-peel, and incredibly sweet, pale orange fruit, grown by over 40 producers in Ventura County. (It’s about an hour and a half from Los Angeles.)
The area’s distinct micro-climate (hot summers and cool evenings) makes it ideal for growing just about anything. (The smell of lavender, for example, also permeates the air this time of the year.) And between March and April, this hybrid citrus blooms and is celebrated throughout the community with special events, activities, restaurant, and hotel specials.
Ojai in California is home to the pixie tangerines
Developed by a scientist at the Citrus Research Station at the University of California, Riverside in 1927, the pixie tangerine originated from Kincy mandarins. However, the fruit, usually one to three inches in diameter, wasn’t released to growers until the mid-1960s.
The initial reception was less than enthusiastic. The tree takes seven years to produce fruit. Even then, only one out of every 400 blooms will become a sweet pixie tangerine. Then, it takes another year to mature so the fruit can be picked.
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Today, about 50 family-owned farms in Ojai Valley put in the time and effort to grow 25,000 pixie trees so that for a few weeks every year, residents and guests of the region can enjoy the sweet fruit in all kinds of ways.
Local markets — such as Westridge Markets, Friend’s Ranch Packing House, and Rainbow Bridge Natural Foods Market sell fresh fruit — while restaurants and hotels offer more complex culinary experiences such as pixie cocktails and dishes.
The luxury Ojai Valley Inn, for example, goes all in with activations that include a pixie margarita, seasonal dishes, and even a spa treatment — a pixie tangerine and marigold sugar scrub, formulated with fresh pixie juice that the resort promises will bring “a soft glow to the skin.”
A local brewery releases a pixie-infused beer, and restaurants incorporate the tangerine in everything from salads to cheese boards and desserts. Pixie chutney, Pixie-infused olive oil, and Pixie frozen yoghurt are just a few of the menu specials in eateries and stores all over Ojai during Pixie Month.
The region is also home to many hiking trails. One of them is Shelf Road Trail, an unpaved 3.5-mile (5 km) trail that passes through the orchards and includes an incredibly scenic viewpoint with panoramic vistas of Ojai Valley.
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(Feature Image Credit: Ojai Valley Inn)
This story first appeared on travelandleisure.com
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The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
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