Our first home grown mandarin

I remember the very first time I flew in a plane we took Gray & Matt then aged around 2 and just 4 to Majorca, Spain. It was all so exciting. When we did a train journey on the island down to Peurto Soller I was mesmerised by the sight of oranges and lemons growing - how amazing, how special and what a wonderful spectacle. 

When we came on holiday to New Zealand in 2009 largely to see if it was a place we could consider living - we were surprised to see that citrus could be grown here too. So when we bought a house here and got our garden landscaped we decided to have six citrus trees/bushes at the sunny and more sheltered front (North facing). Hopefully, in time they’ll get established - but they don’t like too much wind or the sea air, and love the sunshine and plenty of water - so living where we do, we have to protect them from the former, and hope they settle in their new home! 

Most of our citrus trees/bushes (Lemon x2, Lime, Lemonade, Orange and Mandarin) are very small including our mandarin, which in it’s first season, produce this decent sized fruit (see pic), but it still feels pretty hard so I will leave it growing a little longer 
:)