Up on one of the terraced hills above the hall where the @yawatahama_marmalade_festival @marmaladeawards finale will be held this weekend is a 100 year old natsumikan #ナツミカ #夏蜜柑 tree, and Jane Hasell-McCosh @dalemainmansion was determined to climb the hill, pick the fruit and make marmalade with it.
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Wiki says that the Natsumikan, related to the daidai (which, in turn, has that bittersweet flavour you find in Seville oranges, though slightly sweeter) is another name for an Amanatsu citrus which was discovered in 1740 in the Yamaguchi prefecture of Japan. However in Yawatahama many people see them as different and distinct fruit, and it may be that in #Ehime years of cultivation has given each citrus different characteristics.
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So climb the hill we did, guided by the 92 year old farmer who has looked after the Natsumikan since he was young. His partner thought the flavour of the fruit was so special that the tree should be saved rather than dug out and replaced. And we’re glad they did.
