{"id":9073,"date":"2012-03-06T06:13:52","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T14:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/?p=9073"},"modified":"2019-08-07T20:13:34","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T03:13:34","slug":"tangerine-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/tangerine-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Tangerine Dream Parfait with Chia Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n I’ve been a supporter of the buy local, eat sustainable “movement” my entire life – in fact, I was an unknowing early adopter. \u00a0I grew up in a household where nearly everything on our plate was a result of my family’s hard labor: \u00a0dad’s planting and harvesting, mom’s constant cooking and canning,\u00a0and the many chores that we kids had while growing up on our farm a few miles south of Eureka Springs in the gently rolling hills of the Ozarks in northwest Arkansas. Of course, we didn’t appreciate it at the time, summer was fun but it also meant endless hours of weeding before the sun was high overhead and the humidity stifling.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Old memories came flooding back when I found myself traipsing through the Pixie tangerine orchards of Ojai with a few of my fellow blogger buds courtesy of Melissa’s Produce<\/a>. Surrounded by the pastoral beauty of Ojai, listening to the grower’s stories of how they came to be tangerine farmers and founders of the Ojai Pixie Growers Association, and witnessing their passion for the land was an unforgettable experience.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Our first stop was Friend’s Ranches<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0where Tony Thacher and his daughter Emily Thacher-Ayala enlightened us on tangerines, mandarins, and clementines – they are actually all hybrids of the mandarin which originated in Asia, and have come to be known by different names depending on where they’re grown. The Pixie tangerine is a super sweet, seedless variety developed in 1927 at UC Riverside and released for production in 1965. It was a small, somewhat bumpy skinned citrus that thrived in the rich soil of the Ojai Valley and the warm days and cool nights during the fall were perfect for the maturing fruit.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Thachers first began selling at farmers markets across Southern California and eventually developed quite a following. With bumpy, uneven skin the Pixie isn’t as pleasing to the eye as other citrus, but people have discovered that it’s what inside that counts – \u00a0just as Thacher, Ayala, and Jim Churchill of Churchill Orchards <\/a>– knew all along. Today, the Ojai Pixie Growers Association, formed by the Thacher and Churchill families, is 41 farms strong with 145 acres devoted to Pixies in Ojai. They take great pride in bringing together such a diverse group of people, all with a singular passion for growing citrus and keeping agriculture in their small valley.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n At each stop we sampled tangerines – first in the sorting area, then in the fields directly from the trees: Ojai Pixies, Dancy tangerines, Page mandarins, W. Murcott mandarins, tart Yosemite Gold’s, and tiny Kishu’s. Easy to peel, seedless, and bursting with sweet juiciness – it’s no wonder that Ojai Pixie tangerines are finding fans everywhere – restaurants, stores, distributors, and \u00a0even Yankee stadium, thanks to Melissa’s Produce!<\/p>\n