One of the bright spots of the winter season is citrus fruits. These cheery, zesty, sweet, and tangy gems are at their peak during winter, and we love enjoying them to their highest potential. At your local Farm Boy, you’ll find a handpicked assortment of citrus fruits, selected for the best quality, freshest flavour, and longevity. It’s one of the ways we get you closer to the farm.
In this blog, you’ll learn about some of the citrus fruits we have in our stores. (Availability may vary and may depend on store location.) Discover what they taste like, how to best use them, where they come from, and more. From familiar citrus like tart-sour lemon to more specialized items like sumo mandarins, there’s plenty in the world of citrus fruits to explore. (Find the juiciest deals every week on our digital flyer page to see what’s just come in, too!)
Blog Overview
- Citrus fruits come in an array of sizes, shapes, and colours.
- They’re all an excellent source of vitamin C, which is crucial to your immune system.
- Citrus fruits can be enjoyed in salads, baked goods, savoury dishes, juices, jams, and more.
- Different citrus fruits have different flavours, from sour and tangy to sweet and floral.
- All fruits at Farm Boy are hand-selected to provide you with the highest quality, best flavour, and excellent value.
Benefits of Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits are a great food to include in your diet. Not only are they delicious and versatile, but they come with a variety of nutritional benefits, too. Citrus fruits are an incredible source of vitamin C in addition to other important nutrients like B vitamins, potassium, phosphorous, and magnesium. They are also a great source of fibre, which helps improve digestive health.
To get all the benefits of citrus fruits, we recommend consuming them in their natural state. Fruit juice – while delicious – strips valuable nutrition like fibre and increases the percentage of sugar. At Farm Boy, you can expect to find the best quality of produce available, including citrus fruits, which have been carefully selected for you to enjoy.
How to Choose the Best Citrus Fruits
Check the weight. A juicy citrus fruit should feel heavy for its size. Pick it up to assess how it feels. If it feels denser than it looks, add it to your basket.
Test the firmness. Gently squeeze the fruit. Ripe citrus fruit should feel firm but not hard, with a bit of give. Don’t buy any citrus fruits that feel soft or mushy. Too-hard fruits can take longer to ripen.
Check the skin. Smooth, firm, brightly coloured skin is a good indicator of a tasty fruit. Wrinkle, holes, or obvious blemishes are best avoided.
Smell it. Citrus fruits have very fragrant oils. Gently rub the skin or smell near the stem. A strong, fresh smell indicates ripeness. A musty odor or no smell at all might mean the fruit is past its prime.
Blood Orange
Flavour: Mild and sweet with a hint of raspberry.
Appearance: Medium-sized with rosy-orange skin and dark red flesh.
How to Enjoy: Juiced, in salads, or in baked goods.
Recipe to Try: Creamy Citrus Tart
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Blood Orange Sparkling Beverage
Cara Cara Orange
Flavour: Sweet, slightly tangy, with a hint of berry.
Appearance: Medium-sized with a slight oval shape with a pinkish-red and orange flesh.
How to Enjoy: As a snack, in salads, drinks, salsas, and fruit curds.
Recipe to Try: Winter Orange and Pomegranate Salad
Clementine
Flavour: Very sweet, juicy, and refreshing.
Appearance: Palm-sized with a thin, peelable skin and segmented orange pieces.
How to Enjoy: As a snack, in salads, or in baked goods.
Recipe to Try: Clementine Olive Oil Cake
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Clementine Sparkling Lemonade
Grapefruit
Flavour: Sweet, tart, and slightly bitter.
Appearance: Large and round with a thick yellow or golden-orange rind and either white, pink, or red flesh.
How to Enjoy: In marinades, salads, sauces, drinks, desserts, or candied.
Recipe to Try: Citrus Salad with Tangy Kefir Vinaigrette
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Organic Mango Grapefruit Kombucha
Key Lime
Flavour: Sweet, tart, and intensely citrus-forward.
Appearance: Small and round, this fruit is first green before yellowing when ripe.
How to Enjoy: In desserts, marinades, and drinks.
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Key Lime Cruffies
Kumquat
Flavour: Bright, fresh, and sweet-tart.
Appearance: Small with a pale orange-golden colour and edible peel.
How to Enjoy: As a snack, candied, pickled, puréed, or turned into marmalade.
Lemon
Flavour: Bright and sour.
Appearance: Bright yellow with a slight point at one end and thick peel.
How to Enjoy: In salads, salad dressings, marinades, desserts, and drinks.
Recipe to Try: Skillet Roast Chicken with Garlic and Lemon
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Lemon Garlic Dressing
Lime
Flavour: Tart and acidic with a hint of sweetness.
Appearance: Small, slightly rounded, with a green peel.
How to Enjoy: In drinks, marinades, desserts, and dips.
Recipe to Try: Citrus Lemonade
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Organic Lime Juice
Meyer Lemon
Flavour: Similar to lemons, with a sweeter, more floral taste.
Appearance: Slightly smaller than a regular lemon with a thin, dark yellow-gold peel.
How to Enjoy: Juiced or in chutneys, salads, and baked sweet or savoury dishes.
Recipe to Try: Citrus Marinated Roasted Chicken
Navel Orange
Flavour: Very juicy and sweet.
Appearance: Medium- to large-sized with a thick skin and identifiable “navel” on one end.
How to Enjoy: As a snack, juiced, or in salads.
Recipe to Try: Beet, Orange, and Bocconcini Salad
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Orange Juice
Pomelo
Flavour: Sweet, tart, and slightly floral, with no bitterness.
Appearance: The largest of the citrus fruits, it has a thick, yellow peel and flesh that can be white, orange, or pink.
How to Enjoy: With seafood, or in salads, marinades, dressings, and sauces.
Sumo Mandarin
Flavour: Incredibly sweet and very juicy.
Appearance: Medium to large in size with a bumpy skin and characteristic “topknot” that gives it its name.
How to Enjoy: As a snack, in salad dressings, drinks, and desserts.
Recipe to Try: Sumo Citrus and Pecan Scones
Tangerine
Flavour: Sweet, bright, and slightly tart. They have more seeds than clementines.
Appearance: Slightly smaller than regular oranges with bright orange skin and looser peel, giving way to segmented fruit inside.
How to Enjoy: As a snack and in drinks, dressings, and salads.
Recipe to Try: Watermelon and Berry Salad with Tangerine Dressing
Farm Boy Product to Try: Farm Boy™ Tangerine & Red Chili Jelly
