SATSUMA SEASON

Satsumas in Simon's Grove

On a recent exploration of Cajun country, while meandering not too far from the chenier plains of southwest Louisiana, we reached the Prairie Complex area near Leroy, Louisiana where signs directed us to Simon’s Citrus Farm. “Serendipity,” I said to Vickie, my travel companion. And it was serendipity indeed — seven acres of Satsuma trees among 25 acres of navel oranges, kumquats, grapefruit, lemon, and Louisiana Sweets as the Louisiana brand of oranges are called. And at the risk of fast becoming a Louisiana Agricultural Ambassador or a “foodie” via my blogs, I hasten to laud the quality of the Louisiana Satsuma Orange, Brown Select variety. This delicious fruit is plentiful in the orchards of southwest Louisiana’s best-known citrus farm owned by Lynn Simon, a retired geologist and one-time owner of several oilfield operations.

Lynn Simon

The farm is located near Kaplan, Louisiana on Gladu Rd., and Simon says unless a traveler Googles directions, knows where he’s going, or follows the signage, he’s not likely to come to his place for a visit. Simon Citrus Farm does have an informative website, with directions to the farm location where Simon explains that he began planting Satsumas in 1996 as a hobby, and the hobby burgeoned into a 1000-tree orchard. With the help of Dr. Brown, a specialist on the staff of  the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center. he began growing the “Brown Select” Satsuma, the sweetest of all this fruit’s varieties. 

“Most of my clientele are Orientals,” he said. “A seedless, easy to peel orange is a favorite of the orange varieties, and we ship boxes everywhere.” He pointed to eight pallets holding boxes of Satsumas under a shed beside his offices. “I’m shipping these to Tennessee next week. We harvest every single piece of fruit by clipping,” he says, “which requires a lot of pickers, including restaurants and other businesses, as well as family.” Simon reported that freezes last January and February in Louisiana damaged some of the trees, but he usually produces 500 pounds per tree. “We market throughout the United States for retail, wholesale, and shipping clientele,” he added. 

The Satsuma fruit was reportedly growing in Japan over seven decades ago. In 1876 it was first introduced into Florida by George R. Hall, and in 1878, the fruit became popular in Louisiana. Simon reports that from 1908-1911, approximately one million “Owari” Satsuma trees were imported from Japan, and citrus farmers planted them in groves throughout the Gulf Coast states. By the 1890’s they had burgeoned into large-yielding crops. 

Old Simon Homestead shaded by live oaks

We noticed an old house next door to the Satsuma grove which seemed to be in the process of restoration and asked if we could tour it. Simon eagerly agreed to allow us to do so, and we learned that it’s the oldest house in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, dating back to 1865 when his great-grandfather lived in it. The house, built entirely with pegs, square nails, cypress walls and floors, is being restored to provide a bed-and-breakfast facility, and Simon and his wife are working on the restoration themselves. A talented and industrious couple, they also restore and build furniture that will decorate the old house. 

The visit that lasted for an hour with this engaging “retiree” provided us with two serendipitous tours, and we came away with a sack of Satsumas that are the sweetest Louisiana fruit I’ve yet tasted. October and November are prime months for these quality Satsumas, and we were happy to discover that they’re high in antioxidants and Vitamin C — just in time to ward off the winter flu season. 

Photographs by Victoria Sullivan