A Buddha’s hand citron can look more like a yellow hand than a piece of citrus. In California’s San Joaquin Valley, it is among the unusual fruit opening this year’s specialty-citrus harvest.
Harvest is underway in the Valley, with etrog and Buddha’s hand citrons joined by bergamot, makrut limes and yuzu, according to Sandra Bertelli of Fruition Sales-Ripe to You.
A mixed opening assortment
These are specialty crops with different shapes, uses and buyers, rather than a single interchangeable lot. For grove managers and harvest crews, the practical question is how the pick sequence lines up with the specific fruit a handler has scheduled.
Bertelli says the season began earlier than last year, in step with an early pace across other California produce. The report identifies the crops now being picked but does not give a volume estimate.
An early start is not a crop estimate
A first pick tells buyers what is available now; it does not, on its own, establish how much fruit will follow or how long each variety will remain available. That distinction matters when planning orders around a changing specialty assortment.
The immediate operational use of the report is as a calendar signal, not a yield forecast. Its account describes the start of the season without projecting total supply.