Flavours · Growing
The Arta plain is third in Greece for citrus, with oranges and mandarins in winter.
Arta is third in Greece for citrus production, after Argolida and Lakonia. Oranges are at their best from November to February and mandarins in November and December.
According to a local report, oranges and kumquats reached Corfu in 1925 through the botanist Sidney Merlin, who gave his name to a variety. Growing moved from Corfu to Arta during the Occupation years (the report also gives 1940), and after the war citrus was planted intensively on land that had held vineyards and fig trees. The exact date is not clear.
The same report gives about 200,000 stremmata (about 20,000 hectares) for the plain and about 35,000 plots, averaging 6 stremmata each. It reports production of 60,000 tonnes of oranges and 48,000 tonnes of mandarins. The figures are undated, and other sources give different sizes.
A severe frost in 2004 destroyed some groves, and some growers abandoned citrus, while others invested in more resilient varieties and modern methods.
On the family plot described in the report there are clementines, navel oranges, grapefruit, lemons and bergamot.