The valley of Sóller - The valley of oranges
In Sóller, oranges grow in the middle of the city.
Those who visit our small village Sóller will pass the citrus trees that are heavily laden. The mature oranges shine tempting and are so close that you could easily grab them: You see them when you walk around the centre or the gardens around the city or when you enter the city on the "Ferrocarril de Sóller", the train running from Palma to Sóller. The oranges stimulate one's appetite and one can constantly observe tourists who stretch their hands to pick their own oranges (much to the farmer's regret).
In the fertile valley, sufficiently supplied with water and protected from the summer heat by the Tramuntana mountains, tons of oranges are picked each year. A freshly harvested orange for breakfast or a freshly pressed orange juice. An incomparable delight. Especially, when the juice is made of the Canoneta that only grows in Sóller. This orange is really sweet and has more than 50% juice content.
The orange, naranja in Spanish and taronja (taronscha) in mallorquin, found its way to Mallorca through the Arabic occupying forces (at that time they were bitter oranges and the orange was called nāranǧ).
The small and pretty trees with their fragant blooms served as aromatic decoration in the Arabic palaces: The orange, pickled in sugar, was used to cook and it was used for medical purposes.
Occassionally, you might find really old types of oranges in the gardens around Sóller. (For example on the BIO-orange finca ECOVINYASSA, next to other peculiarities of the citrus family).
Apart from the juicy Canoneta there is another type of oranges that one can only enjoy in the valley around Sóller: Peret, a juicy summer-orange in shape of a pear, full-bodied sweet. This orange is picked in the warm seasion between May and July and loses some of its coulour due to the high temperatures during night-time: instead of being completely orange, this orange has a green head.
From September to October the oranges are still green until the harvest starts with the orange genus called Navel:
Navelina, Navel, Navel late: juicy oranges which has nearly no pips and which have a strong skin which is easy to peel.
Natural citrus fruits from the valley of Sóller
Grapefruits 10kg box
Grapefruits – 5kg
Grapefruits 2kg
Lemons 10kg box
Lemons 1kg
Oranges Valencia late 1Kg
Oranges Valencia Late 5Kg
Valencia Late oranges 10kg box
Peret oranges 1kg
Peret Oranges 5kg
Peret Oranges 10kg box
In February, the Azahar, the sweet fragrance of the blooms of the orange trees, enchants the valley. At the same time, the ripe fruits are in the tree, a speciality of the orange and citrus trees.
When summer gets closer, the oranges become sweeter until, at the end of summer, harvest season is finished with the harvest of Peret and the Valencia Latte which are the last types to be picked.
Afterwards, one will see green fruits in the tree waiting for the next harvest.
For more than 20 years we from Fet a Sóller have been taking care of the oranges in the valley of Sóller. Thanks to the close cooperation with the farmers we can guarantee that our suppliers only put natural fruits into the green Fet a Sóller boxes.
This is not only valid for our oranges. This is the case for all members of the citrus family: Clementins, grapefruit and lemons are free of wax and fungicides.
