wait on the satsuma a bit longer. They are very early season for a mandarin, but it's still a bit early. Assuming you have more that a couple of pieces of fruit, once they have most their color, start sampling. Bear in mind that some citrus do not need to have full color to be tasty, and may still have a little green when they start being ripe enough to enjoy. Also remember that they will get sweeter as they reach full maturity. When they start tasting good to you, it's time to start enjoying them. My daughter likes lemon just plain out of hand (whew) and some like them plain with a little salt. Also great in salad dressing, as a marinade for meat (lemon, garlic, salt and pepper), mixed with butter over vegetables, wonderful with a peppermint candy cane, lemon pie, lemon cake, to name a few.

Excellent tree! This past weekend I attended our Mountain Mandarin Festival here in the foothills of northern California, where there are numerous Owari Satsuma orchards. They are slightly cold hardy, and they ripen around the middle of November for us, so they're perfect. Every gas station, boutique, feed store, grocer, and pharmacy carries 15-pound bags of them right now. We'll be gorging on them for the next two months. I think they're an excellent piece of fruit. Easy to peel, practically seedless, juicy, and a nice balance of sweet and tart. Plus, they perform well in containers. A tree that size would sell for $25, even though the market is saturated with them. You got a good deal, indeed. My 1 year-old nephew is visiting for Thanksgiving, and we were literally just eating a few Owari's (20 minutes ago). He likes biting the rind, but I peeled them and split the wedges in half for him. Josh

You've got a few minor bug issues, but the tree looks fine overall. The new leaves are not as deep green as they should be so you will want to fertilize it slightly but frequently with an organic nitrogen rich fertilizer balanced with maybe some seaweed to supply magnesium, zinc, iron and calcium. Most of what appears to be "leaf wrinkling" will go away with the calcium supplement. and by leaf wrinkling, I don't mean the dramatic leaf curling caused by the insect damage. Looking again, you really need to get that tree some calcium... you may want to try calcium nitrate. The lighter green tinge between the veins will go away with the magnesium and zinc... just don't over do the whole fertilizer thing.

April 15 is last frost date here, which is when I put things out this year (earler then usual) and I'm not sure about fall, generally not until 2nd week of December onwards, could be a cold but no snow Thanksgiving (or hot). I won't put out before After May 7th in the future or even wait a week more. I gained nothing and set things back that were growing. Very wet May's two years in a row.