Piñata Farms have family farmers who grow Piñata Honey Gold Mangoes for us all the way down the Queensland and New South Wales Coast, and even in Mildura, Victoria. Having such a spread of growers in diverse reasons is why Honey Gold's are available from November - April (with a small gap in production during the month of March). One of the challenges of growing mangoes in regions such as Wamuran, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour and Mildura is that the cooler climate can affect the growth cycle of the mangoes.
In order for a mango to grow into 'full size' piece of fruit, it must be pollinated (i.e. by bees and insects) so that it has a seed inside which grows making the fruit full and large. When a region experiences a cooler or longer winter period than normal, the insect activity is very slow and many pieces of fruit will not be pollinated. These pieces of fruit, nicknamed 'nubbins', still grow on the tree along with the full sized mangoes, however they will only reach a maximum size of about a tennis ball. Some nubbins can even be as small as an egg.
The winter period of 2011 was much longer than normal in the southern Honey Gold regions, with lower temperatures that normal also recorded. Due to this, there are many nubbins on farms in these regions this season. Most of these farms are either picking at the moment, or will begin in the next 3-4 weeks.
Nubbins still taste just as good as a full sized Piñata Honey Gold Mango, however they do not have a seed inside them. Nubbins will just have a small cavity about the size of an almond where the seed would normally be, and occasionally there will be a "mini" seed in there, about the size of a sunflower seed. The great thing about nubbins is that they are great lunch box snacks! With no seed to take up extra room, they are much smaller. Once the skin is peeled off, the whole nubbin can be eaten, almost like an apple! They are also great for smoothies as once they are peeled, they can be dropped straight into the blender without having to chop them up or anything!
There are select fruit stores that stock Piñata Honey Gold nubbins and we are finding that more and more stores are finding customers for these pieces of fruit. Most people who try them absolutely love the "mini mangoes"!