Where do you order your Florida oranges?

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

It seems to be a similar situation with Maine potatoes and perhaps most kinds of state oriented produce.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Wait a minute.. how long do they last? Do you refrigerate them? And are they really that much better than the Florida oranges we get up here in the store?

Ok, now you've got me looking. Sunharvest sells by the pound ($20 for 5 lbs) but the one Wacky ordered from is by the tray... how many to a pound, roughly?
I'm getting ready to order half navels and half red navels... I want an orange now!

They last at least a month in the refrigerator, probably longer, but they never last much longer around here. We refrigerate them because some of us have pretty sensitive noses and sense of taste, so we can smell or taste the merest hint of mold or decay (which, in oranges, has a very strong smell--it's not like we have super-powers or anything).

Here's the thing about ordering for November delivery. The navels are available in November, but they're not that great in November, in my experience. The lady at Nokomis confirmed that the longer the oranges stay on the tree, the sweeter and juicier they will be. That's why I waited for delivery in January. December is probably good too. I do worry that if there's a shortage, my January oranges won't be available or good...so maybe I will get some December ones, too.

Most places sell by the tray, so you buy 1/4 bushel (one tray), 1/2 bushel (two trays), 3/4 bushels (three trays), or a full bushel (four trays). A bushel is about 40-50 pounds, which sounds like a lot till you consider that a single large navel orange can weigh almost a pound. Figure no more than two oranges to a pound, I would say.

Okay, it's still a lot.

Here's a handy chart:
http://www.sungroves.com/faq.htm

As to whether they're better than the ones we get in the store up here...yes, if you get a good box, they're fantastic. The Florida oranges in my local Italian market, where we go for good produce, are just pathetic little specimens compared to the ones that get shipped straight up. The shipped ones are big and heavy and dense with juice. Some are that same pale color, but the better ones are a nice golden orange. We like the slightly smaller (but still bigger than the NJ ones) Florida oranges, rather than the big huge ones with the very thick skin, because the smaller ones seem to be juicier and sweeter...but that might be later-season ones.

I really miss those Orange Car stores. They were great. I think of them every winter.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Best Florida oranges I ever had were the 5 I picked off the trees in Vero Beach's Dodgertown while there for a finance conference many years ago. They looked awful compared to the bag I bought, but they were a lot better tasting.

They say the freshness makes a big difference.

That's supposed to be one reason why the shipped oranges are better than the ones in the grocery stores--they fill the order in Florida and ship it straight to you. Hopefully.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Best Florida oranges I ever had were the 5 I picked off the trees in Vero Beach's Dodgertown while there for a finance conference many years ago. They looked awful compared to the bag I bought, but they were a lot better tasting.

We stopped at a nice little fruit stand on the way back from Vero beach too called Al's Family Farms.
Looks like they ship too.
http://www.alsfamilyfarms.com

That's been my experience in Florida. I expected to find great produce--great citrus, anyway--in grocery stores, but the quality is nowhere near what we see in ordinary good chain stores outside Manhattan. And the prices are the same! I do think they export the top-quality produce to major markets.

Yes they do so I usually buy the California stuff or the cheap Valencia oranges that come in the big bags.
Actually I prefer the Valencias. Easy to peel and not too sweet but always juicy.
Some of the other oranges can be a little dry. Rarely are the Valencias dry.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I really miss those Orange Car stores. They were great. I think of them every winter.

I just realized I didn't mention the Orange Car stores earlier. Does anyone remember them? They were little stores right near the train tracks in New Jersey. I think there were four of them--in New Brunswick, in Paterson, and two more. They were little buildings painted orange, and they sold nothing but oranges, whole pecans, coconut patties, Florida honey, all the things you might get at a roadside stand in Florida. The oranges were already packed in big paper bags, and you just chose your paper bag.

They would have a train car of oranges shipped straight up to New Jersey and they would unload them direct to the little stores. The oranges were so good. I remember finding out that a high-school friend of mine was from the family that owned the one in New Brunswick, and feeling like I had met a celebrity!

Most of the year the stores were boarded up, and they had a sign on the front that said, "The Orange Car is CLOSED for the season. We will reopen in late NOVEMBER, when the oranges have ripened on the trees."

The one in New Brunswick closed probably in the late 1980s, but the one in Paterson kept going into the 1990s. Anyone?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

We stopped at a nice little fruit stand on the way back from Vero beach too called Al's Family Farms.
Looks like they ship too.
http://www.alsfamilyfarms.com




Yes they do so I usually buy the California stuff or the cheap Valencia oranges that come in the big bags.
Actually I prefer the Valencias. Easy to peel and not too sweet but always juicy.
Some of the other oranges can be a little dry. Rarely are the Valencias dry.

I like Valencias, too. They're so juicy they're actually messy! Do you use one of those peely tools to peel them? I find them really difficult to peel. Is the idea to score the peel and then peel it back like a banana?

Off to look at Al's Family Farm.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I like Al's Family Farm! Shipping only $12.95.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Darn, I like Sun Groves, too. Their prices are the best...wonder how the quality is?

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Do you order at the end of the season? The later the better, I've heard.

When is the end of the season? Dh orders so we'll have the during the winter, around January.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

When is the end of the season? Dh orders so we'll have the during the winter, around January.

It's over in January, so that's the perfect time to get them.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

When I pruned one of our grapefruit trees last winter, I sat more than 30 Wal*Mart bags full out at the street.

They all disappeared.

Yeah, I know, the fact that we had more than 30 Wal*Mart bags says something.

We wish we had an orange tree, but there is plenty of free citrus around.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

When I pruned one of our grapefruit trees last winter, I sat more than 30 Wal*Mart bags full out at the street.

They all disappeared.

Yeah, I know, the fact that we had more than 30 Wal*Mart bags says something.

We wish we had an orange tree, but there is plenty of free citrus around.

You forgot to bring me a bag!

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I like Valencias, too. They're so juicy they're actually messy! Do you use one of those peely tools to peel them? I find them really difficult to peel. Is the idea to score the peel and then peel it back like a banana?

Off to look at Al's Family Farm.

Nah, I just use my fingers. I'm not that sophisticated in my peeling technique.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

You forgot to bring me a bag!

Yeah, me too! Where's my bag of grapefruit?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

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