All posts in Fruit Facts

At Hale Groves, we’ve been in the business of growing, picking, and sending fresh Florida Oranges and other citrus fruits long enough to have discovered some interesting and little known facts about our favorite citrus. We hope that you enjoy these fun facts throughout our Citrus Articles here as much as we enjoyed compiling them. We invite you to please visit the About Us and other sections of our website frequently, as they are always being updated to help better serve our valued customers.

Florida, the “Sunshine State,” is famous the world over for two separate industries: citrus fruit and tourism. Though the fruit industry precedes the state’s mammoth tourist economy, in the last few decades cities such as Orlando and Miami have become world class cities full of attractions for visitors looking to enjoy the state’s beautiful weather and dynamic cultural blend. Among all the glamour of the entertainment, however, the traces of the older Florida way of life still remain. You may have to look a little more closely for them than you would in years gone by, but they’re there waiting…

You’ve read all the articles and heard all the lectures about the importance of keeping enough fresh fruit in your daily diet. Doctors, medical researchers and experts, the talking heads on the television… all of them want you eat more fresh fruit, particularly the kind of fresh citrus fruits included in a range of fresh fruit baskets. So you’re aware that it benefits you. But have you considered who else might benefit from your making fresh citrus fruit a regular part of your lifestyle? It’s a strange, almost paradoxical truth, but your health affects many more people than yourself, maybe…

Do you see those people that walk through the produce section of your local supermarket that pick up and smell each piece of fruit before they buy it? There is truth to this process to get the ripest piece of fruit possible. Although with a seasonal fruit like clementines, you should not even have to pick the fruit up and bring it all the way to your face in order to know that the clementine is ripe. You should be able to smell their glorious citrus aroma from right in front of the stacks of crates or mountain of mesh…

Most of us get our dose of Florida orange juice by pouring a glass out of a carton we keep in the refrigerator. If we happen to pick up some fresh at the grocers, we peel them and eat them out of hand or use them to liven up a salad or a meal. What most of us don’t do is eat the peel. Let’s face it, with the exception of some hard core cooks who regularly zest the peel, orange peels are considered trash. We toss them away and enjoy the sweet flavor of the juice and pulp. But…

For spring and summer entertaining having some great beverages is a must. Everyone will love these delicious and refreshing citrus drinks made from premium Indian River citrus fruits. The oranges and grapefruits that come from Indian River citrus grower are prized around the world for their quality, sweetness, and rich flavor. 98% of the oranges that come from Indian River citrus growers end up being used for juice because of their unique flavor. Now you can use fresh Indian River oranges and grapefruits to make your own refreshing citrus drinks at home without a lot of preservatives or processed sugars.…

For many people the only orange to enjoy is a Florida orange. Orange enthusiasts can tell by the bright, bold colors and juicy tastes that they’re biting into Florida oranges. For the true Florida orange connoisseur, there are many types of the sweet tasting citrus to choose from. The Valencia and the Navel varieties are the most commonly grown types of Florida oranges. However, when it comes to eating, the Navel edges out the Valencia because it’s easy to peel and seedless. The Navel orange gets its name because of the dimple on the bottom that looks like your garden…