All posts in Grove Update

A Red ripe Minneola that is ready for harvest. This is the ideal color we??e looking for When we are spotting a crop. Spotting a crop involves clipping/picking only the The brightest color fruit and only the sizes we??e looking for. The rest of the crop is left on the tree to continue coloring and sizing. We will typically spot across a block 2-3 times. The picker is using his clippers to harvest fruit. Honeybells require clipping to remove the fruit from the tree. If pulled by hand, the large stems will tear the skin off the fruit. A mixture…

The navels look as good on the inside as they do on the outside. The deep orange internal color indicates high brix/sugar content and you can see how the cells are full of juice and ready to eat. Our navels have sized up well and the cool nights have aided in them coloring up nicely. Bins of freshly harvested navels in the field.

One of our tractors mowing in between the rows of navel trees in our grove. The internal color is getting a deeper orange which indicates the sugars are building. The brix are currently testing between 9.8 ad 10.40 which is very good this early in the season. Our navels are sizing up nicely with the average size ranging from 3 to 3 1/2 inches which is perfect for this time of year.  

Our citrus expert is using a set of citrus calipers to measure our navels. They are currently averaging 2.75 inches which is right on track to start harvesting in November. We constantly monitor size and quality so we can plan the right time to harvest and pack a given crop. You can see the internal color of the navel turning a deeper orange color as the sugar and juice continues to develop. A red tail hawk leaving its perch on top of a navel tree.

Looking down a row of our 25 year-old grapefruit you can see how we keep the trees pruned and the ground clean under the trees with grassed centers. This is part of our cultural care program. The trees are kept at a manageable size which aids in the harvesting and movement of equipment up and down the rows and reducing mechanical injuries to the fruit and trees. The ground under the trees is kept clean and the grass middles mowed. This aids in air circulation and helps prevent the harboring of insects. You can see copper residue on the fruit…

The nice straight tree row is accomplished by hedging the trees each year. The hedging is done by a large ?hedging? machine with special high speed circular saw blades mounted vertically on booms cutting both sides as it travels down the tree rows. This maintains a manageable height and width between trees which aids in harvesting and production while reducing mechanical damage to the fruit and trees as equipment travels up and down the rows. By stepping back you can see how many pieces are on this 30-year-old Navel tree and how consistent the sizes are. This is a strong…

The classic navel on the bottom of a navel orange is actually a secondary fruit formed within the navel orange itself. Testing the navels with a refractometer to check the Brix/sugar in the fruit. We do this in the field to verify it meets our quality standards before packing.   Our late season navels are harvested from our older trees. These mature trees have a big canopy and large root system that allows them to draw up and store large volumes of water and nutrients. This aids in the fruit being able to hang on the tree till late in…

Picking one of our spring tangelos to test the sugar and acid levels. In this late maturing tangelo it?s important that we monitor the acid so we can harvest at the peak of maturity. This is when we reach the ideal sugar to acid ratio making for a delicious sweet and slightly tangy tangelo. Our spring tangelos are our latest maturing tangelo. The cool winter nights slow down the reduction in the citrus acid allowing the fruit to stay on the tree longer while continuing to build sugars. A crop of delicious, bright orange, easy peeling spring tangelos.

After testing hundreds of individual fruit, and spending dawn to dusk in the grove caring for trees, the harvest of our delectable Cara Cara oranges is finally here. In this tree, the beautiful fruit of our labor are displayed in astounding numbers. Deep in the grove, early morning light casts a glow upon our perfectly ripe Cara Cara oranges. These seedless treasures are ready for us to pick by hand, and carefully ship to you in refrigerated trucks. The Cara Cara oranges you receive from us will have been on the tree just days before arriving on your table. The…