Meet our Floridian fruit growers at the peak of the citrus season.
Seven years ago, on a quest to find fresh fruit for Lufavores during our long winters, our team set out to discover seasonal citrus grown as locally and sustainably as possible. This brought us straight to the groves of central Florida. In a recent trip, two lucky team members fled the Quebec cold to spend time with our Floridian fam during peak season.
Vitality Citrus - Sebring, FL
Anais, our fruit expert, and Ben, the master behind the lens, headed to central Florida to meet with the king of citrus - Alastair from Vitality Citrus. Alastair’s family has been on the land for two generations, and although he’s worn many hats throughout the years, his passion for growing fruit remains his driving force.
He grows all his fruits without synthetic pesticides, sprays, or waxes, paying very close attention to his trees and only stepping in when he feels they’re asking for something - be it water, trimming, fertilizer, etc. Farming responsibly is no easy feat in the Floridian citrus industry (mainly due to greening and the volatile real estate market).
When we first receive our citrus in November, they’re still early season fruit and tend to be a little on the watery side - but as the months progress, they become juicer and sweeter. After the early-season Hamlins, we receive Valencia oranges (available from mid-February until June) which are the best fruit for juicing.
As they ripen, they’re picked by hand by Alastair’s hardworking team, sorted and placed in boxes to be brought to their distribution centre where they're sorted again for good measure. We then pick em’ up - from tree to basket in no longer than three days.
However juicy the citrus, Alastair's fruit is imperfect on the outside and doesn't appeal to the wider masses - making us their biggest partner. Since their launch on the Marketplace, his team of just about 15 people (for 3000 acres of land) has doubled their efforts to meet our growing demand. Despite it all, Alastair never skips a beat, making sure to send a truckload (or 20,000 pounds) of citrus to us every week.
Camellia Groves - Winter Haven, FL
Anais and Ben then drove north to Camellia Groves, where they were not only greeted by owners Joe and Martha, but were hit by the exquisite smell of the Camellia flower - which were planted all over the grove by its previous owners.
The retired couple, who live right on the grove, showed our team members around their farm, with Doug their caretaker who has been working with them since they started in 2016. Doug is in charge of the weeding, trimming, pruning, and leading his team of pickers on day-to-day tasks. Like Alastair, they also grow their fruits without synthetic pesticides and let nature do its thing, rarely intervening before it’s time to pick.
Some of their fruit on the groves grow little cankers, and although they don’t look as cute - the fruit remains unaffected. Martha and Joe are very mindful about waste, and will be sending us some of these not-so-pretty lemons, perfect for lemonade!
What started as a passion project has become a chance for the couple to connect with their community and environment by getting to know their neighbours and interacting with the Floridian fruit growing community. Martha and Joe send us 20,000 lemons a week - and although their operation remains small, they’re still one of our longest-running citrus partners, sending us fresh lemons since 2017. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have such a steady supply of sustainably-grown citrus all through the winter.
Oh and one last thing, if you look closely at the picture above, you’ll see some rad pink lemons, and although we don’t have them on the Marketplace right now…it might be something to look out for in the future!
