Enormous oranges littered the ground beneath the trees of a family-owned Florida citrus grove. The waste-not person in me thought, “They’re not picking them fast enough. What a shame.” But my thoughts were answered by the woman offering a farm tour.
“Here at Dooley Groves, we leave all fallen fruit on the ground. It acts as excellent compost for the trees. Please don’t pick up any fallen fruit.”
This tidbit of information was great to know, and my estimation of the farm promptly grew by several notches. And then I saw the cow barrel. Yes, they save all their citrus waste for the nearby cows who love it.
We were instructed to not pick the green-bottomed fruit on trees as it’s affected by a disease that must be treated by steaming the tree at 125 degrees to kill the bacteria.
A green-diseased orange.
There’s a machine they have at the grove that can steam two trees at a time. All they need is a few seconds of the steam and the bacteria is wiped out. What a huge investment, to fight a disease that has affected every grove in Florida for the past few years.
But the steaming is well worth it, when you see the trees that are at risk, the yield from the grove and the products that come from it. I’m a big fan of citrus and the many wonderful things you can do with citrus peels.
We love picking juicing oranges to use in our hand-lever juicer. This varietal is ripe when the oranges start to turn brown.
But the red grapefruit is spectacular.
I had never been to a citrus grove until we visited one a few years ago with our children. I’m happy to know they have learned much about where their citrus comes from, a valuable lesson in appreciating food, how it’s grown and harvested, and how to support local agriculture wherever they are.
Walking through the rows of laden trees was such a privilege, with orange blossoms overwhelming the senses. Agri-tourism, especially on organic farms, is so important to support and take part in. Many of the groves we’ve visited recently are just barely making ends meet. Seeking them out and paying to pick your own fruit and veggies, is one of the best ways to support our farms.
And the honeybees, of course, will thank you with their honey, later.
What farms have you recently visited and enjoyed?
Pioneering The Simple Life 
While our son is only 19 months old, I love the idea of doing these types of things with him at some point. BTW…I’m craving an orange now! 🙂
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Your son will take it all in, even at 19 months. So glad you had a chance to see the juicy oranges we’ve also been drooling over!
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My children and their families love going to pick-your-own strawberry farms, the difficult is in trying to leave with any left in the baskets! After one trip to collect strawberries for the school summer fair one grandson couldn’t face another strawberry all summer 😂
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Hahahaha!
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What a great experience and beautiful pictures. I live in the Kootenays and there are some towns here with incredible orchards. I’ll be getting more into fruit-picking this year; our peaches are especially delicious. Last year I did some cherry-picking at Chopko farms and they were so good! She even warned us at the beginning that she is not responsible if we eat too many cherries off the trees and then have a bad stomach ache afterwards. It was a great experience!
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Oh wow, Nadine! You live in one of the most beautiful places that isn’t too run down with tourism and overdevelopment. Such a gorgeous part of the world.
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I’m so happy you know of it! Yes, it is a beautiful spot, and we are fortunate to have all of our natural spaces, as well as many local farmers 🙂
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We love visiting farms! There is a local dairy farm that makes thier own ice cream and lots of farms doing corn mazes and pumpkin patches in the fall. I’ve never visited an orchard but it sounds like an awesome time!
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The seasonal farm visits are so great for those of us who can’t have a fully functioning farm of our own. Our kids have always loved the corn mazes and picking out their own pumpkin from the nearby pumpkin patch before Halloween. Thanks for the reminder!
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