Citrus

Winter in Florida also means citrus—lots of oranges, grapefruit, and tangelos.  After doing a quick Google search we found a near-by well-known local citrus grower and distributor—Harvey’s.   Walk into Harvey’s and you are immediately offered some of the most delicious freshly squeezed orange juice—no different from when the business opened in the 1920s.  Sunshine in a glass.  How can you walk away from that without buying a few oranges?

Roy and Blanche Harvey opened their first roadside fruit stand in Rockledge, Florida back in the 1920s. Fresh orange juice, hand-squeezed by Blanche, sold for 5 cents a glass at the original fruit stand on old U.S. 1.  The Harvey family now have a large store in Rockledge (which is not so new—same store as the one shown below in 1949) which is a short drive from our park.  So much of Florida has been developed with condos, shopping, theme parks and roads to move all the people living here, it is nice to find a little of piece of old Florida. 

Florida’s Indian River region has long been considered THE place in America to grow luscious, juicy, sweet citrus.  (I am sure our California friends will disagree….but, I like Florida oranges the best and California for their lemons and limes.  I made a ton of lemonade from freshly squeezed lemons last year in California.)  The Harvey family grows their citrus on Merritt Island, located right in the middle of the Indian River.   Rather than mass produce oranges for all the chain groceries, they focus on orders sent in by individual customers and mail the package direct.

A real treat this time of year is the HoneyBell tangelo.  They have a very short season; so you need to pay attention when they are ready.  Especially sweet and juicy.  We bought a large bag and sat outside eating the drippy things.  We will be enjoying the rest of the bag in the next few days.