UPDATED: March 14, 2023

CROP REPORT
by Jeff Schorner, owner

March 14, 2023 Crop Update:

What's in season now? What's up next?

Our sweet, juicy, Florida Grown Valencia Oranges are fully tree-ripened and shipping now. We typically have them available through early May. Valencias spend more time on the tree than any other variety and that's what we squeeze into incredible juice for our store.

Those few that have ever tasted our locally grown, "Heirloom Temples" leap for joy each February but cry in March when they're all gone. This is LAST CALL for Heirloom Temple Oranges (aka Royal Mandarins, they're actually a cross between a sweet orange and a mandarin orange and are the most flavorful orange of the year).

March is when our Indian River grown Sugar Bomb Red Grapefruit have reached their absolute peak of ripeness, so sweet and delicious. Small in size but amazingly sweet, we guarantee them to be the sweetest grapefruit you've ever tasted.

Western Honeybells are also available for a couple more weeks.

April is when our Florida Peaches are finally ready. They're the sweetest peaches we've ever found and we start shipping them by mid-late April.

We're celebrating the arrival of Spring with Free Shipping on Al's Mega-Trays including Al's Easter Mega-Trays.

HONEYBELL SHIPMENT UPDATE:  February 24, 2023:

Finally great Honeybell news! Both our Florida and Western Honeybells have fully ripened and the harvest is in full swing. Although the ripening process took a couple weeks longer than normal due to the hurricanes, we’re still very grateful to finally be harvesting Honeybells every day!

We’re keeping those that ordered Honeybell gifts informed that their gifts are shipping this week for arrival within 7 days from date of shipment. Of course, now that the fruit is ripe we’ve hit two Winter storms, now delaying our trucks- Winter Storm “Olive” should be clearing out of the Northeast by this weekend but the next one- Winter Storm “Piper” is now moving along that same track. The weather service forecasts road conditions to begin improving by late Thursday in most of the affected areas so we’re going for it! We will time our shipments carefully making every attempt to avoid landing the packages in the worst of that weather.

We’re putting in the long days harvesting so all your gift orders can depart Florida over the next several days. The gift announcement mailed to your recipient before Christmas informed them to expect arrival of their Honeybell gift somewhere between Mid-January thru February. We do apologize it took a little longer than usual for all our Honeybell crops to reach their peak of ripeness but remember- our mission statement reads: “Let everything we do be a blessing to our customers” so we always wait until fruit tastes great before we ship it.

We’ll email you a shipping confirmation as soon as your order is shipped! Thanks so much for remaining patient as our Honeybell trees recover from the aftermath of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

We really do appreciate your business and it’s always a pleasure to serve you!

The Schorner Family

February 13, 2023 Crop Update:

What's in season now? What's up next? Those few that have ever tasted our locally grown, "Heirloom Temples" leap for joy each February. That's when we start picking our gorgeous crop of Heirloom Temple Oranges (aka Royal Mandarins, they're actually a cross between a sweet orange and a mandarin orange and are the most flavorful orange of the year). We will be picking Temples right on through February. I guarantee one taste and you'll be hooked. Attention: February is National Grapefruit Month! That's when our world famous Indian River Red Grapefruit have reached their absolute peak of ripeness, so sweet and delicious. If you love great grapefruit, now is time to take advantage of our 10% OFF National Grapefruit Month Sale going on now!

Our sweet, juicy Valencia Oranges should be ready to ship in March and we usually have them available through early May. Valencias spend more time on the tree than any other variety and that's what we squeeze into incredible juice for our store.

Honeybell Shipping Update 02/13/2023

(Background Info) This fall not ONE but TWO Hurricanes passed through our groves damaging or destroying much of our Florida Honeybell crop... Florida Honeybells took it the hardest, dropping more than half of their fruit on the ground. ALL OUR OTHER CITRUS VARIETIES- Navels, Grapefruit, Temples and Valencias did much better in the storms. (They’re thicker blanket of leaves may have protected them in the wind.)

We’ve steadily been clipping FL Honeybells as they ripen and shipping them out, first orders in, first orders out. If you ordered your FL Honeybells for a "J" arrival on or before NOV 30th your order has already been shipped. We're now working on "J" arrival date orders placed after November 30th. We'll continue to pack FL Honeybells ordered in December until we get across all the Honeybell groves. We should finish picking FL Honeybells within the next 2 weeks. (After that we will return and make a 3rd pass through most FL Honeybell groves to pick any "2nd bloom" fruit that meets our quality standards.)

As the saying goes- "Hindsight is always 20/20" but until you've actually harvested at least half of your groves it's only then you can actually estimate the true hurricane losses. Our first 7 groves have yielded less than half the crop we expected. Although thankfully we had enough to complete all the September, October, and November orders, we know now we will definitely fall somewhat short on good, Florida Honeybells to cover all the orders placed after Dec. 1.

Note: Back In December we posted a special notice about the hurricanes being particularly hard on our Florida Honeybell crop and we clearly noted that a Western Honeybell substitution may be necessary if indeed we run short on Florida Honeybells. We now know that will be the case on a portion of those FL Honeybells orders placed December onward.

Good News- Our Western Honeybells are quite beautiful this year. Last year those who ordered Western Honeybells were very pleased. I am carefully monitoring Western Honeybell, sugar maturity tests. Thankfully we prearranged with our best west coast grower friends early enough so they could provide us with their Honeybells should the need arise. Now that we know we need some for later orders we will begin harvesting and shipping them as soon as the maturity tests meet Al's rigorous standards (Approx. Feb. 22).

Either way, be it Florida or Western, regardless of when you ordered, everyone's Honeybells should ship out before the end of February. We’ll email you a confirmation as soon as they are shipped. Thanks so much for your patience as our Florida Honeybells recover from the aftermath of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

January 30, 2023 Update:

What's in season now? What's up next? Our super-sweet Indian River Navels are available for another week or two but don't count on them being available as long this season as last season, they're delicious and selling out way too fast. We know you've been waiting all year and now it's finally time to start picking our gorgeous crop of Heirloom Temple Oranges (aka Royal Tangerine, they're actually a cross between a sweet orange and a mandarin orange and are the most flavorful orange of the year). We start picking Temples this week! Did you know that February is National Grapefruit Month? That's when our world famous Indian River Red Grapefruit have reached their absolute peak of ripeness, so sweet and delicious.

Our sweet, juicy Valencia Oranges should be ready to ship in March and we usually have them available through early May. Valencias spend more time on the tree than any other variety and that's what we squeeze into incredible juice for our store.

Honeybell 2023 Shipping Update-

This fall not ONE but TWO Hurricanes passed through our groves damaging or destroying much of our Florida Honeybell crop... Florida Honeybells took it the hardest, dropping more than half of their fruit on the ground. ALL OUR OTHER CITRUS VARIETIES- Navels, Grapefruit, Temples and Valencias did much better in the storms. They’re thicker blanket of leaves may have protected them in the wind. We’re steadily picking Honeybells now as they ripen up and we’re shipping them out first orders in, first orders out.

If the Florida Honeybell crop runs short we’ve already made arrangements with our west coast grower friends to provide us with their Honeybells too. Either way, be it Florida or Western everyone's Honeybells should ship out by the end of February. We’ll email you a confirmation as soon as they are shipped. Thanks so much for your patience as our Florida Honeybells recover from the aftermath of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

January 11, 2023 Update: 

On Tuesday Matt and I rode through as many of our winter citrus fields as possible, both here and in central Florida. We are constantly checking our crops to monitor the ripening schedules of each variety.

Our super-sweet Indian River Navels will be available for a couple more weeks but we won't have them as long this season as last season, they are just selling out fast. Our world famous Ruby Red Grapefruit are in fine shape too, (not huge, but very juicy, sweet and delicious), Glory Orris are still our #1 new Florida variety and we hope to have them to ship until around January 20. New this season- Tango Tangerines are just days away from being ready to ship. Of course we have to brag about our gorgeous crop of Heirloom Temple Oranges that will be ready in February.

Florida Honeybells are our shortest crop due to the hurricanes and our 1st bloom sold out fast. The trees bloomed twice last spring so we expect more to come ripe late again just like last year. It's a waiting game as they just don't change color until the cold weather hits and that "Christmas cold snap" was the first cold we'd had. Before that nothing but warm weather. Please be patient, it may take us until late February again before everyone gets their Florida Honeybells. We apologize but it's not up to us, it just depends on the weather and crop size.

Some Good Honeybell News: Attention Honeybell Lovers who only like Honeybells or want to send a Honeybell gift: We already knew you loved our Florida Honeybells, so we east coast growers made special arrangements with a few good west coast growers to plant some Florida trees out west and to provide us with their very best Western grown Honeybells. Since their growing season lasts longer than ours you get to savor the flavor longer (thru March)! We offered them last year and folks really liked them so we offered them again this year. Western Honeybells are On SPECIAL NOW! They typically reach their peak of flavor around the 3rd week of February. (click the link for our Western Honeybell page with much more info )

NEW TO FLORIDA! We are very excited this winter to offer a brand new, locally grown, FL variety for you to enjoy and share to keep you in good health: TANGO MANDARINS!

Introducing our NEWEST FLORIDA Variety: TANGO MANDARINS      

NOW ON SPECIAL! Tangos are a cousin to our beloved Honey Tangerines from the past and grow in a small grove within 5 miles of Al's Big Red Barn packinghouse (that's local!). They are the easiest of all citrus varieties to peel and eat with a deliciously mild, sweet flavor that's not too "tangereeny". The actual fruit is a deep orange color inside with absolutely NO seeds! We'll start shipping Tangos as soon as they're ripe, typically in mid-January and we should have them until April. 

December 25, 2022 Update: 

Matt and I have been very busy picking, packing and shipping lately so we both decided to start out at daylight on Friday to ride through as many of our winter citrus fields as possible, both here and in central Florida. Our goal was to get an idea of how this winter is shaping up as far as ripening schedules for each variety.

December's amazing flavors will continue into January with Al's Indian River Navels but we won't have them as long this season as last season, they are just selling out fast. Our world famous Ruby Red Grapefruit are in fine shape too, (not huge, but still very juicy, sweet and delicious), Glory Orris are still our #1 new variety and we hope to have them to ship until mid-January. New this season- Tango Tangerines are just days away from being ready to ship. Of course we have to brag about our gorgeous crop of Heirloom Temple Oranges that will be ready in February.

We have a very short crop this year due to the hurricanes. We do look for the Florida Honeybells to come in late again just like last year. They just don't finish ripening until the cold weather hits and this "Christmas cold snap" is the first cold we've had. Before this nothing but warm, warm weather. Please be patient, it may be February again before everyone gets their Florida Honeybells. We apologize but it's not up to us, it all depends on the weather and crop size.

Some Good Honeybell News: Attention Honeybell Lovers who just want a Honeybell now or send a gift of Honeybells asap: Our Western Honeybells are actually ripening a month sooner than expected and we expect to begin shipping them next week!  (click the link for our Western Honeybell page with much more info )

NEW, and NEWER!
We are very excited this winter to offer not one but two new Florida varieties to enjoy and keep you in good health:

NEW FLORIDA Variety: TANGO MANDARINS 
Tangos are a cousin to our beloved Honey Tangerines from the past and grow in a small grove within 5 miles of Al's Big Red Barn packinghouse (that's local!). They are the easiest of all citrus varieties to peel and eat with a deliciously mild, sweet flavor that's not too "tangereeny". The actual fruit is a pretty orange color inside with absolutely NO seeds! We'll start shipping Tangos this week and we hope to pick more in March.

November 11, 2022 Update: 

Spared Again!!! What a relief...Hurricane Nicole encountered some dry air from the south at landfall so our groves were spared from the high winds they had forecast. Yesterday at daybreak I ran out to the grove and was thrilled to see very little fruit knocked off the trees. Ian was much worse a month ago and it passed well to our north, sparing our Fort Pierce grove and most of the world famous, Indian River Growing District from major damage. More great news- Since Al’s still has a good crop on the trees, there will be NO hurricane upcharge at this time!

<!-- [if gte mso 9]>