Buyer's Guide to Florida Citrus

How many should I order?

When buying, consider how many people are going to be eating the fruit. You might assume that everyone in your house will eat at least one table fruit a day. (Of course, small citrus fruit disappear faster. At my 4–person house, we can go through 6 to 8 tangerines a day.) Keep in mind that people who might not normally go crazy for a typical orange for sale at the supermarket are going to be much more tempted by fresh, sweet, hand–selected citrus.

What about juicing?

If you plan to juice, you'll definitely want to up the amount you buy. (It takes about 2 to 3 oranges to make a cup of fresh juice.) And of course, if you'll be cooking or baking with your fresh citrus, you'll need to buy extra for that, too.

How long will it last?

You probably want to know how long your citrus fruit will last. We ship all our citrus in climate–controlled trucks, so you can rest assured that it will still be in peak condition when it reaches you. On average, you can expect it to stay in great shape for 2–4 weeks in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.

If you store the fruit in an unheated room (protected from freezing) it will keep for about 2–3 weeks. Unlike some other types of fruit, citrus doesn't ripen any further once off the tree, so you might as well refrigerate unless you have a specific reason not to. And variety doesn't really make a difference — grapefruits, oranges, tangerines and so on all keep about the same.

So how many trays should I order?

Included below is an estimate on the number of trays for each person in your household. Remember to increase the amount if you have big citrus lovers in the house or if you plan to juice.