Through The Orange Grove

Thursday was perfect weather for our orange grove and packing house tour.  It was a sunny 70 degrees with a slight breeze - FLORIDA PERFECTION!  The kids were super excited and we met up with some home school friends to check it out.


Dooley Groves - Florida

When we entered we were greeted with samples of fresh orange juice and grapefruit juice.  Then we got to sample the different types of oranges that were being picked.  They included pineapple oranges, valencia oranges and my favorite, temple oranges. 


Yummy Samples

While we waited we perused the shop area.  They had local honey, jams and so much more for sale. 

We purchased some local orange blossom honey but another product caught my eye.  It was called F.R.O.G jam.  I have never heard of it so when I read the ingredients it all made sense.



F-R-O-G Jam

                                              Fig
                                              Rasberry
                                              Orange
                                              Ginger
                                                            Doesn't that sound yummy?






We learned a lot about running a grove and packing house.  Some interesting tidbits we left with:

• 90% of the oranges picked in Florida are used for juice and only about 10% are sold as fruit
• Behind chocolate and vanilla, orange is the worlds favorite flavor
• Meyer Lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange
• Florida is second only to Brazil in orange juice production



YES! Those ARE lemons.

All of this has really inspired us to grow our own lemon tree.  We have officially put it on our home school to-do list!