Florida Avocados and lemons waiting to turn yellow

Unless you know much about avocados, when someone says the word, you probably think of the Haas avocado about the size of your palm and with a dark green, “pebbly” exterior. That was what I’d always seen in the grocery store. While I am not a big fan of eating slices or chunks of avocado, I do enjoy guacamole. When we were stationed in Puerto Rico we went to the produce section where we expected to see avocados and there was something distinctly different. It was significantly larger, lighter in color, more pear-shaped, and smooth skinned. The label said, Florida Avocado and when we thought about it, it made sense considering the geographic and therefore shipping distance to get fruit from Florida instead of California or Texas. The taste was excellant and we didn’t give it any further thought.

Now we not only live in South Florida, but live in the largest agricultural area in South Florida and avocados are a major crop here. There are the commercial enterprises of course, but out in the Redland, a number of houses have avocado trees in their yard. The yield is so high every year that you can literally see avocados rotting on the ground because the occupants can’t use them up or give them away fast enough. One of our friends has been growing avocados and mangos all his life and the point is the two fruits have different growing seasons. Our friends were in the group that gathered for dinner the other night at Num Thai and so we not only had a great dinner out, but came home with two lovely avocados. That was an especially nice way to end the evening. The avocados should be ready for a big batch of guacamole tomorrow.