Alegria Mango Farm, Southwest Ranches
FRUITS Established in 1996, this family grove sells mangos by the basket. WHAT THEY CARRY: Mangos and products like jam and WHERE TO BUY: At their grove in SouthWest Ranches […]
Guavonia Guava Grove, Redland
FRUITS ONLY Guava farmer Jorge Zaldivar makes marmalade from his Redland-raised guavas and sells small quantities of fruits. WHAT THEY CARRY: Guava and Redland guava marmalade WHERE TO BUY: Check […]
Fruits N Cahoots
FRUITS ONLY Andre and Bianca created their business to revitalize the local food system. WHAT THEY CARRY: Bananas, avocados, papaya, jackfruit, lychee, mango, mamey sapote, passion fruit, guava and other […]
Tree Amigos Growers
TREES ONLY Farmers Jason Long and Santiago Arroyo sell a wide range of fruit trees, shrubs, vegetables and medicinal herbs. WHAT THEY CARRY: Soursop, fig, dragon fruit, passion fruit, pineapple, […]
Rare Fruit and Vegetable Council of Broward County, Southwest Ranches
TREES ONLY Founded in 1975, the nonprofit Rare Fruit & Vegetable Council of Broward County is dedicated to educating members and the public about the methods for growing and propagating […]
Pine Island Nursery, Redland
TREES ONLY* *They do offer the fruit from their groves for sale and for sample here at the nursery, but do not ship fruit. Longtime supplier of a wide variety […]
Little River Cooperative, Redland
TREES ONLY Local farmers specialize in fast-growing fruit trees that bear fruit in their first year. WHAT THEY CARRY: Mulberry, Red Lady papaya, passionfruit, moringa, barbados cherry, bananas and plantains, […]
Lara Farms, Redland
TREES ONLY Located in the heart of Miami-Dade County’s ag district, Lara Farms specializes in grafted tropical fruit trees. WHAT THEY CARRY: Guanabana, white sapote, jackfruit, canistel, sapodilla, annona reticulata, […]
Going Bananas, Redland
TREES ONLY Family farm specializing only in banana cultivars and tropical plants. WHAT THEY CARRY: Comprehensive collection of banana plants grown on their farm, plus expert advice on growing bananas. […]
Robert Is Here, Florida City
FRUITS AND TREES Longtime family fruit stand sells fruits, trees, smoothies, lunch and products like local honey, hot sauce, baked goods made from local products and more. Robert Moehling and […]
Serendib Farms, Homestead
FRUITS ONLY Ten-acre family farm operated by Wimal and Elita Suaris grows a wide variety of tropical fruits. FRUITS: Antidesma, avocado, atemoya, banana, bilimbi, caimito, canistel, coconut, dragonfruit, guava, jabticaba, […]
Miami Fruit, Redland
FRUITS ONLY Every week, the Miami Fruit team harvests fruit from local farms here in South Florida, including our own farm. They also import some fruits to sell online. WHAT […]
Mango Men Homestead
FRUITS ONLY Every mango season, Richard Campbell and his family sell prize cultivars from their Redland mango orchard. WHAT THEY CARRY: Wide variety of special mango cultivars, dehydrated mango, local […]
LNB Groves, Kendall
FRUITS ONLY Second-generation family farmers Adena Ellenby and Walt Chefitz make all kinds of delicious foods from their tropical fruit farm and sell seasonal produce, too. FRUITS: Lychee, jackfruit, avocado, […]
Longan
After lychee season is over, its cousin, the longan (Dimocarpus longan), appears in South Florida. Like golden-brown clusters of grapes, longans are also sweet and juicy beneath their inedible skins, with a shiny brown seed that makes each fruit look like an eyeball. Milder and less floral in flavor than lychees, longans are nonetheless a delicious and more plentiful fruit, their season lasting well into September.
Some farmers markets carry another relative, rambutan, a hairy-looking fruit with leathery red skin and sweet translucent flesh, but these are imported because they do not grow in Florida.
Both lychees and longans are ideal choices for cocktails, chopped up and added to fruit salads and blended with ginger and lime and frozen into a sorbet.
Jackfruit
Often bigger than watermelons, this colossal fruit belongs to the mulberry family – and can grow to more than 100 pounds!
Popular in Asia, the bright green jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) can be eaten ripe, when it tastes like sweet pineapple and bananas, or immature, when it is boiled and served as a vegetable. Its texture resembles pulled pork, making it a convincing meat substitute in vegan dishes. The starchy seeds can be boiled and peeled and added to stews or curries.
Preparing jackfruit can be a challenge because of the gummy latex on unripe fruits – rubbing oil on your hands, knife and cutting surface helps. For mature jackfruit, the edible bulbs are pulled out. They’re delicious to eat out of hand, added to fruit salad, made into a smoothie, cooked into preserves or candies, and dehydrated for a tasty snack.
Mango
“When Captain Haden developed the Haden mango near Miami, he did a greater kindness to the state than the Plant or Flagler railroad systems,” wrote Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in Cross Creek Cookery. “The flavor is as though nightingales were singing to the palate.”
