Unfortunately, our farm was affected dramatically by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. What follows typically applies to those looking to purchase fruit online, but we are unlikely to have any fruit available before March 2018.
How do I access your online store?
There are two ways to enter the farm's online store, both of them accessed from the home page. There is a sideways-scrolling gallery of our current fruit availability near the very top of our home page beneath the heading "Get Organic Tropical Fruit Delivered Directly to Your Door!" Simply click on any item to access its description and pricing. Farther down the home page, there is a button marked "Buy Our Fruit Farmer-Direct!" Our online store may also be accessed by clicking this button. Alternately, just click here.
What fruit do you currently have available? What is in-season?
Every fruit has its season, although the season of some fruits is quite extended given the diversity within plant species. We list fruits for sale only when they stand a chance of being shipped to you within a week of your order, unless otherwise described. We offer fruit during only its season, and even during a fruit's season, there may be times at which fruit development and ripening cannot keep pace with both our commercial and retail demand. In these cases, a product will often be marked "Out of Stock." Fear not! This fruit will often become available again within a month.
Certain items are "empty" and listed as "Available In..."
This is one of the ways that we keep you appraised of the current fruit landscape at the farm. Fruit that is marked, for example, "Available in August" will very likely begin shipping at some point in August. At that time, a description and pricing for that item will be visible, and ordering can commence. We don't want to tease you with fruit that you will have to wait ten months to order! What you see in our store is what you can order today and what you can expect to order within two or three months.
How can I learn more about enjoying or preparing fruits that I order?
We are currently working on comprehensive video guides regarding fruit ripening, cutting, and cleaning. These videos will be linked alongside the list of images on each product page to assist you in your enjoyment of your purchase. Recipes are such a personal thing that your very best resource is the Internet at large: we recommend scouring Epicurious, Pinterest, YouTube, and other related sites for inspiration!
Do you offer discounts on larger quantities?
Yes. Fruit in our store that has a third level of quantity (e.g. the Large Sapodilla Box) is discounted ten percent below the rates of the Small and Regular Boxes of that same item. Order more and save! This is an especially useful approach if you intend on processing batches of fruit for preserves, ice cream, or popsicles.
How and when do you guys ship?
Shipping of tropical fruit is a delicate art: one part ingenuity and another part luck. We package fruit in such a way that you should receive it in the sort of condition that will allow you at least a three-day window to enjoy peak quality. However, we cannot be responsible for the conditions that your parcel experiences in route: occasionally packages are abused by mail sorters and mail carriers alike, and for obvious reasons packages left on a hot front porch during the summertime are outside of our control.
In order to keep our shipping costs at a minimum, we generally ship using US Postal Service Priority Mail. Priority Mail allows for a short enough transit time for most of the fruits that we offer (continue reading for notable exceptions).
We mail orders on only the Monday following your order to avoid unnecessary shipping delays. If your order is placed before 12 pm on Monday, it will be shipped that same day. Customers placing orders around the time of national holidays will be notified separately of when to expect their fruit. Certain fruits have SPECIAL SHIPPING SCHEDULES due to the character of their development and availability: when applicable, this is noted within the description of a fruit.
Three days is the minimum number of days you should have to use the fruit that you purchase. Some of the fruits that we sell (such as passion fruit and coconuts) never experience problems being shipped and will survive even extended shipping delays. Fruits such as mamey, sapodilla, pineapple, and jackfruit will give you good life if they are received at the end of the week that they are shipped (Priority Mail and UPS Ground services ensure at least this). But some fruits are extremely perishable and require expedited delivery: jaboticaba, longan, and guanabana are examples.
Will my fruit last longer than three days?
Why is UPS expedited service required for my item?
For extremely perishable fruit, we prefer avoiding disappointment on the part of our customers by being frank and insisting on appropriately fast modes of delivery.
Why is your fruit so expensive?
Many of these fruits cannot be purchased for any price in most areas of the United States. If you can find them in a market, they are certainly not certified organic, and they have most likely traveled well over a thousand miles to reach you in a semi-ripe, insipid state not representative of the true nature and healthfulness of the fruit. Most of them will grow no other place in the continental US, outside of--in some cases--the extreme south of California. Virtually no one in our area produces these fruits organically, and those good men and women who do are likely already known to you. We have a singular product and a track record of producing it that few in our area can match.
Fruit is inherently a commodity, and most people do not consider it necessary for general survival. Because we are dealing in an extremely niche product with a limited audience of potential customers, our prices must remain at a certain level for us to keep the lights on and keep our land healthy and productive. Tell your friends about us! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram! The more business we have, the lower our costs can be for everyone!