fruit in season

[cappie]

So what fruit might be in season when I am in Longboat key next week? Will I be able to find fresh and local mangoes, limes, anything else? Should I bring fresh tomatoes with me or will I find any shipped from the north that will be good?
Thanks

[ankimo]

not exactly related to Longboat Key, but I've seen/tried a lot of interesting fruit in the stands recently including: (since I liked the juices...)

sugar apple/custard apple (anon)
kiwano (horned melon)
mamey
guanabana
dragonfruit (pitahaya)

[Frodnesor]

Red Light did a great dragonfruit/ginger sorbet last time I was there. I like mamey straight up or in a batido, but the last one I bought sadly went from rock hard to complete mush before I noticed.

[Icantread]

What's the story with dragonfruit? I had one recently that had a nice subtle flavor to it, but nothing particularly addicting like a great peach or mango would give you. Just a bad fruit? It was the first I'd ever tried.

Mangoes are most likely no longer 100% in, as the usually drop over 1-2 months, between May and July, but there should be some ripe enough. I highly suggest finding a good ripe mango and eating it if you've only ever had them with some green on the skin.

[Frodnesor]

Just raw and sliced I've never been overwhelmed by dragonfruit, just has a sort of subtle, sweet, pear with a hint of berry flavor to it, but Red Light did 2 implementations that I thought were very good. The sorbet was outstanding, vibrant pink color, interesting texture from the little black seeds, and spiked w/ ginger to give some extra oomph. They also took thin slices which they oven-dried at low temp which they were using to garnish drinks, and the dehydration also had the beneficial effect of concentrating the flavor.

[lax2mia]

My life right now revolves around finding sugar apples/anon. The Bargaintown market in Homestead has so far been the best place to get them. They've also got fresh fava beans and the freshest tomatillos I've ever seen.

[beachmouse]

The Florida uglies aren't as good as what you'd grow in your own garden or find at a better farmer's market, but they're a far superior product to any other supermarket tomato I've tasted, and they're widely available at Publix and such right now.

[Alfred G]

The Uglies are the best tomato you can get in Florida right now. I love them.

[lax2mia]

What Frod said + avocados, mamey (good blended with sugar, ice and milk), starfruit, etc.

[Frodnesor]

Here's a nifty chart showing the seasons for Florida agricultural products ->
http://www.fl-ag.com/pubs/pubform/pdf...

Summer is basically mango season, also lychee (some are early summer, some come later), you'll still see some watermelon. I don't know what the markets are like in Longboat Key but generally speaking, local product can be very hard to find in the larger markets and there's not much in the way of farmers markets especially in the summer. You will find tomatoes in the markets, they will generally be from elsewhere, and they will not be exceptional.

[non sequitur]

That's a great chart, but it lists sweet corn 11 months of the year?!!
I wish!
I love corn, but seem to suffer for all but 2 times a year (each about 1 week in duration, or so it seems), when it is ridiculously abundant (5 for $1 or such).

I guess I have to check out a farmer's market?