Altamont Farms
Southwest Florida · June, July, August

What's in season
in a Florida summer

Most of the country plants in spring and harvests in summer. We do the opposite. By June the tomatoes and greens are finished, the fields are resting, and the heat belongs to fruit — mango, lychee, avocado, guava — plus the few vegetables that don't mind 94°F and an afternoon storm.

This is what we're picking between Naples and Fort Myers right now, how to keep it once you get it home, and 11 recipes we cook on our own stove. Nothing here takes an oven for more than 30 minutes.

Jump to the recipes Get the weekly list
The calendar

Southwest Florida summer produce

Peak weeks vary by a fortnight either way depending on the spring rains. Ask at the stand — we'll tell you straight if something isn't worth buying yet. Scroll for the full list.

Crop
June
July
August
Notes
Mango
Tommy Atkins first, Kent late July
Florida avocado
Big, mild, less oily than Hass
Lychee
A short 5 weeks. Buy on the branch
Longan
Follows lychee by a month
Okra
Loves the heat. Pick under 4 in.
Boniato
Drier and sweeter than sweet potato
Calabaza
Sold by the wedge; keeps for weeks
Guava
Smell it — ripeness is all nose
Passionfruit
Wrinkled skin means ready
Datil pepper
St. Augustine's chile, grows fine here
Starfruit
First flush late August
Papaya
Sweet and ready early in the season
Jackfruit
One fruit easily runs 20+ lb
Mamey sapote
Pumpkin-colored, tastes like sweet potato and honey
Dragon fruit
Grown on Pine Island and in North Fort Myers
Sweet potato greens
The vines feed you before the roots are ready
Southern peas
Black-eyed and purple hull, picked young or dried
Cherry tomatoes
The one tomato that shrugs off the heat, for a while
Amaranth
A heat-loving green when spinach quits
Peanuts
Boiled peanuts weather, straight off the vine
Peak Available Done or not yet
11 recipes

Cook it by what you brought home

Grouped by the thing in your bag, not by course. All 11 are live below — tap any card for the full recipe.

Mango

peak June into July
30 min · Grill
Grilled mango and chicken skewers
Firm-ripe mango holds up over fire. Lime, garlic, a little smoked paprika.
15 min · No cook
Green mango slaw
Underripe mango shredded like cabbage. Sharp, crunchy, keeps two days.
45 min · Makes 3 cups
Mango habanero hot sauce
For the windfall fruit. Ferments a week on the counter if you want it sour.

Florida avocado

late July on
20 min · No cook
Avocado and sweet corn salad
Florida avocado is watery in the best way. Corn, red onion, lots of lime.
10 min · Blender
Avocado lime cream
Thinner than guacamole, meant for spooning over grilled fish or beans.

Okra and summer vegetables

all three months
20 min · Cast iron
Blistered okra with datil pepper
High heat, dry pan, no stirring. Slime is a temperature problem.
35 min · Stovetop
Okra and tomato skillet
Uses the last of the spring tomatoes or a can, honestly.

Tropical fruit

lychee, guava, passionfruit
15 min · No cook
Lychee and cucumber salad
Cold, sweet, salty. The thing to eat when it's too hot to eat.
3 hr · Low oven
Guava glazed pork ribs
Guava paste, vinegar, black pepper. Start them before the afternoon storm.
20 min + chill
Passionfruit icebox pie
No baking past the crust. Sets in the fridge overnight.
10 min · Pitcher
Starfruit agua fresca
Late August, when the first fruit drops. Barely sweetened.
Storage & prep

Keeping it in the heat

A kitchen at 78°F with the humidity we get is a different place than a kitchen up north. Most of what goes wrong here is refrigerating something that hated the cold, or leaving something out that needed it.

Mango
Counter until it gives at the stem end, then fridge for up to 4 days. Never fridge a hard one — it stops ripening for good.
Lychee
Keep on the branch in a paper bag in the fridge. Loose fruit browns in a day, though it still eats fine.
Avocado
Florida avocados bruise where you press. Ripen stem-up on the counter and cut the day they soften.
Okra
Dry, uncovered, in the crisper. Moisture is what makes it slick. Use within 3 days.
Calabaza
A whole one keeps a month in a dry corner. A cut wedge, wrapped, gets 5 days in the fridge.
Herbs
Basil hates the cold — stand it in water on the counter. Everything else goes in a damp towel in the fridge.

What we're picking, every Thursday

One email. What came out of the field that week, what's about to finish, and the recipe we're cooking with it. No promotions.

Questions we get

About cooking here in summer

What's actually in season in South Florida in the summer?
Tropical fruit and heat-tolerant vegetables. Mango, lychee, longan, Florida avocado, guava, passionfruit and starfruit on the fruit side; okra, calabaza, boniato, datil and other hot peppers, sweet potato greens and roselle on the vegetable side. Tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries and most brassicas are winter crops here and are gone by May.
Why is Florida's growing season backwards?
Our productive season runs October through May, when it's dry and 70s. Summer brings 90s, daily rain, and enough pest pressure that most row crops aren't worth planting. Growers in Immokalee and east of Naples let fields rest or plant cover crops through August.
Where do I buy local produce in Southwest Florida in July?
Fewer markets run through summer, but they exist — a handful of year-round markets in Naples, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs, roadside mango and avocado stands along the back roads, and farm pickups. Ask whether the fruit is grown here or trucked in; in July a lot of mango on shelves is imported.
Can I substitute a Hass avocado for a Florida avocado?
Not one for one. Florida avocados are larger, milder, and hold about half the fat, so they behave better in salads and worse in guacamole. Use roughly one Florida avocado for every two Hass, and expect a looser texture.
What can I cook without turning the oven on?
Most of this guide. The salads, slaw, agua fresca, hot sauce and icebox pie need no oven at all, and the grilled and skillet recipes run under 30 minutes. The ribs are the one long cook, and they're worth doing on a rainy afternoon.