From the Tree to UPS in About Two Hours: Our First Pick-and-Ship Mornings

How fresh is a farm-direct avocado? In the week this video was filmed, Becca picked the orders on a Monday morning and dropped the boxes at UPS roughly two hours later. The fruit came off the tree, was packed the same day, and was on its way before lunch.

This was one of our very first shipping weeks, in April, and it shows: a garage workstation that gets messy fast, a tape problem nobody saw coming, and a lot of enthusiasm.

Why we are doing this at all

Kirk’s mom passed away in November 2024, and the family grove came to us; we took it over in early 2025. A lot of people told us to sell — the land would bring good money — but we wanted to sit with it first, and we are glad we did. We decided to go for it: sell directly to customers, film what we are doing, and eventually put Becca’s recipes on the blog. With two young boys at home, it all moves at a snail’s pace, and we are fine with that.

Even on this picking run, next year’s crop was already on the trees. Becca stops mid-video to point out the baby avocados for the following harvest, which is one of the small joys of this job.

Picking

We ship orders once a week, and we pick the fruit for them that same week. Most weeks we pick as a family on Sunday. This particular weekend was busy, so Becca went out on Monday morning instead, picked the orders, and brought them back to the little packing station we set up in the garage. Some real doozies went into the boxes that week — big fruit.

Once shipped, a box arrives within about five days, and the avocados are typically ripe about five days after that. Avocados do not ripen on the tree, so they travel firm and finish on your counter. More on that in how long shipped avocados last.

Packing, and the tape fiasco

The station is simple: boxes, logo stickers and labels. The first step is always cleaning it up, because with a two-year-old and a four-year-old around (and, honestly, two adults) it becomes a hot mess very quickly.

Then there was the tape. Becca’s advice, learned the hard way: do not buy packing tape at the dollar store. It took far too long to figure out why it would not behave, and the fix was a roll of Uline tape that was much too wide. If you ordered in early to mid-April and your box looked a little funky, that is why.

Inside, the avocados are cushioned with excelsior, which is simply wood shavings. It is an old-school way avocados used to be shipped, and because it is all natural it can go in your compost or your garden and break back down into the soil.

Box sizes and a little extra

That morning’s orders were a mix of six-pound and four-pound boxes. Each got a logo sticker, and the first batch of avocado scoops with our logo had just arrived, so every customer now gets one in their first box. Anyone who had ordered before they arrived was going to get theirs shipped separately. You can find the avocado scoop in the shop too.

Why do boxes go by weight rather than count? That changes with the season and fruit size, and we explained it in avocado box weight vs count.

Thank you to everyone who supported us in those first weeks. Our 4lb Hass box and 6lb Hass box are still packed the same way, picked the week they ship; between harvests, join the waitlist on either page and we will email you when fruit is back. Until the trees are picking again, the avocado scoop, the Hawaiian shirt and our hats ship year-round.

Try this: If you order avocados direct from anyone, ask when the fruit was picked. Hours from tree to carrier is what makes the difference, not the packaging.

This post is part of our guide to life on our family grove.