<p>My DS mentioned that a friend received a box of pears from his Grandmother and said they were delicious. I thought I might send some during mid-terms.</p>
<p>I only know about Harry & David and they are sooo expensive. Are there any less expensive options for fruit?</p>
<p>Don’t they have farmers markets in Texas?
[Houston-area</a> farmers markets | Houston gardening | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle](<a href=“http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/gardening/houstonresources/5071721.html]Houston-area”>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/gardening/houstonresources/5071721.html)</p>
<p>Find a friend in Florida and have him or her send you grapefruits or oranges. Find someone’s grandmother if you don’t have a friend there.</p>
<p>Maybe ek, but we’re really in a pretty distant suburb of Houston. I’d rather mail order then have to drive for an hour and still have to ship them to DS.</p>
<p>Local Safeway and our local grocery delivers.</p>
<p>I would look for a small grower in the area of his school & see if they would arrange a seasonal package.</p>
<p>Most florists will deliver fruit baskets. You can decide how much you want to spend. It might be less than Harry and David.</p>
<p>A large flat rate USPS box fits a full plastic clamshell of organic gala apples and an almost entire sack of satsumas (Costco) and gets across the country in 2-3 days. Total cost: under $30, delivered. You can always use Ghirardelli sqares or other wrapped chocolates to fill the void space. :)</p>
<p>As always, please pardon my iPhonics. :)</p>
<p>I shipped D some firm peaches right after school started – they were gorgeous, straight from the orchard box, and I padded them well. They arrived a few days later, and she was in heaven – didn’t even share them with the b.f. “What’s that I smell.” “Nothing. Time to go to the Dining Hall.”</p>
<p>I think you could probably do a nice fruit box yourself and ship it Fedex Ground and it would be fine as long as you picked suitable fruit and used lots of newspaper to pad it well. Citrus , firm mangoes, nice apples (D complained that the only apples they ever had at school were Red Delicious), firm pears.</p>
<p>For dried fruit, nuts, etc., check out Wisconsincheeseman.com They are even having a 70% off sale.</p>
<p>For fresh, try Sherri’s Berries or The Fruit Guys. Sherri’s has organic pears 9 for $30.</p>
<p>My daughter’s school has Wegman close by. When she was a freshman without a car, I would order her favorite fruits from there to be delivered to her dorm. With that, I would throw in a case of water so she wouldn’t have to carry it up 5 flights of stairs.</p>
<p>You may save money but I don’t think you can get pears as good as Harry and David’s Royal Riviera. We get them every year from my BIL for xmas.</p>
<p>I second the FruitGuys novelisto mentioned. My son is really happy with their fruit boxes; he likes both the quality and the variety. Google dormsnack.com to get to their product line specifically for college students. You can get 25 pieces of fruit for $30 or for an additional $5, you can get all organic fruit. I just ordered a box for delivery this week and the mix includes 4 types of citrus, 3 varieties of apples, 2 different types of pears and kiwis. The mix changes every week. Best of all, the price includes shipping.</p>
<p>You could try Costco if you’re a member. You can order online and the price includes delivery. </p>
<p>[Costco</a> - Grocery & Floral - Fruit](<a href=“http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?ec=BC-EC38309-Cat64071&pos=0&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=27595&eCat=BC|3605|64071|27595&lang=en-US]Costco”>http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?ec=BC-EC38309-Cat64071&pos=0&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=27595&eCat=BC|3605|64071|27595&lang=en-US)</p>
<p>FruitShare will ship wonderful fruit anywhere in the U.S. It’s delicious fruit and prices include delivery. All the fruit is organic, and right now they have a great selection of oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, etc. <a href=“http://www.FruitShare.com%5B/url%5D”>www.FruitShare.com</a></p>