After much of California's navel orange crop froze two weeks ago, prices in Pittsburgh soared within days. Prices for navel oranges, lemons, avocados, strawberries, lettuce and other California produce are expected to remain high for months to come -- if the produce is even available to consumers.

	Grapefruit shipped to Western Pennsylvania come from Florida and Texas, so the supply should not be affected. Click photo for larger image. Recipes Cooking with citrus

As a result, many consumers will probably skip California citrus, strawberries and other produce this spring, according to Bill Carson, a longtime salesman for wholesale produce company Coosemans Produce in the Strip District.

"Supplies are so limited of the navel oranges -- your food service people supplying the restaurants and hotels have to have oranges, but at the retail level you'll see them slow back dramatically because your housewife doesn't have to have an orange ... she'll do without," Mr. Carson said.

Local wholesale prices for California strawberries also have increased by $10 a 12-pint flat, to about $23. Much of the California strawberry crop was destroyed, although plants are expected to put out new berries that will be ready in six to eight weeks. With Florida growers seeing their opportunity to make some extra money -- especially with Valentine's Day, traditionally one of the biggest days of the year for strawberry consumption, coming up -- wholesale Florida strawberry prices have increased as well, by about $7 a flat to $18, according to wholesale produce sellers.

But while California navels will be too expensive for many people to buy this spring, there are some alternatives that will let you continue to enjoy fresh, seasonal fruit -- including citrus -- without spending your whole paycheck on it.

Many people like California navels best for eating because their thick skin makes them easy to peel and their lack of seeds makes them easy to eat.

If you're willing to spend just a few more seconds peeling and eating, however, and you don't mind slightly uglier oranges, Florida Valencias -- usually used for juice but also good for eating -- are sweet, juicy alternatives that will be available in local grocery stores through the end of November.

"Florida oranges eat good," said Bob Sasinoski, a buyer and salesman for J.E. Corcoran Co. in the Strip District.

For wholesale produce sellers, wholesale prices for Florida Valencias have increased by about $2 a case, to about $17 a 40-pound case.

But that's still half the price of California Sunkist navel oranges, which cost about $35 a case now, compared to about $16 before the five-day freeze that began Jan. 12, ruining about $1 billion of California produce. Supplies and prices for California navel oranges aren't expected to return to normal until next year's crop begins harvesting in November.

While wholesale prices paid by restaurants, hospitals and other institutions have increased, only California navel prices have increased for citrus-buying retail customers of grocery stores such as Giant Eagle. California navel prices rose from 59 cents an orange before the freeze to 79 cents an orange after the freeze. Florida navel and Valencia orange prices, however, have remained steady at 69 cents an orange and $3.99 per 5-pound bag, respectively. And strawberries at Giant Eagle are the same price as before the freeze -- $3.99 a pound -- because the company is buying them from Florida.

(One little-known fact that can help you save money, even when California's crops haven't frozen over: The Strip District's wholesale produce companies in the long, brick Produce Terminal on Smallman Street between 16th and 21st streets sell to the public Sunday night through the following Saturday morning, overnight from 11 p.m. until noon.

	Honey tangerines from Florida are available into March. Clementines come from Morocco and Spain and also are available through March. Click photo for larger image.

All kinds of fruits and vegetables are sold in bulk -- usually by the case or flat -- at about 15 percent above wholesale.

That means a case of 100 Valencia oranges would cost you about $22, or about 55 cents a pound, instead of the 79 cents a pound you'd pay in a grocery store.

Can't eat that many oranges in two or three weeks? Consider buying a case or flat and splitting it with co-workers or family members.)

If you love grapefruit, you can still enjoy that, too, as most of the grapefruit shipped to Western Pennsylvania is grown in Florida and Texas, not California. Florida grapefruit will be available until late April or early May, according to produce wholesalers.

And while the season for the bright-orange sunburst tangerines just ended, honey tangerines from Florida will be available into March. Unlike oranges, they can't be stored for two to three weeks, though, so eat them quickly.

Clementines, with their easy-to-peel skin and sweet flavor, come from Morocco and Spain and are widely available at prices only slightly higher than before the freeze. Their season, which began just before Christmas, will last through the end of March.

Even orange juice should remain affordable -- any price increases are a result of gouging, not orange shortages, according to produce wholesalers.

First, they said, juice oranges come from Florida, Mexico and South America -- not California -- so they weren't affected by the freeze.

Second, juice producers sign contracts for juice oranges two or three years in advance to lock in stable prices, and that's what they're paying suppliers now.

If they're charging more money for juice, it's not because they're paying more for the oranges they're using to make the juice, said Mr. Carson.

"Greed enters into it, and people see the opportunity to make more money," he said.