I sold 13 fruit trees.

[johnb51]

Actually I sold ten, gave one as a gift, and hope that two will be part of a barter arrangement.  Before we sell our wonderful Deerfield Beach home--best place I've ever lived, one of the best locations in all of South Florida--my wife said you should sell your trees, rather than have a new owner destroy most of them.  This venture really worked out, not that I made any money because it all went for sod to replace the trees.  But the trees were saved and went to good homes.  The largest of the trees, the Alano sapodilla, was removed by professionals with heavy-duty machinery, and they took a huge rootball.  If we eventually end up buying a house in north/central Texas, I will plant a fig, a persimmon, a peach, a plum, an apple, an apricot, possibly a pear, and if I have a really big lot a pecan tree.  I'll be gardening till I die!

[zands]

A while back I visited family in San Antonio and there were lots of pecan trees planted on public land. They are so easy to crack open....I would definitely plant one and apricot is one of my favorites, hard to find in their prime. How about a cherry tree? Pear sounds great but apples are dirt cheap these days, so would be low on my list. Grapes?

Pears are hard to find picked and sold at proper ripeness.

[fliptop]

Sorry if you've covered this elsewhere, or if you don't want to say, but why are you leaving Florida, johnb51?

I've moved a couple times and regret not taking or trying to sell trees--was sad to see that guavas and a nice brown turkey fig (not to mention super fragrant osmanthus) were taken out by the new owner of my former Spring Hill home.

[johnb51]

Sorry if you've covered this elsewhere, or if you don't want to say, but why are you leaving Florida, johnb51?

Long range projections for South Florida aren't good from a scientific perspective.  I know there are those that think it's just a political issue--climate disruption and sea level rise.  But I'll go with the best and brightest scientific minds who have dedicated their lives to studying and evaluating this.  And also I'm not blind to what we already see taking place locally (there are Miami Beach neighborhoods flooding on a regular basis) and all over the world.  When we moved here 31 years ago, winter freezes were not such a rare occurrence, but it's been about ten years since South Florida had a cold winter.  What happened to the northern Bahamas (Hurricane Dorian) could just as easily have happened to our area, and we would still be recovering along with the value of our real estate taking a huge hit.  It's time for my wife and me (61 and 68) to get out while we're still ahead of the game.  Every last dollar is important to us.  Property taxes, windstorm insurance, and flood insurance have been eating us alive the last couple years.  And besides, a smaller house would suit us just fine.  Sorry if that was too much honesty.  We really have loved living in Deerfield Beach and in SoFlo in general, and it will be sad to leave.  Other than Texas (where we lived for five years 2006-2011, where my brother-in-law and his family live, and where my sons might like to settle down) I consider Central Florida another option.  Somewhere along the Lake Wales Ridge, which extends from Lake Apopka to Venus.  It's high ground, and I appreciate the ten-degree lower temps in winter.

[pineislander]

I keep seeing claims of sea level rise with projections way beyond reason, like 2-3 feet(600- 900mm) rise over 30 years. The problem is that nothing even close shows up in the data. The longest records in Florida are Pensacola and Key West and both very comparable with less than 3 mm/year and steady for the +100 years record.

To get 900 mm rise in 30 years would require a steady rate of 30mm/year or a far higher rate if it doesn't get moving soon.

have a look at the 100 years record here:
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends_station.shtml?id=8724580

Pointing to flooding in the lowest parts of Miami Beach just isn't valid because those areas have subsided -3mm/year for 80 years since the low swampland they were built on was filled in. data shows areas of Miami Beach on limestone haven't subsided. Here is the data from University of Miami:
http://www.ces.fau.edu/arctic-florida/pdfs/fiaschi-wdowinski.pdf

[JakeFruit]

When we moved here 31 years ago, winter freezes were not such a rare occurrence, but it's been about ten years since South Florida had a cold winter.

Moved to SWFL in the late 70's, every winter there were multiple days/weeks where all the neighbors covered their plants with bed sheets against the cold. Haven't seen a bed sheet in forever, not a single night below freezing. I can't speak to sea rise, and sure it's anecdotal evidence, but it's so obviously much hotter year-round now.

[shpaz]

Moved to SWFL in the late 70's, every winter there were multiple days/weeks where all the neighbors covered their plants with bed sheets against the cold. Haven't seen a bed sheet in forever, not a single night below freezing. I can't speak to sea rise, and sure it's anecdotal evidence, but it's so obviously much hotter year-round now.

This is happening when I used to live as well. In the 90s I remember turning on the heaters in the winter to warn up the house. In the past 4 years, My mom didn't even bother taking the heaters out of storage during the winter. It's just summer and a long fall/spring then summer again.

[johnb51]

Never used the heat in this house where we've lived for eight years.  Lowest interior temperature has probably been 70.