The Tropical Fruit Forum

Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: phantomcrab on May 16, 2013, 03:01:11 PM

Title: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: phantomcrab on May 16, 2013, 03:01:11 PM
Saving the Grimal Grove (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqXMprJOhaA#ws)
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: edself65 on May 16, 2013, 03:13:12 PM
Thanks for sharing! Wished I had visited that place while I was living in Florida!

Ed
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: FlyingFoxFruits on May 16, 2013, 03:17:19 PM
Wow!

thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!

At 32 seconds you can see the original Grimal Jaboticaba tree...looks a bit mashed up, but alive.

I wonder if it's still kicking.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: FlyingFoxFruits on May 16, 2013, 03:21:12 PM
WHOS GOT THE GRIMAL CARAMBOLA!!???
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: edself65 on May 16, 2013, 03:33:46 PM
I have heard that a kwai muk tree on the Grimal places has really large fruit. Would liked to see and try them!

Ed
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: FlyingFoxFruits on May 16, 2013, 04:10:49 PM
I have heard that a kwai muk tree on the Grimal places has really large fruit. Would liked to see and try them!

Ed

wouldn't might betting some gudwood from that kwai muk either!

I have some seedling kwai muks, itching to get grafted.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: davidgarcia899 on May 16, 2013, 07:21:21 PM
So is it open to the public? I am guessing that the durians and mangosteens no longer exist there.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: zands on May 16, 2013, 07:35:25 PM
The grove was owned and operated by an inventor named Adolf Grimal who became well known for his achievements in working with tropical fruits. The land was originally extremely unfit for growing anything due to poor soil and the fact that the majority of the property was all cap rock.  Grimal took on the task of dynamiting and chiseling out the rock and filling these new openings with 6 feet of fertile soil.  He also created large cisterns and catchment basins to combat infrequent rains in winter and was finally able to achieve his dream of a garden which the horticulturally minded came from all over the world to witness on this pine covered Caribbean island.

He passed away in 1997 and over the next decade, the property was unused and fell into disrepair.  Although clearly untended, the land still boasts rare fruit trees which still produce fruit annually, and the cisterns still hold water.  The superiority of the soil makes it an oasis for agricultural development.

The members of GHI have been working in a volunteer capacity to revive the grove, both rehabilitating the current agricultural landscape as well as networking with the county and other community stakeholders to “Save the Grimal Grove.”

SAVE THE GRIMAL GROVE!

The Growing Hope Initiative’s goal is to re-establish this land’s legacy and revitalize the property, thus restoring Grimal’s achievements.  GHI plans to transform the grove into an education center and edible community park for sustainable projects in the Florida Keys. The Grimal Grove will be foundation and destination for voluntourism and ecotourism.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: phantomcrab on May 16, 2013, 07:47:47 PM
Quote
So is it open to the public? I am guessing that the durians and mangosteens no longer exist there.
I don't know what remains but the video was made in February 2013.
http://growinghopeinitiative.org/grimal-grove/ (http://growinghopeinitiative.org/grimal-grove/)
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: BestDay on May 16, 2013, 07:53:34 PM
Very cool.  That place looks like my dream home!  I could only imagine that much land.

Bill
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: Central Floridave on May 17, 2013, 07:05:05 AM
There is a lot of history on Grimal in Whitman's book Five Decades with Tropical Fruit.  I'm going to have go back and read some of it. Thnx for the video.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: Tropicalgrower89 on May 17, 2013, 12:45:40 PM
I think he would be arrested if he used dynamite in his property today.  ;D  Hope they restore it to how it was when Mr. Grimal was alive. :)
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: puglvr1 on May 18, 2013, 11:00:42 AM
Awesome Video!! Thanks for posting!! I hope they are able to restore the property to its fullest potential in the near future...
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: BENDERSGROVE on May 18, 2013, 03:39:48 PM
I would love to see the place, I hope a deep pocket steps up and saves the up lace for future generations.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: fruitlovers on May 18, 2013, 06:11:14 PM
It's beyond me why both the Whitman and Grimal places weren't declared national treasures and saved immediately after both of them passed away. Florida wake up!
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: zands on May 18, 2013, 08:40:03 PM
It's beyond me why both the Whitman and Grimal places weren't declared national treasures and saved immediately after both of them passed away. Florida wake up!

What happened to Bill Whitman's place? The children who inherited decided to let the tropical fruit trees etc go to hell? This my brief knowledge of the situation.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: Patrick on May 18, 2013, 08:59:57 PM
Its disgusting to see people using food stamps and driving away in new cars when something like this was left to deteriorate and get dumped on.  It saddens me so much to think this mans forty years of work was overlooked by so many people.. Shame on our society as a whole!
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: fruitlovers on May 18, 2013, 09:06:23 PM
It's beyond me why both the Whitman and Grimal places weren't declared national treasures and saved immediately after both of them passed away. Florida wake up!

What happened to Bill Whitman's place? The children who inherited decided to let the tropical fruit trees etc go to hell? This my brief knowledge of the situation.

Last i heard there was a nephew living there, someone not at all familiar with gardening or taking care of plants. I think some plants were dug up and donated to Fairchild. But i don't have much information on the situation.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: fruitlovers on May 18, 2013, 09:10:04 PM
Its disgusting to see people using food stamps and driving away in new cars when something like this was left to deteriorate and get dumped on.  It saddens me so much to think this mans forty years of work was overlooked by so many people.. Shame on our society as a whole!

In all fairness, it is in great part up to the person owning the property to set up something before their death so something like this doesn't occur. It seems like F&S park is a good example of someone making preparations to give the land to the county before exiting planet earth.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: Patrick on May 18, 2013, 09:13:37 PM
Its disgusting to see people using food stamps and driving away in new cars when something like this was left to deteriorate and get dumped on.  It saddens me so much to think this mans forty years of work was overlooked by so many people.. Shame on our society as a whole!

In all fairness, it is in great part up to the person owning the property to set up something before their death so something like this doesn't occur. It seems like F&S park is a good example of someone making preparations to give the land to the county before exiting planet earth.

Your right Oscar.  Who currently owns the Grimal Estate?  It appears abandoned?  I would have thought that Whitman would have donated his collection, but I guess that property is worth a ton in that area.  Not to mention most people don't even know or care about tropical fruit in general, as sad as that sounds..
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: fruitlovers on May 18, 2013, 09:17:09 PM
Its disgusting to see people using food stamps and driving away in new cars when something like this was left to deteriorate and get dumped on.  It saddens me so much to think this mans forty years of work was overlooked by so many people.. Shame on our society as a whole!

In all fairness, it is in great part up to the person owning the property to set up something before their death so something like this doesn't occur. It seems like F&S park is a good example of someone making preparations to give the land to the county before exiting planet earth.

Your right Oscar.  Who currently owns the Grimal Estate?  It appears abandoned?  I would have thought that Whitman would have donated his collection, but I guess that property is worth a ton in that area.  Not to mention most people don't even know or care about tropical fruit in general, as sad as that sounds..

About the Whitman property, i think the right person to ask would be Richard Campbell. Don't know about Grimal estate, but you could probably get that information from any real estate agent as ownership of land is a public record.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: zands on May 18, 2013, 09:26:35 PM
It's beyond me why both the Whitman and Grimal places weren't declared national treasures and saved immediately after both of them passed away. Florida wake up!

What happened to Bill Whitman's place? The children who inherited decided to let the tropical fruit trees etc go to hell? This my brief knowledge of the situation.

Last i heard there was a nephew living there, someone not at all familiar with gardening or taking care of plants. I think some plants were dug up and donated to Fairchild. But i don't have much information on the situation.

As far as I know Bill Whitman was very very generous to Fairchild Gardens before and after his death. So he did his part for the rare and tropical fruit knowledge and people and nature lovers in general. It is understandable he wanted to keep his estate in the family
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: fruitlovers on May 18, 2013, 09:31:26 PM
It's beyond me why both the Whitman and Grimal places weren't declared national treasures and saved immediately after both of them passed away. Florida wake up!

What happened to Bill Whitman's place? The children who inherited decided to let the tropical fruit trees etc go to hell? This my brief knowledge of the situation.

Last i heard there was a nephew living there, someone not at all familiar with gardening or taking care of plants. I think some plants were dug up and donated to Fairchild. But i don't have much information on the situation.

As far as I know Bill Whitman was very very generous to Fairchild Gardens before and after his death. So he did his part for the rare and tropical fruit knowledge and people and nature lovers in general. It is understandable he wanted to keep his estate in the family

Very generous might be an understatement. I think he doled over $3 million to Fairchild garden just for the glass pavillion. Still it is curious he didn't make any arrangements for his estate to be better taken care of, especially given all the time and energy he put into bringing soil in and accessing all those rare plants.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: phantomcrab on May 19, 2013, 08:04:50 AM
According to this link the address of the Grimal estate is 248 Cunningham Lane, Big Pine Key, FL, just north of US1.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/scripts/dbs/herbs_project/herbsproject/herbs_pub_proc.asp?accno=205562&famsys=E&output_style=Report_type&trys=2 (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/scripts/dbs/herbs_project/herbsproject/herbs_pub_proc.asp?accno=205562&famsys=E&output_style=Report_type&trys=2)
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: BENDERSGROVE on May 19, 2013, 09:27:15 AM
It's beyond me why both the Whitman and Grimal places weren't declared national treasures and saved immediately after both of them passed away. Florida wake up!

What happened to Bill Whitman's place? The children who inherited decided to let the tropical fruit trees etc go to hell? This my brief knowledge of the situation.
it seems with all the volunteers and donations that Fairchild receives they at the very least would or should have had volunteers help maintain these properties, but in truth some of these non-profits get so big and political with there boards,that they tend to pay more attention to their social calendars than preserving history for future generations. I doubt if it were up to Richard Campbell he would have let these places fall by the wayside, after all he is an employee of Fairchild and those decisions or most if not all decisions are made by the board. I will close with saying that none of us know if the families or current owners ever reached out for help, maybe the estates of these men just didn't want to bother or knew of the importance of what they were left.

Last i heard there was a nephew living there, someone not at all familiar with gardening or taking care of plants. I think some plants were dug up and donated to Fairchild. But i don't have much information on the situation.

As far as I know Bill Whitman was very very generous to Fairchild Gardens before and after his death. So he did his part for the rare and tropical fruit knowledge and people and nature lovers in general. It is understandable he wanted to keep his estate in the family

Very generous might be an understatement. I think he doled over $3 million to Fairchild garden just for the glass pavillion. Still it is curious he didn't make any arrangements for his estate to be better taken care of, especially given all the time and energy he put into bringing soil in and accessing all those rare plants.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: bsbullie on May 19, 2013, 10:34:15 AM
According to this link the address of the Grimal estate is 248 Cunningham Lane, Big Pine Key, FL, just north of US1.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/scripts/dbs/herbs_project/herbsproject/herbs_pub_proc.asp?accno=205562&famsys=E&output_style=Report_type&trys=2 (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/scripts/dbs/herbs_project/herbsproject/herbs_pub_proc.asp?accno=205562&famsys=E&output_style=Report_type&trys=2)
That address doe not exist according to the property appraiser.
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: cocoamoto on February 22, 2015, 08:28:01 PM
Grimal Grove is located at 258 Cunningham lane
Title: Re: Grimal Grove Cleanup
Post by: From the sea on February 23, 2015, 07:30:33 AM
Hopefully I'll see you there on Friday Cocoamoto