I concur with this except the wet part....No rain plus plenty of shade from the heat. It was hot though. The tasting was far superior to fairchild's. More varieties and they we're mostly ripe and freshly cut. I ate every one except the tommy Atkins. I couldn't bring myself to do it.
What color field lacks in mango pricing ($3 per pound) they make up for in entry fee ($5). Great to see 30 year old grafted Julie manages fruiting in 25 gallon pots. They are not prolific (Anne says frm the whole row of trees she would be lucky to get 50lb but for the space deprived, good to see.
The proprietor Anne gave a wide ranging talk on tropical trees and the staff (Kristin especially) were very helpful with advice.
Here's a report from the fest that my dad just emailed me. Sounds like he had a great time!
Quote:
When I entered there was a "Gourmet Mango Tasting" area, with Tupperware bowls containing cut-up pieces of labeled mangos, which was waaay cool, to be able to taste different varieties side-by-side. Then, out that door was an area with hundreds of mangos for sale in bins, $3 per lb. There were too many varieties to recall.
I was walking through a line of trees for sale, just looking at the different varieties and prices. I came around a corner of plants, saw some mangoes on a tree, and laughed out loud, to the amusement of a couple near me. I was looking at absolutely huge mangoes, each the size of a football, called Santillas (he means lancetillas), hanging low, bush-like on a tree about six feet tall and ten feet around that had the center trimmed out of it. I showed the guy near me what I was looking at and he cracked up too. I got the skinny on 'em from Anne, and now one resides outside our kitchen window. $45 well spent.
The rest of the acreage was stuffed with all sorts of other green stuff, with green houses off in the distance and orchid houses, etc. She had food booths, music, smoothies...the works. It was around 115 degrees and wet, so I got thoroughly soaked and got into it. Fun! I suspect it'll take a couple of years to put out those huge mangoes, but when it does it'll be a hoot.
