Today's fruit haul includes big Red and Big Green sugar apples, Pantin Mamey, Alice White Pitaya, DS-2 Jakfruit and the last of the Marisa Abiu and a few Graham mangos......Picked 100lbs (50kg) of fruit today

Just got back from the 2014 Fairchild Mango Festival….if you like Mangos, this is the epicenter! You can buy and tastes dozens of varieties. There are hundreds of varieties on display like nowhere in the world. This year’s festival theme was the Mangos of Colombia. Colombians are very knowledgeable about their tropical fruits and have excellent cultivars of all kinds of fruits and some of their favorite mangos were on display including Azucar and Vallenato. Noris Ledesma gave an outstanding lecture about her beloved Colombian mangos! The place was packed.  I got to meet up with lots of great friends and mango experts including Yair Aron from Puerto Rico, Richard Campbell, Noris, Chris Rollins, Ken Love from Hawaii, Jim West from Ecuador, Jay Cotterman from Ohio, Robert Hamilton from Atlanta,  Warren Condon and Paulette from Miami plus many others. A really great day. If you have never been to this fest, put it on your bucket list!!!   












Noris Ledesma and Yair Aron


Not just mangos, we also got to sample some awesome Guatemalen Rambutans










Jay Cotterman in Jakfruit heaven

Today I took a road trip (35miles) up to West Palm Beach and to attend the Mounts Botanical Garden Tropical Fruit Fest and had a great time. I had left my memory card in my laptop so the only photos I got  were of the fruit that I purchased at the garden (see attached).  There were lots of great grafted fruit trees for sale at really good prices. I met up with the Forum’s co-founder, Patrick Brooks and his fruit loving wife Zena and daughter Autumn. They are all fruit people so it was a good time for all. After the fest, we went to Patrick’s incredible property and he gave me the red carpet tour of his fruit paradise. His collection is one of the best and includes lots of fruiting trees including Abiu, Jakfruits, Sugar apples, Dragonfruit and lots more. Before I left for home , I met up with my friend Nalesha and we both had a Jibarito plantain sandwich at the Latin Café nearby. The Jibarito is a latin style steak sandwich made with a whole fried plantain on top and bottom instead of bread and is super delicious. What a way to end a great day!!! Who can name all the fruits we found?

Took a short bike ride this morning and photographed some loaded neighborhood mango trees. We have a bumper crop on many trees. 


Neighbor's tree


Another loaded tree


Duncan from my Mom's tree...not as big a crop as last year but they are much larger and still has over 100 fruit.


Still the best way I have found to protect a precious mango crop


Today's mango haul

Here's a few early local Mangos I picked up this weekend....They include Duncan, PSM, ValenciaPride and two unknowns from a friends grove. The tiny ones are small PSMs that are very sweet despite the size.


 

Recently purchased some fresh Pace Mameys down at Lara Farm in Homestead. For the most part, this time of year you can only find large Magana mameys which are OK but not great. Pace is now more readily available and is a better fruit. They have a nice almond flan flavor when properly ripened and I really like them although Pantin is still the king of Mamey down here. If you have the room, Pace is worthwhile.

Just got back from a quick trip to Little Havana in Miami with my son and we stopped at a cool fruit stand on Calle Ocho that always great fruits. This place was selling some large Sapodillas and I bought a few that weighed 20 to 24 ozs. Not sure of the cultivar and these could be from a seedling trees since there are hundreds of old seedling trees down there. They also had coco-frio and plenty of other locally grown fruits. Afterwards we cruised done to SouthBeach and I took a photo of some of the beautiful coconut palms on Ocean Drive.

Next weekend 4/12-4/13 there is an excellent plant show at Fairchild Garden in Coral Gables. There is usually some real nice tropical fruits for sale from Fairchild Farms and there should be some decent tropical fruit trees for sale by the RFCI. Richard Campbell's lectures are always worth the trip. I will be there at 9:30 when they open so if anyone from the Forum wants to meet up, I will be glad to lead a tour of the fruit trees in the Garden. Send me a PM if you are interested. 

Fairchild's 35th Annual Spring Plant Sale

When: Saturday, April 12, 2014 - Sunday, April 13, 2014 from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Program

Come and see what’s growing at Fairchild during our annual celebration of spring, local foods and the gorgeous gardens they grow in, and then take home spectacular plants from our 35th Annual Spring Plant Sale. And, as a special treat this year, learn about the charismatic world of butterflies at our annual Butterfly Days!
•Celebrate the season with crisp and refreshing spring brews and summer ales in our Spring Beer Garden, sponsored by Whole Foods Market
•Gather new tips and recipes from local chefs at a culinary demonstration, all with a sweet twist. Chefs will be highlighting honey in their recipes.
•Shop local vendors array of vegetables, herbs, handmade foods and artisan products.
•Discover Fairchild’s Edible Garden, lush and delicious with peppers and chilies, perfect for preparing your garden for the summer.
•Enjoy hands-on scientific activities, as well as, culinary demonstrations for kids and families.
•Flutter into one of the many Butterfly Days lectures
•Shop the 35th Annual Spring Plant Sale with thousands of plants from Fairchild’s nursery and local plant vendors.

Butterfly Lectures
In Partnership with Miami Blue Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association
Location: Science Village Classroom

Saturday, April 12, 2014

10:15 a.m.     Welcome
                         Linda Evans, President, Miami Blue Chapter, North American Butterfly Association
10:30 a.m.     Butterflies and their Gardens
                        Georgia Tasker, FTBG

11:30 a.m.     Attracting Butterflies to Coastal Gardens
                        Roger Hammer, PhD, Naturalist and Author

1:30 p.m.       Robert L Kelley Keynote Lecture: Coastal Butterflies and their Habitats: A Virtual Tour
                        Jaret C. Daniels, Ph.D., University of Florida

3:30 p.m.       Wings of the Tropics at Fairchild: Construction, Content and Conservation
                        Martin Feather, FTBG

Sunday, April 13, 2014

10:30 a.m.     Conservation of Coastal Butterflies in South Florida and Cuba
                        Marc Minno, PhD, University of Florida

11:30 a.m.     Macrophotography Demonstrations *Location: Science Village Laboratories

  1:30 p.m.     Robert L Kelly Keynote Lecture: Butterfly Conservation Initiatives: Efforts to Help Protect our Charismatic Microfauna
                        Jaret C. Daniels, Ph.D., University of Florida

  3:30 p.m.     How to Shoot Bugs: Natural Photography in the Field
                        Mark Deering

Garden Demonstrations
Location: Cycad Vista Demonstrations Tent

Saturday, April 12, 2014

10:00 a.m.   A Few Simple Propagation Ideas for Spring
                      Richard Campbell, FTBG

11:00 a.m.     Honeybees and Your Garden
                        Bob Brennan, FTBG

12:00 p.m.     Growing Edible Greens in Sub Tropical Conditions
                         Dylan Terry, Ready to Grow Gardens

Sunday, April 13, 2014

10:00 a.m.     3 Easy Steps to Grow Happy Palms
                        Sara Edelman, FTBG

11:00 a.m.    Water Conservation in South Florida
                        Barbara McAdam, University of Florida IFAS Extension

12:00 p.m.     Attracting Hummingbirds and Other Wildlife to your Garden
                        Glenn Huberman, Master Gardener

Cooking Demonstrations
Sponsored by Whole Foods Market

Location: Cycad Vista Demonstrations Tent

Saturday, April 12, 2014

1:00 p.m.     Raw Red Pepper &Tomato Bisque, Beet Hummus, and Raw Lemon Avocado Mousse
                      Camille Lamb, Healthy Eating & Green Mission Specialist,
                      Whole Foods Market Coral Gables

2:00 p.m.     Skinny South Quinoa
                      Tracy Knight, Skinny South

3:00 p.m.     Mango Lassi SUPERFOODBAR Cheesecake
                      Ashanty Williams, SUPERFOODBAR

Sunday, April 13, 2014

1:00 p.m.     Blueberry and Pistachio Spring Salad with Pomegranate–Honey Dressing
                      Camilla Staben, Whole Foods Market Coral Gables

2:00 p.m.     Raw Pad Thai & Un-Tuna Salad
                      Loren Pulitzer, Meals that Heal

3:00 p.m.    Fairchild’s Spring Favorites
                     Fairchild Challenge Middle and High School Green Cuisine Winners

Kidway
Location: Learning Garden
Butterflies and moths come in a huge diversity of colors and patterns.  Come to KidWay and explores the strategies these fascinating insects use to protect themselves from hungry predators.   Design you very own butterfly and tell us how it protects itself.

Family Demonstrations
Location: Kidway Demonstrations Tent

Saturday, April12, 2014
1:30 p.m.     Yummy Yogurt Parfaits with Honey
                      Debi Labelle, Common Threads

Sunday, April 13, 2014
1:30 p.m.     Roasted Vegetable Tacos
                      Ray Newlands, Short Chef

The Fairchild Challenge Green Cuisine Competition
Location: Garden House
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 10:00 a.m.-12:00p.m.
Over 120 years ago, David Fairchild began searching the world for edible plants to cultivate in the United States.  Today, as part of Fairchild Challenge’s Green Cuisine, middle school and high school students from all corners of Miami will celebrate David Fairchild’s unmatched contributions to the North American diet.  Choosing from a selected list of ingredients introduced by Fairchild (alfalfa, apricots, dates, mango, pistachio and soy beans), students will create a tasty dish of any kind and try to best impress our panel of judges.  The winners will present their dishes on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at the Cycad Vista Demonstrations Tent.

Spring Beer Sampling Garden
Location: Cycad Vista Beer Garden
Join us all weekend starting at 11:00 a.m. for samples of seasonal brews. Whole Foods Market and Gold Coast Beverage  will be bringing us Abita Brewery Spring IPA, Anchor California Lager, Crisp Cider Company Pacific Pear Cider and New Belgium Snapshot.  Vermont Hard Cider Company will be bringing us Woodchuck Spring and Granny Smith Hard Cider and Magners Original and Pear Cider.  Miami Brewing Company will be bringing us Big Rod Coconut Ale, Shark Bait Mango Wheat Ale and Miami Vice IPA. B.R.E.W. F.I.U. will be bringing us an English Pale Ale, Sweet Stout, Barley Wine, Irish Red Ale, Heffeweissen, English Brown Ale, and a Root Beer Soda.   Please note, you must be 21 years of age or older to participate in the beer garden.

Fairchild Farm Smoothies and Fruit Market
Join us at our Edible Garden for refreshing smoothies made from fruit from our Fairchild Farm living collections.  We will also have seasonal fruits from our Farm for sale.

Walking Tours of the Edible Garden
Join us both days of the festival at 11:00 a.m. for a walking tour of our Edible Garden, tours begin at the entrance of the Whitman Tropical Fruit Pavilion and will include a fruit tasting.

Farmers Market Vendors
Angie’s Vanilla
Astoria Designs
Candles by Fatima
Crackerman Crackers
Delightful Bites
Earth Learning’s Mobile Harvest Market
Gardens Gone Wire
Market Baskets & Hats
Miguel Bode Honey
Pamela André
PLP Natural Products         
Ready-to-Grow Gardens
SUPERFOODBAR by EAT4LIFE LLC
Taylor’s Ultimate Gourmet Sauces
Teena’s Pride, CSA
World Flavorz Spices & Teas

Food Vendors
BillyBob's Roasted Corn
Casa Paella
Cinnamon Horn Rolls
C.J.’s Peruvian Grill
CrêpeMaker
Flip’s Country Kettle Corn
Gerbaud Bakery
Greek Food
Karts of All Kinds
Native Conch

Harvested a few nice fruits...Alano sapodilla, the tree is loaded, Malayan coconuts with delicious sweet water, Papaya and a decent Rollinia. The Hua Moa plantains have a ways to go

Went down Saturday to "Palacio de Los Jugos" on Flagler and 57th Ave in Miami, which is a great place to see what local food is all about in the Latin community of Miami. Besides all kinds of great food, they have an awesome selection of Homestead grown fruits. If you are ever  down here, this is a must see stop to find some tasty food & fruits.   


Pantin Mamey Sapote winter crop


Homestead grown avocados


Local banana bunch


New way to sell Mamey Sapote!


FGM with some gorgeous Guanabana


Impressive pile of Homestead Soursop (Guanabana). Not bad for a winter crop!


Had to include a photo of a Miami roast pig (lechon asado)

First of all, Happy New Year to all the Forum members. 

I realize that the best Durian is a fresh one right off of the tree, but for us on the mainland USA, we have little access to fresh Durian so the only choice for us Durian addicts is the frozen stuff. Other than whole frozen ones, the only seedless Durian pulp that I have seen in South Florida is the one in the photo. It's FoodHut Monthong and sells for around US $10 in our local Asian markets. This brand is pretty good quality but I am curious if this is the only one available in our area.  I would like to try other brands to see if there is something better. What about members in other states, what type do you buy and how good are they? 

Bottom line...What is the best frozen Durian available in the US?

Here's some palm fruits that I picked today in my neighborhood. Being that fruits are scarce this time of year, these provide lots of color in our gardens. Of these four types shown, only the small green ones (Syagrus_romanzoffiana) are edible according to Harry Lorenzi.  There are thousands of these palms in Florida but I have never heard of anyone consuming them. The other seeds are Veitchia merrillii (small red),  Veitchia macdanielsii (large red) and Wodyetia bifurcata (large orange seeds)