Rare and exotic fruit in the garden

Of the many advantages of living in South Florida, growing rare and exotic tropical fruits ranks up in the top ten.  I love being able to go outside in the morning and pick fruit for my morning oatmeal fresh from the trees.  There is usually something ripe all year round.

In the winter we have citrus, and by mid spring the mangoes are ripe.  As soon as I harvest the last mango, the star fruit are bearing.  The figs ripen as well at this time of year. You must harvest them quickly before the birds eat them.    Papayas ripen throughout the year as well.

My newest harvest is from the dragon fruit.  I am looking forward to many more fruits from this cactus.  The first flower was pollinated and the fruit ripened and rotted before I could harvest it.  Now I will have to wait for more flowers and more fruit.  

My garden is all planted out now and there is no more room.  The next step is to decide what I want to remove.  I need to decide what fruits I can replant.  They need full sun.  Time will tell what future plants I will purchase.  

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Edible Gardens made easy: 11th Street Annex Restaurant

Just a tad south of the hustle and bustle of downtown Fort Lauderdale off Andrews Avenue there is a gem of a restaurant with a fantastic edible garden. This hidden gem is called Church Side 11th Street Annex, located next to Trinity Church and Trinity Churchside Garden.
When Jonny Altobell and Penny Sanfilppo created their restaurant 11th street annex, one requirement of their front entryway garden was that they wanted something special. “Everything to be medicinal, edible or smell good.” According to Penny. Luckily, her boyfriend happens to be the noted BCC plant guru, and nursery owner David McLean.

There are many very interesting unusual trees in the garden. There is large tree called the strawberry tree, which hails from SE Asia. There is a cinnamon tree. The cinnamon comes from the bark. There is a mulberry tree, a line berry tree and a mango tree. A large bay rum tree and lime berry tree rise up within the garden.

Naturally there are plenty of fresh grown herbs. There are some unusual plants also, notably the Chinese Fisheye Jasmine. There is a tree called lolate, in the piper family. The leaves are similar to grape leaves and they can be stuffed and eaten.