More Exotic than Your Average Kiwi

You might worship the produce dude at your local Publix, but everyone knows you find the best fruit in Homestead. Want a sugary-sweet mango with bright orange juices that run down your chin? Or a banana that will have your corn flakes singing “Hallelujah”? Homestead, baby. And this weekend, the fruit world’s in-crowd will converge on the mecca of nature’s candy for the Rare Fruit Conference.

That’s right, you can learn about the rare fruits of Thailand and Brazil or the ethnobotany of Pacific food plants from industry experts. And you won’t need textbooks, because this lesson is hands-on. There’ll be tastings galore and even a barbecue Friday, but on Thursday, get a lesson from the folks at the USDA from 1:30 to 3 p.m., or check out the 4 p.m. plant propagation workshop hosted by Pine Island Nursery. By the way, that 11-letter word we just sprung on you means “the production of more plants by seeds, cuttings, grafting, or other methods.” Not because we do that kind of thing, but because we had to check. Visit www.fruitandspicepark.org.
July 10-13, 2008