Muriel Olivares and Tiffany Noe of Little River Cooperative are here to rid Miami of these misconceptions. This Saturday and Sunday, they'll host a summer plant sale featuring more than 70 varieties of seasonal seedlings.
"People in Miami get really confused about seasons because we have really strange seasons, different from anywhere else, so we just get a lot of questions and notice a lot of confusion," Olivares says.
The truth is, lots of plants are perfect for growing during the summer.
"For those people really into gardening, we want to provide an alternative, locally accurate, agricultural option. There’s a lot of cool stuff you can grow," she adds.
They'll have dozens of varietals available for sale, and they'll be on hand to answer questions. The nursery also has a demonstration garden so customers can see what their plants will look like all grown up.
"People can walk out and visualize what their raised bed will look like once they put in x number of plants," Olivares explains.
The full list of available seedlings:
Herbs and Flowers:
- nematocidal marigold
- rosemary
- oregano
- spearmint
- papalo
Gourds:
- luffah
- seminole pumpkin
- calabaza squash
Beans/Legumes:
- siberian pea shrub
- pigeon pea
- pink lima bean
- seven-year lima bean
Okra:
- Clemson spineless
- bowling red
- burgundy
- candelabra
Greens:
- variegated amaranth
- red amaranth
- celosia amaranth
- India lettuce
- Egyptian spinach
- Georgia collards
- scarlet frill mustard greens
- giant Southern Georgia mustard greens
- mizuna mustard
- arugula
- dinosaur kale
- curly kale
- perpetual spinach
- red malabar spinach
Eggplant:
- prosperosa
- listada de gandia
- Asian long green
- Asian long purple
Hot Peppers:
- datil
- purple jalapeño
- long red cayenne
- Thai burapa
- fish variegated
- Thai yellow chill
Sweet Peppers:
- pepperoncini
- Biscayne cubanelle
- carolina wonder
- purple beauty
- everglades cherry tomato
- poha berry/ ground cherries
Summer-Friendly Perennials:
- roselle
- cranberry hibiscus
- surinam spinach
- moringa
- okinawa spinach
- mulukiyah
- passion fruit vine
- everbearing mulberry
- aloe vera
- betel leaf vine
- vanilla bean orchid
- cuban oregano
- pineapple
- comfrey
Ground Cover:
- sweet potato
- boniato
- gotu kola
- mint
Fruit Trees (they'll have a limited quantity from Pine Island Nursery and Going Bananas):
- dwarf bananas
- tamarind
- guava
- allspice
- calamondine (star fruit)
- loquat
- kumquat
Dry Goods:
- crab meal
- kelp meal
- sunn hemp seeds
- buckwheat seeds
- sudan grass
- sunn hemp/ legume innoculant
- historic compost
- Florida neem oil
- summer-friendly seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
The plant sale will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 115 NE 76th St., Miami. Most of the herbs and greens will cost $3 each; fruiting plants like peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants will be $4; and larger plants will run $6 to $12. There will be a small selection of fruit trees for $30 each. Visit littlerivercooperative.com/nursery for more info.
