Quick! Name one good thing about summer in Miami!
If you said mosquitoes or tropical storms, please turn in your I Love Miami badge now, wise guy. The obvious answer is the abundance of tropical fruit that hangs from trees, falls to the ground, and intoxicates both mankind and squirrel with its sweet, tangy, tart, and juicy flavors and textures.
By now, you should be seeing mangoes, lychees, and limes ripening on the trees and falling to the ground in most every yard in Miami. And though this year has been predicted to not be as "fruitful" as previous, there's still a lot to celebrate. And there's no better way to celebrate than at Fruit and Spice Park this weekend.
This Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17, the annual Redland Summer Fruit
Festival gets underway, with seminars, live entertainment, fruit
displays, and lots of family entertainment.
Park horticultural experts will teach you how to grow your own
mini-orchard in your backyard with interactive workshops and
demonstrations. Kick start your garden with a few baby trees and plants, offered for sale by local nurseries.
If you don't have a green thumb (or you're just hankering for instant
mango-gratification), buy some fruit to eat there or take home from over
30 vendors who will be on hand selling Florida's finest, as well as
honey, sugarcane, candies, and food.
There's even a petting zoo, pony rides, and a watermelon-eating contest for the kids.
Don't forget to take a walk through the grounds, where you'll find
thousands of fruit-bearing trees (some bearing authentic
-honest-to-goodness-take-that-Snow-White poison fruit). Just remember
the park rules -- don't take anything off the tree, but if it's already
on the ground -- it's fair game for you and the squirrels.
The Redland Summer Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days and admission is $8 for adults, children under 12 are free.
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