Thursday, May 18, 2023

June Meeting - Amanda Pike, PhD, ATR-BC - Creating a Kid Friendly Food Forest

 Join us Monday, June 12, 2023 at 7pm.  

Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

Speaker: Amanda Pike, PhD, ATR-BC

From the Program Committee


Our June speaker will be Amanda Pike, PhD, ATR-BC. She is a board-certified therapist, certified educational leader and owner of a two-acre, Florida permaculture farm complete with hundreds of species of edible plants, free-roaming chickens and 26 beehives. Dr. Pike serves as Education Chair and Chapter Representative for the Palm Beach County chapter of the Native Plant Society. As a local 4-H program facilitator, she helps make food forestry an accessible and practical landscaping option for the community. Her food forest currently provides an average of 70% of her family's daily meals. Her latest book, Transforming Florida Yards: A Regional Food Forest Guide, was published June 1.


At our June meeting, Dr. Pike will speak on Creating a Kid-Friendly Food Forest: how to plan and design a backyard food forest based on kid-friendly perennials that will replace groceries starting in the first year.



Monday, April 10, 2023

May 2023 Meeting - Soil Microbial Communities and Plant Health with Dr Sarah Strauss

 Join us Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 7pm.  


Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

Speaker: Dr Sarah Strauss

From the Program Committee


Dr. Sarah Strauss is an Assistant Professor at the IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee, FL. She is the author of many scientific articles on soil microbiology and its applications to agriculture. Her research and extension programs are focused on examining the interactions between soil microbial communities and plant health and productivity in both citrus and vegetable crops. The goal of her applied research is to provide growers with new information and methods for managing and improving crop production and soil health using soil microbiology.


In her presentation, Dr. Strauss will discuss the concept of soil health, and how and why microbes are key components of it. She will also discuss some methods that can be used to impact soil microbes and soil health.


Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Manatee Rare Fruit Council Annual Rare Fruit Tree Sale - May 6th 2023

What: MRFC Rare Fruit Tree Sale

When: Saturday, May 6th, 2023, 9am-3pm

Where: Premier Sports Campus 5895 Post Blvd, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34211

This is a once-a-year opportunity to purchase rare and unusual fruiting trees and plants. 15+ vendors, outdoor event, expert advice. 

This is a great opportunity to meet experienced fruit tree growers and purchase trees, fertilizer, and possibly sample some fruit vendors may bring.


We encourage people to bring wagons to haul their chosen trees. 

The location will be the same as 2021 and 2022 - Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch. 


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April 10th 2023 Meeting - Marshall Hartley - Citrus

 

Join us Monday, April 10th, 2023 at 7pm.

Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

Speaker: Marshall Hartley

From the Program Committee


Our April speaker, Marshall Hartley, is the owner of the Hartley Citrus Farm in Lake Wales, Florida.  He holds a degree in citrus and horticultural science from Florida Southern and has been a certified crop advisor for 25 years, qualifying him to be an expert witness. He has had an extensive career in many aspects of commercial citrus production and, since 2021, has been a vendor at the MRFC’s annual rare fruit tree sale. 


He will speak on proper care of citrus trees in this age of citrus greening and other challenges, focusing in particular on planting, watering, and soil and leaf nutrition. As mentioned in last month’s MRFC newsletter, he will also bring trees for sale.






Friday, March 3, 2023

MRFC March 13th 2023 Monthly Meeting - Palma Sola Botanical Park Tour and Member Discussion

 What: MRFC Monthly Meeting - Palma Sola Botanical Park Tour and Member Discussion

When: Monday March 13th, 2023 at 7pm


Where: Palma Sola Botanical Park, 9800 17th Ave NW, Bradenton, FL 34209

The next monthly meeting will be Monday, March 13th at 7pm.  Please note: this meeting will be held at Palma Sola Botanical Park, 9800 17th Ave. NW, Bradenton, Florida 34209  (yes, the same location as the January meeting). It will feature a tour of our rare fruit tree collection, and a members discussion of the maintenance of the collection.

Going to be near Melbourne, FL on April 22? You may wish to check out the Brevard Tropical Fruit Club 2023 Tree Sale.

We are now collecting membership dues for 2023.  Dues are $12 per year and can be paid for 1 or 2 years. Click here for more information about dues and to pay online.  You may also pay with cash or check (made payable to MRFC) at this or a future meeting.

Saturday, January 21, 2023

February Meeting - Chris Wenzel - All About Mangos

Join us Monday, February 13th, 2023 at 7pm

Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

Speaker: Chris Wenzel

Title: All About Mangos

From the Program Committee


Our February speaker will be Chris Wenzel, native Floridan and founder of Truly Tropical in 1999. On this 5-acre property in residential Delray Beach, she has over 200 fruit trees including over 90 varieties of mangos. Truly Tropical sells fruit and trees, mostly mangos but also avocados, carambola, sapodilla, jakfruit, sugar apple, custard apple, black sapote, jaboticaba, canistel, caimito, pitomba, and miracle fruit.


Chris will discuss how she made her dream of growing mangos a reality. This will include the history of the farm and her efforts to plant, graft and grow over 90 varieties of mangos. Chris will also talk about how new varieties of mangos are developed, and her own efforts to develop superior mango varieties. Mango varieties that originated at Truly Tropical include ‘Best’, ‘Big Jim’, Kaeli-K’, ‘Carpe Diem’ and ‘Marko’. 


Be sure to check out Chris’s YouTube channel, with many videos about all aspects of mangos and their horticulture. 


Sunday, January 1, 2023

January 2023 Meeting at Palma Sola Botanical Park - MRFC’s partners: the Master Gardeners, Transition Sarasota, and Palma Sola Botanical Park

What: MRFC Monthly Meeting - MRFC Partners

When: Monday January 9th, 2023 at 7pm

Where: Palma Sola Botanical Park, 9800 17th Ave NW, Bradenton, FL 34209


At our January monthly meeting at Palma Sola Botanical Park, we’ll
have a chance to learn more about three of the MRFC’s partners: the
Master Gardeners, Transition Sarasota, and Palma Sola Botanical Park
itself. Each of them is providing a representative to tell us about
their organization:

--- Extension Master Gardener Programs now exist in all 50 states and
the District of Columbia, several Canadian provinces, and South Korea.
We will learn more about these remarkable programs from MRFC member
and Florida Master Gardener John Dawson.

--- Transition Sarasota is a local food and community-building
non-profit that is very active in harvesting otherwise-wasted produce
for local food banks and pantries. In particular, its Suncoast Fruit
Rescue project organizes volunteers to harvest fruit from commercial
or home trees in Sarasota or Manatee Counties, with the owner, the
volunteer harvesters, and local food banks sharing the bounty.
Executive Director Joyce Norris will represent Transition Sarasota.

--- Palma Sola Botanical Park, a longtime friend of the MRFC and the
location of our rare fruit tree collection, will be represented by
Executive Director Beverly Burdette.

After the representatives give brief presentations, we’ll have a
question-and-answer session with the full panel. We hope to see you
there for this unusual opportunity to meet some of the MRFC’s
partners.