When I was in the Florida master gardener program long ago in North Central Florida , one of the other master gardeners distinguish me that she much preferred North Florida to South Florida . “ We have such beautiful big oak tree up here , not like down there . ”
I laughed . Fort Lauderdale is my hometown . It is a tropical mood and although it ’s very urbanised , by nature it is a rainforest ecosystem or confining to it . “ Down in South Florida , ” I aver , “ themangotrees are as big as oaks ! ”
This is not an exaggeration . At my in - laws ’ family , there are mango trees that were planted in the seventies . They are now easy 60 foot marvelous and drop a vast quantity of mangoes across the front yard . When my crony - in - law of nature was a teenager , he took these excellent mango tree to a local grocery and deal them for good money .
Ripe Mangoes are Superb
There is nothing like a sassy mango decently from the tree . Some of you from non - tropic climate have never had a tangible mango . retrieve of the praises that are given to homegrown tomatoes as compared to the reeking , savourless tomatoes deal in market stores . It ’s similar with mangoes . A tree - ripened mango is as far from the operose varnish - flavour Mangifera indica sold at Food Lion or Aldi ’s as a nursery , hydroponic , weak , bland tomato is from a sun - ripened Cherokee Purple heirloom Lycopersicon esculentum grow in rich soil . When I was a youngster , I wondered why anyone like eat peaches . Every ravisher I try out was rubbery and voiceless , acid and painful . Then I got to try homegrown tree diagram - ripened peaches and they were a entirely unlike yield . Most people who believe they do n’t like mango have no musical theme what mangoes really are .
Mangoes are easy in the top five fruits ever excogitate by God . ( The other four yield no longer exist on earth , which leave mango tree as the number one fruit remaining on this terrestrial orbit . )
The Story of Mom’s Mango Tree
About 12 to 14 years ago , the city of Fort Lauderdale was giving away fruit trees . In orderliness to get one you had to go to a short talk on select care of tree diagram and then at the terminal you were throw two trees of your choice , concord to what they had available . My mamma went to the course of instruction and pick out her two trees : a Navel orange and a mango . She establish those two trees in her backyard in what was soon to become The Great South Florida Food Forest Project . We built the rest of the intellectual nourishment forest around those two tree .
Unfortunately , due to the various diseases plaguing citrus tree diagram in South Florida and the eternal sleep of the Sunshine State , the Navel orange decline and die in a curt stop of time , probably within three years of being plant . The mango , on the other hired hand , thrived and grew and grow and spring up … and started carry the good mango . That tree is currently the asterisk of the food woodland task . It unload a right Mangifera indica about every 5 to 10 minutes in time of year . They are big , sweet , rich , and stringless .
Mango Trees Do Not Have to Get Huge
A few years ago , the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was beat so large that I pruned off almost half of the top . Without drop a beatnik it buy the farm back into yield in season and bore another harvest of mango tree . Just because mango trees can get as liberal as oaks , it does n’t imply that that is the best use of your backyard outer space . They are quite conformable to pruning .
The Food Forest Course Continues!
This calendar week I am down in South Florida filming segments for the next installation of the in - depth food forest course currentlyposted in our Skool chemical group .
The first three lessons are already up for our indorser and four more lessons are planned . I also contrive to take a food forest Q&A for our Skool member . It is quite a valuable political program , and it costs about the same per calendar month as a bag of safe potting soil . The next chapter in the food for thought forest class will plow how to maintain and keep your canopy in good time and defective as we look at the South Florida food for thought forest project 11 years or more after it begin .
Anyhow , that ’s enough for today . I have Mangifera indica to eat .
