GrowFest! Returns to Fruit and Spice Park Oct. 15-16

October 10, 2022
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Heirloom tomato seedlings for sale at GrowFest!
Heirloom tomato seedlings for sale at GrowFest!

Get ready to start your gardens! After a two-year hiatus, GrowFest! is back at Redland Fruit and Spice Park Oct. 15-16. This festival, which kicks off the South Florida growing season and the upcoming Miami-Dade Farmers Month in November, features lots of seedlings and fruit trees to buy, two local culinary cook-offs, workshops and demonstrations, food and activities for the whole family.

“GrowFest! is about connecting the dots between the farm or garden and the dinner table,” says Bee Heaven Farm’s Margie Pikarsky. “It’s about providing the knowledge and materials to grow, forage, buy, prepare, and eat good, local, seasonal food.”

This year’s theme is The Hidden Life of Soil, focusing on fungi and the soil microbiome, mycelium networks, healing, and regeneration. The beneficiary is Miami Seed Share for their work establishing Miami's first Public Seed Library promoting native and heirloom plantings and providing growing resources for teachers and residents.

Don’s miss the Local Chef Cookoff Challenge, for amateurs on Saturday and pros on Sunday, a Chopped-style competition in which contestants have one hour to prepare a dish using produce found in a mystery box of locally grown ingredients.

And this is the place to buy local seedlings, including heirloom tomatoes, peppers, herbs and other vegetables, along with fruit trees. Get the best advice for successful growing, too.

Buy tickets here: https://beeheavenfarm.ticketspice.com/redland-growfest-2022

Tropical fruit display at Fruit and Spice Park
Cinnamon tree for sale at GrowFest!
Thi Squire of Grow2Heal Garden at the Local Chef Cookoff Challenge
Grilled squash at GrowFest!
Photo 1: Tropical fruit display at Fruit and Spice Park
Photo 2: Cinnamon tree for sale at GrowFest!
Photo 3: Thi Squire of Grow2Heal Garden at the Local Chef Cookoff Challenge
Photo 4: Grilled squash at GrowFest!

2022 GrowFest! Festival schedule

Saturday and Sunday, October 15 & 16, 9:30am-4:30pm Fruit & Spice Park, 24801 SW 187th Ave.

Workshops, Presentations, Demos
Soil Health: enhancing the Soil Microbiome Saturday 10 am) Easy Cooking with Seasonal Veggies (Saturday 11:30 am) Rain Barrel Workshop (Saturday 2:30-4:00 pm)-separate registration required Properly Pruning your Fruit Trees, and Demo (Sunday 2:30 pm)

Culinary Pavilion
Cooking Enthusiasts’ Local Cookoff Challenge (Saturday 12:45 pm) Chefs’ Local Cookoff Challenge (Sunday 12:45 pm)
All day Saturday and Sunday

Meet Your Farmers Showcase & Photo booth
Master Gardeners Plant Clinic
South Florida Woodturners Guild

Kid’s Activities
Sack Races Coloring Books Corn Hole Face Painting Sidewalk Chalk Drawing

Music & Tales
Local singers/songwriters and storytellers Grant Livingston, emcee Cliff and Friends Eric King

Daily Giveaways and Door Prizes
11:15 am, 2:15 pm, and 4:15 pm Saturday and Sunday