Spend a Day in the Redland for Fresh Air, Local Produce, Mangos!
South Floridians eager to enjoy this weekend’s gorgeous end-of-spring weather and pick up local produce can head to the Redland.
Fruit and Spice Park is open for business as long as visitors wear masks, maintain social distance and follow other guidelines.
It’s well worth a visit now, says park manager Jim Stribling, because of the unique opportunity to see what the park looks like after being closed to visitors for the past several weeks. Many of the park’s trees, shrubs and herbs are laden with fruit and wildlife and birds are everywhere. The absence of guests over the past several weeks means plenty of opportunities for visitors to harvest what has fallen to the ground. In-season fruits include jaboticaba, sapodilla and mangos.
Visitors can check out the park’s citrus area that debuted after the Super Bowl, a collection of curated specimens in raised planter boxes.
Drive-Through Produce, Shakes, Smoothies
South Dade’s beloved fruit stand, Robert Is Here, has reopened with drive-through service. Robert Moehling is on hand to greet visitors in their cars at the entrance. Guests proceed to lanes where they can order fresh produce and their signature milkshakes. Nearby, the main entrance to Everglades National Park has reopened.
Drive-through farmstands make it easy and safe to buy local produce. Mango Men Homestead, the seasonal business of tropical fruit experts Richard Campbell and his sons, is open for business on the weekend, selling mixed boxes of that include Joellen, Duncan, Nectar of Neptune, Rapoza, Equinox, Okrong, Okrong SiTong, Ono, Kheio Savoy, Mallika, Glenn, Zebda, Thong Dam, Chok Anon and Fairchild mangos, plus local honey, dried mango and hot sauce.
Teena’s Pride, known for their heirloom tomatoes and greens, is also open for drive-through business. On the east side of town, the Redland Community Farm and Market lets guests order online first for pickup, or they can buy local produce with drive-through convenience.
Heritage Market is open again for business Saturday. Fine them at 29100 SW 177 Ave. (Krome Ave.) – they also carry Yaupon Brothers Tea, featured in our spring issue.
And if you’re hankering for LNB Grovestand’s Rainbow Smoothies or turmeric tonic, Walt and Adena have you covered. Every weekend, they’re blending up smoothies and serving them via drive-through from their kitchen near Tamiami Airport. You can also get Alissa and Jeremy Frice’s ice cream and Buster Brown’s CounterCulture kombucha.
