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Simply an hour south of Miami, Nora Walsh finds a candyland of tropical fruits ripe for selecting.
Veinte Cohol bananas are a small, fast-growing selection with a creamy texture and citrusy tang. They’re not often discovered outdoors of the Philippines. However on the Fruit & Spice Park, a botanical backyard in Homestead, Florida, I got here throughout a small grove of them, able to be picked.
“We’ve 40 banana varieties,” stated Philip Romero, a information on the park. “These are extra flavorful than your typical store-bought Cavendish banana. Everybody loves how petite they’re.”
The Fruit & Spice Park was began in 1944 by Mary Heinlein, a gardener who needed to indicate that the clay-rich soil and local weather on this a part of South Florida — a area generally known as the Redlands — may develop tropical fruits from around the globe.
At present the backyard, which is run by the Miami-Dade County parks division, grows greater than 500 sorts of fruits, greens, spices, herbs, and nuts. And maybe simply as vital, Homestead has seeded a neighborhood of farmers, grocers, restaurateurs, and even winemakers. Situated about an hour’s drive from downtown Miami, the world is a juicy bazaar for uncommon produce.
Michael Dwyer/Alamy
I started my fruit loop on a sunny Saturday final spring, zipping across the 37-acre park in an electrical golf cart. Vegetation are organized by area; Romero and I began within the Americas, pulling as much as an eight-foot-tall Brazilian grape tree, identified for the gumball-size purple berries that develop instantly on its trunk. Romero plucked one for me to strive: it tasted like a grape, however with the tartness of an apple and the spiciness of cinnamon.
As we wove via the park, Romero continued to level out a staggering number of tropical-fruit crops: breadfruit, carambola, dragonfruit, guava, hog plum, loquat, lychee, monstera, mulberry, papaya, ardour fruit, star apple, tamarind. When the 45-minute tour got here to a detailed, Romero needed me to pattern another factor. First, he gave me a wedge of gamboge, a yellow fruit from Southeast Asia that made my lips pucker. Subsequent, I tasted a couple of crimson berries native to West Africa, then bit into the gamboge once more. This time the gamboge tasted candy. “That’s why the berries are known as Miracle Fruit,” Romero stated with a smile.
With the sweetness nonetheless lingering on my tongue, I drove south towards the Everglades, watching the flat panorama shift from small, family-owned farms to new city homes and gated subdivisions. The agricultural estates that stay — locations like Berry Farm and Paradise Farms — provide guided excursions and promote produce.
After about quarter-hour of driving, I arrived at Robert Is Right here, a fruit stand began by Robert Moehling in 1959 — when he was all of six years previous. Once I visited, Moehling was certainly there, working the money register as dozens of consumers picked via heaps of mangoes, eggfruit, papayas, and fervour fruit. There have been additionally cabinets of the farm’s house-made sauces, together with wild pineapple salsa, guava jam, and peach butter.
I chatted with Robert’s son, Brandon, whereas I waited in line for a smoothie made with guanabana, a prickly inexperienced fruit. It tasted like a cross between a banana and pineapple. “We promote about 2,000 milkshakes a day on the weekend,” Brandon advised me earlier than giving me a slice of mamey sapote, a football-shaped fruit from Central America. It had a milky texture that jogged my memory of cheesecake, and it tasted like pumpkin pie, with a touch of strawberry and cinnamon. “I feel I discovered my favourite new fruit,” I stated.
From left: Emergent Media/Courtesy of Go to Florida; courtesy of the Higher Miami Conference and Guests Bureau
My remaining cease for the day was Schnebly Redland’s Vineyard, which makes wine from tropical fruits like guava, ardour fruit, and pineapple. Set on 30 acres, the property has an eclectic mixture of tiki huts, limestone waterfalls, koi ponds, and, at its middle, a plantation-style mansion with a big tasting room.
There I met the proprietor, Peter Schnebly, at a round oak bar. “One yr, I had 40,000 kilos of avocados I couldn’t ship to a buyer as a result of they had been barely ripe, so I attempted making wine with them,” Schnebly stated as he poured me a glass instantly from a metal tank. “It’s our second-best-selling wine right this moment. The wine trade didn’t take us critically at first, however now we have now winemakers flying in from France who ship bottles house.”
We made our method to the hangar-size brewery, the place Schnebly offered me with samples of a tough guava cider, a coconut blonde ale, and a spicy mango and habanero wheat beer. I used to be pleasantly stunned. I left the tasting room with a six-pack of guava cider, three bottles of lychee wine, and a newfound appreciation for Homestead’s abundance of unique fruits — and the individuals who develop them.
Take Your Decide
The sunny climate and fertile soil of Homestead, Florida, make for a bounty of fruity sights. Listed below are some highlights.
Fruit & Spice Park
A botanical backyard that grows greater than 500 sorts of vegatables and fruits.
Paradise Farms
A 17-acre natural farm that hosts excursions and dinners.
Patch of Heaven Sanctuary
An ecological reserve that pairs meditative walks with fruit tastings.
Robert Is Right here
A family-owned fruit and smoothie stand in operation since 1959.
Schnebly Redland’s Vineyard
A vineyard and brewery that ferments tropical fruits.
A model of this story first appeared within the December 2024 concern of Journey + Leisure beneath the headline “The Candy Spot.”
