Local Harvest!
I’ve never gotten completely comfortable with South Florida’s upside-down growing season. It just seems counter-intuitive to stock up for the summer months and have local stuff in the market in the winter. But that’s what we do. We go strawberry picking on the first week in February. And what a wonderful harvest it was. This morning we are eating our “jam toast” and drinking smoothies, all with the berries we picked a few days ago. Knaus Berry Farm is in the only part of Miami-Dade I really enjoy. The Redlands is a paradox- a gorgeous, flat and fertile swath of agricultural land above Homestead, made possible only by diverting water from the Everglades in a network of canals that effectively ruins the natural flow of water from Lake Okeechobee. We have seen some moves towards restoring the natural environs of this area, but honestly, it wouldn’t be America without big business entering the picture . . . That said, I love visiting the Redlands and we patronize a co-op of organic producers, along with the Berry Farm. Occasionally when I’m going north and need to extend the drive a bit for a sleeping baby, I find reason to get off the main roads and drive through the green. Green in winter, that is.
