April Meeting - Jonathan Crane - Climate change: Opportunities and risks for tropical fruit production in Florida

Meeting Date/Time: Monday, April 14th, 2025 at 7pm.  

Location: Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

from the Program Committee

Dr. Jonathan Crane is a Professor at the University of Florida, Associate Director of the Tropical Reseach and Education Center, and Tropical Fruit Crop Specialist for IFAS Extension. The recipient of numerous awards for professional achievements and grants for his research and extension work, he is a well-known and highly respected expert in tropical fruit horticulture. His areas of specialization include tropical and subtropical fruit production systems, mitigation of environmental plant stress, plant physiology, enhanced flowering and fruit set/pollination, and sustainable production practices.

Several of our local tropical fruit experts are graduates of Dr. Crane’s annual summer course on Tropical Fruit Production and Research, and over the years he has given numberous informative presentations in our area, including his July, 2023 presentation to the MRFC on Pollination. At our April meeting, his topic will be Climate change: Opportunities and risks for tropical fruit production in Florida.

Rare Fruit Tree Sale Saturday March 22nd, 2025

  2025 Rare Fruit Tree Sale!

Join us for the area's largest rare fruit tree sale 

Saturday, March 22nd, 2025

9am-2pm

🥭🥑🥥

Premier Sports Campus 

5895 Post Blvd, Lakewood Ranch Florida 34211

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Bring a Wagon and Cash

No ATM on site

MRFC Fruit Tree Sale Flyers to Print and Share

These are great to print and post in areas where fruit/gardening enthusiast may frequent like international grocers, restaurants, and more. 

MRFC Tree Sale Color Flyer

MRFC Tree Sale 1/2 sheet color flyers

MRFC Tree Sale B/W Flyer

MRFC Tree Sale B/W 1/2 sheet flyers

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Sign up for MRFC Rare Fruit Tree Sale Email Reminders

March Meeting - Jeff Wasielewski - Hurricane Preparation and Recovery

Speaker/Topic: Jeff Wasielewski - Hurricane Preparation and Recovery

Meeting Date/Time: Monday, March 10, 2025 at 7pm.  

Location: Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

Jeff Wasielewski, a Commercial Tropical Fruit Extension Agent for Miami-Dade County, is based in Homestead, FL. Drawing from more than 25 years of horticultural experience, he provides environmentally sound practical information in classes, workshops, publications, blogs, and social media.

A quick search online will produce many of Jeff’s articles on growing tropical fruit species. Among his many education outreach activities, Jeff hosts Tropical Fruit Tuesdays, an online workshop series whose goal is to teach homeowners and commercial growers the key points of selecting, planting, growing and maintaining tropical fruit trees in subtropical and tropical counties. Each episode focuses on a specific tree or a growing or maintenance technique. You can sign up online to participate in any of the free workshops, and all previous workshops are available for viewing on the UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension YouTube site.

Because of the great distance from Homestead, Jeff’s talk and Q&A will be by Zoom, but fear not, he is a very experienced online presenter. The topic will be Hurricane Preparation and Recovery. Jeff will show us techniques that can make an enormous difference in the survival and recovery of our fruit trees when hurricanes strike.

February 2025 Meeting - Rod Greder - Soil

Speaker/Topic: Rod Greder - Soil

Meeting Date/Time: Monday, February 10, 2025 at 7pm.  

Location: Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

From the Program Committee 

Our February speaker will be Rod Greder, Ph.D., who recently retired as UF/IFAS Extension Agent at Sarasota County, specializing in Sustainable Agriculture. Raised on a 500-acre beef, corn and hay farm in Iowa, and he received his PhD in Plant Genetics from the University of Illinois. His work has varied from managing his 83-acre farm to conducting seed research. His current work focuses on designing products that make managing pasture-based livestock ranches more profitable, sustainable, and accessible. 

After living in Minnesota for 30 years, Dr Greder left his position at the University of Minnesota Extension program to work at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Extension in Sarasota. In his words: "Turning romance into reality is my mantra. I've worked with small farmers since 2015. I walked the talk for 14 years raising grass-fed beef and pastured poultry and produced 1 acre of fruits and vegetables on an 83-acre farm. We offer a Small Farm School, Beginning Farmer Incubator and an Apprenticeship program in Sarasota County. The classes give would-be farmers a chance to practice in the field, get advice on building a business plan, and have someone connect them with buyers and customers along the way.”

Dr. Greder will speak on Soil.