It’s no surprise that my contrarian nature also applies to my style of farming😝

Though it didn’t start out this way, part of Mahaba Farms’s mission has become to reintroduce diversity to my little patch of Earth.

When I started the farm mid-2023, I quickly became bored by the local nursery offerings- each with the same few varieties of mangoes & avocados & little else. That sent me on a journey to South Florida’s past & an exploration of ecology abroad in growing conditions similar to South Florida.

What people routinely see growing abundantly in South Florida are mangoes & avocados, so many have come to believe that’s all that CAN grow here. Nothing could be further from the truth!

These same people could be standing in front of one of my many healthy, fruitful fig trees & exclaim (as I’ve heard before), “You can’t grow figs here!”

But I AM growing figs!

I first tasted a fresh-from-the-tree fig in a small town on the coast of northwestern France in late 2022. Since then, I knew I wanted to learn how to grow figs so I could enjoy them when not in France.

And not the notoriously poor tasting, but hardy, Brown Turkey fig that many Southerners are familiar with. Delicious fig varieties uncommonly seen in South Florida, but tolerant of our conditions.

Two years into my journey, I now have quite the fig tree collection; with no doubt many more to discover.

I’ve also unearthed a love & gift for fig cutting propagation which- despite my plant-packed living room😅- I have been multiplying every season.

With no signs of my fig propagation addiction ending😝, I’ll inevitably run out of space on the farm for fig trees. You all will be the first to know if I later opt to sell some of my collection.

‘Til then— bring on the figs🤲🏾! And all the other plants that want to grow here🙃!