Category: Uncategorized
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Perennial Paradise
It took a couple years, but I’m now realizing the perennial food supply I dreamt of when I started the farm. I’m not against annual crops (plants that have to be replanted each season). I plant several each season, but the increasingly unpredictable weather suggests to me that the only thing predictable is that the…
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The Insulin Plant
I’m constantly looking to expand my apothecary, so last Winter when I saw a local Facebook Marketplace seller with insulin plants available for pickup, I had to jump on it. The insulin plant (Costus igneus) hadn’t been on my wishlist, but once I read about its traditional use as a tea for improving blood sugar…
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Eye of the Storm
[written on 10/28/25] While tending the nursery on my balcony, my cup of Scotch Bonnet pepper seedlings caught my eye. Nearly 2yrs ago, a family friend gifted me a handful of fresh Scotch Bonnet peppers grown in her mother’s front garden in Jamaica. She remembered I’d recently started a farm & she encouraged me to…
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A Tree Cloning Factory
I’ve written before about my deep appreciation for air layering as a means of propagating/cloning trees. Each season I’m given additional opportunities to hone this useful skill & experiment as I gain more confidence in my ability. This Summer’s air layering success was my Ruby Supreme guava. I took a single, gifted tree and turned…
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Becoming a Locavore: It Only Makes Sense/Cents
I’ve railed numerous times against the common practice of exclusively growing avocados & mangoes in south Florida. I very much enjoy both of those fruits, but this is a grossly myopic view of the subtropical paradise we get to call ‘home.’ If culinary curiosity doesn’t persuade you to explore the foods that grow near you,…
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Fall Head Start
Despite the lingering heat, my mind is set on the Fall growing season. I’m making the most of my limited indoor growing space in order to get a head start on my Fall crops. Each week more little plants demonstrate their readiness to move up in pot size. For now, I’ll keep squeezing them into…
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Before You Give Up On Star Fruit…
If you’ve ever eaten star fruit, you might have been unimpressed. Your experience can be dependent on the star fruit variety & state of ripeness. Star fruit also has a unique flavor that can’t be likened to any other fruit. Each Summer, star fruit trees all over South Florida reliably pump out pounds & pounds…
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End of Season Harvest
Over the last 2 years I’ve acquired several varieties of mulberry trees. Mulberries were once a southern (United States) staple crop. Everyone reportedly had one in their yard. They are known to yield fruit abundantly & stain your fingers with their sticky juice. In addition to generously bearing fruit, the mulberry tree’s leaves make a…
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Goodbye Moon
Last week during my pre-dawn commute to the farm, it occurred to me that I should savor this moment. It would be natural to question what there is to savor about waking up at 3 a.m. to labor in— by most accounts— miserable conditions. Donning a headlamp to begin tending the land before the sun’s…
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Slow Down!
Seasonal transition is the time I start seedlings indoors so that once the weather is conducive, they can go out into the wild world of the farm with a strong head start. Having the seedlings inside my home allows me to tend to them closely. For weeks I reflexively compare each day to the last;…
Mahaba Farms 