North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark & Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>]

Steve,

Your inquiry reminds me of one of Donna's posts to a similar question many
years ago, found in the archives.  Someone was considering a move to Florida
and had asked about various fruits that might grow there.  Donna's responses
are in quotes.  I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it.  It's a classic:

but what of strawberries- "sure, with plenty of Vapam"
raspberries- "doubtful"
blackberries- "I've seen it done"
goose berries, currants, apples- "NO"
pears- "mostly really low life ones"
cherries- "hopeless"
plums- "just barely, not that my parents ever actually got to eat one from
the tree I bought for them"
grapes- "muscadines"
normal garden crops, corn -"my brother seems to be able to grow them all, on
an actual small mountain of horse manure. Few other gardeners do so well
there"
apricots- "don't make me laugh, we can't even grow them in the Deep South of
Tennessee"
peaches- "Supposedly there are some low chill ones"
etc.- "okra and sweet potatoes, and the local winter squashes do well.
You'll never successfully grow summer squash again."

"Fluffy,
     I lived in the hole called Florida for 12 years of my life.  I
don't know what terrible thing I did in some former life to deserve that,
but I hope you haven't done anything equally bad.  You can get out of the
worst of the snow without giving up THAT much quality of life.  You see, in
Florida, if you live in an air-conditioned house, drive an air-conditioned
car, work in an air-conditioned office, shop in air-conditioned stores, have
a
pool full of chemicalized water, a yard full of imported plants, a monthly
spray program for lawn and house, and a twice weekly visit down your road
from the county mosquito fogger truck, you can live almost as well in
Florida as people do in the rest of the country.
     I have already talked one Nafexer out of moving to Florida, rather,
after I discouraged him he went down for a visit and decided suburban
Floridians weren't ready for him and his huge compost piles.  I remember a
good 10 years ago there was a Nafexer who grew all kinds of figs in some
southern state, and he made the mistake of moving to Florida.  Nematodes
killed all his figs. The soil there is wretched, it makes our terrible
Tennessee clay seem wonderful!  The bugs, the nematodes, the constant heat
and humidity, it all makes gardening so unpleasant and frustrating.  Now,
spending January through March in Florida is a different matter entirely.  A
nice motor home or some other arrangement would do.  You get the best of
both climates, and you get to keep all your friends.  Donna"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve" <sdw12986@aol.com>
To: "NAFEx" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 9:52 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] What if?


>
> I'm just thinking.... What if, someday, I decided to move. What if I
> moved from here, in zone 3B, to northern Florida? Just for the sake of
> argument, let's say the Gainesville area in zone 8B.
>
> What would I be trying to grow there? Here,  I have a good choice of
> apples, a few of the most hardy pears and some hardy plums.  I also try
> to grow apricots and I have tried to grow tart cherries, but there's not
> much else to choose from in the way of tree fruits.
>
> So what about Gainesville? Too far north for  the really edible citrus
> fruits. Right? Maybe too far south for most apples. I would think any
> apples would have to be low chill varieties with pretty low quality?
> Maybe there are some warm growing plums that would be good. Is it still
> in the right range for peaches? How bad would the disease pressure be
> with such warm humid summers?
>
> What other fruits might do well there?  (This is just a little fantasy
> I'm having as I watch the snow melt around here.)
>
> Steve in the Adirondacks of northern NY
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>
> Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
> This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web
sites.
> Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have
permission!
>
> **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
> Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
> No exceptions.
> ----
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be
used to change other email options):
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
>
> File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
> TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
> Please do not send binary files.
> Use plain text ONLY in emails!
>
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/
>
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.8/1362 - Release Date: 4/6/08
11:12 AM
>
>