Driving around South Florida this week made me think about how much urban center there is and how little food is being produced .
South Florida is fundamentally a rain forest climate . The conditions does not get too red-hot or too insensate . There is usually enough rainfall to keep everything greenish . Yet much of South Florida is buildings and street and parking lots and concrete and gamy - rises and more concrete . Whatever natural hobo camp used to be , there is mostly kick the bucket or in isolated sack . Every invasive species in the world thrives in South Florida . There is very little native ecosystem left to continue . Because so many species do well in South Florida ’s meek , tropical climate , utilitarian food industrial plant are easy to grow . Grass does not do particularly well there , but forests do . Species grown as house plants in cooler climate turn to gigantic size in South Florida . If you set your potted ivy free , it will produce immense liana and wax a live oak or palm tree or the side of whatever commodious building happens to be useable .
This is a great place to spring up tropic timber , rather than distinctive veg gardens . Those battle .
Since the area wants to be cover in wood , why not cover it in edible wood ?
We did this in my parent ’ small backyard in what I call the heavy south Florida food for thought woods project . Mango , chocolate pudding yield , starfruit , mulberry , bananas , plantains , curry tree , cassava starch , yams , fresh potato and a lot more thrive in this tiny backyard .
unluckily , the mindset in South Florida lean to be one of esthetics instead of intellectual nourishment production . Vast fortunes are made by landscape gardening company , endeavor to take upkeep of Saint Augustine sens and silver thenar and Croton tiglium alternatively , when intellectual nourishment forest could be feeding the entire city or at the very least providing them with saucy fruit year - round . There is a niggling space for stock in South Florida . Chickens could easily fit in backyards and cows and goats could graze in the many open lots and side usable rather like we saw in the Caribbean . Instead , mass keep expensive pets and expensive cars and expensive boats and expensive barbecue grill . This mean almost all of the nutrient in Fort Lauderdale in particular is coming from elsewhere . The city is a parasitic tick on the back of a large agricultural beast that stretch out around the humankind .
With its unique climate , however , Fort Lauderdale could be grow a Brobdingnagian amount of food with the amount of fertilizing and landscape gardening and irrigation that is used to keep up appearance . If it were apply to intellectual nourishment production , it would be astounding . This is a mood where you may grow coconuts . This is unique inside of the continental United States . Houses in South Florida cost a half $ 1 million or more . Why not grow some expensive fruit in the yard too ? Something to think about .
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