Okay, no new excuses for this, merely juggling multiple things and not getting to the blog. I don’t recall now if I previously mentioned the 100-year-old mango tree I was trying to help with. I talked to multiple people, but don’t think I wrote about it here. In my role as senior writer for the weekly community paper, I get involved in all sorts of unexpected situations. I was contacted by a casual acquaintance about the 100-year-old mango tree on their historic property. This tree was special because it was planted by Isabelle Krome, one of the legacy families of the area and famous for many accomplishments in horticulture. Although her husband (who passed away at only 52) was more widely known for his work on the Florida East Coast Railroad and the Overseas railroad that crossed the Keys to Key West, his reference as the “Father of South Dade Agriculture” came from their extensive work as horticulturists. Yes, even though she lived to age 92 and continued with her efforts, that was in the day where the man was initially considered the more to be acknowledged. She won many accolades later and their legacy was solidified when they and another gentleman donated land that became what is the University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC)

Anyway, the woman and her daughter who own the property had a terrible termite infestation – common in this area – and the house had to be tented to ensure eradication. The daughter was worried about the tree and the exterminator basically ignored her. A year later when a different guy came to do the one-year follow-up, she had noticed damage to the tree and he confirmed their fears. In order to kill the termites, the poison used was so strong, it would save the tree, but the fruit would be poisoned. They made the painful decision to cut the tree instead and the woman wanted to find someone to take cuttings from the tree and “save it’s genes”. I was able to make that happen. Here’s the paragraph from the article I wrote:

“This time it was Louise E. King, Horticulturist, Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Department, Fruit and Spice Park, who quickly responded. She contacted the Van Kessels and the first week of September, they arrived to bring the good news. In a follow-up email, Ms. King described the process. “The ten pieces of budwood that we harvested from Barbara’s and Tina’s tree were taken back to the nursery at the Fruit & Spice Park where they were grafted onto mango rootstock. The rootstock and budwood were all in good shape so I have high hopes for the grafts taking hold. We will monitor the grafts closely for the next two-three weeks looking for any signs of sprouting in the new buds. Once the buds start  to grow we will keep the trees in the nursery until the Spring so they can grow to reach a size where they can be planted out in the park. We hope to plant one of the trees here at the park to preserve a piece of Homestead history, and have another to give back to Barbara and Tina to plant at another location on the property.”

Not a mega-happy ending, but a good one.