Inspection Daze
a farewell tour - 1993

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Manatee Farm is right in Tampa, but you could drive by it & not see it. It is . . . an oasis.

Rick harvesting basil on his farm in Tampa

Manatee Farms - tomatoes & basil

In the left foreground are Rick's manure stalls for storing & managing the manure he gets from the local zoo

Manatee Farms - Tomatoes & Basil & Florida's beautiful light

A nursery just south of Tampa. One of Rick's first inspections. My job security shrinks.

D&W Farms - l to r - David & Wesley - vegetables & citrus

Bellevue Gardens - l to r - Tommy Simmons & Lois McPherson - Peanuts & watermelons

Donald Applebawn - Phoenix Rising Farm, mixed/seasonal vegetables

Roslow Groves - Steve Roslow, citrus

Rick samples the goods

Roslow Groves were extensive, as Steve's primary source of fruit was reclaimed, abandoned groves scattered all over & around the Indian River. To really see the entire operation took a couple of days. As luck would have it we caught Steve in the middle of harvest.

Steve determines the sizes to be harvested that day

Pickers move into the trees while Steve lays out the large the harvest boxes

The unstickable beast is stuck in the muck

Rick lends a hand

Our last stop was Jerry Hartlein's farm. Jerry grew vegetables, & except for the hottest weeks of summer, he had something coming out of the ground that was for sale.

Hartlein Family Farms

Rick's last in-training inspection - he's a natural

leaf lettuces

Rick leafing through some collards

Jerry's got the irrigation dribbling. It's frosty out & the running water works against the dew wanting to freeze up come first light.

Standing in the Spinach . . . I leave my friends in Florida in good hands.

That winter I drove down to teach at an annual inspector training, making sure to to get to Steve Roslow's old family grove in Ft. Pierce, Fla, where I could help harvest the White Duncans - the very best grapefruit there is. Back     Back to Top     End