Tropical Fruit Club Newsletter

August 2007

Officers:

President:  Ervin Jannsen,  Vice President: Abe White,  Treasurer: Lincoln Lai  Secretaries: Joann Maynard,  Pete von Lersner

Heidi Flinchbaugh, Glenda Haskell  Newsletter & Mailing: Pam Flesher   Refreshments: Yolanda Curtis 

Next meeting:   Sunday, August 19.  This meeting will be like our December Holiday meeting but with 2 speakers. We will have guests from other fruit clubs joining us. We expect a total of about 75-100 people (us included).

All members are asked to bring in a covered dish with your own utensils for serving. There will be 3 x 5 cards and a marker on the table so you can label your dish. Try using tropical fruits in your recipe. Drinks and meat will be provided by the club. 

PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY AT  12:30 pm so we can get the food on the table and be set up and ready to go when our guests arrive

at 1:00 pm. We will start eating after we have welcomed and introduced our guests. We will not conduct any business at this meeting. 

We need to keep on a schedule since we will be eating and having 2 speakers and must be out of the building by 5:00 pm.

Our speakers will be Bill Heittig and Eric and Heather Teitig. Bill has been teaching cooking classes in Central Florida since 1989. He has authored several books on the cooking arts. He has been featured on HGTV and is a world-class pickle maker. For our lecture, he will demonstrate how to use tropical fruits and spices to make simple, luscious pickles. He will be demonstrating making the pickles as well as having samples for all to taste. Eric and Heather are from Pine Island Nursery in Miami. They will present a power point program on cold protection for tropical fruits. Pine Island Nursery was founded in 1972 by owner and President Colleen H. Boggs.

The 50-acre family owned and operated facility is located twenty-five miles southwest of downtown Miami in an upland pine habitat, for which the nursery was named. The business began as a wholesale supplier of rare palms, fine indoor foliage, and citrus trees, but today’s product line is very different than that of three decades ago.

The nursery now specializes solely in tropical fruit trees and primarily caters to commercial fruit growers in Florida. However, certifications are held for Texas, Arizona, California, and Europe, and the nursery remains an active exporter to commercial fruit growers and nurseries around the globe.

If you would like to order fruit trees from Pine Island Nursery, Eric and Heather will bring them up with them to the meeting.

Call Shirley Silvasy at 407-482-0042 to give her your order. Pine Island Nursery has asked that we place our orders with Shirley so she can turn in one order. You can go on line to check out their inventory at www.tropicafruitlnursery.com   Please do not call the nursery to place your order.

We will be having a raffle and this will be a great opportunity for extra fund raising for the club. We need lots of items. 

Plants, fruits, gardening and tropical fruit books and magazines, tropical cookbooks, garden tools, etc.  If you like to cook you could bring something from your kitchen such as Banana Bread, Mango Bread, preserves, jams, jellies, or candies. 

Make sure the plants you bring are clean, with no pests or weeds, and have a label identifying the plant. Also provide a cover around the bottom of your plants such as a paper bag, plastic bag, box, etc. This will keep the new carpeting in our meeting room clean and will make it easier for transporting the plants home. Bring in anything that you think would be nice for the raffle. 

Meeting Minutes July 16, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm. The following guests were recognized: Jackie Mannna, Linh Phan and Hayri Lawrence. Lincoln read the treasurer’s report.

Old Business: Shirley Silvasy spoke about the next meeting on August 19. The speakers will be Bill Heittig and Eric and Heather Teitig from Pine Island Nursery in Miami.

August 4^th there will be a field trip to Our Kids Nursery in Winter Garden. Larry Shatzer will demonstrate air layering and provide a free ginger plant for all who participate

Jene’s Tropicals in St. Petersburg is conducting a fruit tasting from 10 am – 4 pm on July 21 & 22.

Boi Nguyen announced that the web site is on-line and about 90 % complete. http://tropicalfruitclub.org   She requests that members visit the site and provide suggestions for improvement. 

Roberta Witherspoon still has pole–mounted fruit pickers available. Anyone interested should contact her at 407-363-9921.Approximate price is $45.

Meeting minutes continued:

Pam Flesher announced that there is a mango display in the back of the room from her recent visit to the Fairchild Gardens International Mango Festival in Miami.

New Business: Dick Smith is considering an open house in October (probably a Saturday). He is located in Lockhart.

Virgil Morar said he will make a free pen for every gnawed off pinecone collected.

Meeting speaker, Larry Shatzer from Our Kids Nursery talked about the history of the club and about the 16 varieties of tropical fruit from the list he distributed.

Submitted by Pete von Lersner, Secretary

Mark Your Calendar 

August 19  Tropical Fruit Club meeting and party.  Any questions contact Shirley Silvasy at silvasy@aol.com  or 407-482-0042.

 

August 20   No TFC meeting

September 22  Orchid Auction, Harry P. Leu Gardens in the Magnolia Room. Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. or until gone. Hundreds of beautiful Orchids and Orchid related items up for bid. Add to your collection or start a new one. Hourly raffles.

Free admission to the auction and free refreshments. Presented by Central Florida Orchid Society     www.cflorchidsociety.org

September 30  Sarasota Fruit & Nut Society Annual Rare Fruit Tree Sale. Huge selection, expert advice. Free admission and parking.

No credit cards. Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Contact information: (941) 966-4377 or www.sfns.net

October 20  Garden Tour and Party at the home of Dick and Ronita Smith, 4209 Lake Lockhart Dr., Orlando, FL 32810

10:00 am to 3:00 pm   Adults only please. Food will be provided but if you would like to bring a tropical dessert that would be fine.

Iced tea and coffee will also be provided but if you want something else to drink then bring with you. Maps with directions will be available at the meeting. They need to know how many members will be attending so please RSVP Dick at 407-298-2620.

Volunteers Needed

Soon it will be time to elect new officers. Please think about what position you would like: President, Vice President, Secretary,

and Treasurer.  A volunteer is needed to help print and mail the newsletter. Pam will continue to do the newsletter but needs someone to get it printed and mailed. A volunteer to keep the club roster up to date is also needed.

Welcome New Librarian

The library is back. Shirley Silvasy has volunteered to be the club librarian. Thank you, Shirley!

July Tasting Table Donations Thank you to:

Frances White: Borracho Bananas                                                               Bob Burns: Dried Mango 

Virgil Morar: Grapes & Blueberries                                                            Adrian & Cecilia Novenario: Cantaloupe

Heidi Flinchbaugh: Windmill Cookies                                                        Akiko Rulien: Fruit Salad, Banana, Blueberry, Apple 

Yolanda Curtis: Black Beans                                                                       Carmen Smith: Doritos

Wolf von Lersner: Kent Mango                                                                   TFC: Haden, Keitt, Adolfo Mangoes, Red Papaya

July Raffle Table Donations Thank you to:

Chiu-Hsia Huang & Rong-Tsai Wu:  Okra                                                 Abe White: Orinoco Banana                                                                     

Adrian & Cecilia Novenario: Passion Plant                                                Lincoln & Daphne Lai: Roselle & Papaya

Barry & Pari Hakimian: Figs                                                                      George Scura: Jewel of Opar Plants

Jim Ford: Pineapples, Monstera, Rootbeer Plant                                        Roberta Witherspoon: Papaya  

Gilberto Carrasquillo: Roasted Pork                                                           TFC: Mangoes

August 4  Field Trip to Our Kids Tropicals in Winter Garden                                                                Photos by Hayri Lawrence

About 15 members from the club went to the nursery owned by Larry and Sherry Shatzer. Larry showed the members around the nursery pointing out the different fruit trees growing on the property. He demonstrated how to air layer on a Macadamia nut tree. He also showed the members how to girdle a tree to get it to flower and fruit. Larry said it is not hard. Get a woman’s girdle, the bigger the better, and toss it up into the tree, as high as you can. This will cause the tree embarrassment making it flower and fruit quicker. Hmmm. Never tried that one.

      Tropical Fruit Club

     P. O.  Box 37

     Windermere, FL 34786