First sighting! Mango season 2013 has arrived! Support your local backyard grower.

Mango season 2013 has arrived, OK, maybe it is not as predictable as When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano, but many Pinecrest, Palmetto / Cutler Bay and other South Dade residents consider it has begin with the sighting of the first mango stand opening, operated our neighborhood youth.  They will again face the fierce competition in Palmetto Bay, which I have observed to be the epicenter of youth run quality mango stands! 


Try driving 152nd street, 82nd or 87th avenues most weekends in the next few weeks and it is usually hard not to find an open home mango seller.  The sales market is very competitive in the area and enterprising kids as well as some adults have their stands that have actually built seasonal consumer loyalty. 

Whether a single stand jumped the gun or I witnessed the true kick off of the 2013 mango season will be seen over the weekend.

Regardless, get ready for fresh mango, mango salsa, mango smoothie, mango salad, mango fruitcake, mango chutney mango jam! Support your local grower and South Dade agriculture!

I think we all should be permitted an agricultural property tax exemption on our homes! Support your home agriculturalist, buy local area mangos! 

RECIPES FOR MANGOS 

Food dot com has a listing of mango recipes including Mango Pies and Tarts, Mango Canning, Mango Desserts, Salads, Smoothies; well, you get the idea.  CLICK HERE to view the online article. 

TECHNICAL READING FOR MANGOS 

Have a tree not doing well, or just trying to improve the production?  I recommend the following online article (click the title to read) Mango Growing in the Florida Home Landscape published by the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida.

Update on the Swallows: Reality bites: 

And then, reality set in; I came across this KNBC -- NBC4 Los Angeles story while fact-checking the swallows to Capistrano story and found that all is not as it used to be:

As they do each year on March 19, hordes of people have flocked to San Juan Capistrano, necks craned hopefully to the sky.

They're eager to witness the annual return of the cliff swallows to the seaside city's historic mission after the birds' migration from South America.

But the swallows – the subject of a yearly celebration and a huge tourist attraction for the south Orange County city – haven't come around in recent years.

The mission is trying to change that, saying it's taken on a goal matching the title of a 1940 classic song associated with the city: "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano."

Read more by clicking the link above or CLICK HERE to read: Mission San Juan Capistrano Courts Cliff Swallows, Hopes for Return, The birds came to the mission for centuries, but they've only been seen rarely in recent years, By Melissa Pamer, Tuesday, Mar 19, 2013