Redland GrowFest! returns for the sixth year to the Fruit & Spice Park on the weekend of October 13-14, 2018 from 9:30am to 4:30pm, celebrating all local things edible, green, and growing.
Local growers offer a bonanza of seedlings, starter plants and native and tropical fruit trees for home or school gardens and food forest projects. Food and artisan vendors feature products made with Redland-Raised ingredients, and artists display artwork made with local materials or depicting local topics.
Cultivate! is this year’s festival theme. Growers don’t just cultivate plants — they cultivate ideas, minds, markets, food security, creativity, pollinators, health, terroir… in short, they Cultivate!
This year’s event beneficiary, The Education Fund’s Food Forests for Schools program, will be on hand to share information about their great programs that cultivate mind, gardens and healthy food in local schools.
Organic grower and festival organizer Margie Pikarsky, owner of Bee Heaven Farm, believes it’s important for folks in the South Florida area to be aware of our diverse local agricultural resources and learn how to take advantage of the unique possibilities our tropical climate offers.
The Chefs’ Local Cookoff Challenge on Sunday, with a similar Amateur Local Cookoff Challenge on Saturday, asks renowned local chefs, students, aspiring chefs and home cooks to get creative with a Mystery Box full of Redland-Raised seasonal crops. Awesome and healthy deliciousness results from their inspired dishes!
Lectures and demos throughout the weekend by UF/IFAS/Miami-Dade County Extension agents, 4-H, Master Gardeners, and other local experts inform growers at all levels — from balcony to backyard growers, urban, small and large farmers.
A full 2-day pass is $15 in advance, or $18 at the gate. Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets (shortlink: https://bit.ly/2PsfITu ).
Free for children under 10 years of age. Military
families can get free tickets at www.VetTix.org