Photo and full article from Central Florida AgNews.
Jorge Salmeron, Plant City based Part-time Blueberry and Blackberry grower, Full-time teacher and member of the Wish Farms family is making a splash in the agriculture community. ‘He has devoted about three acres to a nursery that holds 100,000-plus in plant inventory to meet the needs of growers. The operation, called Blue Gold Growers, has been around since 2002 and Jorge has owned it for a year. He took over the farm from partners Wayne and Stanley Glover.’
Although he got into the blueberry business as a teenager in 1998, he was a former migrant in his youth. He now uses his job as a teacher for Durant High School as a path to help migrant students today.
“His crop is well established, but the nursery is what takes up most of his time. His goal is to produce enough plants to sell to other growers, not to grow berries commercially. Blackberries are notorious for being tender and hard to ship farther than the field to the kitchen so he is concentrating on a new variety, Prime-Ark Traveler, which shows promise as a shippable crop.”
To read the entire article on the Central Florida Ag News site, click HERE.
Try this at home!
ACKBERRY FLUMMERY WITH GIN
2 cups blackberries
Pinch of salt
2 cups water
31/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup fine sugar, or to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons gin
Heavy cream
Combine the blackberries, salt, and 1 1/3 cups water in a heavy pot. Simmer the berries, without stirring, 10 to 15 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the rest of the water, then slowly stir into the berries. Simmer, stirring, a couple of minutes or until the mixture has texture. Remove from the heat and add the sugar, lemon juice, and gin. Taste for sugar and add more if needed. Cool. Serve in glass bowls or wine goblets with drizzles of cream.