Florida strawberry season bursts with sweetnessAgriculture

Florida strawberry season bursts with sweetness

Florida’s late fall and winter don’t just bring cooler, less humid weather. The seasons bring the sweet burst of locally grown strawberries. Juicy, vibrant and fresh from the fields, these Sunshine State gems are waiting for you at your favorite market. Farmers in Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk counties are growing and harvesting Florida strawberries on about 16,000 acres from December until the end of March – about a $500 million a year Read More

Left to right: Château Le Coeur owner John Choquer with UF/IFAS associate professor Ali Sarkhosh. Photo: UF/IFAS, Eva SaillyUF/IFAS

Breakthrough with first disease-resistant wine grapes shows hope for a Florida wine renaissance

By Meredith Bauer-Mitchell and Eva Sailly In a milestone for Florida agriculture, researchers have grown and harvested wine grapes that are resistant to the main bacterial disease that has long prevented the state from establishing a large-scale wine industry. Researchers successfully grew five grape varieties in Citra, Florida, that are resistant to Read More