By now, we’re more than familiar with big-dollar investments in infrastructure and the Riverwalk, plus high-profile games, conventions, entertainment extravaganzas and theme celebrations. It’s all part of what our favorite small big city is becoming.
But we’re also a community of neighborhoods and volunteers, without which our progress would be a municipal veneer. And what better way to display community roots than by doing it literally? To that end, a couple of months ago some volunteers decided that in a state and region known for fruit, too little of it was readily apparent anymore.
So, the Keep Tampa Beautiful volunteers, with the blessing of City Council and help from key donors such as Busch Gardens and Home Depot, have been breaking ground on community orchards. We’re talking lemons, oranges, loquats, kumquats and chickasaw plums in city parks.
The orchards are starting modestly: initially five trees each at Al Lopez and Gadsden parks and six at Rowlett. Then five will go at Riverside Park downtown, two at Beneficial Drive and three at Doyle Carlton Drive.
Each tree will have a sign with appropriate information, including flowering and harvest times. And, yes, the latter means they’ll be free for the picking.