Rare Fruit Council-Palm Beach Chapter

06/11/2026

Hello Rare Fruit Council Members,

The next meeting of the RFC will resume on June 12th , 2026 @ 7:00 PM.

Our speaker for the evening is Joseph and Tawna Chammas their topic will be growing mushrooms at home and an overview of their Wellness Retreat Sanctuary in Loxahatchee Groves, Florida.

Speaking Topics
• Regenerative Agriculture
• Mushroom Cultivation & Commercial Production
• Agritourism & Farm-Based Hospitality
• Entrepreneurship & Business Development
• Organic Farming & Sustainable Food Systems
• Wellness, Healing & Personal Transformation
• Building Purpose-Driven Businesses

Mounts Auditorium 531 N Military Trail, West Palm Beach FL 33415

05/08/2026

Our next meeting will be Friday May 8th, 2026 at Mounts Botanical Gardens Auditorium at 7:00 pm and our guest speaker will be Alex Salazar and his topic will be Alex will talk about the current mango season . The impacts of the freeze and the issues that occurred with the second bloom and consequences for the industry and hobby

Bio: Alex started studying tropical fruit specifically Mangos when he was attending high school in Jupiter FL. In college it became a more serious hobby as he started doing a lot of gardening in his spare time. Alex spent a lot of time researching old and new documents that were available online. Eventually he became so fascinated that he started to author Wikipedia articles about different Mango cultivars in his spare time. Alex owns and operates Tropical Acres Farms in West Palm Beach FL which is the largest known collection of Mango Cultivars in The United States of America. Alex grows the biggest collection of Edward Mango Trees known in existence globally some of which are over 50 years old and tower through the South Florida skyline.

02/28/2026

Our Big Sale is coming soon. March 21st. Don’t miss this one.

The purpose of this page is to serve as your starting point for exploring the many cultivars of popular tropical fruits.

02/25/2026

01/08/2026

NEXT MEETING: Friday, January 9th, 2026

Speaker: Jennifer Reelitz

Topic: Jen is a self-educated food forest enthusiast and author of the book Food Forest Revolution. She has spent the last eight years learning how to grow food in the subtropics. Jen is admittedly a lazy gardener who loves the low-maintenance growing method that food forest offers. Jen is the owner and operator of Forest Point, a homeschool nature school for children, and Food Forest DIY, a company that offers backyard food forest consultations, design, installation, maintenance, and educational content. Jen's goal is to help homeowners build the food forest they have been dreaming about. Her goal is to help people find joy and satisfaction in growing food for their family.

11/13/2025

NEXT MEETING: Friday, November 14th, 2025

Speaker: Larry Grosser

Topic: Larry Grosser will speak about the progress he has made to his tropical fruit collection since purchasing his property in the Acreage in 2014

Mounts Auditorium 531 N Military Trail, West Palm Beach FL 33415

Larry Grosser is Past President of Palm Beach Chapter of Rare Fruit Council International, 1994-1995. He will focus on his varieties of Jackfruit, Annona's, Sapodillas, Longans & Pineapples & many more. He will give an update on his 40 varieties of mangos, and how they fared in the 2025 season. He will also intersperse his talk with historical references and growing tips. Larry Grosser is also a Palm Beach County native, Docent at Historical Society of Palm Beach County, longtime Master Gardener, and tour guide for Gene Joyner’s Unbelievable Acres and Mounts Botanical Gardens. He has a wealth of knowledge and will share that knowledge with us.