Back to Blog 
Post by Marcela Moyano

UIC Students Dive into the Tropical Greenery of South Florida at Tree Amigos Growers

Tree Amigos Growers: A Sustainable Mission by Gianna Corrales

There are many wonderful and incredible places in South Florida that you could not imagine. That is the case of a special place I visited this week, a nursery called “Tree Amigos Growers”. What could be special about a nursery other than sowing seeds, watering them, watching them grow and selling them? This organic greenhouse, Tree Friends Growers, is a unique place where the sustainable philosophy of its owners shows not only their passion to grow organically for those who seek to eat healthy and fresh foods in their own gardens, but also cultivate a sense of community support through their agricultural business.

To begin with, the nursery is not on a main road, so I arrived after a few laps around the area. The first impression I had of the place was that it was quite rural, and I did not find it attractive or interesting. The entire group of students and our professor, Marcela Moyano, approached to meet with our host. The co-owner of Tree Amigos Growers, Santiago Arroyo, received us and that is how our tour began which would show me later that my first impression was wrong. Santiago’s introductory talk was enough to know that he is not only very knowledgeable, but also eager to share his gardening wisdom with everyone. His passion for what he does is obvious, and his dedication and willingness to help everyone puts his business in an unusual place of small businesses that truly add value to their community and the people around them.

After that, we started walking through the farm, our host explained to us how the soil of South Florida is favorable for growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The dark color of the earth and the

white of the sand come together forming a soil full of nutrients (See Fig. 1). Meanwhile, I began to recognize my surroundings and get in tune with my senses as I observe. The mixture of aromas that only nature provides in this place were accentuated. At that moment some images of my childhood came to my mind. I remembered my exciting adventures with my cousins at my uncle’s farm. The farm was on a mountain surrounded by the coast about two hours from Caracas, in Venezuela, a climate quite similar to Florida. I felt the same sensations of simplicity, and at the same time joy while we spent hours immersed among different trees and exotic plants playing as explorers.

FIG. 1. Soil in South Florida. Santiago Arroyo Co-owner of Tree Amigos Growers. Davie, FL. August 2018.

The tour continued and all around, plants and trees looked healthy, green, and growing. Meantime, Santiago promoted the participation of everyone by asking the name or type of trees or plants that we observed, some of them very popular such as; turmeric, lychee, yucca, moringa, among many other species (See Fig. 2). I was delighted to see with my own eyes and even more here in Florida, the large number of regular veggie plants, medicinal herbs, and fruits that can be grown fresh and 100% organic consumption. We not only admire these leafy plants and trees, we also savor some of them. When chewing the reddish leaf of the cranberry hibiscus for example, it gives the typical flavor of hibiscus tea with a sweet taste at the end (See Fig. 3). We also tested an impressive leaf of a plant called “Spilanthes” which when chewing it, leaves a fresh feeling in your mouth as if you had just brushed your teeth. We ended the tour very encouraged to start our own garden at home. Some of us even bought plants, and Santiago graciously gave us branches of a type of basil to make tea at home.

FIG. 2. Right: Yuca Plant. Lychee Tree. Tree Amigos Growers. Davie, FL. August 2018.

Finally, this experience at Tree Amigos Growers enchanted me from beginning to end. It is admirable to see the effort with which these people contribute to conserve our planet, their desire to help others learn to cultivate native and tropical superfoods, as well as their commercial ethics. They exist with a sustainable mission as a small business in the South Florida community, where they work to improve the health and well-being of their residents. I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know this extraordinary place and one of its owners, Santiago Arroyo. His appreciation of natural wonders led to the creation of a unique organic nursery in Florida.

FIG. 3. Cranberry Hibiscus Plant. Tree Amigos Growers. Davie, FL. August 2018

A Marvelous Experience by Haiskel Tovar

On Tuesday August 14th, of this year, we the UIC English Composition II students had the opportunity to enjoy an amazing field trip at the nursery Tree Amigos Growers. At the beginning, when our professor informed us about the field trip, I thought, well we are going to go to a nursery; I imagined we would see beautiful plants for the garden, some flowers and that would be everything. But I was wrong, because Tree Amigos Growing is much more than a simple sale of plants.

Tree Amigos Growers is located in David, specifically at 10900 SW 48th Street, FL 33328. Unexpectedly the field trip was a marvelous, enriching and enjoyable experience. We were welcomed by one of its owners, Santiago Arroyo, who showed us that he has great experience in the agricultural field. With a lot of dedication he explained to us the benefits of cultivating our own organic food including how to prepare the soil for our garden. He also taught us about perennial plants, annual plants, and how the permaculture concept is applied in their place, while he took us around the area and showed us all the vegetables, plants and trees that grow there.

When we arrived, after giving us a captivating welcoming, Santiago gave us an explanation about the importance of growing our own organic food, because we would definitely know that it would be authentically organic, it has no harmful chemical additives and it will not be genetically modified. Then, he explained how to prepare the soil before planting any plants. For example, he showed us one of the ways they use to remove weeds from the ground. This consists of covering the ground with a black plastic sheet, which provokes weeds to die and then they remove it. With this method, they do not need to use chemical pesticides.

Although, the first impression I had of the place is that it was small, and in reality I was wrong. They have a large green house where they have planted a variety of trees and plants. Santiago explained to us that they grow annual plants, which are plants that only grow one season and die, like tomatoes, sweet pepper, basil, and sweet potatoes. Also they grow perennial plants, that could grow back every season, for example turmeric, papaya, pineapple, moringa, coffee, sugar cane, and cranberry hibiscus plants, whose leaves have a very nice cherry flavor. Additionally, they have soursop, banana, Florida peach, mangoes trees, among other variety.

Equally important, is the growing system applied in Tree Amigos Growers, which is based on the Permaculture Philosophy. Santiago explained that this concept consists of creating a growing area that is similar to a natural environment where the ecosystem is respected, and the interconnection of the various elements that make it up is maintained. This involves planting several types of plants in the same area, which will interact and benefit each other. For example, he showed us a place where they planted sweet potato plants together with other plants, in this case the plants of sweet potato will contribute to nourish the soil, because they capture nitrogen from the environment and by their characteristics can transfer it to the soil and this would help the other plants that are around.

Finally, when the field trip ended, my classmates and I reached the same conclusion. We felt that we learned a lot. Santiago was able to transmit his knowledge to us. Undoubtedly, he encouraged us to start our garden of edible plants. Even if we have a little space, we can make the most of it and sow in pots. In conclusion, this field trip was a marvelous, enriching and enjoyable experience.