Baily and I decided to take the day off of tiling. The weather was going to be poor all day with rain on and off. First we headed to a local roller hockey game where George Robert her nephew scored the first and last goal of the game!

They won but it looked like all the kids were having a good time. We then headed north towards Big Pine Key. A stop at Baby’s coffee for a java fix is a must about 15 miles out of Key West. A local roaster with many varieties of beans.

Baily, among other things, is doing a master garden course back in Philly. She thought Grimal Grove would be the perfect place to do a presentation on and I am glad she brought me along. Grimal Grove was founded in 1955 by Adolf Grimal who transformed 2 acres of cap rock land into a Garden of Eden.

There are rare fruit trees that he collected from all over the world, a gravity fed rain water irrigation system, and more. The place fell into disrepair after 1997 when Grimel died but now Patrick Garvey has taken it over and turned it into a grassroots organization, Growing Hope Initiative. http://growinghopeinitiative.org/

Patrick was very kind to show us around the garden and point out the different varieties of fruit trees. They do have a situation with deer eating the smaller trees and are working to get a fence put around the whole of the property. Bugs are another problem with a nasty one called Sri  Lanka weevil eating all the cocao tree leaves.

Still there is a sense of calm in this garden with fruit peeking behind many of the tree branches. A true visionary can see the possibilities of the place. Volunteers come from the local area to help and even friends from the North who came down in a tour bus. Josef Crosby and Alexander Fedoryka members of the Celtic rock band Scythian, were helping their friend Patrick while taking a break from touring.  http://www.scythianmusic.com/