The story, the mission, the purpose.....

To even call someone "fruit obsessed", is probably a strange thing to most people. Well, I am! And I have been, as long as I can remember. Growing up in Denmark, summer and fall were the best times, because all the fruit trees and bushes would have food on them. That's how I thought of it - as food. I remember how I honestly didn't quite understand why you would even have a non-fruiting tree in your garden. I mean, what's the point? Leave those types of trees to the wilderness, if you please! If you plant a tree around your house, it should carry fruit.

  We had lots of fruit trees wherever we lived, and there were always plenty more around. In Denmark, particularly apples and pears often grow wild, so you can find them in various places, not just around people's houses. And in the woods, there would often be wild raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

  One of my favorite things to do would be to just sit up there in the fruit trees and watch the world, while eating fruits, sometimes to the point where my stomach would hurt. 

  Tropical fruits were a rare treat. As time went by, they became more and more common at the supermarkets, but growing up there really weren't all that many, apart from bananas of course. They fascinated me though. Well, all fruits did! Just this idea that this little seed turns into a little plant, then bigger, then bigger, then bigger - then it starts flowering, then with the help of insects it carries fruits, amazing fruits that almost seem like they were made especially for us sometimes. It really is amazing, when you think about it, isn't it?

  I don't really remember if it was my parents or something else that ignited my desire for planting, taking care of and harvesting fruit from various plants. Maybe it was my farmer family or maybe it was just "in my blood" or something. But I remember gardening from a very young age, never ever being bored, whenever I had to "deal" with plants, fruits and dirt. I guess this was where I felt the most at home - and again, not sure why. Maybe it's all just because I found/and I find nature to be so amazing, so fascinating - and the fact that you can cultivate even a small piece of land and grow food there will never seize to amaze me.

  In Denmark, I grew many things. As far as I can remember, the main things were peas, rhubarb, strawberries, gooseberries, currents, carrots and potatoes. Denmark has a relatively short growing season, for those who are into that. I believe Denmark is in growing zone 6-8. It's temperate. So things you can grow need to either be good with cold weather or grow really fast. Things like tomatoes and melons were often a struggle because they take so long to finally fruit, that unless you start them indoors early, the plant will be killed by cold weather before you even get any fruit. But even that was fascinating too. And just the challenge of seeing what you COULD do with a fruiting plant, was fantastic.

  Cut to many years later, after not being able to get my hands dirty, literally, for many years, living in Copenhagen and New York City, I finally had small gardens while living in Philadelphia for a while. I rediscovered, that although I had survived the years without gardens, I had really missed it. And the, again, some years later, I met Danny, ended up in Puerto Rico and suddenly stood with the dream I've had my entire life, right there in my hands. A large piece of land, in a perfect climate, where I could grow almost anything - and all year round. This is now a little while ago, but not long enough for it to still not having actually sunk in. I'm sure you know, if you have dreamed of something for so long, finally getting it is almost overwhelming, almost scary. Now what? Now you have to actually test all these scenarios you have played with in your mind for so long. The pressure builds.

  But you have to start somewhere, and you might as well start, very simply, and as we did, with one part of the land and then go from there. So that's what we did and are doing. Planting all the things we have been collecting in pots since we got here, and then expanding after that, little by little.

  So that's where we are right now. We have a very long list of the various stages of our farm "empire" and where we want to see it go and grow. I won't reveal it all here, in case anyone might take the idea from us, but our main goal is, and has always been, to provide Puerto Ricans with access to so many more fruits and vegetables than they usually find, and to ignite or reignite an interest in growing things. And depending on how that all goes, we will go in other directions, branch out and expand the various ideas to service the locals. And with the medical and research aspect of it, we hope to end up being very local and then, at the same time, very global, with hopefully some great research done on all the fruits and all the many healing benefits they "potentially" have. That's a win-win in my book, and while doing so, we will have more fruit than we would ever know what to do with, sooner or later. I don't mind that at all. To go back to my first sentence here - being fruit obsessed, as I am, there really isn't anything more exciting, than to see these very fruits grow and mature, many of which I have only seen in supermarket shelves, most of my life, and to try new ones, many many new ones, and discover more about them. This is all our humble mission, and to be able to do that in Danny's beloved Puerto Rico, is both an honor and a privilege.