Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Campbell.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Richard. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We are a third-generation mango farm dedicated to providing the highest quality fruit, grown in an eco-friendly Caribbean system. Dr. Carl W. Campbell provided the base for a deep understanding and appreciation of the mango and South Florida ecology and the inspiration for the project. He worked for the Univ. of Florida and with me, Dr. Richard J. Campbell, up until his death in 2006. I was a plant collector and mango specialist for 30 years at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden and collected, selected and bred mango varieties over my career.
My three sons, Daniel, Ian, and Thiago, along with my wife, Cecilia, began our orchard current orchard 3 years ago. The orchard is small and diverse, specializing in dwarf, disease tolerant and exceptional eating mangos. The orchard is directly behind our home and was the home of my father, Carl W. Campbell. Our growing practices allow us to produce truly one-of-a-kind mango experiences. We sell mangos mailorder and have increasingly opened our home in the Redlands to mango sales and tasting events on the weekends during mango season.
The project, besides providing exceptional quality mangos, provides a template to teach about sustainable growing and estate agriculture.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a labor of love and tradition. Smooth, no. There have been many horticultural challenges, as the varieties in the orchard are not commercially available and therefore had to be propagated on site.
Further, as the orchard was built in honor of my father, we did the work with a minimum of power tools and no heavy equipment in order to preserve the soil structure and our integrity. The bio-rational nature of the orchard also has been a challenge, requiring patience and faith. Hurricane Irma also was a challenge, felling many of the trees and causing loses in time.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Mango Men Homestead – what should we know?
I am most proud of our commitment to an ideal in order to produce a truly exceptional mango. The mango is the greatest fruit on the planet. Our orchard has served as a training ground for my children to love what they do.
Whatever they do in the future, the Mango Men Homestead orchard will remain with them. Some of our finest mangos, CeciLove, Orange Sherbet, Sunburst, Kryptonite, and Diamond are unavailable from other growers and worth the experience. We are changing the mango world on a local level; if that can carry on to the world as a whole remains to be seen, but the voyage will be delicious.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Passion and integrity
Contact Info:
- Address: 15300 SW 268 ST Homestead, FL 33032
- Phone: 305-213-0337/786-375-1363
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mangomenhomestead/
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
