HARRIS PARTNERSHIP CITRUS NURSERY: Is a family owned business.
STARTED: Year 1985
HISTORY: Paul’s family farming exposure began in the early 1920’s.
His father had a vegetable farm – every variety in its season that kept
his farm hands busy. He also started Strawberry starters. Paul assisted his
Grandpa Hunter who had a citrus grove by hoeing around the trees for manual
weed control. Paul’s father built a school to provide an education opportunity
for the families of his farm hands. They had to build a bridge “Lily Bridge”
to provide a shorter access to the main road to take the produce to the market.
The farm was self-sufficient with cows for milk, which in turn provided yogurt,
butter, buttermilk; chickens for eggs and food, pigs. Paul is continuing his
life as a farmer after a hiatus of over 30 years. He started his own citrus
groves and currently has a citrus nursery.
One wood framed, plastic covered greenhouse holding 20,000 – 4 inch citrus
pots growing the mainstay citrus varieties of citrus industry at the time on
Sour Orange rootstock, on wooden tables built to specification to accommodate
optimum use of the space needed to grow a quality potted tree. Our plans were
to replant the one grove we had as the trees needed to be replaced. Other grove
owners saw the product, needed the trees, thus started the expansion into bigger
houses, MODERN metal framework, sunscreen, anti-virus shade cloth, fans, and
timed microjet irrigation systems in order to provide our current clientele
a quality potted citrus tree.
From the cold ARCTIC where Becky grew up making snowpies to the TROPICS of
Florida, Paul taught me the techniques of growing a quality citrus tree, that
is COLD HARDY because it is grown by an ESKIMIO.
Our daughter Ruth Nowland joined our business in 2001 as our Office Manager,
now she is learning the ropes of growing a quality citrus tree.
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