Green ACRES

For many of us, the pandemic was a reset of our daily values and a return to an appreciation of simplicity. We were baking bread from scratch, converting condo balconies into potted herb gardens, and feeling satisfied with the purity of these domestic pursuits. Sourcing groceries (toilet paper, bleach, hand sanitizer) and produce was tricky at times, and farms in the Naples area stepped up to fill a void at the supermarkets by reminding residents that they’ve got the freshest goods in the land. Though many Southwest Florida farms took a hit when Governor Ron DeSantis closed restaurants on March 20, these businesses have found a way to come back after a storm, much like the crops they so carefully watch over.

With the cooler nights this time of year, local farms are producing lots of vegetables and some fruits, including root vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini,