Harvest for Humanity provides Oakes Farm Market and
Wynn's Market in Naples with its blueberries in season. In April, the
blueberry u pick and store on the premises open in Immokalee. Call
657-4888 for directions and details.
Here in Southwest Florida, blueberry lovers count the
days until March, when Dick and Florence Nogaj of Immokalee's Harvest
for Humanity start picking their sweet, tangy blueberries.
A former civil engineer, Nogaj moved here with his wife
in the late '90s, and the couple decided to start a nonprofit farming
venture that would use sustainable environmental practices and provide a
living wage for its workers.
Harvest for Humanity grows a variety of crops,
including oranges, peaches, plums, peppers and eggplant, but it's the
insecticide-free blueberries it's known for - sweet and tart and grown
"with lots of tender loving care," according to Nogaj.
Though he ships them all over the country - complete
with labels reading "Grown in the U.S.A. by workers paid a living wage"
- some of the harvest makes its way to local vendors like Oakes Farm
Market and Wynn's Market in Naples.
"They're very good," says Lee Snyder of Oakes
Market. "This last year they've really caught on." (It probably helps
that blueberries have received good nutritional press lately for their
antioxidant qualities.)
Come April, gourmets can take a field trip to
Immokalee, where the organization operates its farm and a brand-new
affordable-housing neighborhood as well.
There, buyers can select their own sweet blueberries at
the farm's blueberry u- pick, or simply purchase muffins, pies, jellies
and jams made from the local harvest at an on site store.
