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Prior to 2015, there was no record of hop production in Florida. Now, in just three short years, Florida has found an ability to produce a crop that is critical to brewing craft beer twice a year, essentially doubling productivity. Research facilities such as the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm and private commercial production growers like Central Florida Hops in Zellwood (Orange County’s first commercial hopyard) are finding no shortage in demand for locally grown hops, and that a second season harvest allows for continued gains for this highly valued specialty crop. Likewise, breweries — from famed Cigar City in Tampa to Florida beer...

Flower Friday: Yaupon holly   Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) by Eleanor Dietrich Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) Click on terms for botanical definitions. View as a PDF Yaupon holly is a shrub or tree found in coastal and inland scrub, dunes, floodplains and hammocks. Its diminutive flowers bloom in spring, attracting a variety of bees and other insects. In the fall, abundant fruit production provides food for birds and small mammals. The dense evergreen foliage provides year-round cover for wildlife. Yaupon holly’s flowers are small, white and born in clusters within leaf axils. Simple leaves are oval to elliptic, dark green and typically less than 1 inch...

A New Day for Yaupon Tea You may not spend much time thinking about tea. Two UCF brothers want to change that.   Like "A New Day for Yaupon Tea" on FacebookTweet "A New Day for Yaupon Tea" on Twitter By Gene Kruckemyer ’73 Sit back, relax, and enjoy a sip of tea from the only caffeinated plant native to North America — an antioxidant-laden, jitterfree drink that’s been consumed for more than 10,000 years. Its name is yaupon [pronounced yoh-pon], and while popular in the distant past, it became known more as an ornamental rather than a food source in the...

I buy local and support small, independent businesses when possible, even when I travel. Unfortunately, my tea addiction hasn’t allowed that, at least until recently.