Video Script: Tree-O-Groves 2018 Commissioner's Agricultural Environmental Leadership Award Video Script Title: Tree-O-Groves Type: Agricultural Environmental Leadership Award Length: 6:41 Year: 2018 Tree-O-Groves, Lake Alfred, Florida Betty Shinn: We all hold the same love for land and for farming. We treasure all of that very much. Things like that are just such a part of our family. James Shinn: We put 70 acres of grove in last year right here inside the city limits. So, we re definitely trying to continue to sink our roots into this town and stay in agriculture. It s what we want to do. Narrator: James Shinn s family has farmed in Lake Alfred for nearly 100 years. Signs of their legacy are everywhere, including the Shinn family homestead, built at the turn of the last century. Generations of Shinns have grown up here and it now serves as the office for Tree-O- Groves, the name of their family business. James, his wife Deborah and mother Betty all work here with longtime employee Terry Kuhn. This farm and entire town was built back when citrus was king. Betty Shinn: William Shinn decided that citrus was a really great thing, and it was being pushed terrifically around here as the best business you could get into, so he began to plant groves.
Narrator: The Shinns survived The Great Depression, multiple citrus freezes and diseases, and are now battling the booming development of Central Florida. Lake Alfred has grown up around their house and farm, becoming a bedroom community of Orlando and Tampa. James has worked here his entire life and says many of the historic groves planted by his ancestors and other founding families are gone forever. James Shinn: Every time you lose one of these pieces, you don t get them back. This 27 corridor is a prime example of that. We re losing the best citrus land in the world, it s being taken over and we aren t going to get it back. Narrator: These challenges have created opportunities for the Shinns to innovate and diversify their operations. The family is also committed to protecting portions of undeveloped Central Florida. Part of the Tree-O-Groves property is less than 20 miles from Walt Disney World, in the Heartland of the Floridan Aquifer - The Green Swamp. This swamp forms the headwaters of four major Florida rivers and local experts say the Shinns have gone to great lengths to conserve it. Chris Oswalt: And over the years the practices that he s adopted over time have been those to try to enhance and improve water quality of everything he does up here and still produce a crop, an economic crop that he can make a living off of. Narrator: Best Management Practices include using micro-jet sprinklers to concentrate water and fertilizer at the base of the trees. Using compost prevents an excessive release of nutrients and water run-off. Exotic plant species are removed from the groves and destroyed. Perennial peanut provides environmentally friendly ground cover. Most of the groves in the Green Swamp area are surrounded by natural buffers set aside by the Shinns to encourage wildlife habitats.
Betty Shinn: I feel a calmness as we drive up to the Green Swamp and it s just a very calm, comfortable feeling knowing that we are there and that we are able to show that it has been kept and protected almost as God would have planned it to be and I love that. Deborah Shinn: The land, the water, the wildlife, all of these things go with being a good steward of the property that you have the privilege of taking care of and providing for your family at the same time. Narrator: James uses environmentally friendly methods to fight his latest battle citrus greening. Greening is a disease caused by a tiny, invasive insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. Reflective ribbon is one technique used to keep bugs away from the trees. Another innovative idea James has deployed is a simple device called the Tree Defender. This product protects trees when they are young and most vulnerable while reducing the use of pesticides. Scott Thompson: We re basically using a mesh bag that s form fit to the trees that creates basically a micro-environment for that tree. Narrator: The University of Florida s Citrus Research and Education Center is located near the Shinns Lake Alfred groves. James is partnering with researchers here to help find other ways to fight the disease. Troy Gainey: We got multiple root stocks out here on Hamlin and Valencia varieties to see which ones react the best and grow the best in the presence of greening. Narrator: While James counts on citrus making a comeback, he is also diversifying into cattle and another crop that grows on trees peaches. Tree-O-Groves is now one of the largest peach producers in Central Florida.
James Shinn: It s a very good peach. It s an early peach. We start can start picking in March. There s no one in the market at that time so there is a market window. We have plenty of room to sell that peach. Narrator: As a Florida peach pioneer, James is willing to share his experience and knowledge with fellow citrus growers. While both grow on trees, citrus and peach production methods are quite different. Chris Oswalt: Peaches have leaves on the tree nine months out of the year. Citrus is an evergreen. So, there s a lot of things that we ve had to learn differently especially if you think about just irrigation requirements. If you don t have leaves on your tree, you probably don t need a lot of water. Narrator: Many of the Tree-O-Groves peaches are planted in downtown Lake Alfred giving a whole new meaning to urban farming. James Shinn: This is a commercial farm. These are blocks in town. We manage them just like we manage any other block. But we have to be a little different, careful about it. Narrator: As the fourth generation on this land, James and Deborah know how important it is to preserve it for future generations, including their own children. Deborah Shinn: This house, the grove around us, the orchard around us and what their dad does is such a huge part of their legacy and that s important to them. Narrator: Family, agriculture and the love of the land. The Shinns 100-year legacy remains strong in Lake Alfred.
Deborah Shinn: I think it s important, and I think that s the way God intended it to be. Here s this land. Now do something with it and be good with it, so it s important. Betty Shinn: I was born close by here. My children were born here. Their children have been born here and some of my children s children have children and they ve been born here as well, which is very warming to me. I love it and I don t want to forget Florida as it has always been, I m so proud of it, proud of the state.