Carrying on The Legacy of “The Mangoes”
August 1, 2019
The winter estate of the Ford family, known as “The Mangoes,” featured a grove of mangoes, as well as an allée of the stately tree leading right to the home’s front door. The Edison estate featured innumerable orchids in the mango trees on a nearby area of their adjoining property which they called “Orchid Lane.”
Today, Edison Ford continues the tradition begun by the Edison and Ford families. In fact, there are 17 different mango varieties on the property (including the “old Florida turpentine mango”).
Edison Ford staff collaborate with ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) in North Fort Myers. Shown at right in 2016, ECHO Farm Manager, Tim Watkins, and interns assisted Senior Horticulturist, Debbie Hughes gather turpentine mangoes (approximately 1,000). ECHO Nursery grows the seeds as rootstock, grafts mango varieties to the rootstock, and distributes grafted fruit trees to needy communities around the globe to help grow their own. Edison’s old mangoes have made their way around the world!
