Name(s)?
Kiki and Marc

Where do you live?
Palmetto Bay/ Homestead/ Redland

How long have you lived in the area?
1978 (Marc) and 1980 (Kiki)

Where are you originally from and what brought you to town?
Kiki is a Chicago City Girl and Marc’s a Skokie Suburban Boy. We moved gradually south to farm. 

Please share about what you do for a livelihood or what keeps you busy during the week?
Marc is the day to day operations manager for LNB Groves family farms.  I’m in and out of my pickup truck each day making observations, planning the grove plantings, pruning, fertilizing and more. Each day is different, and our orchard projects are often prioritized based on timely inputs needed and also where the fruit trees are blooming and fruit is developing.

Kiki is a certified teacher of the Transcendental Meditation Program and the full-time director of the Miami TM Program. 

Since Irma, we have been administering tree triage. Although all fruit was lost, hope springs eternal. We are optimistic and determined to regrow smarter. Now is the time for us to evaluate and creatively plan for new perennial tropical crops.

How often do you come to the market?
We come almost every week. Now that we have electric bikes, it makes it so much more fun to ride over to Pinecrest Gardens.

Do you have a market ritual?If so, please describe.
We visit LNB Grovestand for a Tropikale smoothie. We get a weekly supply of bread from Zak and love the orchids and bromeliads from Patty and Mitch at Living Colors Nursery.

Marc always gets a breakfast sandwich with extra veggies from Babe Froman, kombucha from Counter Culture, and organic produce from Bee Heaven Farm (if we are not growing it on our farm).

What’s your favorite thing to buy at LNB Grovestand and why?
Green kale smoothies with extra ginger are fabulous.  

What have you made with ingredients bought at LNB Grovestand?
We like fresh foods that are alive and full of life force, freshly harvested and prepared. We remember to eat our colors – dark greens, reds, purples, oranges, and yellow.

What’s your favorite thing to buy at other stands at the market?
David’s Soap, Zak’s Bread, Orchids, sometimes organic vegetables from Margie only but we really grow all of that on our own farms.

For parents: A favorite activity we enjoy with our kids?
As grandparents, we love watching our kids and their families  – especially when they come over to eat.

The best deal at the market is:
Always at LNB Groves 

I wish the market had:
More local Organic produce 

Favorite market story:
Ours 😊

Most-frequented local restaurants and what dish to order:
Ouch….Kiki does not love to go to restaurants very often because she cooks and we have too many great cooks in the family. However, when we do go out, we love LAN Pan Asian for Age tofu and fiery spinach, The Seven Dials for creative salads and fish and chips & yummy desserts, pizza from Apizza Brooklyn, and Ghee in Downtown Dadeland ( followed by dessert at Nanndi!)

For special occasions, I go to:
Adena and Walter’s since they live in the house behind us and we trade dinners almost every day. 

Do you have a family recipe that you would be willing share?
A gazillion, call Kiki at 305-345-5517

What’s the area’s best-kept secret?
Senior citizens can audit and attend classes at a state university in Florida (with the instructor’s written permission) for free.  But don’t tell anyone or too many people may sign up. Marc has taken lots of tropical botany and plant ID classes.

Rainy-day activity:
Cleaning, weeding, cooking. Repeat.

The most romantic spot around:
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden comes to mind quickly.

I wish you had asked me about:  
What is my favorite fruit? Kiki says – actually an Apple is not only my favorite fruit, but my favorite food! Not just any old apple. It must have the perfect crunch, sweetness and tartness. Preferably it came from Michigan, Indiana or somewhere near where we grew up. I love tropical fruit too, but give me an apple any day.

Marc says – How have you managed to survive in tropical fruit farming in an always changing and competitive market? I don’t have an answer yet, but will keep you posted.

Do you participate in any community or philanthropic events that you would like to share? 
Teaching TM for a philanthropic organization since 1974. We make a living from what we get but we make a life from what we give. I love seeing people’s lives transformed from the practice of TM.  Marc is privileged and happy to be Kiki’s support staff and male counterpart for the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program in Miami.

Do you own your own business or offer a service? Would you share a pitch about yourself or company with the community?
We have always had the privilege of our lives, business, recreation and community all being integrated into one beautiful whole. We are blessed to have 4 healthy children and 3 grandchildren and a lifestyle that thrives on having a perspective that is unbounded and balanced and in harmony with all the laws of nature that govern everything in the universe.  We are centered, with our feet on the ground, and have given this gift to our children to give to their children. Although we are wholesale only on our Farm, our retail component is Adena and Walt’s LNB Grovestand at the Pinecrest Farmer’s Market.  Adding value to our many fruit and vegetable products will likely enable us to survive and thrive in an ever-changing  and competitive global marketplace .

Is there a question that you would like to ask the LNBs?
To: Adena and Walt, What’s for dinner? 

Is there a question that you would like to ask the community?
How can we encourage you to grow more of your own food and be fully aware of where your food is coming from?