I know exactly what you mean.... my husband doesn't get it either!! I just try to make analogies like why anyone would pay $200+ for a hockey stick that will eventually break and end of in the garbage after he gets out of the penalty box. At least my hobby keeps giving back in a very yummy way!!!

how big are the beds you are making?

the thing is when you buy the fruit you root the top so you get both and are actually making the most out of scraps.

pineapple plants multiply and give you multiple slips every year, so you can imagine the multiplier effect in a few good growing years.
pineapples grow excellent in our native sandy soil here, i focus on top layer composting and mulch which is pretty cost effective.

Yes, that is what my DH says all the time too...each and every time I bought a new Mango tree...also when I have to cover/protect and put heat on the trees during the freeze. He would say...why don't you just let me buy you a box of mangoes next summer so you don't have to go through this every year,lol...they just don't get it!! Been there done that!

my gf doesnt appreciate my gardening prowess either. a typical Sunday this time of year consists of me maintaining my garden and her cheering/cursing a football game.

she once questioned the need for 14 mango trees. i then questioned her NFL Dolphins collection.
shes learning to pick her battles.

Mango Kush-- that is just hilarious. I just looked at your home page with your list of 'babies' and now I am wondering exactly HOW big is your yard?? That list looks like an acre long :) There once was a time I couldn't even get my husband out into the yard to help me with a thing...grumbling something about paying landscapers and it not being his line of work LOL At least now if I need help with something he'll come out and lend a hand.... in between football games that is :)
Some day I would love for you tell me about the extensive list of cultivars you have and pick your brain on this citrus tree I now have and no nothing about and educate me about the cherimoya I am so curious about!

There is one huge benefit to growing your own fruit - you can get the cultivars that are bred for flavor, not shipping/marketing characteristics. For example, I think tommy atkins mangoes from the store are gross and would never consider buying one over an apple, pear, etc. However, the mangoes that are in my backyard are absolutely delicious and easily trump anything I can find in the store.

Also, I figure you always need shade trees (especially here in Florida). So, with a fruit tree, you're fulfilling the need for shade while at the same time getting the benefit of fresh fruit!

jeffhagen I agree with you.... all of the mangoes I have bought in the store over the last two weeks were so very disappointing and flavorless compared to the home grown ones that I won't buy any more.They look so inviting on the outside but they are just not worth paying for that huge let down.

puglvr
"why don't you just let me buy you a box of mangoes next summer"

75% of the time you can not find a good mango in the supermarket. It is 99% impossible to get a great mango in a supermarket. A great mango is one from your backyard or a neighbors. It is picked at just the right time to ripen just right. During peak native mango season in Fl you find Mexican mangoes in the supermarkets (not joking) Haitian mangoes are common

Some local Fl mango growers will have mangoes picked at the right time. Dittos for small markets. But even they usually pick the local mangoes prematurely. So you have to grow your own mango tree or have the right neighbors/family/friends who have trees and will let you pick the mango at the right time or they will. Many times the best, ripest mango was already picked by nature...meaning it is on the ground waiting for you to eat before animals do.

Other fruits ..... I have a much better chance of getting decent specimens at the supermarket. Plums I can pick good ones, cherries usually ship well but first of the season tend to be too unripe, apples I can pick winners. Apricots are always a challenge but they can be the best of all. Peaches are usually awful but I'll take a chance. Grapes can be fantastic towards end of season whether it be Chile or California. Black grapes with seeds are your best bet

Mangoes are very in these days. I see something like mango salsa and I get angry. They are taking the world's most delicious fruit and desecrating it. If the author of such a recipe had a real backyard mango in her possession..... I have to hope she would eat it straight. But she doesn't so she takes some jive supermarket mango and makes it into (????wtf) salsa and thinks she has done something impressive and "in". Very similar to the huge salmon mousse centerpiece I saw at a reception. Ten pounds of the world's most delicious fish desecrated by mixing in ten pounds mayonnaise.

In summation ..... Grow your own mangoes if you have a backyard. I see northern people with potted mango trees they can wheel in from the cold. They are on the right track and know what the world's most delicious fruit is!

Zands,
"...peaches are usually awful..."
Smell them. If they smell like peaches, even if a little hard, they usually end up tasting like peaches when fully ripe, that is, scrumptious.
Cath

Mango- I live in a rain forest and if it one thing pineapples don't like is wet feet (and we have had one of the wettest years in history!). So I have about 30 plants I need to get up and out of the clay soil.
I was hoping to make a 10-12' wide by about 4-6 ft long raised bed on a slope. It will be short, just tall enough to get he plants out of the ground.
But I will need to fill it in with something mixed with the clay to get better drainage.
Almost all of them came from fruit tops, so that was the cheap part!

can you get your hands on some builders sand? theyll grow fine in containers too

Mango- that is an idea for cheaper fill, or maybe gravel so it stays in place.
Right now they are all in pots, but I need something that is more "showcase" since I have a guest house and the pretty gardens and tropical fruit are a draw for many people. The pineapples are always a hit and it amazes me how many people have no idea how pineapples grow (most assume they grow on tress for some reason!).

My wife cant understand why I baby my seedlings from PR, especially since I've told her there is probably a 0% chance a majority of them will survive. I told her it is cheaper than me ordering plants and killing them, that made better sense.

-Ethan