Ruskin, Florida
Through most of the twentieth century Ruskin's main industry was tomato growing. Partial draining of the flat, swampy land made for nearly ideal growing conditions for the crop. Quite recently, just the past decade or two, wholesale tomato prices plummeted, partly due to imports from South America. As growers' profits crashed, developers began to bid up the price of land in the area to put up gated communities and high end shopping centers catering to the inflating housing bubble. These fields on the southeast side of town are among the few really big tomato farms still in operation.
Ruskin, Florida
Ruskin, Florida
On Shell Point Road, between Little Harbor and the town center at Highway 41, these fields are no longer in tomato production but are used for grazing some cattle. In the distance, adjoining fields have been fully drained for housing development. When the housing bubble burst a few years ago, some of the developments had to halt construction on half-completed units.
2 comments:
Carl, was it misty or foggy every morning? Love the 'lightness' of the fields......
Lyle, yes, morning fog or at least mist seems to be the norm. High humidity levels also seem to affect the look of the light throughout the day, as well.
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