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Florida’s coolest PIG furnishes palm trees to big-name clients

By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

BOOKELIA Fla. — Pine Island Growers, LLC (PIG) furnishes palm trees, through landscapers, to Disney World, the big hotels in Miami Beach and in the Caribbean, said Rad Hazen, general manager of PIG.

“It is something that is odd here,” Hazen said. “People expect to have palm trees; they want a tropical look. It isn’t natural to the area – it is what the area aspires to. Most of the trees we put out here are from other parts of the world.”

There are a couple of species of palm trees native to the area but most people prefer the more exotic royal or coconut palms. PIG has them up to 40 feet tall, Hazen said.

“We grow about 40 species of palms,” Hazen said. “Most of them are tropical. Some of them are marketable as far north as the Carolina coast, but probably 90 percent of what we grow is marketable up to Orlando.”

PIG owns about 150 acres throughout Pine Island, ranging from five- to 40-acre plots. It buys land as it becomes available at the right price. The island climate, a bit colder but similar to that of the Florida Keys, is an advantage.

“It is a safe place in general to grow coconuts and tropical-type trees,” Hazen said. “This winter was a remarkable exception; we did have damage from the cold this year.”

Growing palm trees has been lucrative, but it is tied to growth, such as housing sales and real estate.

The economy has caused a downturn in the business, Hazen said. But it is slowly recovering. PIG’s primary owner is Dr. Nick Jarmoszuk, who also has a home and medical practice in Cleveland, Ohio.

PIG buys its trees from Homestead Florida. A large industry there collects and germinates seeds from all over the world. The trees come in three-gallon containers.

“The three gallons are mature enough for us to put in the field,” Hazen said. “We buy thousands of palms and plant them in the field. Their rate of growth is extremely variable.

“Some palms grow three to four feet a year; some grow six inches a year, depending on the species. As a general rule the tropical palms grow quicker than the more temperate ones.”

Palm trees have unique fertilizer requirements and standard mixes do not work, Hazen said. They require nitrogen but also a great deal of potassium and magnesium, plus minor elements like manganese and iron.

PIG has its mixes specially made. Otherwise, palms are not finicky and are relatively easy to dig and ship.

The company has “way too much fun” with its PIG acronym, Hazen said. When the company was being organized, they knew they did not want the cliché of a pig in overalls with a straw hat. So, an advertising firm came up with a cool-looking pig. He always wears a fedora or other hat and has an earring.

Hazen is happy in his work. He grows palm trees on an island in Florida and if he complains about his job, as everyone does sometimes, people just laugh.

“I do love it,” he said. “How bad can it be?”

3/30/2010