By Sam Jokich, Staff Correspondent
Murphy – Hard work and a passion for gardening has coalesced in a greenhouse full of exotic fruits and vegetables.
Local resident Patrick Canizio has created a large greenhouse full of fruits and vegetables, many you may have never heard about, like the Japanese purple sweet potato. The bright and dark purple of the inside justice is so unexpected.
The 10-foot tall and 10-foot-wide tomato plants are bursting with fruit. Some of the pineapple plants have multiple heads of fruit, reminiscing of the Dole fields of Oahu, Hi., along with banana plants getting ready to bear fruit.
The concrete raised beds full of spices include basil, ginger, dill, thyme and rosemary. There are hot peppers and pine trees, which produce pine-nuts for pesto. Some of the teachers from John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown bring their students to Canizio’s garden to see how to correctly grow fruits and vegetables in western North Carolina.
The infrastructure is amazing, with rainwater catches and heaters to warm the water before using on the plants.
Automatic heaters and ventilation keep a distant hum that pervades the greenhouse, taking care of all that live here. Canizio has created a perfect storm of humidity and heat to grow produce that is second to none.