Urban farm bears fruit

Truly Tropical in Delray Beach cultivates mango market

DELRAYBEACH— Just a few minutes north of the lights and crowds on Atlantic Avenue, there is a hidden oasis of tropical fruit.

Tucked away unassumingly at the end of residential Seacrest Avenue, the Truly Tropical farm can almost go unnoticed among the homes, schools and parks that line this northern end of the city.

But to mango connoisseurs from places as far away as India and Jamaica, the 5-acre farm provides them with hard-tofind fruit that brings back childhood memories and a place to exchange recipes and interact with other rare-fruit enthusiasts, rawfoodists and locavores.

“We come for the real deal,” said Kathleen Golaub, who bought mangoes on a recent afternoon to send to family in other parts of the U.S. “We’re fromJamaica. We know real mangoes. You can’t get these at