A day exploring the Redland: Agriculture and rustic charm thrive near Miami

This is not your hipster South Beach part of Miami.

This is where people grow luscious fruits, bake delicious pies and rolls, nurture spectacular orchids and end the day with a tasty locally made craft beer or guava wine.

This is the Redland, a rural enclave on Miami’s southern outskirts named for its red soil. (Technically it is not the Redlands plural.) It is full of history and is home to long-time residents who are working to preserve its rustic charm.

For visitors to the Redland, the history and subtropical climate combine to create memorable experiences you won’t find anywhere else.  The Redland is the region surrounding the main entrance to Everglades National Park, so it’s easy to combine a stop in the Redland with a visit to the park, or to the Florida Keys, which are just a half hour south on US 1.

Here are a six  ways to experience the Redland. Most visitors will pick one or two stops while enjoying the scenes along the country lanes. Driving through the Redland, you’ll see fruits and vegetables in the fields, ornamental plant and palm tree farms and family-owned businesses like koi farmers, banana growers and herb farmers.

These Redland stops are arranged from north to south.

Berry farms and world-famous cinnamon rolls

The Redland is the last agricultural region in Miami-Dade and has its own brand: “Redland Raised.” Farms in the Redland are family owned, and some of the most popular are the strawberry farms. You can find several you-pick-it strawberry farms, but even if you don’t want to pick fruit, you might like this: Somehow over the years, the strawberry farms started competing in creating delicious fresh-fruit milkshakes.

One strawberry farm has achieved fame in a different category: Cinnamon rolls. The Knaus family has operated a farm and bakery in the Redland for 50 years. When the storefront farm stand opens for the season in late October, folks start lining up.

The cinnamon rolls are dense, rich and gooey and people go to extraordinary lengths to buy them. Because Knaus Berry Farm is closed on Sundays, there is always a long line on Saturdays. On the busiest Saturdays, people will line up 150 deep and wait 60 to 90 minutes to buy those rolls. (There is a separate line for milkshakes and produce and it is far shorter.) To avoid the wait, visit Monday to Friday.

The folks who run the farm look Amish, with bonnets, long beards and plain cotton clothes. They’re not; they’re members of the German-origin Church of the Brethren, often called Dunkers because they believe in full-immersion baptism. Knaus Berry sells a variety of baked items, including pecan rolls, guava pies, key lime pies, cheesecake, brownies and cookies. Here’s a full Florida Rambler story on Knaus Berry Farm.

Knaus Berry Farm and Bakery
15980 SW 248th Street (Coconut Palm Drive)
Homestead
305-247-0668
Open Oct. 26, 2021 through mid-April, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., closed Sunday.

Other Redland strawberry farms offers milkshakes, fruit and other products, such as jams and jellies, and are open on Sundays.

Phil’s Berry Farm: Phil’s touts on its website that a key attraction is its lack of long lines. That’s understandable – it’s on the same street at the Knaus Berry Farm. Phil’s is also open year-round and instead of cinnamon rolls, its specialty is monkey bread.
13955 SW 248th Street
Homestead
(305) 905-2284

A historic village in the Redlands under a canopy of tropical trees

Cauley Square grew up around the railroad depot in 1903. The historic buildings and homes are now filled with shops, galleries and restaurants, all clustered under a canopy of tropical trees. It’s a popular wedding venue. The shopping is not extensive; but Cauley Square is worth a short visit. Among the shops:

• The Tea Room restaurant consists of a series of rooms each decorated to achieve maximum preciousness; it’s known for its spiced tea enjoyed hot or cold and lunch sandwiches and salads.
• The Latin Corner is a colorful little yellow hut under the trees that serves Cuban coffee, sandwiches, and juices enjoyed at open-air tables.
• The Village Chalet restaurant, known for its romantic charm.

Cauley Square Historic Village
22400 Old Dixie Highway, Goulds

Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

Fruit and Spice Park is devoted to exotic fruits

The Redland is all about growing things and so is this county park. At Fruit and Spice Park, you can see edible foods that don’t grow anywhere else in the United States – from 75 kinds of bananas and 160 types of mango to things you’ve probably never heard of, like black sapote, eggfruit and marula.

Visitors are surprised that you don’t just look at the fruit: There are always samples to try, starting in the visitor center and continuing on the guided tram tours. On the tours, stops are frequent, allowing you to walk among the trees and sometimes pluck fruit. If you like learning about plants, you’ll find this tour quite interesting. And every time you visit, you’ll find different exotic fruit ripening and blossoming.

Guided tours are conducted every day at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Park admission:  $10 per adult, $3 per child 6 to 11, and children under 6 are free. Picnic facilities are available and there is a good restaurant in the complex.

The park is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Fruit and Spice Park
24801 South West 187th Ave.
Homestead

Stunning orchids everywhere at RF Orchids

Orchids love the climate in south Miami-Dade and the Redland is home several orchid growers. RF Orchids is a magnet for visitors because of its captivating gardens and its award-winning blooms. (It has won more than 1,000 American Orchid Society awards in 30 years.)  Here, orchids grow in the trees, in the ground, around fountains and peeking out of every crevice.

The best part: Robert Fuchs, the president of RF Orchids, leads free tours through the gardens that surround his adjoining private residence on weekends at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fuchs is himself “Redland Raised.” His great-grandfather bought this land in Florida in 1912. Fuchs was a middle-school art teacher who raised orchids on weekends until he started winning international awards for his orchids in the 1980s.

With a sense of humor that must have served him well as a teacher, Fuchs sprinkles his talk with anecdotes of Redland history, including a fascinating story about his personal experiences during  Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which devastated his property.

Today, his is the oldest South Florida orchid firm and he has decorated his orchid gardens like a tropical fantasy. In his backyard there is a fern-rimmed pond with an alligator named Wally and South American pacu fish. You expect Tarzan to come swinging through the trees. A Florida Rambler story on the tours at RF Orchids.

RF Orchids
28100 SW 182nd Avenue, Miami.
800-245-4570
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Garden tours 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, weather permitting. NOTE: Call ahead to check on the tour schedule.

Schnebly Redland’s Winery & Brewery: Florida-style wines

One of the biggest draws for visitors to the Redland is Miami-Dade’s first commercial winery, a place with sumptuous tropical landscaping, waterfalls and live music on weekends.  It’s a great setting for relaxing after a day of sightseeing in the Redland.

Schnebly Redland’s Winery makes wines without grapes, instead using tropical fruits such as mango, guava, avocado, lychee, and passion fruit.

One wine expert ranked the avocado wine among the most interesting Florida-made wines he has tasted. Stephen Brown writes about it in Naples Illustrated:

“AvoVino is highly aromatic, with avocado peel being the most notable smell. When you first taste it, you are immediately presented with something different: it’s off-dry, no real sweetness to it, with medium body. There is a slight mineral taste which is countered nicely the acidity, making for a pretty balanced wine.”

Brown also liked the lychee dessert wine.

The craft beers here are well-regarded, too. Big Rod Coconut Ale gets the good reviews, and there are a variety of other interesting options.

Schnebly Redland’s Winery
30205 SW 217th Ave.
Homestead
888-717-WINE

Exotic fruit, fresh vegetables and even emu

Stopping at Robert Is Here, a funky Florida fruit just outside Everglades National Park, is a 50-year tradition for park visitors. The classic thing to do is have a mouth-puckering key lime shake. But the choice of fresh-fruit shakes is vast and includes such unusual options as a canistel mango shake, a blacksapote banana shake or one made with sapodilla and pineapple.

The milk shakes are made to order with fresh fruit, and, at busy times, you’ll stand in line, place your order and wait for your number to be called.

And that’s fine. Because you’ll want to soak up the ambiance of this fruit stand, not to mention the samples of free exotic fruits scattered throughout — from the scary looking Monstera Deliciosa (looks like a pale green banana with lizard-like scales) to lychees and persimmon and kumquat. Here’s a Florida Rambler story on Robert is Here.

Robert Is Here
19200 SW 344th St.
Florida City
305-246-1592
Hours: 8 a.m. to 7  p.m. daily. Closed in September and October.

Note: Some Redland spots are open only in winter, so check hours and days open ahead.

What’s near the Redland?

Everglades National Park, of course, is a key destination. Here’s a Florida Rambler guide filled with useful visitor tips. We advise that there’s an excellent visitor’s center and if you want to see wildlife, take the Anhinga Trail,  which is four miles beyond the visitor’s center.   Beyond that, there are many excellent places to hike and paddle, as well as a great boat tour on Florida Bay at the end of the road in Flamingo.

Lodging when touring the Redland

There is camping in Everglades National Park, of course, and the park now offers eco-tents in Flamingo.

Other things to do in the Redland area:

• Biscayne National Park is close and there is an interesting and scenic boat tour to Boca Chita on weekends. The Florida Rambler report on visiting Biscayne National Park. 
• I’ve never visited Coral Castle Museum, but it has quite the story and visitors like it.
• The Homestead Speedway, where NASCAR and other cars race, is located here.