History of Brook Hollow Farm:
Jeff Annis moved to this property in 1966. The property had many orange groves, a lake, and a beautiful brook passing through. Jeff's mother named the property "Brook Hollow," the namesake of Brook Hollow Farm. In 1984, Jeff purchased the property from his family, planted new orange trees, married his wife Ellen, built a new house, and raised a family of his own. The
groves were healthy and very productive until around 2010 when the orange groves suffered from "greening," which affected many other Florida citrus groves at that time. Jeff and Ellen decided they wanted to preserve the land and continue to use it for agriculture. They decided to open a U-pick farm, selling strawberries, because there isn't another strawberry farm in the immediate area where customers can get them fresh off the plants. They chose to grow the plants using vertical hydroponic farming so they could grow fruits (and vegetables) in a more natural and pure way, using less water, less acreage, and less chemicals. Hydroponics is a method of getting the exact nutrients directly into each plant on a regular basis. Plants are not grown in dirt, but utilize a mixture of Vermiculite and Pearlite as their soil which is planted in containers above the ground. This reduces the possibilities of insects and ground borne diseases and eliminates the use of strong pesticides and other chemicals that remain in the fruit. This makes the fruit grow faster and bigger, produce more, look better, and taste better. Brook Hollow Farm grows the following fruits and vegetables seasonally:
*4 varieties of Strawberries
*Thornless Blackberries
*Multiple varieties of tomatoes
*Spinach
*Zucchini
*Yellow squash
*Kale
*Jalapeno peppers
*Green peppers
*Multiple varieties of lettuce
*Watermelon
*Cantaloupe
*Green beans
*Cucumbers
