AGRICULTURE
was more drawn to experimenting with growing many varieties
of fruits and veggies as well as grafting.
“As children, my little sister and I ate fruits from the trees
during recess at school,” Bellezza says, “They were so delicious
and we later found out they were loquats. The loquat
tree was the first I ever grafted.”
Bellezza says that grafting sounds scarier and more intimidating
than it actually is. He watched videos, read books
and experimented heavily in order to perfect the process. He
has two grafted loquat trees in his yard that produce several
varieties on each tree.
“My next-door neighbor noticed how many papayas I had
and I gladly gifted him some,” Bellezza says, “Not too long
after, they started giving me sugar cane stalks as soon as they
were sweet and ready.”
SPREADING THE SEEDS AROUND
Bellezza began to post to a local gardening Facebook group
offering to give away extra plants or searching for trades. His
neighbors noticed the many seedlings he was growing and
Bellezza started to trade or gift them.
The many seedlings Bellezza was growing turned into mature,
fruiting plants. With so many trees on property, Bellezza
says he had what he described as a nursery.
In the beginning of 2021, Bellezza was meeting with neighbors
Bill and Bev Smith to give them some plants. After finding
out he was still in the insurance business, Bellezza was
invited over to assist them in choosing new policies. After
a lot of conversation, Bev Smith asked if Bellezza would be
willing to help with some yard work given his plant knowledge.
The idea of turning this hobby into a career launched >>
Bellezza says as his gardening interest increased, he become more aware
of what his family, first row, left to right, Myla and Alayna; and second row,
wife, Amanda and Tyce, were eating and buying from the grocery store.
18 Port St. Lucie Magazine
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