Grow Inn Homes

05/30/2026

The Velvet Apple, a tropical fruit covered in velvet with a smell nobody expects! 🍎

Also known as mabolo or kamagong, it is one of the strangest fruits we’ve ever come across

When fully ripe, the fruit gives off a strong aroma that some people compare to aged cheese

But once you peel back the fuzzy velvet skin, the inside reveals a soft, creamy flesh with flavors similar to peach, banana, and berry yogurt

One trick people use is chilling the fruit in the refrigerator first, which helps calm down the strong smell before opening it

Velvet apple trees are related to persimmons and belong to the ebony tree family

The wood from these trees is incredibly dense and valuable, which sadly led to overharvesting in parts of the Philippines

According to Filipino folklore, Chief Lapu-Lapu used a lance carved from velvet apple tree ironwood during the famous Battle of Mactan in 1521

The combination of strange aroma, creamy fruit, and legendary history makes this one of the most unique tropical fruits we’ve learned about

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/30/2026

A Grow Inn Home Townhouse is becoming available for rent starting July 1! An updated 2 story townhome with 2 bedrooms and 1 and half bathrooms. Comment below for more info.

Some of the fruit trees we planted here are mangos, avocado, bananas, sugar apple, jackfruit, and more!

05/30/2026

Florida Native Plants turning our properties into pollinator magnets! 🌺

Sunshine mimosa has become one of our favorite native ground covers

The bright pink flowers stay covered with bees moving from bloom to bloom all day long

Firebush is another native we love

White scorpion tail stands out too with curled flowers that attract butterflies and beneficial insects everywhere

One of the most interesting native trees is the gumbo limbo, also known as the tourist tree because of its peeling red bark

Its sap has traditionally been used to help soothe skin irritation and bug bites

Sea grapes help protect coastlines from erosion

And when saw palmettos flower, the bees go crazy and produce rich dark honey that Florida is famous for

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/28/2026

Shampoo Ginger, a tropical flower that works like a bottle of natural shampoo!

To grow your own shampoo, simply comment the word “Shampoo”, visit the link in our Bio, or go to shop.growinnhomes.com/products/shampoo-ginger-root

When these red pine cone shaped flowers are squeezed, they release a fresh ginger scented liquid that works as a natural shampoo and conditioner

Shampoo ginger has become one of our favorite understory plants, we rather grow this instead of weeds!

During the winter, the stems die back while the underground rhizomes stay protected below the soil

As soon as the warm weather and summer rains return, fresh green stalks shoot back up from the ground

By summertime, the bright red cones fill with fragrant liquid that can be harvested straight from the plant

These plants also can growl in pots for people living in colder climates

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/28/2026

Have you ever heard of a White Sapote?

For more information on our FREE growing food at home guide, comment the word “Grow” or visit sevendayfoodgarden.com

This rare fruit from Central America has a creamy texture similar to avocado with flavors of banana, peach, pear, and vanilla

Even though it’s called a sapote, the white sapote is actually a distant cousin of citrus

The Aztecs once used the leaves and seeds as a traditional remedy to help with sleep and relaxation

Once established, these trees produce heavy harvests and handle dry conditions surprisingly well

The fruit bruises easily because of its delicate skin, which is one reason most grocery stores never carry them

One thing we always remember is to scoop the fruit out carefully because the skin contains a bitter oil

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/28/2026

Did you konw this is the fruit that helped invent the first chewing gum?

This tropical fruit is called Sapodilla, also known as Chico, Nispero, or the Brown Sugar fruit

The ripe fruit tastes like caramel, brown sugar, and a ripe pear all mixed together

Sapodillas are some of the sweetest fruits in the world and can reach incredibly high sugar levels when ripe

Long before modern chewing gum existed, people harvested the tree’s milky sap called chicle

Thomas Adams originally brought sapodilla sap to the United States while searching for a cheap rubber alternative

When the rubber experiment failed, sugar was added to the sap and the chewing gum industry was born

Over time, companies stopped using natural chicle and switched to synthetic plastic based ingredients instead

Modern chewing gum is now made with ingredients similar to synthetic rubbers and plastics rather than tree sap

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/27/2026

Check out our latest YouTube Video: 3 food growing tips we got in the beginning stages of this journey 🌱

For more information on our products, please visit the link in our Bio or go to https://shop.growinnhomes.com

https://youtu.be/kNSbpXuat7E?si=1jhhG8IZUV4gXfAe

Here is a walk through of our home food forrest. This is the first ...

05/27/2026

Check out our new YouTube video out now: Growing Our Own Food Instead of Grass | Our Home Food Forest Tour 🏡

Comment the word “Video” to get the link to watch our newest YouTube video!

For more information on our all natural propagations, please visit the link in our Bio or go to shop.growinnhomes.com

Back in 2020, tasting rare tropical fruits for the first time inspired us to start growing our own food at home

This was the first property where we really began learning how to turn a normal yard into a productive food forest

Instead of focusing on perfect grass, we started planting fruit trees, roots, support plants, pollinator flowers, and ground covers together

We like growing food using an organized forest style called agroforestry

Different layers of plants work together to create shade, mulch, nutrients, pollinator habitat, and food all in the same space

Little by little, this property started transforming from mostly lawn into something much more alive and productive

We still have a ton to learn, but documenting the journey and seeing the progress has been one of the most rewarding parts

Our vision is to eventually supply people all over the country with premium plant propagations shipped right to their door…

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/26/2026

Our first Watermelon harvest on our new farm was way bigger than expected 🍉

After about 90 days from seed, this watermelon was finally ready to harvest and weighed in at 23 pounds!

One of the signs we look for is that creamy yellow sun spot forming on the bottom of the fruit

The stem was still a little green, but this was the ripest melon growing in the whole row and we were ready to eat one

The moment we cut it open, the entire inside was yellow and loaded with seeds

Sweet seeded watermelons straight off the vine taste completely different from store bought melons

We’re already saving the seeds and getting ready to plant even more watermelon on the farm next year

Watching an entire row fill up with giant melons has been one of the coolest parts of starting this property

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿

05/26/2026

Golden Pineapples grown at home taste nothing like grocery store pineapples…🍍

For more information on our FREE growing food at home guide, comment the word “Grow” or visit https://www.sevendayfoodgarden.com/

Our pineapples start from the top twisted off a store bought fruit

After planting it in the ground, it grew into a beautiful golden pineapple about a year later

Most grocery store pineapples are picked early because fully ripe pineapples become too soft to ship long distances

Pineapples stop getting sweeter the moment they are picked off the plant

That’s why a fully ripe homegrown pineapple tastes completely different from the ones sold in stores

We like planting pineapple tops in spots with morning sun, afternoon shade, and a good layer of mulch

Once established, pineapples have become one of the easiest and lowest maintenance fruits we grow

The wait can feel long, but harvesting a pineapple grown from your own yard makes it worth it

Follow for more food growing and real estate tips 🏡

We buy fixer-upper real estate and grow food on our rental properties. We believe growing food is a gateway to healthier habits 🌿