Catching Up with Peter Burkard

One of eight “founding farmers” of the Sarasota Farmers’ Market, Peter Burkard retired from the market in 2018 after 40 years—but he certainly hasn’t retired his green thumb.

Each week, Burkard emails about 300 loyal customers, many of whom fell in love with his hyper-local honey, produce, eggs, and live plants over decades of stops by the Nature’s Partner booth at the farmers’ market. His jocular updates let customers know what’s fresh from his one-and-a-half-acre homestead, tucked back in a quiet neighborhood near the Sarasota-Manatee county divide.

“When people ask me if I miss the market nowadays, probably the main thing I do miss is the social aspect,” Burkard says. “How many deep conversations do you get to have at a Publix? Whereas at the market, it’s a community. The kind of people who attend farmers’ markets are usually my kind of people.”

These days, mangoes are Burkard’s passion. He’s currently rearing a dozen varieties of dwarf and semi-dwarf trees. Mangoes ripen as early as the end of May, with the latest varieties coming in through September, and Burkard’s goal is to harvest fruit all season long.

There’s only one drawback, which Burkard confesses with a droll smile: “They kind of tie you down if you like to travel in the summer, like my wife does. She has a love-hate relationship with the mangoes.”

Burkard seeks out mangoes prized for fabulous flavor and stringless texture. His mini-grove of mature trees includes highly popular varieties such as Pickering and Angie, as well as rarities and niche interests. The Venus produces large, perfectly globular fruit, while the heirloom Cogshall is one of the original dwarf cultivars that originated in the 1940s, right here in Southwest Florida, from a seed planted on Pine Island.

“The kind of people who attend farmers’ markets are usually my kind of people.”

Burkard’s honey is also remarkable, not just for the flavor of the different varieties (which in the winter include Brazilian pepper, cabbage palm, and wildflower). He also prices his honey affordably, from $5 half-pints up to $50 for multiple gallons.

“I respect the fact that people have to come out here for just maybe one item—that I appreciate,” he says. “It’s not as easy as going to a grocery store or even a vegetable stand, where you can get a lot of different things.”

Although his business has become more bespoke, Burkard keeps his hands in the dirt for the same reasons that first inspired him to start digging.

“It’s a pathway to health, both personal and planetary health. People talk about the advantages of local and fresh food— well, there’s nothing more local than what comes out of your backyard. Nothing more fresh and healthy,” Burkard says.

Growing food to share with his community contributes to Burkard’s spiritual health, too.

“I’m just trying to actualize who I am deep down as a human being, to be content with my life and my lifestyle,” Burkard explains. “I look at a lot of people in society, and they don’t seem happy because their day-to-day lives are not fulfilling their deep nature of who they are as a human being, as an individual. I try to make that a reality.”

Edible Sarasota’s previous catch-up with Peter Burkard ended with the advice to “be like Peter.” Our recommendation stands.