By Lisa Gartner | Tampa Bay Times |
After almost 100 years, the last commercial grove in Tampa Bay is closing
ODESSA – The trees were so heavy with oranges that their limbs stooped to the ground, the scent of their blossoms distracting drivers who rolled their windows down. Their branches were so thick with leaves and clumped with fruit that deer would tangle their antlers in them. Adam Burchenal couldn’t say no 11 years ago when his grandfather offered him a job here, at Cee Bee’s Citrus Emporium.