Vampires, Piña Coladas, and Comida.

  Tropical Cuba is the perfect place for agricultural abundance! Blessed with astonishingly fertile soil, endless growing seasons, powerful sun, and equally powerful rain, growth is inevitable.  
    Unfortunately, this does not mean that Cuba is the utopia of diverse produce that I had envisioned. Nope, the days dreaming of all types of veggies, fruits, spices, roots, legumes, and so on... are just that dreams.
   The reality of produce in Cuba is much more specific, and barely fills a shopping list; potatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, pineapple, bananas, papaya, guava, avocado and the occasional tomato, squash and eggplant. Although limited the produce that is available is produces in high abundance, and high quality. 

The usual abundance of garlic at the local agro in Camguey.

     For example there is enough garlic for sale, to extinguish a whole army of vampires. From the massive strings for sale in the agros, to the daily street vendors shouting "aaaaaajjjjjjjooooo! Se Vende aaaajjjjoooo!!!" Garlic is available year round, 24/7, in abundance. 

Pineapples for sale in Camaguey . 10mn for each one equals about .50 cents in USD.  

  Pineapple is also a staple crop, prominent throughout agros and street vendors. Although the Piña Coladas are made from anything but fresh pineapple, they make the perfect breakfast.

Sweet Oranges for sale. 

 Fall is citrus season in Cuba. Everything from oranges to grapefruits to lemons, limes, mandarins, and countless other nameless varieties are overflowing the vendors carts.

Particularly fresh tomatoes

Agro 19 & B is known as being the most expensive vendor to buy produce, yet it often has the freshest produce in Havana. On a lucky day I was able to find everything from carrots, to grapes, to tomatoes, and even the rare MAMEY!

Carrots and grapes are rare at agros, reflected in their high prices: $1 a pound

It would be monkey heaven!

Bananas are always for sale, often stacked in layers, they come in sweet varieties ready to eat, cooking varieties that are starchier, and frying varieties that make delicious platino chips.

THE SIZE OF YOUR FACE
 Avocados (literally the size of your face) are constituently available produce throughout Cuba. Though Havana hosts the largest Catalina species, one variety or another can can be found anywhere.