Daily Loaf

Looking for something green-related to do this weekend? Look no further than our own Green Community Calendar.

Join the Seminole Heights Community Garden to plant a garden in honor of 9/11- Saturday, September 12. The Seminole Heights Community Gardens has teamed up with Green Florida to plant a native and edible garden for a local community member in honor of those lost eight years ago on 9/11. The event will take place this Saturday, September 12th and SHCG are looking for volunteers to to help with setting up the garden and asking for donations from local community groups. If you know of anyone who would be a good candidate for a donated garden or you would like more information about volunteering,  please contact Robin at  robin@greenerpixels.com.

Ellenton Farmers Market- Saturdays; 8 am – 1 pm. Ellenton Farmers’ Market will be the largest year-round market in florida that specializes in “green” natural, organic and environmentally friendly products that makes for a healthier lifestyle and a better environment. Located just North of the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton, Florida (exit 224, Old Exit 43, off I – 75).

Dunedin Green Market- Saturday, September 12; 8 am- 12 pm. The Dunedin Green Market is located in Pioneer Park at the cross streets of Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Dunedin and runs the second Saturday of every month until October.

Saturday Summer Market- every Saturday through September 19; 9 am-1pm. Brought to you by the Saturday Morning Market, this market features the same great vendors (food, crafts, art) as the original market, but this one’s in the shade of the Mahaffey Theatre parking garage. 400 1st St S., St. Petersburg. (which is just 2-3 block south of our current location at Al Lang stadium).
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The Seminole Heights Community Gardens has teamed up with Green Florida to plant a native and edible garden for a local community member in honor of those lost eight years ago on 9/11. The event will take place this Saturday, September 12th and SHCG are looking for volunteers to to help with setting up the garden and asking for donations from local community groups.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

Cool-N-Save: An eco-friendly energy saver for your air conditioning unit (Video): Jennifer Meier writes about how the Cool-n-SaveTM system affixes to the top of most home air conditioning units, resulting in a substantial drop in ambient temperature of up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The Cool-N-Save(TM) system has also been rated by the US Department of Energy and EPA as an Energy Star Partner.

Signs of hope: are our environmental efforts making a difference?: Linda Taylor shows us an example of how environmental efforts can make a difference, even if they take years to come to fruition.
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Looking for something green-related to do this weekend? Look no further than our own Green Community Calendar.

Guided Canoe Trip at Weedon Island Preserve- Friday, June 12. Take this opportunity to explore a portion of the south canoe trail at Weedon Island Preserve. This trail offers a rare look at some of the aquatic ecosystems that make west-central Florida so special. Trained canoe guides lead you through mangrove stands and over seagrass and oyster beds, while pointing out various flora and fauna that live here. If you have never explored the Preserve from the water, this is an exciting opportunity you don’t want to miss! The cost for this unique experience is $14.02 per person plus tax ($15 total) or $28.04 per canoe plus tax ($30 total) (maximum of 3 people per canoe). Spaces fill quickly, and pre-registration is required. Minimum age: Children must be 6 years old or older and all minors must be accompanied by an adult. Call(727) 453-6500 for more information and to register. Weedon Island Preserve- 1500 Weedon Dr NE, St Petersburg.

Dutch Approach to Climate Change: A Dialogue with Tampa Bay- Friday, June 12. To open a dialogue on knowledge exchange between the Tampa Bay region and the Dutch water sector on approaches to adapt our cities and infrastructure to potential consequences of climate change. Target audience: Water resource managers, urban planners, utility managers, municipal administrators, infrastructure engineers, members of Tampa Bay community. Gain new insight into how the integration of water management, land use planning, infrastructure engineering and hazard planning can prepare Tampa Bay for potential consequences of climate change. For questions related to workshop content, please contact Dr. Daniel Yeh (dhyeh@eng.usf.edu ) 813.974.4746. Please also see the site for the latest agenda. The event is free but registration is required due to limited seating. Please RSVP: Ms. Bessie Skoures (bskoures@cas.usf.edu ) 813-974-1256. Gibbons Alumni Center, University of South Florida, Tampa.
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Community gardeners and their supporters have a lot to celebrate in the Tampa Bay area this year: ordinances allowing community gardens in St. Pete, Tarpon Springs, Safety Harbor, Seminole Heights, Ybor, and Holiday (among others).

Don’t miss Green Florida’s 2nd Annual Summer Shuffle Event this Saturday June 13th, from 7:00 – 11:00 pm at the Mirror Lake Shuffleboard Courts, 559 Mirror Lake Drive in St Petersburg.
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This past Saturday more than 30 volunteers from Green Florida came together to install front yard gardens at two homes in the community.  But these weren’t just any gardens and they weren’t just any homes.

The gardens are in memory of 8-year old Paris Whitehead-Hamilton, a Bartlett Park, St Petersburg resident who was killed by gun violence this past April.  Paris Gardens are front-yard gardens in her memory, and they are planned for homes throughout the neighborhood, making up sustainable landscapes of Florida native plants, fruit and vegetable plants. The first two gardens were installed at the homes of Paris’ grandmother and godmother.
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The horrifying and tragic shooting death of 8-year old Paris Whitehead Hamilton this past month sparked a wellspring of grief and outrage among neighbors in Bartlett Park’s south St. Petersburg neighborhood.  In a move to heal and renew the community, members of Green Florida have launched a new project in Paris’ memory to transform front yards in the neighborhood into gardens integrating Florida native plants and vegetables.

Working with residents, including Paris Whitehead Hamilton’s family members, the first Paris Gardens are being designed with donated soil, plants and volunteer labor to take dying grass lawns and replace them with drought tolerant landscaping and money-saving vegetable gardens.  “Our neighborhoods need to provide for our needs!  The Paris Gardens can help provide food, work and job training opportunities, a way for neighbors to get to know each other, water savings and a beautiful, peaceful place to live”,  says Andrea Hildebran of Green Florida and Bartlett Park Community Garden.

Green Florida Potluck Supper and Organizing Meeting – Wednesday, May 13th, 6:00 pm Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago punk rockers Alkaline Trio (pictured, photo by Cindy Frey) came into their own right around the time that the emo-punk sound was overtaking the airwaves in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Alk3 (as called by their fans) have carved out quite the niche, with six studio albums (the latest 2008’s Agony and Irony) and much loving ink from publications like Rolling Stone and Spin. The band is supported by Saves the Day. 7 p.m., Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, $21.

Stageworks presents a staged reading of Radio Ball, the most recent winner of the company’s coveted Longjohns Florida Playwright Award, an initiative that seeks out and recognizes emerging Florida playwrights. The story follows a college baseball pitcher on the edge of a professional breakthrough, a Japanese-American girl who pines to be a baseball sensation, and their unlikely adventures. 7 p.m., Shimberg Playhouse at TBPAC, Tampa, $5, 813-229-7827, tbpac.org. (Franki Weddington)

Environmental specialist Joseph Malki presents “Florida is Going Long for Green,” a discussion about Florida’s green achievements, and the global shift to sustainability in cities, businesses and more. 7 p.m., Tarpon Springs Heritage Museum Tarpon Springs, free.

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St Pete City Council’s Public Safety and Infrastructure Committee went to work last Thursday towards adding language to their zoning regulations about community gardens.  Given that more and more people want to grow their own food and green up their neighborhoods these days, it may come as a shock that technically speaking, right now community gardens are not actually allowed.

Like most cities in Florida, St Petersburg’s zoning doesn’t have any provisions for community gardening at all.  Happily, in St Pete this appears to be an oversight — unsurprising given how few long-term community gardens have existed in the state of Florida.  City staff have readily provided temporary use permits to the Bartlett Park Community Garden over the last year (the Azalea garden on 22nd Ave. N is on city park land and doesn’t require permitting).  But more garden projects are in the works all over the city and it will help a great deal to have a more standardized process for getting them established.

If the city can move fast, St Pete could be on the upside of the curve.  Similar ordinances are in the works in places like Safety Harbor and Tampa (Tarpon Springs already passed theirs last year).  In fact, these others are looking at adding community gardens to their comprehensive plans as well as their zoning regulations, which could be really helpful as community gardens become recognized as both a necessity (for food during a recession) and a desirable neighborhood asset (studies show they raise property values and stabilize residency). Read the rest of this entry »

Andrea Deszo contemplates her garden

It’s hard work starting up a community garden. Here in Bartlett Park we’re so proud that our garden is one year old this weekend.  For twelve months, more than a hundred volunteers have hauled dirt, mulch, water, compost, plants, food, chairs, fencing, pvc pipes and friends out to 1443 Highland Street South in St Petersburg to take a vacant lot from bare to bountiful, from scary to sublime, from dangerous to delicious.

We were guided by visions of fresh tomatoes, homemade pesto, beans and collard greens, as well as cookouts and gardening workshops. The concrete, garbage and weeds were all cleared with the intention of creating a beautiful space in the midst of a neighborhood that’s seen a lot of hard times. We’ve worked every single Saturday for a year. You can check out Lara Cerri’s photo montage about the garden in the St Pete Times here to see some of the action. [Editor's Note: And check out the garden's Creative Loafing Best of the Bay award here.] Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, Andrea Hildebran told Creative Loafing that she hoped the seeds she helped plant in St. Pete’s Best of the Bay-winning Bartlett Park Community Garden would lead to more than just some beautiful green vegetables. She envisioned similar urban community gardens flourishing all over Tampa Bay.

That movement seems to be taking root. Earlier this week, more than 60 people met to form a permanent network of urban community gardens throughout the city of Tampa in conjunction with Green Florida, the nonprofit that Hildebran and her partners formed in Bartlett Park. Read the rest of this entry »