Lettuce Share

No more waiting until the weekend for fresh local produce - the Phillippi Farmhouse market is now open Wednesdays from noon until dusk.  It was supposed to open in November, but the county-sponsored market violated a county law - oops!  The county changed the law, and the market opened last Wednesday.  Oops again, I forgot!  I remembered today as did half the city.  It was packed - there had to be seventy-five cars in the parking lot with a constant stream of traffic coming and going.  Here are a few of the reasons why locals were slowing traffic on US 41 today:

My Sarasota strawberries are soaking in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar as we speak…mmm…vinegar and berries…weird and delicious!  I bought them from Bayside Farm - a family owned and operated Sarasota farm.  They were also selling sweet corn, bell peppers, green onions, and cabbage.  The tomatoes and avocados are from Brown’s Grove.  Although these aren’t them, Brown’s grows and sells heirloom tomatoes.  Look for those around May.  I went a different route with my tomato and lettuce buying today and bought some seedlings from Vision Horticulture.

The recent cold snap lightened their inventory, but they were able to save the Roma and grape tomatoes, romaine lettuce and collard greens.  Here are my two picks - romaine lettuce and grape tomatoes.

The seedlings were probably the deal of the day - 3 for $1.  But maybe not…my bag was pretty full for having only spent $10.

If you can get over there, definitely check this market out.  If you can’t, there’s always Saturday’s market downtown and Sunday’s market in Siesta Key Village.  For more information on the downtown farmers market, check out my latest article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

I thought the white moss hanging like icicles was going to be as close as I got to winter this year; my mums might disagree.

It was 32 degrees when I walked outside this morning.  I could see my breath when taking these pictures!  Bay News 9 reports that Tampa hit a record low of 28 degrees last night.  They have us beat by a degree.  In January 1981 the temperature dropped to 29 degrees in Sarasota.

Governor Christ has declared a state of emergency - not for the crazed and cold Floridians who have no idea how to scrape ice off their windshields but for the fruit and citrus farmers who are in danger of losing their crops.  I covered the peppers last night…

…and Luke.

With his runny nose and his itty-bitty shivering bones, he’d like to tell the Arctic to take their air back.  He didn’t pant through the summer to have an average high of 52 degrees.

Today is a very special day…drums are rolling from here to Ireland…it’s Ubermommy’s birthday!  Since she’s off on her most uber adventure, I had to get creative with her birthday gifts this year.  First, flowers from my garden…

Shooting Star

Salvia

Ixora

And second, a personalized nursery rhyme inspired by my children’s literature class and possibly too much pinot grigio.

There once was a baby named Stacy.

Her mother appeared a bit crazy.

She taped bows to her head

When she got out of bed

To hide the bald little baby.

Stacy grew tall with a full head of hair,

Her eyes shaped like almonds and skin so fair.

She moved to an Irish farm

With her American charm

And won over the cow, goat, and mare.

Happy Birthday!

For those of you outside the family - true story.  Our mother really did tape bows to her bald little head!

9:30 was a misprint; the class is at 10:30.  Call 861-9900 to register - it’s free!  This is the class description from the Extension’s schedule: 

“Third Saturdays” Class on Organic Vegetable Gardening

September 19, 2009 10:30am - Sat

Robert Kluson, Ph.D.

Extension Agent

Agriculture/Natural Resources

Laurel Community Garden, Laurel Park

509 Collins Rd., Laurel

This is part of a series of monthly classes about organic vegetable gardening for growing your own food. Today’s topic is “Overview of Organic Vegetable Gardening.” (1.5 hours)

Check out the weather widget, people - 85 degrees at noon!  My plants are no longer drooped into the dirt and I took a walk yesterday without sweating!  These are good signs for my motivation and future fall garden.  I just signed up for an organic gardening overview through the Sarasota County Extension.   That should get me geared up and ready to go.  The class is at Laurel Park on Saturday at either 9:30 or 10:30am.  Sheila will let me know, and I’ll let you know.   

Sarasota County is going to start selling rain barrels!  At first I thought the $37 per barrel was a little steep.  I heard the county was giving them away at one point, and I saw a pair of them for $20 at the Lakewood Ranch garage sale.  But as John would say, “That’s the garage sale in cuckoo town.”  Nothing short of a car costs more than a dollar.  Under normal shopping conditions, $37 now seems to be a good price.  The kits Manatee County Utilities sell cost $39, and they’re kits…requiring assembly.  You know how I feel about unnecessary steps.  If I had the money, I’d scrap both plain Jane options and go for one that doubles as a planter.  Like anything else, you can spend as little or as much as you want.  Craig’s List has them starting at $10.  On the high-end, I saw one absolutely hideous option that cost $942.50.  It holds 300 gallons but looks like a gigantic, over-toasted, misshapen marshmallow.  No thanks, I’ll keep my imaginary thousand dollars. 

This is the set up outside City Hall.  I don’t know the square footage, but it’s a large roof.  Only three could fit in the collage, but they actually have five hooked together.  This must save them a ton on their water bill.  A one inch rainfall can yield 1,000 gallons of water from a 2,000 square-foot roof!

Vandals struck the corner of my garden last night.  Don Juan, a sumptuous red rose and the centerpiece of the corner, suffered the most damage.  After a half-assed investigation, the possible suspects have been narrowed down to a green june beetle, a slug, or a rogue garden gnome that got his hands on a hole punch.   

I can’t get enough of this video.  It’s so amazing that I had to share - too bad those Colorado residents don’t feel the same way.  I’d be telling everyone, and John would probably be charging an entrance fee!