Tag Archives: Phillippi Farmhouse Market

Visit the Honey Bees at Phillippi Estate Park

Posted by Lesley on May 18, 2011 2 comments

Yesterday’s discovery was fleas; today it was bees.  I woke up this Wednesday morning with a craving for a hot, homemade donut…too bad it’s May.  The Phillippi Farmhouse Market only runs November through April, but I forgot that, so a trip to the market turned into a nature walk.  Running into this sign made up for the donut disappointment.

Another bonus was a healthier breakfast - an egg bought from King Family Farm and Market.  Colorful eggs are the best kind; this one had a blue shell and an orange yolk.       

To visit the bees, walk the Hammock Trail at Phillippi Estate Park in Sarasota, Florida.  Find the flagged tree and look up.

Soap Making with Bees

Posted by Lesley on April 14, 2011 2 comments

My obsession with soap continues.  Everything around me is a possible scent or dye.  My most recent inspiration came from a few wilting sunflowers.

The initial allure was the bright yellow color, but my next thought was that maybe it’ll be good for my skin.  If you don’t have allergies, pollen is seemingly good for you.  It’s marketed that way at least, but that’s why I’m not completely convinced.  So while I won’t spend a bunch of money to buy pollen in pill form, it does make perfect sense to add it to some soap.  Why not? 

The picture above is proof that bees visited the sunflowers that provided the pollen, but it still isn’t considered bee pollen.  Bee pollen is taken straight from the bees.  It’s the pollen that sticks to their bodies as they fly from flower to flower.  Although it does seem rather unlikely that a few particals from the bees aren’t mixed in. 

Flower pollen is also bottled and sold, albeit to a lesser degree.  The only information I could find on either one that didn’t appear to be an advertisement was on WebMD.  While the article states, “Bee pollen contains vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, and protein,” it also says, after listing a series of product claims, “At this point, medical research has not shown that bee pollen is effective for any of these health concerns.” 

Good thing the fluorescent lemon color is enough for me.  It’s absolutely brilliant.  And the only other additive in the soap is something the bees were sure to have had a hand in – honey, and to be more specific, Sarasota raw and unfiltered honey from My Sweetest Honey off of Fruitville Road.  I bought my bottle at the Phillippi Farmhouse Market; it reads, “No heat, filtering or processing is ever used.  This is done in order to preserve its natural antioxidants, pollens, enzymes and flavor.”  Once again, I’m pleased with my ingredients and results.  Now let’s hope that lasts.  Remember my pretty, purple Amaryllis soap?

It faded to brown.

I have no idea what happened.  It was purple one day, brown the next.  Weird, but that’s how experiments go.  Now it’s on to the next bar; luckily, I just came across a recipe for rose water…

Upcoming Classes at Phillippi Mansion

Posted by Lesley on March 29, 2011 None comments

I had a blast learning how to keep bees last week, but the how-to on keeping chickens will have to wait.  Chicken 101 was sold out by the time I went to register.  It’s not surprising since the city passed an ordinance in January allowing residents to keep up to four chickens per backyard.  But no roosters allowed!  They can’t keep their beaks shut. 

Chicken 101 is being offered through the Sarasota County Extension office so expect more classes to be scheduled.  The four-hour class costs $15; I’ll post an update on Facebook and Twitter when they schedule another one. 

For now, check out a free class at Phillippi Mansion.  The mansion itself is a gorgeous and historic setting, but take some time afterward to walk the hammock trail, let the kids explore the exceptionally cool playground and/or shop the farmers market.  Even if you’re not local, it’s worth a day trip. 

Class Schedule

March 30, 2011 at noon
The Healthy Home
Betty Alpaugh, Education Specialist

Americans spend more than 90% of their time indoors where air quality is often ten times more polluted than outdoors.  Fortunately, this is one health risk that we can reduce by learning how to improve the environmental quality inside our homes.  This class will discuss how families can make their homes safer, healthier and more comfortable by choosing more sustainable materials and maintenance methods.  (1 hour class)

April 6, 2011 at noon
Herb Gardening
Robert Kluson, Ph.D., Extension Agent
 
Florida vegetable gardening includes many potential herb crops. Learn which herbs are best suited to Sarasota County and seasons. (1 hour class)

April 13, 2011 at noon
Irrigation Display and Demo
Angela Antonucci, Program Specialist
 
Do you know how your irrigation system works? If you did, you would know about the water savings you could have each and every month by becoming a “water wizard.” Learn how to calibrate and set your time clock and fix problems. (1 hour class)

April 20, 2011 at noon
Fruit Trees for Sarasota County
Robert Kluson, Ph.D., Extension Agent
 
Florida food gardening includes many potential fruit crops. Learn which fruits are best suited to Sarasota County and seasons. (1 hour class)

April 27, 2011 at noon
Turf Alternatives
Angelo Randaci, Extension Agent

Florida Friendly Landscaping means using low-maintenance plants and environmentally sustainable practices. We will explore options to turf that will create a beautiful landscape, while helping to protect Sarasota County’s natural resources.  (1 hour class)

Useful Links:

Before you go to the Phillippi Farmhouse Market…

Posted by Lesley on January 18, 2011 None comments

Check out their blog!  It’s great for planning your grocery list ahead of time; I’ll be buying lettuce and snap peas from Geraldson Community Farm tomorrow.  The blog has vendor information, entertainment line-ups, and menus.  It’s also a place for vendors to announce any specials they’re running.  Tomorrow’s special is 50 cents off per pound at Maggie’s Seafood, but get there early – it’s only available to the first fifteen customers.

And this mid-week market just keeps getting better!  In addition to the blog, they have partnered with the Sarasota County Extension to offer free gardening classes from 12 – 1, January through April.  Tomorrow’s class is Container Gardening.  And what’s even better than taking a free class is taking said free class in a historic mansion overlooking a rose garden and Phillippi Creek.  Built in 1916, the Edison Keith mansion is an Italian Renaissance-style beauty surrounded by a 60-acre park complete with a nature trail and playground.      

A Disappointing Day at the Farmers Markets

Posted by Lesley on January 7, 2011 2 comments

Wednesday was not my day.  Everywhere I went and everything I did simply did not work out, including my shopping.  This is the first farmer’s market I tried after picking Cooper up from school – The Community Farmers Market at Health Park East off SR 70:

Yesterday, Ubermommy told me I could have taken a right at the light and seen signs for King Farm.  Too bad because they were my favorite vendor at that market anyway, but at least now I know for next time or I can order ahead…more on that in a future post.

Here’s my attempt at Farmers Market Two - The Phillippi Farmhouse Market:

I’ve obviously been relying way too much on Jessica’s Organic Farm lately because I didn’t know they changed their hours.

I had planned to make a fresh tomato sauce for my Italian feast tonight.  Oh well, Paul Newman to the rescue!

Paul Newman wasn’t the only star.  I had oregano in the garden, an onion on the counter, and to solve my immediate problem of dinner that night – asparagus from Sweetbay.  Not in season but also not on the Dirty Dozen list, asparagus is Number Seven on the the Clean Fifteen and onions are Number One.  Those are two great non-organics in a pinch.  Some days that’s the best I can do, and today is already looking up.  I passed a Friday morning farmers market on my way to work.  I can’t make it today, but I’ll try to get you a report next Friday.  

Here’s the PDF version of both lists – The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen: ewg-shoppers-guide

Tomatoes Need Their Space

Posted by Lesley on June 28, 2010 None comments

Here’s this morning’s yield of Grape tomatoes:

Pretty paltry!  But it’s okay because there are more to come.  The other bite-sized varieties we’ve grown have all started annoyingly slow – a tomato here, two tomatoes there – and then they all come in at once.

These were once the tiny tomato seedlings I bought at the Phillippi Farmhouse Market – three for a dollar.  I expect to get my money’s worth!  Two plants ended up in the ground, and one ended up in a pot.  I planned on putting the potted plant into the ground but never got around to it.  I assumed those tomatoes would be smaller, just not teeny.  They’re closer in size to raisins over grapes!

Phillippi Farmhouse Market

Posted by Lesley on March 24, 2010 None comments

It’s Wednesday, so Luke and I headed over to Phillippi Estate Park for the farmers market.  I was on a mission to identify this plant:

On our first lap around, I didn’t see the Master Gardener’s Help Desk.  But I did stop at Nature’s Partner to buy some lettuce.  Peter Burkard owns the stand.  He grows and sells local produce, plants and honey – all organic.  Judging from his produce, he’s as good a source as any.  I pulled out my sprig and asked him to identify it.  He grabbed a leaf, snapped it in half, took a big whiff, and quickly said “Surinam Cherry.”  Even though I asked him to repeat it, by the time we were leaving I could only remember s…something…cherry.  These Rainbow carrots distracted me. 

I finally spotted the Master Gardener’s Help Desk on our way out, so I grabbed the sprig.  But neither of the two gardeners knew what it was!  I told them someone told me it was a cherry, and only then with the help of a book did they identify it as a Barbados cherry.  Google to the rescue!  After searching a bunch of images, it looks like Peter’s native nose wins this one.  It’s a Surinam cherry. 

Phillippi Farmers Market

Posted by Lesley on January 20, 2010 5 comments

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.