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    Don’t know how to cook your new veggies? Google recipes for Market veggies. Then share your cooking experiences, and find new ones, on our Market Community Food Blog!

    Stop the Presses

    What Are We Up To?



     
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    Market NOW Open - May 11th, 2015


    Vidalias, sugar snaps, portabellos, spaghetti squash, and so much more!

    I never knew that spaghetti squash should be cooked WHOLE!

    Ready To Order?

    sign in & shop now
    FIRST TIME CUSTOMERS You are invited to watch our Market Tutorial before you begin. If you do not receive an email confirmation immediately after you order, then you did not click the SUBMIT ORDER button and we did not receive an order from you. Call your Market Manager for help.

    SPLG BENEFIT: Food Forest Guidance

    Part of our Market’s mission is to teach our customers how to grow their own food so they can become more self-sufficient in their “food foraging”. Some even get to the point where they don’t have to purchase anything from our Market! That is a GOOD thing for us. This keeps our business sustainable and manageable by not having to expand our home based business model into something that will feed the entire community. How do we support you in building your own “food forest”? Nathan offers classes twice a month, year-round, to show you how to make your own dirt using no unnatural additives. He teaches his students of all ages and skill levels how to grow YEAR ROUND and to fight pests naturally. To support your homemade dirt, our Market offers several types of chemical-free soil amendments. You can find them all listed at the bottom of the product list under the “Z’s”. We prefer NOT to mix them in with the food listing. If that’s not enough, then we have just launched a Direct Service program to bring larger potted plants to enhance your food forest design, including exotic fruit trees. This program is getting very popular! The icing on the cake is attending our monthly potluck socials to compare notes with other customers who grow their own food. Lots of sharing going on! So when will you start your journey into building a food forest on your property?

    Volunteer Opportunities

    We SO appreciate the recent responses we’ve had to our call for Volunteers. We are still in need and ask you to consider the opportunities below. There is something for everyone with a minimal investment of 90 minutes to 2 hours every other week. RIGHT NOW, the Market continues to need the most help, particularly some technical expertise with an understanding of spreadsheets. After sufficient training, this piece could be done (possibly) from your home.

    St. Pete Locally Grown Market in St. Pete is the hub for selling fine products of many of the Growers below needing volunteers—and all those listed on Our Growers page.

    Nathan’s Natural Veggies in St. Pete
    Pioneer Settlement Garden in St. Pete
    The Dancing Goat in Oldsmar
    Alexandra Lake Farm in Dade City

    Message from Your Market Manager

    JUST RETURNED FROM SEDONA
    I am SO refreshed from a recent 5-day journey to the red rocks of Sedona and the wonders of the Grand Canyon. Even Market Managers need renewals. I can now say that I’ve been to the edge!


    SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
    Our Market has high standards for what it sells. Despite that—as seasons transition—the challenges of evolving weather and pesky insects can take its toll on the crops. Market Growers are being very selective about what they are willing to present to you. No, it won’t always be picture perfect (which is part of its charm) and sometimes an insect is going to evade capture! But we won’t send you anything that we wouldn’t eat ourselves. If for any reason we have goofed and you are dissatisfied, please report it to me right away so we can rectify the situation. That’s how we get better and we all benefit from that. Your satisfaction is key to our success as a resource for St. Petersburgs’ lovers of chemical-free, organically & locally grown vegetables.

    SPLG’s fruit basket
    Medjool dates, luscious local papayas, beautiful nectarines, and primo lemons from CA. Peaches will also be available for our Market very soon! Apples and pears are all imported right now so I did not order any this time.

    More NEWS from the Farms

    • Tara Kipp of Faithful Farms reports that they won’t have lettuce for a few more weeks due to startup and the heat. Their curly kale is also hurting but luckily our other Growers can fill your orders for kale. Faithful Farms will be with us ALL SUMMER! They are just one of several of our Growers who grow all year round. WE ARE SO GRATEFUL for that!
    • Ray Wunderlich of Pioneer Settlement Garden has closed the garden for the summer and anticipates even more availability in the fall. We could not be more grateful for Ray’s astute commitment to furthering the cause of urban farming in St. Petersburg. His behind-the-scenes activities are too many to list. Suffice it to say that he is responsible for lots of gardens getting started in St. Petersburg AND he sends many of them to our Market to sell their overage to our grateful customers. This is key to our sustainability as a locally supported small business.

    WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST CUSTOMERS
    Once you have submitted your order, if in doubt about what you owe, you can always confirm what you have been charged for by checking your account history and viewing your most current invoice. Instructions on how to do that are on our Q&A page under the question entitled Since you don’t provide an invoice with delivery, how do I know what I owe? Also, since your vegetables are picked fresh within 24 hours of delivery, they should be lasting for WEEKS in your refrigerator. When you accept delivery, please take a few minutes to inspect your order to protect your vegetables from unnecessary spoilage. Lastly, it is imperative that you understand our policy on Unclaimed Orders found on our Q&A page. When you make a purchase you are agreeing to abide by this policy.

    Upcoming Events

    All these and more are posted on our Calendar of Events

    WORKSHOPS & EVENTS

    • REAL DIRT: Make Your Own” on May 16th, 8-10AM Cost $35/$25. RSVP NOW
    • “Monthly Potluck Social”, May 23rd, Nathan’s Garden Tour Begins at 5:30PM for active Market customers, growers, and volunteers. BY Whoozin.com e-vite ONLY. SPEAKER THIS MONTH: New Grower, Jenifer Slocum, owner of Coeurisma, local provider of coconut oil using all organic ingredients, will speak on the health benefits of coconut oil and the energy this saturated fat provides. She will also share with us some new ideas and perspectives about Alzheimer’s through her experience as a caregiver. Jenifer is very knowledgeable about Alzheimer’s since her Mother’s diagnosis 13 years ago by the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. She will be sharing with us her personal journey and serendipitous discovery about coconut oil for both her Mother Barbara and Mother-in-law Tillie and the results of integrating this food into their daily diet.

    We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!