Friday Forecast: Will Worms Record? Post #200!!!

[Charles] Looks like the weekend is going to cool off and chase the rain away just in time for some outdoor fun. I'm looking forward to awesome local music at New World, WMNF's record sale, and... learning how to make my own worm bin!

Tonight if you don't have cash or tickets for the Drive By Truckers show at the Ritz, you might be better off to head to New World for a really solid bill of local music. The headliner is the local band that gets a lot of well-deserved hype here but still hasn't quite blown up nationwide yet - Have Gun Will Travel. They just put out a video from their recent release - Postcards From the Friendly City. Check it out and head out there tonight. Will Quinlan is opening and Devon Vlasin from The Takers so definitely catch the whole show!

Forecast: 70% chance you'll drink up the money you saved from avoiding the DBT show in awesome craft beers.

After that, hop up early Saturday morning and head over to the Seminole Heights Community Garden on Violet Street to learn how to make your own worm bin composter! Exciting right?! I know, but seriously, I have a composter without worms and it stinks! Seriously stinks! Think rotting veggie matter or that smell of the dumpster behind the Winn Dixie... Anyway, the folks that use worms swear by them and they make nice clean fertile soil that you wouldn't mind picking up and getting your hands and plants into. Starts at 9:30 so bring coffee!

Forecast: 35% that you're gonna have to pick up a worm...

Also on Saturday, looks like WMNF has put together another version of their super popular Record and Book Sale. This one also has instruments and audio equipment for sale as well. This used to happen before Christmas with live bands and other vendors but this year it's gonna be a little different. Sounds like they will be live on the radio from the event from 10 to 5. Don't miss this event, I always score some fantastic vinyl and cd's from the station and its donors. They also have tons of books and you can probably pick up 100 Years of Solitude if you're lucky...

Forecast: 95% chance there will be a Herb Alpert album sold just based on its album cover tomorrow.

Friday Forecast: New Year's Eve Edition

[Charles] I never really know what to do on new year's, have a party, go out, stay in? Driving on New Year's is scary no doubt about it. So here's some things happening within walking distance of the hood. If you don't live in our hood then I guess your outta luck and will have to catch a cab! Yikes! Cabs dropping people off in our neighborhood? Thought I'd never see that!

First up: Ella's Folk Art Cafe is having a bash and last year it sold out. This year I expect the same so if you haven't got a ticket, you better scramble. Head over to their facebook page and ask around. Ernie, Melissa, and the gang have put together a great set with Dex Romwebber Duo and Roppongi's Ace. The $25 advance ticket includes dinner, music, and a champagne toast. All that and you can stumble home when it's all done. Ella's has such a nice vibe and I always run into more and more friends there so you definitely can't go wrong with this one.

Forecast: 85% chance of a sellout crowd on the porch tonight.

If that's more commitment than you had in mind for tonight, then I would suggest walking down Florida Ave to the Independent Bar. Sounds like for $10 you can get in on a nice buffet of food (pot roast tacos and indian curry anyone?) and get some $4 drafts underway. The beer is always fantastic at the Independent and again, you will always run into people you know or people who want to chat. With the weather cooperating, this should be a really great and chilled out way to spend New Year's Eve .

Forecast: 90% chance of fancy beer sightings at this one.

Last but definitely not least is the Refinery's New Year's Eve. This is for folks that don't want to get locked in to a party but want some awesome traditional New Year's grub. Well not too traditional knowing Chef Greg, but here's the highlights. "Pork Chop with a Malta and Spice glaze, smokey bacon black-eyed peas, chile-candied turnip, and braised turnip greens." That should get your evening started right especially if you are headed out of the hood tonight. If not, then just head on upstairs to the bar and celebrate this beautiful night on the deck. I would expect a crowd...

Forecast: 70% chance you'll actually want to eat these black eyed peas.

Create:Freedom Event at Springs Theatre this Friday Sep. 3rd

[Charles] This Friday I'll finally get a look inside the Springs Theatre up on Nebraska Ave in Tampa. I've been looking for a good excuse to get in there since the first time the old building just north of the Hillsborough River caught my eye. It's an intriguing old building that was a movie theater in the hey day of Sulphur Springs and now hosts a large recording studio and is used for special events.

The show this Friday is an interesting mix of vendors, music, and artists that are raising money for a group that does mission work in Cambodia. The child prostitution and human trafficking that Tampa Street Market works against is central to their work. The door charge is $5 and goes to help this group and to work with Joy Engdahl who is moving back to Cambodia to work with young women in the country. There will be art and craft vendors as well as plenty of information about fighting human trafficking and slavery.

The other thing that looks pretty interesting about this show is the music. I'm especially excited to hear The Sun Society that consists of some family members of The Grecian Urns. The Sun Society sounds pretty amazing - just head over to Youtube and check out a few of their tracks. Here's their myspace page as well. I don't know much about the other two players MrENC or Preson, but they sound interesting and should definitely be a good time in the neighborhood for a good cause.

I also snagged a photo of the theater from its earlier days from a blog about historic theaters in the area, so here's a bonus link!

Etsy Party Wrap Up

Everything came together for a great party on Friday night at Tempus Projects with artists and crafters aplenty. It was totally DIY and chaotic and unpretentious and fun! Everyone was so happy to be out and not getting rained on with friends and like minded folks that we could have been in the East Village instead of in our little village of Seminole Heights. The cupcakes were amazing - Carbombs and Mojitos YES! The art was cool - although there was definitely wallspace for more the next time. The crafters were so happy and appreciative to be out. People packed the little craft tables and seemed to really enjoy being out with friends without all the high pressure snobbery that comes with some of the gallery shows on a Friday night. We met lots of people who'd never heard of our little shop and we also ran into tons of friends that we reconnected with. We can't wait for the next one.

Here's the photos on our Flickr page for your enjoyment...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39463401@N08/sets/72157624184546045/

Etsy Party tonight at Tempus Projects

Photo from darkcycleclothing on Etsy (the organizer of tonight's party)
[Charles] Looks like tonight's little meetup of Etsy makers has turned into a huge scale shindig. Last night we stopped by Tempus to meet Coryn Enfinger from darkcycleclothing and chatted a bit while they hurriedly greeted folks and planned out vendor space. There are over 250 people on Facebook that say they will be there, there are over 130 artists that RSVP'd on Meetup, and well even if only half of those folks break away from their computer screens for a few hours it should be a massive turnout for the smallish gallery space on Florida Avenue in Seminole Heights. They are setting up 25 or so vendors outside around the courtyard space and there is first come first served wall space in the converted garage that Tempus uses for all their shows.

We will be there with some of our latest pieces of furniture, but the main attraction is meeting all the other artists and talking shop with a growing community of people that are taking solid steps toward a new marketplace. If you don't know Etsy yet, well I'm sorry but I'll give you the short version. It's an online marketplace built around giving crafty people a place to sell their wares to anyone in the world. Say you like making toe rings from the palm fronds in your yard and you've always wanted to sell them but you don't have time or know how to market yourself to stores. Etsy allows makers to bring their products to market and it can be a few items or thousands. The website is already made (it's sort of like Ebay but you pay for things outright - no auction) so you just have to be good about describing what you make and taking photos of it. Then you can sell anything that you make, even things that are made from something else. Also you can sell vintage items like clothing. The artistry of individuals is where Etsy really shines - we've purchased earrings from an artist in Australia and these sort of small items that are easy to ship are really the best sellers on Etsy. Go check it out if you haven't and just do a search. You can search based on types of items or materials - like steel? or marble? how about Tampa artists only? Do a local search. It's a pretty amazing tool.

Anyway, the point is, tonight come meet some of those amazing artists that are reshaping our handmade world through this website in person. Tonight you can chat them up about how it works or how they make things. You might even fall in love with someone's art that lives right down the street from you.

Hub Grub Ride II: The Trek Strikes Back

[Charles] The Seminole Heights Bicycle Club and Alan Snel, our neighbor, bike blogger, and one of the fearless bicycle advocates in Tampa, have put together another Hub Grub Ride for this Saturday. It sounds like they are heading out from the Garden Center at 2:45 and heading through the neighborhood en masse. They will head to Reservations, Starbucks, Viitals, Smoking A's, The Front Porch, Ella's Folk Art Cafe, The Refinery, and The Independent. It's easy to look at this as a way to shamelessly promote our neighborhood businesses, but the larger point is to shamelessly promote our neighborhood's bike friendliness!

We will probably miss out on all of the fun because we'll be working at the shop but feel free to stop by and say hi. I'll even refill your water bottle for you if you're running low. With that many stops and possible beverages available I'll be happy to help with hydration. Also, if you don't have a water bottle, I'll offer half price to anybody that wants to buy one if they are participating in the ride! How's that for service?

Enjoy the ride folks and enjoy the beauty of our neighborhood. There's something about the way the neighborhood looks from a bike that is so different from the view of a car. Please allow me to get philosophically sidetracked as biking always reminds me of the start of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

"In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. " - Robert Pirsig

Do Florida politicians understand waste at all?

Photo from Robin Milcowitz of SHCG

[Charles] I've received a couple of emails and faxed a few protest letters this week against a bone-headed bill called HB 569, as in "569 ways to waste mulch". Let me be clear, I'm not a very good gardener or protester, and my cop-out answer is the same for both, because I'm soooo busy! Right, I know, everybody's busy, and that's why this year I resolved on Earth Day to do more letter writing and email forwarding on environmental issues. (I decided that this year I would make an Earth Day resolution as my contribution to the celebration, but that's a different post)

So anyhow, these people, we'll call them "legislators" for lack of a better term, have decided that one of their very favorite ways to champion alternative energy is to use something we call waste to energy. I like to refer to it as "wasted energy" because honestly it's sort of like saying well, "I'm going to burn tires for heat this winter to cut down on all those nasty emissions from the coal plant." So "waste to energy" is the darling of waste management folks in many places including Florida because you can avoid making a new landfill and burn bad stuff and make energy, and who wouldn't like that? Well, what if the fuel in your fire was say... dollar bills? That's not something I'd want to make a log out of, but what do I know right? That's silly anyway, nobody advocates burning dollar bills for energy do they? Well... If you are one of the thousands of gardeners and landscapers and farmers that uses the mulch that is generated in our system right now that is exactly what you are talking about.

Wasted money - You see, in Tampa I can put out a separate can of yard waste - leaves, limbs, and grass clippings and those travel separately to a mulch maker like Mother's Organics out in Seffner that upcycles them into mulch and compost that they can sell back to customers like gardeners and farmers and me. This is apparently a waste of a perfectly good source of methane though. Yep, if we could just get this stuff into our landfills and let it ferment then we could make one of the most noxious greenhouse gases around. Wait, what?! Yep, that's right we can make good ole clean burning methane (except it's not so clean and pretty hard to capture). On top of that in Florida, they don't really want to tap methane, they just don't want to have to send two separate trucks and deal with two separate waste streams.

That means that all of that useful organic material that we work hard to harvest from our yards will go right in the pile of stuff to burn. How about this for a protest? How about let's all pile up our leaves and sticks and go right back to burning them in our yards like we did in the 50's? That way at least I don't have to buy back the energy from them after they burn it for me!

Okay, now that you are as annoyed as I am, please take sixty seconds and follow the link below and pass along how you feel about this bill to those folks in Tallahassee that know so much more about what's good for Florida than you or me...

Mulch not Methane...

or link here...

http://greenflorida.wufoo.com/forms/mulch-not-methane/

This easy link was setup by the amazing folks at Green Florida that have been instrumental in projects that we proudly support like our Seminole Heights Community Garden as well as all of the community gardens that they have helped grow. For additional info on Green Florida

For more information, the original letter from Green Florida is here:
http://green-florida.org/uploads/Veto_HB569.pdf

Also, to get involved with our Community Garden here: http://seminoleheightscg.ning.com/

Bike Lanes Planned and Unplanned

Alan Snel and our biking Mayor Pam (Photo from Bicycle Stories)
[Charles] It must be really expensive to paint a bike lane... The cost of a bicyclist's life must seem really small in comparison to a crew of painters and an occasional parking space in front of one's house. We just can't seem to get our city committed to making a safe network of bike lanes for our locals. We "Semhis" love riding our bikes to downtown on Tampa St. from Seminole Heights, but then we have to meander and zig zag over to find the lanes pick back up on Nebraska. We're lucky because at least there are SOME lanes. According to Alan at Bicycle Stories, we just can't seem to get lanes for our fellow bikers on Euclid in South Tampa. Please don't let our leaders weasel out of this commitment they've made. I'd even attach that photo of Mayor Pam in her bike helmet from the Crit a few weeks ago to help get the point across. Thanks Alan for the reporting - it was good to see you out at the Earth Day Tampa Bay event at Lowry Park!

Here's the article Reprinted from Bicycle Stories -

"Word is out that the city of Tampa is breaking its commitment to stripe bike lanes on Euclid Avenue as part of re-paving the road. Seems some residents are upset that they are losing parking on the road and won't have space for friends who come over for book club meetings (that's an actual example).

Well, the city of Tampa, always looking to accommodate the convenience of book club meeting participants over the safety of bicyclists, has reneged on its initial plan to stripe bike lanes.

Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena found out about this and wrote a letter to Mayor Pam Iorio, Council Chairman Tom Scott and council members and Transportation Planning Director Jean Dorzback:

"Yesterday I became aware that the City Administration removed a proposed bicycle lane planned for Euclid Avenue. This is contrary to what was conveyed to City Council by the Administration at a recent public meeting.

"Also, yesterday my deputy campaign manager was hit by a car while riding her bicycle home from the office. Fortunately, she suffered only minor injuries, but her bicycle was destroyed.

"Our community must improve our behavior to make bicycle-riding a safe mode of transportation. We must educate motorists to respect the rights of bicyclists to share the road and we must create a network of bicycle lanes to allow bicyclists safe routes community-wide.

"I will request our Transportation Department to appear and report on May 20 under Staff Reports on how we will address these safety needs and why the commitment to bicycle safety on Euclid Avenue is being broken."

Sherry's Yesterdaze in the New York Times

Chip Litherland for The New York Times

Mitzi Gordon of Tampa, at Sherry’s YesterDaze Vintage.

Photo from the New York Times - Chip Litherland

[Charles] Last Thursday, in the travel section of the New York Times, Sherry's Yesterdaze from little ole Seminole Heights was the main part of a feature story on vintage clothes shopping in Tampa. It was nice to see Tampa shown as something more than just a cigar factory graveyard. Sherry's was one of the pioneering businesses to head to Seminole Heights when she left South Tampa years ago. I'm sure there are old customers of hers south of Kennedy still wondering where Seminole Heights is.

Here's the link to the article -

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/travel/02vintage.html?scp=5&sq=Florida&st=nyt

Also, at the bottom of that article was an earlier article called 36 Hours in Tampa which was pretty enjoyable too. It's nice to be a tourist in your own city every once in a while...

http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/travel/escapes/09hour.html?fta=y

Tempus Projects Show Tonight in Seminole Heights

Tonight in Seminole Heights there will be an art show over on Florida Ave at the recently inaugurated Tempus Projects. Showing will be a number of interesting and diverse artists including one of our good friends Lynn Manos. Please take some time this evening to show your support for arts in our neighborhood. The Heights has always had a reputation for being a creative art community so let's show them some love! Make a night of it and check out Cappy's or walk across the street to the Refinery or from The Independent. It should be an interesting and exciting evening and by supporting them, we can show them that we want more arts and shows in our neighborhood.

-Charles

GREY MATTER at TEMPUS PROJECTS

March 19 -April 9, 2010

Opening Reception March 19, 2010 7pm -10pm

TEMPUS PROJECTS Presents:

GREY MATTER | a group exhibition featuring work from Hildebrando Bellizzio, Deon Blackwell, Dave Galbraith, Allen Hampton, Wes Kline, Elizabeth Kozlowski, Lauren Garber Lake, Shannon Richie-Lindsey, Lynn Manos, Cindy Mason, Alessandro Midulla, Meg Mitchell, Ellen Mueller, Justin Nelson, Princess Rashid, and Brian Taylor.

TEMPUS PROJECTS brings these artists together for a diverse exhibition of drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. This exhibition will debut at TEMPUS PROJECTS in South Seminole Heights located on the back lot of 5132 Florida Ave Tampa, FL 33603. More on these artist will soon to be posted at www.tempus-projects.com

In the courtyard: Kurt Piazza will be premiering new video work for one night only and TEMPUS PROJECTS hosts an open air happening of handmade goods in a one night venders market. Pick up quality goods from local craftsmen and more.

The Opening Reception for this exhibition will be held on Friday March 19, 2010 from 7pm till 10pm with refreshments and light hors d'oeuvres.

The event is free and open to the public but donations are greatly appreciated. The exhibition runs through April 9th, 2010 with gallery hours by appointment. Classes and groups are encouraged and welcomed.

Tracy Midulla Reller

Creative Director

www.tempus-projects.com

tempusprojects.art@gmail.com

813.340.9056

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Tampa Street Market - Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why?

On "Big Blue" also know as the Unofficial Official Seminole Heights Blog there was a call out to us to do a basic info story on what we do and what we offer the hood. I thought it might be fun to try to fit it into a basic question and answer from our grade school days, so here goes:


Who: Tampa Street Market - Amy and Charles Haynie along with our dog Baci, daughter Ella, and any and all friends and relatives we can convince to cover the store when we are not there. We live in the hood - within earshot of the Front Porch.

What: A furniture and gift store that specializes in eco-friendly, fair trade, and local products for people that want something unique and one of a kind for their home but don't want to get a second mortgage to afford it. We build furniture from scratch but also include a fair amount of refinished and repainted antique furniture with new low VOC finishes. Saving good furniture from the landfill is an important part of our green philosophy.

Expect to find:
-unique and one of a kind furniture of our own design
-cool antique and re-invented lamps
-local art from artists like Anika Easter and Ron Pieniak
-recycled gifts from Resource Revival, Alchemy Goods, Green Toys, Green Guru and Sugarpost
-green gifts from Envirosax, Chico Bags, and Dynomighty
-eco printed cards from Tweeprints, 9SpotMonk, and Modern Printed Matter
-local jewelry from Nested Yellow
-fair trade goods from Indika, Made by Survivors, and Spiral Foundation
-upcycled clothing from Guatemala by Chi Chi Amor (and operated by local residents of SH)

What we are not (because you asked): an antique store, a thrift shop, or the Friday Downtown Market

Where: 4715 N. Florida Ave at the corner of Florida and Osborne next to Seminole Heights Antiques and Karen's Place (technically in the same historical building). Our first location was next to Cappy's Pizza in the old Covivant Gallery space which we outgrew within the first year and a half.

When: We've been open for 3 years last December with a brief hiatus in 2008 when we moved locations. The hours are Tuesday thru Saturday 11-6 and Sunday 12-5. That being said, we don't have paid help (see earlier comment about friends and relatives) so if we have to be somewhere else, say a wedding, funeral, or the like then the shop is closed. The hours are a known source of frustration for the owners and customers alike and so we try to be accomodating and have the shop covered within reason. We wish we could be open more and of course that comes from how much demand we receive. As the economy has made it harder for us little guys to stay in business we have to be creative. If you are coming from far away and are concerned or need us to stay open late, then just email Amy@tampastreetmarket.com. She has a fancy new Iphone just for answering questions like - "How late will you be open today?" or "Do you still have those blue pineapple shaped lamps I saw on the website?"

How: The business grew out of our love for antique furniture re-invention and our continual search for cool products and designs. The "street market" name comes from the idea that street markets can have just about anything but most of the time are a source of unexpected and interesting finds. We often seek out markets in cities that we visit and incorporate these new styles and ideas into our work. As our design aesthetic evolved, which Amy calls "Industrial Cottage", custom work was requested more often and now we have a unique line of our own furniture that is built custom from steel and salvaged wood.  For examples go to places like Ella's restaurant or Groovy Cats and Dogs. Trips to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York were key to increasing our interest in designing our own furniture.

Another part of the business besides the furniture is probably best described as gifts and home goods. This grew from the need for a diverse product line (not everybody needs a new dining table) and from meeting crafters and designers working with recycled materials on a smaller scale than furniture. That philosophy grew to include books about green design, cards from recycled materials, clothes from recycled materials, and fair trade items that pay good wages to artisans around the world. If it's eco-friendly, fair trade, or local then it might find a home in our shop.

Why: Some pinch-me moments have been:
-seeing a piece of our furniture in the Tampa Museum of Art on display
-getting awesome press for us and the neighborhood
-building a desk for City Council's Mary Mulhern and delivering it to a crowded City Hall
-chatting with Josh Dorfman in Brooklyn about green furniture before he was a famous Discovery Channel celebrity

One quote that is pretty over-used these days is Gandhi's "Be the change you want to see in the world." However, as residents of this often blighted and misunderstood neighborhood, we decided that instead of just complaining about how no cool shops are open here, we should "Be the change we want to see in our neighborhood." It has been the hardest thing we've ever done, we feel like we are always working, and we don't sleep much. When you see how happy people are with their homes or how much they love buying a gift that is going to help worthy organizations around the world it definitely feels worth it. We are happy to be part of a growing trend of businesses that wear their ideals on their sleeve and do what they because they love it. Thanks for supporting us and if you haven't been in yet, then let me be the first to ask "What are you waiting for?"

Charles Haynie -02/2010

For more info try our website http://www.tampastreetmarket.com/
or the blog http://www.tampastreetmarket.blogspot.com/

Sunday Morning Market in Seminole Heights a Success

Photo from Alan Snel at Bicycle Stories



The sun was shining on Seminole Heights yesterday as arts, crafts, food, and community organizations met hundreds of residents on the lawn of Hillsborough High School on Central Ave.  The cold didn't scare people away and as soon as the sun came out, it was packed!  We saw so many friends and customers that it was a little overwhelming at times, but the show of support from our neighbors was very inspiring.  Artists that we invited to the event were blown away by the neighborhood support and that will allow the market to grow with each new date.  The next market will be March 14th and we can hardly wait!
Personal highlights for me were seeing groups like the Urban Charette, Seminole Heights Bicycle Club (with biking blogger Alan Snel, BGOSH, and the Seminole Heights Community Garden in full force meeting neighbors and getting the word out about their respective missions.  Future blog posts will cover each of these with events such as the Pub Grub Ride and Paint the Town Green.  Other highlights were the awesome vegan Crimson Velveteen (red velvet on steroids) cupcakes from the Organic Juice Co-op, sampling our new Gluten Free Bakey Viitals awesome cookies,  and Joe's Oat Patties for lunch.  Apparently Viitals has organic coffee so I'll happily be diverting some of my Java cash from the green giant down the street. 
There were lots of great artists including jewelry, clothing, and a really awesome woodworker that we chatted with early on in the morning whose name escapes me (I suck at names BTW).  Thanks for everyone that came out and feel free to drop a comment and link to other artists or groups that you enjoyed at the show.
CharlesH

Give Market this Sunday in Sem Heights a Chance...

Photo - "Mary and the Rabbits"
Personal Collection - shot in Brooklyn
CharlesH

Some readers might know that the reason we call our shop "Tampa Street Market" is because three years ago when we started it, Tampa didn't have a street market. We needed a place that could house a little bit of everything and still retain a cohesive identity. I would guess that most Seminole Heights residents have never visited our little shop for some confusion over what it might contain. Now with a second market in Tampa on the way this Sunday, I'm sure the confused phone calls will continue.

Seminole Heights is having an open air market on the front lawn of Hillsborough High School from 9-1 this Sunday the 14th. There will be music, food, produce, art, and all kinds of stuff. For us, a street market is a place to find just about everything - produce, plants, food, flowers, art, crafts, and cool antiques. Without some of these , a market lacks the allure of the urban treasure hunt that it is. We love visiting markets in NYC that could easily fit a new folk artist between a flower booth and a pile of antique cameras. I bought a silver cigarette case at the Portobello Road market in London while I was munching on some locally produced gourmet soup and that remains a fantastic memory of urban exploration.

I am glad that we are being included in this market, even though we are being encouraged to only bring our handmade crafts and furniture and no old funky stuff. I don't know why it is so hard to explain to people what our shop can offer them and I have no idea why we get so many "spinners" (our term for people who spin on their heels and exit our store as quickly as they came with a look of intense fear or confusion).

I have told everyone we know about the market and hope that it gets people out of their houses on what might be a chilly Sunday morning this weekend. There were something like 25,000 people in Seminole Heights in the 2000 census and that doesn't include the neighboring areas. A blog post on "Big Blue" this week asked what people can do to keep our neighborhood moving forward.

I say "Go to the market. Give it a chance. Give every business in the 'hood multiple chances. If you have a bad experience, see what you can do to remedy it. Offer constructive suggestions to business owners. We are people. We are neighbors. We aren't huge corporations that with big ole cash reserves. Most of us don't have a backup plan! We are doing all we can to make you happy so all we ask is that you give us all a second chance and... So your food was slow at the restaurant once? So you had to sit at the counter at a diner once? So a shop was closed early and you missed them? We are people with families and homes and dreams and failures, just like you. Don't give up on your own neighborhood, we locate our businesses here because we love the 'hood as much as you do.

For info on the market try http://seminoleheightsmarket.com/


-CharlesH

Back in the saddle again

First things first... we are open, the shop looks awesome, and we are ready to rock! We've done plenty of late nights, running around with the voice of Tim Gunn at the door shouting "Make it work!"

We did get it done finally and we are really happy with the results. Ella has a larger and more secure play area. Baci has more room to stretch out and nap. Amy has the space to organize the office and dig out of our mess of paperwork that was 2009.

We got the chandelier hanging dividers up to help section the shop better and we also set up some moveable dividers for artwork. We hope to hear from more artists that are interested in renting space so we can continue encouraging the local artist community in our neighborhood.

We also learned that one of our favorite locals - Ana of "Nested Yellow" was selected as an emerging artist in the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts! Congratulations to her and to all of the people that got her jewelry for Christmas this year! She does amazing and beautiful work in natural themes with a good mix of metal and salvaged materials like antique buttons or stones.

We are working to get a booth at the Sunday Morning Market in Seminole Heights that is coming up in two weeks. If you are interested, let us know as we are putting together a group of artists to band together and show how creative this community is.

Thanks for your patience with our closing this month. Come by the shop and see all of the new stuff - you will be amazed!

-Charles

Community Garden Membership Meeting This Week

Photo from Robin Milcowitz

I visited the Seminole Heights community garden last weekend with my nephew to do a little sweaty volunteer work. It actually ended up being one of those extremely sweaty, change your shirt twice kind of days. Kyle was up for helping, so we went down and did some mowing and trimming. We also got to move some huge piles of horse manure for compost creation. We offered to do general labor because we are pretty new to gardening and can't really be trusted with actual edible plants at this point. However, our tomato and pepper plants in our little garden at home are starting to show early signs of food production.


We had a good time at the garden and shot some photos when it was all done. I always come away from the garden with some new knowledge from the seasoned folks that are consistently working there. Thanks Cindy and Piet! The horse manure apparently has lots of nitrogen but needs to be converted to something a little more user-friendly for the plants to accept it (my limited understanding). So they planted a lot of black eyed peas in this manure heavy compost to do the work. They intend to plow under the peas and use that newly bountiful soil to generate a fall harvest. I hate to see some of the sad poolies (what they call the kiddie pool container gardens) in such a poor state, but summer gardening is tough. I've seen plants wilt in one hot day without watering. The poolies with the peas look amazing though! Huge chia pet mounds of green just shooting for the sky! I hope that this meeting can help re-energize us all and get us back in the garden starting with the big Labor Day planting coming up.


We're not gonna let our first tough summer beat us down! See ya at the garden. Check out the meeting if you're in the hood.





-Charles

This was sent from Robin, the organizer of our local and new community garden in Seminole Heights. Details from her email follow below.

Hello! We have some new things happening! Be sure to check out all the events and take a gander at the front page too! We're adding gardening tips & Green News & Stuff blog entries daily. C U Soon!

Time: August 5, 2009 from 7pm to 8:30pmLocation: Seminole Heights United Methodist ChurchOrganized By: Robin Milcowitz
Event Description:Our first guest speaker is from the USF Engineering Department and they'll be talking about a program they'reworking on that converts trash to energy.Our second speaker is Willow Lamonte! She'll be giving an in-depth talk about organic gardening and she'llalso be answering your questions and helping you with basic trouble-shooting advice. She'll also be bringingin her books and some additional items to show us that she uses in her own garden.We'll have some drinks available. Please feel free to bring some light snacks to share.We'll have our T-shirts available to purchase and bumper stickers too!Don't miss out on this great event!This meeting is also a way for us to reconnect with people we don't get to see at the garden very much and allow people to come in and let us know how you think we're doing. Things we could do better and even some new things we aren't doing yet. We hope you'll join us.


Thank you!

Rainbarrels Get Back to the Garden

This morning a sunny plot on Violet Street in Seminole Heights saw some much-needed optimism that probably won't make the headline news. The street was lined with cars and people parked around the block to get to a morning meeting. Bikes were laying on their side just inside the gate. Why all the commotion? The county Extension Service came to us! That's right, you've heard of all those meetings and waiting lists to get a free rain barrel from the county. It looks like our Community Garden just jumped the line for us and got nearly forty people the information and vouchers to make a difference. The rep from Tampa Bay Water did a basic talk about how to make a rain barrel, why they are needed, and how they work. An hour later, this group was ready to do a rain dance and collect some gallons! I would love to think people were clamoring for rainbarrels after reading my article in New Heights magazine. It's probably got a lot more to do with our awesome community organizers. Thanks to Robin of Greener Pixels and her troops at the Community Garden for putting this together. If you haven't been getting in the loop on the garden updates, you should hit the site at http://www.seminoleheightscg.org/ and sign up. Now I just need to get them a bike rack...

Shopping Local

Charles and I have lived in OSH for almost 4 years! We have lived in many different places through the years, including overseas, and some of those places were more beautiful, more pedestrian friendly, and I could go on, but no other place has afforded us the friendships we have made in Seminole Heights! The people in OSH are nice, welcoming and down right friendly. It is almost like stepping back in time, a kinder gentler place, where warm baked pies are delivered to your door. Although no pies have found their way to my door, many cupcakes and bottles of wine have crossed the threshold!
OK--enough of the mushy stuff!
Getting to the point, I live in Seminole Heights and I own a business here. I love the neighborhood and do everything I can to support it. I try and shop in the neighborhood. Buying local is a green ideal that I love supporting. I like the idea of knowing the owner and being recognized when I come in . On the other side of the counter, I like seeing my neighbors and friends walk into my shop. It is a CHEERS kind of place where everyone should know your name. I know Karen and Keith at Karen's Place, Adrian and Emily at Seminole Heights Antiques, All the girls at Nickos Diner, Elizabeth at Bungalow Bistro and Forever Beautiful, Scooter at Cappy's and all the wait and cook staff, Chris at Sign Art Group, Eric from Eric Krause Designs, Sherry and Robert at Sherry's Yesterdaze, Anthony at Vivant House...and I could go on!!
Unfortunately, Steff @ Tampa Antiquarian Books is leaving SH--we will miss her! Also Mike from Merino's has closed his doors and Barbara from Silver Linings is saying goodbye and closing her doors. I will miss going to all of these places and the drive home will look a little different with vacant buildings as scenery. The better our businesses do, the better our market. Keeping local businesses afloat keeps your local market from depreciating even more.
I would love to see all of you more, but I am asking everyone to think about the businesses in the neighborhood next time you go out. Lets keep our local economy healthy and green!