'Old Florida' programs at our local library

Florida Kids Pioneer Day at the SouthShore Regional Library
Wednesday, May 11 at 2 p.m. For ages 5-12. This is a school early release day.
SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way in Ruskin
What was life like for the pioneers of Florida? Before televisions, electricity, or cars? Join us and find out as we play games, make crafts, recipes, and listen to stories about the people who pushed America's boundaries.
Funding for this program provided by the Friends of the SouthShore Regional Library. For more information about this and other FREE programs @ your library®, call (813) 273-3652 or visit http://www.hcplc.org/.
The views expressed in this program are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or opinions of Hillsborough County, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries, or the Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc. who do not endorse the presenter(s).

Hillsborough Reads: A Land Remembered at the SouthShore Regional Library
Thursday, May 19 at 2 p.m.
SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way in Ruskin
Spanning more than one hundred years, A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith highlights Florida's rich cultural heritage by following the fictional MacIvey family through the challenging wilderness and the developing Florida landscape.
For more information about this and other FREE programs @ your library®, call (813) 273-3652 or visit http://www.hcplc.org/.

Hillsborough Reads: Patrick Smith’s Florida – A Sense of Place at the Ruskin Branch Library(Documentary Film)
Wednesday, May 25 at 1 p.m.
Ruskin Branch Library, 26 Dickman Drive S.E. in Ruskin
Join us for a book to film discussion on A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith - our featured Hillsborough Reads selection for May 2011. We will be screening the documentary film Patrick Smith’s Florida: A Sense of Place as he takes viewers on a nostalgic journey through Florida.
Hillsborough Reads is a partnership program between the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library and the Tampa Bay History Center. For more information about this and other FREE programs @ your library®, call (813) 273-3652 or visit http://www.hcplc.org/. The views expressed in this program are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or opinions of Hillsborough County, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries, or the Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County, Inc. who do not endorse the presenter(s).

For Children’s Week- Read a Book

Read a book. Give a book. Support Florida Children’s Week
Join the Children’s Week campaign at We Give Books, the new online reading community, where by simply reading free digital children’s books you help put books in the hands of children in Florida who don’t have them.
Visit www.wegivebooks.org with a child in your life and read some of your favorite children’s books online – anytime you like, no matter where you are – for free.
And with each digital book you read, we’ll give a brand-new book to a great local Children’s Week partner.

Support Children’s Week simply by signing up and reading at www.wegivebooks.org/campaigns/united-way-of-florida
What is We Give Books?
We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, offering caregivers and educators an easy, engaging way to encourage children to become motivated readers and lifelong givers.
We Give Books also helps some of the world’s best and most inspiring literacy organizations, spreading the word about their essential work and sharing books with the young people these organizations support.
Who Is Behind It?
We Give Books has been created by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation. The Penguin Group provides the free, always-growing digital library of great children’s titles that you can read any time you like, no matter where you are. The Pearson Foundation helps share brand-new versions of these books – and thousands more – with great nonprofit organizations from around the world.
We hope that We Give Books proves to be a way that young children, together with their parents or caregivers, can come to appreciate the power of reading — and of giving — as much as we do.
Always Learning….
We Give Books sets a specific book donation goal for each charity. You will have the ability to track donations to all of the charities we support – knowing that, when the goal has been reached, you were part of the success. Together, we aim to donate a million books this year alone!
Best of all, the We Give Books program provides the opportunity to create a "teachable" moment for children. Not only will they be able to choose to read from hundreds of books in our growing digital library, but reading together at www.wegivebooks.org can be an occasion to teach your child about the power of giving, and the important work that our nonprofit partners do on behalf of children worldwide.

Formatted flier http://www.childrensweek.org/local/WGBFlyer.pdf
WE GIVE BOOKS - A Pearson Foundation Initiative www.wegivebooks.org

Urban Agriculture

Via TomorrowMatters listserv:

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
University of South Florida

Urban and Community Design Program, School of Architecture & Community Design, College of The Arts
&
Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions
Present
Urban Agriculture: Imperatives, opportunities and challenges at the neighborhood scale

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

10:00 am - Noon

USF's Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions

CGS Building, Room 131

USF Tampa
Pamela Jo Hatley, J.D.

Rick Martinez, Executive Director, Sweetwater Organic Community Farm

Jim Kovaleski, Urban Homesteader and Itinerant Farmer

Presentations and a panel discussion will address the following questions:
. What is urban agriculture? What does it include? What are the approaches?
. When is food production enhanced or hindered by neighborhood design, land use or zoning regulations?
. How much food can be produced in an urban neighborhood? What is the role of permaculture and other innovative approaches to food production?
. Why should neighborhood design and planning efforts consider community gardens, farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSAs) within the context of social, economic and ecological sustainability?
Organization in conjunction with ARC5931.002: Sustainable Neighborhood Development
-- FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC --
For more information, contact: Shawn Landry at landry@arch.usf.edu

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – CPTED

Reducing opportunities for crime in a neighborhood and around your home creates a safer environment. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a planning tool that emphasizes using environmental tactics and designs to create a safer home. CPTED eliminates opportunities for criminals in and around your property. When CPTED principles are applied, people who use an area feel safer and would-be criminals are discouraged from committing a crime.*
CPTED consists of four key strategies.
1. Natural Access Control—Getting into and out of your home.
· Locate walkways, fences, landscaping and lighting to direct visitors to your front door and away from private areas.

· Install small walls or gates between the street and house to indicate entry points.

· Plant thorny plants along fence lines and under windows to deter access by intruders.

· Keep the garage door shut and locked.
2. Natural Surveillance—Maximizing safety by maximizing your visibility.
· Don’t let landscaping obstruct views from doors and windows.
· Keep the front door at least partially visible from the street
· Install windows in main living areas so you can see the yard and driveway.
· Illuminate all doorways that open to the outside, and use dusk-to-dawn sensors on lighting fixtures.
· Install motion sensing lights around the garage and outside your home.
3. Territorial Reinforcement—Using physical attributes to show ownership.
· Mark clear boundaries with fences and landscaping.

· Create transitional areas between the street and the home with front porches or stoops

· Make the home address clearly visible from the street.

· Display security system signage at access points.
4. Maintenance—A well maintained home creates a sense of ownership.
· Keep trees and shrubs trimmed back from windows, doors and walkways.

· Trim hedges to three feet in height and prune lower tree branches up to seven feet to maintain clear visibility of streets and sidewalks.

· Keep lawn mowed and neat, as uncut grass and weeds send a signal that a home is uninhabited.

· Keep exterior lighting in working order.

· Keep yards free of items that might attract theft.
*National Crime Prevention Council
This crime prevention tip is provided by the Hillsborough County Criminal Justice Department. For more information or more safety tips, residents should call 813-276-2033 or visit http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/liaisons/criminaljustice .

From HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS- January 25, 2011

Annie’s Project

From UF/IFAS (and don't forget to read her story at http://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/anniesproject/history.shtml) :

Annie’s Project


Risk Management Education for Farm Women

Facilitators: Christa Kirby, Manatee County Extension Interim Director and Livestock Agent
Samantha Kennedy, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent
Crystal Snodgrass, Vegetable Agent
Sponsor: Manatee County Extension Service
University of Florida Extension/IFAS
Manatee County (941) 722-4524
Location: Manatee County Extension Service
1303 17th Street W
Palmetto, FL 34221

When: Weekly sessions on Tuesday evenings from 6-9pm.
Sessions will begin on February 15 and end on March 22.

Website: For registration and more information, visit the Annie’s Project UF/IFAS website at: http://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/anniesproject/index.shtml .

Session topics include:

• Computer Record Keeping
• Developing a Business Plan
• Developing a Vision, Mission & Goals
• Farm succession/Estate Planning
• Insurance
• Interpersonal Skills
• Interpreting Financial Statements
• Marketing
• Women & Money

Registration: $35.00 per person registration fee– Includes materials and a catered meal for the first session. Make checks payable to Manatee County Friends of Extension. This program is limited to 20 attendees

 Mail:

Manatee County Extension Service
Attn: Jennifer Glassburn
1303 17th Street W
Palmetto, FL 34221
Fax: (941) 721-6608 Attn: Jennifer Glassburn
E-mail: jeglass@ufl.edu

SouthShore Gallery to close Oct 30

A sad letter from one of our local businesses:

Dear Friends,


We have been trying to avoid this decision for sometime now, but the time has come for us to close our doors. Each one of us has dedicated many hours and lots of love to make this gallery what it is, however that is not enough. We would like to remain open through the holidays but it just isn’t feasible. Therefore, our last day of business will be October 30, 2010. Our current hours are still Wed.-Sat. 10am -6pm.

Brandy, our custom framer, is here on Wed. and Sat. afternoons to take custom framing orders. There is still plenty of time to have your art framed before the end of the month. Also, all of the furniture, jewelry and art that the gallery owns is on sale at 30 % off until the end of the month.

Thank you all for your support, patronage and friendships. We will miss you. Please call or email if you have any comments or questions. And remember to try to always buy American made and support your local artists. Best wishes during your holiday season and beyond.
Sincerely,
Melvin H. Sims
Beth Howard
Richard Chill Cott
Diego Duran
Sandra Z. Duran
Kate Hamilton
Vicki Knauff

Aerie

Years ago, I went on a volunteer work-vacation to Wyoming. One of the reasons I wanted to go was to see an eagle in the wild. I did and they were as majestic as all those documentaries said they were. Sailing over the canyons, blue skies- I might just break into a John Denver song! It was memorable as something I may never get a chance to see again.
A few years later I moved to Ruskin where I was thrilled to find that we had an eagle's nest just down the road from us, just yards off the paved road, in plain sight for any who cared to look up. I watch for their return each year. This photo was taken last week so they are hopefully getting ready for the season.
It was good to see the eagle perched on its nest. It has been nesting in that pine on Shellpoint Rd for as long as I've lived here and I've been told its been returning there for decades. It is one of the nests monitored by FWS whose website shows it was actively used up until last year. I did see the eagle sitting on its nest last year but did not see any tell-tale signs of nesting or chicks. I hope they have a better year this year!

Farmer Training

I missed the Farmer Training last month (signed up but the day slipped by). I will be attending the next session (on my calendar this time):

When: September 16th at 5:30pm-7:30pm


Where: SouthShore Library at 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin, Florida 33573

Who: The Center for Integrated Agriculture (http://farmertraining.org/events.html)

A dozen eggs doesn't make me a farmer but I can dream...

EGGS!!!

Finally the long wait is over. Today I checked the coop and found not one, not two but three beautiful pink eggs. Since I haven't checked since Sunday, I'm not sure if it's just one of the girls laying daily or if this is the first laying for 3 of them. My guess is that it's the first day for the three since the weather has finally changed- ever so slightly- with the cooling afternoon rains. I no longer find them burying themselves in the sandy soil under the orange tree, which I guess cools them down a bit. They'd sit there with their beaks open, trying to vent some of the internal heat (that's what happens when you can't pant or sweat). The one bird not laying may be the one I exchanged a while back to replace the rooster. I think she may have been younger than the rest of them.
Anyway, we are having omelets for breakfast!

Beginning Farmer Training to Focus on Local Food Opportunities

** I'm going- are you?**

From HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY NEWS
July 1, 2010
For more information, contact:

Sarah Crane, Agricultural Program Manager
Florida West Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council

Phone: (941) 961-7060
Beginning Farmer Training to Focus on Local Food Opportunities
What: FREE Agriculture Business Development Seminar for New, Beginning and Aspiring Farmers
When: Thursday, July 15, 6:00 p.m.
Where: SouthShore Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way in Ruskin

Hillsborough County's Agriculture Industry Development Program has partnered with the Florida West Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council to provide a free agricultural business development training seminar for new, beginning and aspiring farmers.

This seminar will focus on "Opportunities in Local Food" & "Selling Your Products Locally." Two farms, Heart of the Garden Farms and Brown's Grove, will share insights and expertise they have learned along the way.

Topics will include:
. Niche marketplaces
. Key factors to success
. Marketing language
. Product presentation
. Labeling your products and more!


To register, contact Sarah Crane, Agricultural Program Manager, Florida West Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council, at (941) 961-7060. For more information, visit http://www.farmertraining.org/.
The Hillsborough County Agriculture Industry Development Program is a section of the Hillsborough County Economic Development Department. The purpose of the County's Agriculture Industry Development Program is to initiate and assist with efforts to create a business atmosphere that is conducive to the continuation and expansion of agricultural businesses within Hillsborough County for the benefit of all its residents.
In 2008, more than $800 million in agriculture products were sold from Hillsborough County, with almost 240,000 acres devoted to agriculture in the County. The top three agricultural products by sales were strawberries, ornamental plants and vegetables. For more information on Hillsborough County's agricultural industry, visit the County's Agricultural Industry Development Program online.
###

Basic Guide for the Backyard Chicken Flock

Good paper on raising Florida chickens. Most resources in print or online are written by folks who need to worry about really cold weather. This one is through UF Department of Animal Science:
Basic Guide for the Backyard Chicken Flock
AN239, a 4-page illustrated fact sheet by Derek L. Barber, provides basic information for small-farm owners about brooding, housing, feed and water, nesting, breeds of chickens, and hatcheries, for starting a backyard flock. Published by the UF Department of Animal Science, April 2010.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/an239

Chicken siesta

So the girls are settled in nicely- here settin' on their front porch...
They have finally been trained to go into the coop at night- sometimes with a song, sometimes they just head on in on their own. I've taken down the smaller fence since I don't have to worry about them being as flighty as they used to be. Now if they'd just start laying those eggs...

Projects, projects...

So I had a wonderful Mother's Day, puttering around with all my current projects:
The pond, which is ground-zero for the hydroponics attempts, was emptied and the hydropipe repositioned so it flows but sits entirely out of the water and has an adequate slope to keep the water moving without rising more than an inch or so. The plants that had survived in there for the past few months had shown serious signs of too much water- pale, stunted and barely holding their own. So now I'm ready to try the next run of plants- this time I'll focus on herbs since they require less fertilizer and grow smaller so I'll have less of a tipping issue. I will also think about different ways to set the pot on top and hold the growing media in, since that was part of the tipping issue as well (lost a lot of perlite that way).
One interesting outcome of my time emptying the pond is that I found out that chickens like fish as much as cockroaches! There were hundreds of small fish in the pond, mostly volunteers from who-knows-where: mosquitofish, killifish and varigated mollies. Invariably, some fish got caught in the bucket I was baling with and ending up flopping on the ground as the water drained away. The chickens saw them flopping around and had a seafood feast. I still saved plenty of fish to put back in the pond but the girls had a great time dispensing with the overflow.
Last, but not least, the garden's soaker hose was repaired so now I can be sure that my tiny garden will get watered- at least until the rainy seasons starts. I planted this garden very haphazardly over the course of a week and it shows in the growth of the plants. I don't mind the lack of organization but I wish I hadn't planted the beans so close to the fence. The girls have quite long necks when they are reaching for a tasty treat and all the leaves nearest the fence have been picked and poked. Ah, well... It'll be good for the eggs.
Next possibility on the research horizon- rabbits!

Chicken update

Nearly a month at home in the backyard coop and the girls are getting big. I got in touch with the farm who sold them to me because I forgot to ask the exact day they were hatched. The three older chicks hatched 2/21/10 and the younger one 3/8/10.

Today was the second day that they walked themselves into the coop in the evening, with just a little encouragement from me. I'm trying to train them to learn that it's time for bed when I start singing 'Goodnight Ladies'.

This is also week 2 for a small, somewhat conventional garden (I say 'somewhat' because I do not plan to use pesticides and hope to fertilize with compost enhanced with chicken manure) I created using some of the great pile of soil left over from when they installed the sewer system next door. Under all the fill dirt below the first couple feet of digging was the compressed, rich black remains of the wetland area that existed under this housing development back in the 50s when it was considered an improvement to convert all those useless, mosquito infested acres for the good of the economy. At least I'm trying to also plant native plants for the benefit of some of the descendants of the critters that were displaced half a century ago.

News from the Library

From Jim Duffy of SouthShore Friends of the Library:

General Meeting: April 21st is the next general meeting for the SouthShore Friends. It is at 3:00 pm at the library in the Community Room. All SouthShore Friends meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome. Being part of the Friends gives you a chance to "Have Fun and Help the Library". We hope to see you there!

Special Good News: At the meeting, we will announce a new Child Literacy Programs for 2010. The programs will be co-sponsored by the Friends, the County Library System and the Greater Sun City Center Community Foundation. Come to the meeting to learn about this WONDERFUL new children literacy program at the library.

Website: Checkout our Friends website....www.southshorefriends.com. It has lots a news about the library and the Friends. Click "Programs and Programs" to learn about all of the free programs available at the library.

Teen Poetry Contest: The Teen Advisory Board of the SouthShore Regional Library held a poetry contest recently and the winners were announced at an awards event at the library on April 12, 2010. There were 28 entries and prizes were awarded in both middle school and high school categories. The event was sponsored by the Friends of the Library who donated cash awards as well as trophies. Cash awards were $75 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place. Honorable Mention winners received a certificate. It was agreed the contest should become an annual event.

Day 2- Chicken project

I've temporarily reduced the area the girls can forage in since 2 of them squeezed through the backyard fence yesterday while I was trying to get them in for the night. Luckily I had the other 2 already in so their frantic peeping kept the escapees close by. I was able to corner one and catch her outside the fence because she ran into a corner that had the solid shed on one side and a smaller gauge wire on the other so that was fortunate. The other, smaller/younger, pullet popped back through the fence so rather than try to catch her, I set up the smaller pen area using about 20 feet of chicken wire I happened to have on hand (this is why I never throw anything away...) and left one side open and went inside the house. After a little while, she came out of hiding and found her way into the penned area and right up to the coop door to get closer to sounds of the rest of the girls. Watching, I went out, closed the fencing up so she couldn't get out if she ran again and I easily grabbed her and put her in for the night. Another comic moment NOT caught on tape- thank God!

New project- Chickens!

Since the hydroponics project has been put on hold due to some yet-to-be-resolved issues, the next project to bring fresh food to the table is the introduction of 4 pullets to the backyard.

I played with a variety of coop designs but after pricing the materials needed, I decided to make use of the old metal shed that contains seldom used equipment in our backyard. Rather than give them free reign in there, I designated an area using some random materials and leftover wire fencing where they can stay at night, safe from predators. An old boat hatch was my only expense. It allows entry into the shed, has a nice fold down door for a walkway and easily fit (well, my hubby put it in and there was no cussing so it must have been easy :o) into the metal wall of the shed.
The biggest concern was how the dog and cat were going to handle them, but after a few stalking attempts and the firm "NO!", hopefully they'll loose interest. In any case, the chickens are certainly sensitive to their surroundings and have shown they can evade these playful dangers.
I can see the biggest challenge for me will be finding a way to train the chickens to go into the coop at night. We've got some big things that go bump-in-the-night around here and the girls need the safety of that coop whether they like it or not. Anyone watching me try to catch them last night would probably have had a good laugh. Well at least I got my exercise for the day...

NASA Launches New Education Initiatives with Disney's Buzz Lightyear

OK, so some folks may think I sold out because I am a closet Disney fan. The secret's out- I visit the 'World' about once a year, mostly EPCOT (does that make it better or worse?). Anyway, along with my recent application to be a Solar System Ambassador (jury is still out on that one), I thought this notice from one of my NASA listservs deserved a posting:

NASA Launches New Education Initiatives with Disney's Buzz Lightyear

NASA and Disney Parks, which collaborated to carry toy space ranger Buzz Lightyear into orbit, are launching new efforts to encourage students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The 12-inch-tall action figure spent more than 15 months aboard the International Space Station and returned to Earth on Sept. 11. On Friday, Oct. 2, a ticker-tape parade at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., will officially welcome Lightyear home.

"Buzz's historic spaceflight is a great example of spreading the excitement of space exploration with students around the world," said Joyce Winterton, NASA's assistant administrator for Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We hope our space station crews and Buzz will continue to spark student interest in the space station and its scientific potential."

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, the station commander from October 2008 to April 2009, is spending the day at the Magic Kingdom to tell students about two new educational design challenges and a new online game.

Mission Patch Design Challenge: Students ages 6-12 will have the opportunity to design a patch to commemorate Lightyear's mission and his accomplishment of being the longest serving space ranger. The student with the most creative mission patch and 100-word essay will win a tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a trip to Walt Disney World Resort. NASA will fly the winning patch into space then present it to the contest winner.

Kids in Micro-g Experiment Challenge: Students in the fifth through eighth grades are encouraged to devise experiments to be conducted aboard the space station. The 12 winning experiments will be performed by the end of the school year and videotaped for the winning schools.

For more information about the challenges, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/buzzoniss.

NASA and Disney Parks are launching a new online game as part of the Space Ranger Education Series. The series includes fun educational games for students and materials for educators to download and integrate into classroom curricula. In the newest game, "Putting It All Together," players can build the entire station using all of the real modules.

"We can't thank our partners at NASA enough for bringing Buzz Lightyear home from space to his family, friends and fans here at Disney Parks -- after all, this was his dream come true," said Duncan Wardle, vice president of Disney Parks.

NASA Television will air highlights of Finke's meeting with students and the Buzz Lightyear parade. For streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For information about other NASA education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education.

For more information about the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station.

For more information about the space shuttle, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

Locally grown...

Neat idea!
http://mymothersgarden.locallygrown.net

It works like this…..

This online market is meant to emulate many aspects of a traditional “booths and tables” farmers’ market. The customers are buying directly from the grower, at prices set by the grower. The grower describes what is available, supplies photos of the items, and sets the purchase price.

Agriculture Continues To Thrive In Hillsborough County

The Hillsborough County Agriculture Industry Development Program and the County's Cooperative Extension Service have released the agriculture sales and acreage estimates for 2008.

According to the data, the 2008 sales estimate of Hillsborough County agriculture products is $803,104,025 with 239,288 acres devoted to agriculture. Hillsborough County produces the most tropical fish and strawberries of all counties in the state.The top commodities together generate 86 percent of the agricultural sales in the County, using only 16 percent of the total land area devoted to agriculture.

Read the entire article at:

http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/communications/news/releaseoutput.cfm?r_id=8352