Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘food’ Category

Lovin in the garden

Posted in agritourism, chef, events, farm, food, locavore, tagged , , on January 21, 2010|

Valentine’s Day, February 14th features LOVIN IN THE GARDEN

Join us for dining, music and dancing under the stars

Come join us once again for the most romantic day of the year by spending an enchanted evening in paradise! LOVIN IN THE GARDEN will tempt you and your lover’s senses throughout the evening as you stroll in the beautiful tropical gardens; recline together under the stars with a glass of delicious wine; indulge in our aphrodisiac-inspired menu kissed with organic herbs; paired with equally sensual wines selected by Sommelier Shari Gherman.

Private chefs and brother/sister team Christopher Siragusa and Mary Siragusa will delight you with their farm fresh tropical cuisine with a specialty in edible flowers. Love songs fill the air to inspire passion and excitement, it will stir your senses, encourage you and your lover’s desire to be close… you’ll be dancing in the moonlight. LOVIN IN THE GARDEN is the sure way to make this Valentine’s Day the one you will always remember.

Please visit www.paradisefarms.net to make reservations.

Read Full Post »

Paradise goes to market

Posted in events, food, market, tagged , , on January 11, 2010| 3 Comments »

BREAKING NEWS! Due to unforeseen circumstances, Paradise Farms will not attend the Gables Market this Saturday. However, they do intend to be at market on the following Saturday, Jan. 23rd.

Paradise Farms will be at the Coral Gables Farmers Market beginning this Saturday, January 16th. Farmer Gabriele Marewski says her farm has survived the cold winter blast and she will have carrots, peppers, baby greens, herbs and those fabulous oyster mushrooms for sale.

The Gables market, now in its nineteenth year, takes place every Saturday 8 am to 1 pm, running from January 16 to March 27. It’s located in downtown Coral Gables, in front of Coral Gables City Hall at the intersection of LeJeune Road and Biltmore Way, next to Miracle Mile.

For more information, contact the Economic Sustainability Department at 305-460-5311 or click here.

Read Full Post »

Bee Yard wanted

Posted in farmer/grower, food, location, photo, tagged , , on December 22, 2009|

Beekeeper Miguel Bode

You might have seen beekeeper Miguel Bode selling honey and beeswax candles at fairs and festivals and markets all around town. If you bought wildflower, avocado or lychee/longan honey from him (or Farmer Margie), those are the products of his bees kept at Bee Heaven Farm, among other farm locations. I caught up with him at Ramble, and noticed he had a sign saying he was looking for a bee yard in suburban Miami. Your reward? All the honey you can eat — and an opportunity to do something to help honey bees survive.

“A bee yard is a place where bees can be put and survive,” Miguel explained. The ideal location is secluded or isolated, in an area where people will not go often. It would be a place where the bees won’t be disturbed or disturb anyone else, and preferably close to a fence. When choosing a spot, consider the other side of the fence, so that bees coming and going from their hives don’t disturb the neighbor having a barbecue, for example.

A row of bee hives at Bee Heaven Farm

Specifically, Miguel is looking for a space big enough for multiple hives, at least 15-20 at the most. The hives are boxes stacked in a row 2 feet wide by 12 feet long. He would like to set up 3 rows, with an 8 foot buffer in between. That translates to a patch of yard that would be 12 feet by 22 feet in size, not including any space immediately around the hives.

Currently Miguel is keeping most of his bees in agricultural areas. He explained that bees produce less in Redland that in the suburbs. In spring when avocado, lychee and longans bloom there’s plenty of food for the bees, but during the rest of the year there’s not as much variety. Miguel would like to move his bees to the Pinecrest or Old Cutler Road areas where the yards are large and there’s plenty of different things blooming year round. The typical yards in the city are too small for so many hives, though. Special landscaping is not that important. Bees will fly to wherever they find flowers. They usually range about one mile, and will go as far as three miles.

Bee yard wanted, sweet reward!

Pets and kids are usually not a problem, and will quickly learn not to bother. Generally, honey bees are not aggressive and will not willfully attack you. Just don’t go up to the hive and start hitting it, then they will get upset! Bees only sting as a last resort. Open pools (not screened in) are a red flag because bees are attracted to water to drink, and might frighten or sting people in or around the pool. Yes, bees drink water (I have seen a bee sipping water from a puddle), and during the dry months of March, April and May they need lots of water.

If you like bees and honey and think your back yard is the perfect spot, contact Miguel Bode at beemyhoneymiami(at)yahoo.com .

Read Full Post »

Breakfast is served

Posted in chef, events, food, locavore, market, tagged , on December 11, 2009| 2 Comments »

Join Slow Food Miami for breakfast at the Pinecrest Farmers Market, located at 11000 Red Road.

Sunday, December 13
9:30 AM – 11:00 AM

$8 for Slow Food Members; $10 for non-members
RSVP to Exileatmed@comcast.net

MENU:

Organic Egg Strata with Hani’s Goat Cheese and Fresh Herbs
Joanna’s Breads
Local Fruit Salad
Fresh Tomato with Organic Lucini Olive Oil and Aged Parmesan
Coffee

GUEST SPEAKERS:

Katie Edwards, Executive Director of the Dade County Farm Bureau
Holly Hickman, Congressional candidate and author

Breakfast produced by Slow Food Miami, The Market Company, JoAnna’s Marketplace and Redland Mediterranean Organics.

Shop for fresh produce and support our local farmers. REMEMBER “No Farms, No Food.”

Read Full Post »

To market, to market

Posted in events, food, locavore, market, photo, tagged , , , on December 11, 2009| 4 Comments »

Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market

Suddenly it’s farmers market season again! A new market sprang up on Sunday morning in the Pinecrest Gardens parking lot. Formerly the South Florida Farmers Market, it has all your old favorite vendors and plus a few new ones. And it was mobbed! Despite a 9 a.m opening time, plenty of people pestered vendors at 8 a.m. (the old opening time) as they were setting up. Farmer Margie Pikarsky of Bee Heaven Farm emailed me, “Business was great. Best start day for a market. Pretty darn good, considering it was also a new location, and a month earlier!!!”

Claire Tomlin, The Market Company

The change in location was a long time coming. Germaine Butler, the founding president of the Pinecrest Garden Club, is delighted to have the Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market at the garden. “I wanted a market for seven years,” she told me. “This is a community garden, and the market fits in here.” It took some persuading from Farmer Margie, Mitch Rabin of Living Colors Nursery, and Tim Rowan of The Lettuce Farm, to move the market to its new location. Claire Tomlin, who owns The Market Company which runs this market, is happy with the move. She said there’s plenty of room, plus it seemed a natural fit with the neighborhood. Compared to the Gardener’s location, the vibe is definitely more laid back, with people strolling up and down the long row of vendors. And there’s plenty of overflow parking along Killian Drive.

The large Redland Organics tent is located at the west end. If you’re in the CSA, and you want more of something in your share, you can find it at the market. If you’re not in the CSA, this is your chance to get the same things your friends are enjoying. You’ll also find goodies at RO tent that you won’t find in your box, such as smoked eggs, dried fruit, local raw honey, tomato plants, various tropical fruits from Possum Trot Nursery, and delicate oyster mushrooms (which debuted at Ramble) grown by Paradise Farms.

Fresh Local Organic at the Redland Organics tent

Redland Mediterranean Organics holds down the east end of the market. Stroll over to see Hani Khouri tending the falafel fryer, and get a taste of his goat cheese, hummus and tabouleh. Yeah, there’s another guy selling similar food, but it just doesn’t taste the same. And if you want pumpkin pie ice cream made with fresh goat milk, this is the only place you can find it.

And while you are there, stroll through the Pinecrest Gardens themselves. Admission is free, and docents from the garden club will give tours at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The garden club has big plans to put in a world-class kitchen and bring in world-class chefs to give cooking classes, according to Germaine Butler. Once an avid rose grower, she now plants arugula in the front yard, and has a philosophy of “sow it, grow it, serve it, eat it.” Sounds like a good match of garden and farmers indeed!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »