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Hani’s cute kids

June 26, 2011 by marian33031


The baby goats and their mothers nibble on a royal palm frond. Goats are browsers and will eat all kinds of vegetation.

Hani Khouri makes ice cream and several varieties of cheese using milk from his own herd of Nubian goats. He keeps them on his farm in Redland. It’s always fun to visit and take pictures of cute and friendly goats. They, in turn, like to nibble on my shirt and fingers if I’m not paying attention.

The new kids on the farm hanging out underneath the milking stand. The white one still has his umbilical cord. They are about a week old in this picture.

Back in March, Hani’s herd grew to 17 with the arrival of two new kids. They’re both male, which is a problem, because two grown bucks are already in the herd. Hani prefers to keep only one buck with his female goats.

Marylee Khouri holds one of the new kids.

When I went to see the kids, they were only a few weeks old and in that awwww how cuuuute stage. Now they are four months old, bigger but still cute, and Hani is looking to sell them — but only to the right buyer. “Not to eat, and no santeria!” he said. He’d like to see them go to a herd where they can grow up and live out their lives.

If you are interested please contact Hani at www.hanisorganics.com If you are located in Miami-Dade or Broward counties and are interested in purchasing goat cheese, goat milk ice cream, or Mediterranean food, you may do so through his web site.

Posted in animals, farm, photo | Tagged , , |

Florida Small Farms Conference

June 24, 2011 by marian33031


The University of Florida’s (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) Small Farms and AlternaTeam are pleased to announce that the third annual Florida Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference  will be held in Kissimmee, Florida July 15 – 17, 2011.

Only in its 3rd year, the conference already attracts nearly 800 people. It provides farmers with in-depth, cutting edge educational information; facilitates networking, dialog, and visioning among members of the Florida small farms community, and increases awareness of the small farms industry to decision makers, supporting institutions, and the general public.

Who Should Attend

· Small Family Farms
· Transitional Farmers
· Beginning Farmers
· Allied-industry Reps.
· Educators
· Researchers
· Agricultural Associations
· Policy-makers
· Foundations
· Anyone interested in becoming a part of, and strengthening the small farm community in Florida

Additional Conference Highlights

In addition to the educational sessions and optional pre-conference activities, highlights include:
·    Featured Florida farmers
·    Livestock arena with live animal exhibits
·    Local foods
·    Large exhibition showcasing products and technologies

For more information and to register online
http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/smallfarms/index

For specific questions, please contact Mandy Stage, conference coordinator, at mstage@ufl.edu

Posted in events | Tagged |

So ugly and so big

June 24, 2011 by marian33031

The caterpillar of the swallowtail butterfly, with evidence of its enormous appetite.

Last month I stopped by Possum Trot Tropical Fruit Nursery, and as usual, brought my camera. I look forward to those visits, because there’s always something new happening. Walking around with Robert Barnum looking at trees and plants never gets old. Robert pointed out something that looked like a massive bird dropping on a leaf, a blotchy browish-black and white blob, and said it was actually the caterpillar of the giant swallowtail butterfly. It was the biggest, ugliest caterpillar I had ever seen. And it had been quite busy, was chewing up large chunks of a Ponderosa lemon seedling’s leaves. In fact, they like eating citrus leaves very much, which could be a problem. Citrus greening is killing local citrus trees, so there goes its food supply.

Touching the caterpillar triggers a defense response.

The caterpillar’s ugly looks were actually its main defense from getting eaten. A bird would look at that and wouldn’t think it’s food. The caterpillar also had another way of defending itself, Robert said as he touched its back. It immediately arched up a bit and something that looked like a red forked tongue came out of one end. It’s called an osmeterium and it gives off a noxious odor to repel its predator. Robert asked if I wanted to smell that finger, but I shied away, no thanks, take your word on it.

That was in May, and by now the caterpillar and its buddies have most likely decimated the lemon sapling and any others nearby, gone through their chrysalis stage (which lasts about 10-12 days) and are most likely now transformed into the giant swallowtail butterfly. The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 4 to 6 inches, and it’s breathtaking to see a butterfly that big in flight.

A stressed swallowtail caterpillar displaying its osmeterium.

Posted in animals, photo | Tagged | 6 Comments »

Local markets get local press

June 18, 2011 by marian33031

Two grower supported farmers markets got local press this month. Upper Eastside Farmers Market and South Miami Farmers Market have each been written up in the area’s free weekly papers. The Miami New Times picked South Miami as the best farmer’s market of 2011 in their Best of Miami issue that came out this week. The Biscayne Times ran a cover story on Upper Eastside in its June edition. Not bad for two little markets that burst upon the scene just this past winter! Both markets will be open through the summer, so go take a look at what’s growing now and good to eat!

By the way, I’ve discovered that both markets will accept your compost. Save your fruit peels, vegetable trimmings, juicer pulp and coffee grounds in a bag in the freezer, then drop it off at market. (For an urban condo dweller like me, without a yard to dig around in, this is a great way to make sure that my uncooked food scraps get turned into compost.) At Upper Eastside, give your green gold to Art. At South Miami, they have a convenient collection bin.

Posted in market, media | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Volunteer with Urban Oasis Project

June 17, 2011 by marian33031

Got the following message from Antonio Guadamuz and thought I’d pass it along to all who want to put their money where their mouth is. Below is a checklist of many ways that you can help support Urban Oasis Project with their various efforts to get fresh, local and organic food to under-served neighborhoods. This organization is behind the emergence of two new grower supported markets (in Liberty City and Upper Eastside), and has created dozens of edible gardens for families in need. Now they’re growing in many new directions. Don’t have time to volunteer? UOP is a 501 (c) 3 charity and your donations are tax deductible.

It’s never been a better time to get involved!

Urban Oasis Project has been driven over the past two years mainly by the volunteer efforts of Melissa Contreras, Art Friedrich and Antonio Guadamuz — and they couldn’t even begin to count the number of hours they’ve planted gardens, organized events, networked with people, written grants, coordinated farmers markets, driven vegetables from farm to market, and so much more.

We’re moving into a new phase of the project! Melissa, Antonio and Art will have nearly full-time positions working in our partnership with Earth Learning to create a new sustainable farm and market in East Homestead at Verde Gardens — and it’s going to be impossible to keep up all the other aspects of UOP without a broader group of of members actively taking on responsibilities.

[Urban Oasis Project is no longer affiliated with Verde Gardens!]

Here’s a list of some things that we’re doing that you can help with:

Farmers Markets
Market Assistance —  Helping set-up the market, making the displays pretty, selling veggies, and breaking down. Thursdays and Saturdays.
Market Expansion — Making educational displays, cooking demos, recruiting new vendors, recruiting musicians, etc. Be creative!
Market Outreach —  Promoting the market through flyers, directly to passerby at markets as well as at neighborhood events, homes, stores etc.

Garden Building
GIVE Garden management — Contacting interested recipients, setting up dates to plant, organizing volunteers and materials, follow-up contacts and visits.  Creating handouts for distribution.

Potlucks and Workshops
Organize Workshops — Recruit folks who want to teach, promote the workshops. We’d love to be able to expand this program to reach more low-income people as well! Host a potluck and/ or workshop yourself.

Other Initiatives
Food Truck Project — If we have committed project leaders, we’d like to have our own Food Truck with a permanent garden in the bed, to travel around and give educational presentations.

Homestead-Verde Gardens Farm and Market — Looking for volunteers and workers for the new Verde Gardens project in Homestead! A 22 acre organic, permaculture designed farm we’re building from scratch! Daily work being done so you can come almost anytime!

[Please contact Art Friedrich at 786-548-3733 if you wish to volunteer for Urban Oasis Project activities and events.]

These are a few of the things we do. Do you see a way to tap in? Every little bit counts! The most important thing to us at this point is consistency. You must be able to do what you commit to, otherwise it doesn’t help anybody!

Please call us or email with any questions and to get started! We can do lots to help out, you will be supported!

Thanks,
Antonio Guadamuz
Vice Treasurer
Urban Oasis Project

Posted in market, people | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

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