Monthly Archives: July 2010

Help Take Action to Support Our Local Food!

July 26, 2010

We need your help to go to the meeting and or sign the online petition. This is just the beginning of changes that need to be made to support a true local safe food economy….please help today…..

County Commission Meeting Times & Location

Tues July 27th Meeting Agenda

Click here to write your Commissioners Directly…now!

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Just a reminder that on Tuesday, July 27 at 3pm there will be a regular County Commission Board Meeting. You will be able to speak on Chickens, under Citizens to be heard.

LOCATION: 5th Floor Assembly Room, Pinellas County Courthouse, 315 Court Street, Clearwater.

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Hello Fellow Backyard Poultry Proponents,

I have some 4-Her’s coming to tomorrow’s Pinellas BCC and speaking. We plan on presenting the attached Powerpoint presentation. I wanted to let you know where we stand so we are working together and not against one another. We have also started an e-petition at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/pinellas-citizens-4-backyard-poultry.html. I appreciate you sending around the petition to anyone in Pinellas County who might support backyard poultry keeping. The petition does ask for names and addresses. This is because in order for it to be a valid petition, that information must be present. The information will not be used for spam. See you tomorrow.

Yours in 4-H,
Lisa McBride
Volunteer Leader 4-H2O Chapter
Pinellas County 4-H
hm 727-723-8175
cell 727-698-8884

By Bree Cheatham | Posted in Dunedin Co-op News | Comments off

Whinot Garden Featured on Channel 8 News

July 26, 2010

Friday July 25th, Lynda Mink and her Whinot Garden? was featured along with the Dunedin Harvest Co-op on Tampa bay’s Channel 8! Watch the video by clicking the link.

Watch Video:
http://www2.tbo.com/video/2010/jul/23/dunedin-community-garden-created-21422/video-news/#comment

organic food on local news

By Bree Cheatham | Posted in In the News | Comments off

Get Ready to Plant this August!

July 19, 2010

August is the kick-off month to start your seedlings for the Florida Fall and Winter growing seasons. If you wait too long until the weather starts to break you could end up behind the game. It is best to use the intense Summer heat to your advantage. The heat will help to sprout many seeds quickly and give them a good environment to grow strong before the weather changes over and cools for the Winter. Not to mention how exciting it is to be able to plant many more varieties than we have been able to “get-a-way” with the past few months.

If you are new to gardening this year, remember not to overwhelm yourself by trying to grow everything all at once. Pick a few items that you might enjoy most and start with those, in a few months after you get a routine down, start to add a few more. Gardening is supposed to be fun and enjoyable…not considered work and a drag.

BUY ORGANIC & HEIRLOOM SEEDS ONLY as they are important for many reasons. So please make sure you spend the time to do your research and spend a few extra sense to know that what you have bought is safe for you and your family. Seeds that are GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) are created with bacteria and viruses and do not need to be labeled for sale…so don’t take a chance. If you grow GMO plants they can cross pollinate with your neighbor’s Organic plants and destroy the integrity of those plants.

Studies also show that rats that eat GMO foods grow stomach lesions and have other internal organ dysfunction…and now the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has released a notice that “Stomach Cancer on the Rise Among Young, White Adults“. “They” do not know WHY yet, but if we use our common sense, I think it’s pretty obvious. For me, it’s easy…ORGANIC ALL THEY WAY!

WHERE TO BUY YOUR ORGANIC SEEDS (just to name a few)

Seeds of Change www.seedsofchange.com

Peaceful Valley www.groworganic.com

Eden Organic Nursery Services www.eonseed.com

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange www.southernexposure.com

FLORIDA VEGETABLE SEEDS TO SOW IN AUGUST

By Bree Cheatham | Posted in Gardening | Comments off

Non-Toxic Home Cleaning Tips!

July 19, 2010

These days many people are starting to realize just how toxic their home cleaning and yard chemicals really are. Homeowners with pets and children seem to be leading the way. I personally do not use harsh chemicals in my home anymore and it’s been so long I can’t remember when the last time I did.  It’s really much easier than you think. Cheap White Distilled Vinegar is the number one hero in non-toxic homes across the world! Think about it, these toxic chemical companies have been around for well less than a century and humanity has been on this planet, living in civilized communities for many thousands of years…living happily and procreating very successfully amongst all the dust, mold and bacteria that still exists today. This is true because there are many, many non-toxic natural anti-bacterial, anti-mold and anti-fungus solutions that come directly from living plants. We just need to turn off the radio and TV and take our minds back. We need to un-learn what we have been brainwashed to “know” as the only way…or the best way.

We need to learn from our neighbors and friends and we need to take back our homes and offices and start cleaning with non-toxic products. Below is some information off a great website I just found about White Distilled Vinegar and what it can be used for. The website lists 1001 uses for this natural non-toxic product including uses for Cleaning, Laundry, Gardening, Health, Automotive, Pets and Cooking.

Just to name a few, here are some other non-toxic cleaning materials you may want to investigate are Baking Soda, Dr. Bonners Organic Magic Soap, fresh lemon juice, peppermint oil, lavender oil and natural pine oil (but NOT factory made pine soaps like Murphy’s Oil Soap).

CLEANING WITH VINEGAR
By www.vinegartips.com

White distilled vinegar is a popular household cleanser, effective for killing most mold, bacteria, and germs, due to its level of acidity. Cleaning with white distilled vinegar is a smart way to avoid using harsh chemicals. You’ll also be glad to know that it is environmentally friendly and very economical.

To shine chrome sink fixtures that have a lime buildup, use a paste made of 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar.

Make your own scouring cleanser by combining 1/4 cup baking soda with 1 tablespoon liquid detergent. Add just enough white distilled vinegar to give it a thick but creamy texture.

Clean counter tops and make them smell sweet again with a cloth soaked in undiluted white distilled vinegar.

Clean and deodorize a drain by pouring in 1 cup baking soda, then one cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let this sit for 5 minutes or so, then run hot water down the drain.

Deodorize the garbage disposal by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal. Read More »

By Bree Cheatham | Posted in Local Sustainability, Non-Toxic Living | Comments off

How to Make Paper from Banana Trees

July 12, 2010

Banana TreesIt is important for us to start looking at our environment and see it for what it really is …. a resource of abundance. An abundance of materials and energy that can be used to create useful eco friendly every day products that we can use, share and sell. I have been doing some research into what types of materials that grow here in Pinellas County and how we can make them into more “useful” tools for our every day needs.

Making local natural paper was one topic that popped up onto my radar screen. I thought it was very interesting that paper can be made out of banana trees. Banana trees are a beautiful addition to any sub tropical garden, and while they may need a lot of care in this environment, they are well worth the effort. After the trees fruit you are supposed to chop the stalk down and let the new baby shoots emerge. That’s what I found so interesting about the whole paper making idea….what a great way to reuse the mature banana stalk! This is what I found… Read More »

By Bree Cheatham | Posted in Local Sustainability | Comments off

The Big Business of Conservation…

July 7, 2010

by Johann Hari, from The Nation

I have spent the past few years reporting on how global warming is remaking the map of the world. I have stood in half-dead villages on the coast of Bangladesh while families point to the rising ocean and say, “Do you see that chimney sticking up? That’s where my house was.” I have stood on the edges of the Arctic and watched glaciers that have existed for millennia crash into the sea. I have stood on the borders of dried-out Darfur and heard refugees explain, “The water dried up, and so we started to kill each other for what was left.”

While I witnessed these early stages of ecocide, I imagined that American green groups were on these people’s side in the corridors of Capitol Hill, trying to stop the Weather of Mass Destruction. But it is now clear that many were on a different path—one that began in the 1980s, when environmental groups like the National Wildlife Federation and the Nature Conservancy began accepting donations from the big polluters they’d previously fought.

Companies like Shell and British Petroleum were delighted. They saw it as valuable “reputation insurance”: Every time they were criticized for their massive emissions of warming gases, or an oil spill that had caused irreparable damage, they wheeled out their shiny green awards, purchased with “charitable” donations, to ward off the prospect of government regulation. At first, this behavior scandalized the environmental community. But slowly, other groups saw themselves shrink while the corporate-fattened groups swelled—so they, too, started to take the checks. Read More »

By Lynda Mink | Posted in Local Sustainability | Comments off

Lost Art of Weaving Spanish Moss

July 5, 2010

She Spins Spanish Moss into Beautiful Blankets…

Dawn Klug loves to tell you about Spanish moss. She weaves saddle pads with it for Civil War re-enactors. Published Jan. 16, 2009 [Maurice Rivenbark | tampabay.com]

Video Link: http://www.tampabay.com/components/video/?bcpid=28597115001&bclid=0&bctid=8305854001

By Lynda Mink | Posted in Cool Videos, Local Sustainability | Comments off

gardening in the morning…

July 4, 2010

we’ll be gardening in the morning on Sunday July 11th.. what a way to wind up the month… we have invited kids to the event… it’ s never too young to learn to garden… and play in the dirt… ;0) several volunteers are coming over to help @ whinot garden? and you’re invited too…

By Lynda Mink | Posted in Events | Comments (0)