Green Thumbs Up

I don't know about you, but the recent onslaught of tropical storm activity greened up my brown lawn. However, my newly planted drought-tolerant plants seemed to have exploded from hyper hydration. Now my pretty red flowers have turned into slimey goop. Ah well ... they'll come back.

I should have taken a few notes from the City of Mount Dora. City Hall recently underwent a total lawn make-over to set a Green example to new developments by planting Florida-friendly landscaping using native plants that require less water, fertilizer and pesticides.

Way to GO GREEN Mount Dora! (applause, kuddos, green thumbs up!)

Educational signage will be added to educate visitors of the benefits and types of plants. Take notes and add the November Plant & Garden Fair to your calendar and hopefully you'll have a better green thumb than me!

On a side note, a friend of mine gave me an AeroGarden as a gift for my kitchen. Considering that I'm known as "green girl" amongst my friends and I screwed up my own drought tolerant garden, this seemed like a perfect solution for my handicapped green thumb. This neat little appliance allows you to "set it and forget it" with a pre-programmed light and watering system. I'm now the proud mama of a little hydroponic herb garden! I've got fresh organic basil, dill and mint galore! They're doing much better than my twiggy little potted plants. I'll never do dirt again!

--Rachelle

Hansel & Gretel's Happy Ending

Today I took my grandmother out to the Yalaha Bakery for some pastries and coffee. It's always such a peaceful country drive through the orange groves and around Lake Harris. Plus the bakery has such a European flair with it's unique German architecture and tall, narrow Italian Cypress trees. Walking into the bakery and eyeing all the lovely treats, it's so difficult to decide on just ONE dessert. There is everything from rum raisin cheesecake, chocolate eclairs, strawberry mousse cakes, key lime tarts, cheese & pear tortes, almond horns, German apple pie, cannolis ... and confectioner's high goes on and on. I pause for a moment and I think, "big inviting German house ... in the middle of the woods ... offering an endless supply of pastries, cakes and hearty breads ... did Hansel & Gretel have a happy ending???" When they served our coffees and chosen desserts, it was certainly a happy afternoon for us!

Outside the bakery, we walked over to Blue Bayou Farms & Market where the blueberries are so fresh ... they're picking them right there in front of you! We purchased some of those fresh berries and other produce along with some Amish cheese.

Tomorrow Yalaha Bakery will be having live music and the Blue Bayou Farms are holding a corn roast with fresh local Zellwood Sweetcorn. This will be the last live musical event at Yalaha Bakery until the fall.

--Rachelle

Center For The Arts Hosts New Farmer's Market

The 1st monthly Get Green Organic Food and Artist Market was a soft, but successful start! Christina Padgett, with the Mount Dora Center for the Arts has started something that all of us locals have been asking for ... and looking for ... and waiting for ... a Farmer's Market in downtown!


A place that we can walk to where we can get our healthy local veggies and crafts. Only, Christina plans to add her own creative glitter to the event by having live music and local artists.

Dare I say, I hope this grows big enough to take up the whole alley from 5th all the way down to 4th.

The Center's Organic Food and Artist Market takes place on the FIRST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH in the Center For the Arts Building and back garden on 5th Avenue from 10 am - 2 pm.



From Christina,

"Customers can enjoy conscious friendly purchases by buying items that are not only good for them, but also supports a sustainable supply chain which has a positive impact on the local environment and economy. As you can imagine, word of mouth is what drives the success of our community events. Please tell your friends about our project & let them know how they can get involved!"

For consideration in participation, please contact MDCA to reserve your space at 352-383-0880.

Eat Fresh. Buy Local.

I've mentioned before that I love a good farmer's market. With all of the talk in the media about organics and buying locally grown food, it seems more and more people are looking for farmer's markets in their area.

We have a new farmer's market that just started in Tavares and the quality of vendors here REALLY impressed me. You've got your open market standards such as fresh produce, plants, homemade organic soaps and jewelry. In addition, there is a gourmet pasta company offering unique and interesting flavors such as basil spelt linguine and dark chocolate pasta. Yes. I did say dark chocolate pasta. I tried a piece and it is delish! There is also a local company called Joe's Oat Patties that creates 100% vegan meatless burger mixes. I purchased their Organic Sunrise Sausage mix to try.

This farmer's market meets every Tuesday (today) from 9:00 to 1:00 p.m. behind the courthouse by Lake Dora. So grab your cash and your market bags and check this one out!

--Rachelle

Pickin' Strawberries

The grey skies stayed dry! So we were able to make it to the strawberry fields after all. Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits, so I was so excited to find out that Oak Haven Farms is only 3 miles away from my downtown home where I can pick my own berries.

I may have lived in the city for 10 years, but I'm just a country girl at heart. I was tickled to be out on a farm today breathing in some fresh air, enjoying some home-made strawberry shortcake and taking in the views.

You guys out there need to take note ... this would make a FANTASTIC Valentine's date. Or at least that's what us girls decided while sitting around a fire roasting our hot dog lunch. Add a picnic basket, bottle of champagne and some chocolate to these strawberry fields and you're going to win an award for Man of the Year.

It's a great family thing too. Some friends of mine met me out here today with their two sons and it was quite a big deal for them to climb on tractors and play in the dirt. There is even two playgrounds for kids to climb up on things or go for a swing.

When I was in Italy they called things like this Agri-Tourismo. I guess we can call it Agri-Entertainment. Definitely make your plans to get out here soon because strawberry season ends in mid-April.

--Rachelle

Saturday Morning Market

My original plan today was to go strawberry picking ... but I decided to wait out the grey weather and go shopping. I love a good Farmer's Market and we've got a great one here in Mount Dora at the Renniger's twin markets. I've been to the antique market many times to pick up hardware and other odds & ends, but it had been awhile since I've been to the flea market side.

This is the king of all farmer's markets. A huge selection of fresh seafood, meats and fresh produce & plants including some from local farms. And of course, everything is such a bargain. I bought a pound of greenbeans for a dollar. My favorite vendor in the foodie section is someone I affectionately call "the local honey man." Henry Parker's Sweet Thing Honey Plantation of Eustis brings to the market a variety of honeys including Tupelo, Orange Blossom and local Wildflower which will be fantastic for taming my allergies.

Sprinkled throughout the market you'll find more than just the usual flea market trinkets. There is homemade fudge, fresh-baked breads, old-fashioned candies, exotic birds, crafts, furniture and antiques.

My only tip would be to bring some bags with you, sort of like the cloth re-usable grocery bags. I have a ton of these at home and was kicking myself for not bringing them. I ended up buying one of those little canvas bags with wheels for about $5.00 to save myself from dropping my newly purchased glass jars full of honey.

--Rachelle