Celebrating Culture at the Farm! |
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Left to right: Ed Burrows, Tasha Hadley, James Scott, Brian Peret, Kevin Johnson, Healing Fyah |
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We stayed busy in February!
We're growing fast as we continue building out the farm. With the irrigation installed, beds made and planted in, and our storage shed delivered we can already envision our first market around the corner. We have hundreds of plants growing and thriving as we continue to pour love into the land.
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Black History Month Community Workday |
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Shimya, Youth Ambassador w/ SPPD horses |
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Our Black History Month workday was a huge success! It was a beautiful celebration of art and culture at the farm. We had 100+ visitors and volunteers come through, with new partners and new faces.
We started off with a morning yoga session allowing everyone to get balanced and take a moment for themselves before we kicked off the event, and we got a lot done! Building more beds, mulching, and planting flowers. Digging up and potting 50+ mango trees from our neighbor Mr. Way who was so generous to donate them. We had art, drumming, our first products for sale (pickled banana peels and fire cider thanks to Ruth Glass's help packaging), and we were able to raise over $300 thanks to donations and sales of the mango trees and products.
We had the St. Petersburg Police Department bring out their two mounted units Jacob and Brooklyn. The PSTA partnered with us to showcase their Black History Month bus wrap with art by ZuluPainter, who was there painting a beautiful piece for us to auction off. NOMAD Art Bus settled into their new home at the farm and provided an additional layer of artistic energy to the day along with art supplies to give away. We had free books for everyone, snacks, information, and on top of all that it was a gorgeous day in South St. Pete!
Extra special thanks to Patricia Wheelings, our next-door neighbor, who took time out of her day to cook us a southern meal of fried fish, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, and a delicious strawberry cake to show her love and appreciation for the work we're doing.
We also want to say a big thank you to everyone who made it out, the support means so much to our Youth Ambassadors.
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Yoga led by one of our volunteers |
Carrie Boucher, NOMAD Art Bus |
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Special thanks to Representative Michele Rayner, Nikki Gaskin-Capehart (City of St. Pete Urban Affairs), Leah McRae (City of St. Pete), Mike Jefferis (Parks & Rec), Council Member Deborah Figgs-Sanders, Schoolboard Member Caprice Edmond, ZuluPainter, Nathan Bruemmer (St. Pete Pride), Carrie Broucher (NOMAD Art Bus), Christie Bruner (Healthy St. Pete), Boyzell Hosey (TB Collard Green Festival), Rob Greenfield & Team, Ava Deveaux (Bartlett Park Community Garden), Sara-Ellen Burnett (Historic Kenwood), Lou Murray (Manasota Food Action Council), Erica Hall (FL Food Policy Council Chair), Jabaar Edmond (CDAT), Antonio Brown MB (13th Street Heights NHA), Winnie Malumba (USF), Professor Brandon Shuler (USF St. Pete Campus), Professor Trey Conner (USF St. Pete Campus), Professor Joseph Dorsey (USF Tampa Campus), Harold Bryant (FHSP), Carolyn Lane (ASPEC), Eric Atwater, St. Petersburg Police Department Mounted Units, Courtney Grigsby (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority), James C. Scott (FL Suncoast Sierra Club), our drummers Healing Fyah, Ed Burrows, and Kevin Johnson. Shout out to Pop Goes The Waffle for donating waffles, and Virginia Fox and Cal for the Gatorade and fruits they donated for the event as well!
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Farm Updates!
- We have 15+ beds built out
- Plants, compost, and seaweed from Kelli (Fern Bella Botanicals) to start off our first few beds
- 10 additional banana trees planted thanks to generous donations
- 400+ peppers, lettuce, collards, okra, tomatoes, and more planted
- Hundreds of pounds of food composted at our site weekly
- Donation of two citrus trees, berry bushes, and other plants
- Daystar Life Center continued support of providing food scraps
- Harvested and moved collard greens from container behind Enoch Davis to newly made beds
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Upcoming Events & Classes |
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St. Pete Youth Farm Women's History Month Workday
We invite everyone to come out on the last Saturday of the month to check out the progress on the farm, volunteer and gather with purpose.
Next month let's come together to acknowledge and celebrate women in our community who make a difference in agriculture and nutrition. Their wealth of knowledge and love for the community is invaluable.
Sign up below to volunteer before or after the event!
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FREE Community Gardening Classes for Beginners
Join us at the farm for community gardening classes with guest instructor Rob Greenfield! Rob Greenfield is an environmental activist and humanitarian who has made it his life's mission to be the change he wants to see in the world. He recently embarked on a yearlong project in Orlando growing and foraging 100% of his own food, truly living off the land. learning so much along the way and ready to pass that knowledge to the community here in St. Pete.
This is not a series, each class will be the same so come out on the day most convenient to you (no registration necessary). The first class is TOMORROW!
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St. Pete Youth Farm's 3-Day Celebration of Earth Day
Next month we'll be celebrating Earth Day in a big way! We understand the importance of being kinder to our planet, and how the work we do can benefit the Earth and all of us on it. Join us for our 3-day event at the end of April where we will have an open dialogue, movie night, and big workday and market.
More details to come, follow the Facebook event for updates.
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If you'd like to volunteer, take a moment to fill out our volunteer engagement survey. We're at the farm Tuesdays and Fridays from 3:30pm - 5:30pm.
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