The advocacy of these green-thumbed Bay area resident is transforming our community.
by Linda Saul-SenaGardening in Florida requires real guts. There are the bugs whose munch-marks on leaves mangle your plants. Then there’s the unpredictable weather, the blazing sun that fries the leaves and the drenching rain that washes everything away and rots what’s left. And did I mention birds and rodents? Tough.
In addition to nature’s vagueries, local government presents challenges. Zoning codes have been garden-resistant, dependent upon the agreement of neighbors to be allowed in residential areas. And legalizing backyard chickens has certainly provoked public squawking before rigidly crafted rules were agreed upon … no roosters and only four hens in Tampa, 10 in St. Pete.
However, no change is more dramatic than an abandoned piece of trash-strewn, weed-filled, land morphing into a growing garden. This 180-degree turn, from fallow to fertile, speaks to our spirits and has the power to shift a neighborhood’s direction.
Tampa Bay is graced with a number of people who are transforming our area both physically and in terms of good health because of their urban garden advocacy. Here are some of our local Green Gods.
Born to French parents and raised in Tunisia, Chef Emmanuel Roux is a complete foodie. He has lived throughout Europe and Africa and owned and managed a number of restaurants. Eating his flourless chocolate cake, for sale online at FlourFreeCakes.com, is a transcendent experience.
Roux currently cultivates two organic community gardens and raises his own chickens. He provides hands-on mentoring for individuals and groups considering taking the plunge and starting their own gardens. He’s also an inspiring speaker, carefully explaining the varied forms of urban agriculture.
The common thread is that urban agriculture takes place in neighborhoods or suburbs or the urban core, not the boondocks. Home gardens, community gardens and urban farms can all provide food adjacent to where folks live, thus saving transportation costs and delivering fresh, healthy goods.
Roux speaks compellingly about the social and community benefits of urban agriculture, which give people a reason to come together on a regular basis to share their frustrations and successes in a very high-touch way. Gardening together or sharing, literally, the fruits of your labor, is a basic human connection. The antidote for alienation.
Rooftops, sides of roadways and abandoned warehouses are all potential garden spots. Roux thinks that there are 1,000 unused acres in the Tampa Bay area which could be used to produce food. Consider the implications of the additional beauty, health and camaraderie that could be created by gardening in those 1,000 acres.
St. Pete’s Saturday Morning Market, the largest in Florida, is the brainchild of Gail Eggeman, who believes in the power of healthy food as a cultural change agent. The coming together of farmers and artisans who sell their wares to a cross-section of buyers sparks community. Eggeman’s easygoing manner belies a focused energy and determination that has sparked several other initiatives.
She heads up the Slow Food Movement group in Tampa Bay, which promotes a way of living and a way of eating. It is part of a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members in more than 150 countries, which links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.
Eggeman believes that quality and diverse food should be accessible in our community, and food producers should be acknowledged and given fair compensation for their efforts and hard work. Joining is free at slowfoodtampa.org and an inspiring tour of Pinellas County gardens will be held on Sat., Nov. 16, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Our local Godfather of Gardening is Rick Martinez, a charming, dimpled man who started Sweetwater Organic Community Farm in the Town ’n’ Country suburbs of Hillsborough County in 1995. This grand experiment has been a success with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members who pay an annual fee to share the organic vegetables raised on the six-acre spread.
Everyone is welcome to come to the farm to purchase veggies at the weekly Sunday Market from 12-4 p.m. and to take part in the music and yoga activites, workshop series and field trip programs offered by Sweetwater.
The 11th Annual Planters Ball and Fall Potluck Fundraiser is scheduled for Sat., Nov. 16 from 6-10 p.m. at the farm. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for kids, and everyone is asked to bring a vegetarian dish, with dining, dancing and relaxing on tap.
Rick officially “retired” in 2010, but he’s been busy promoting organic farming with a garden initiative at The Children’s Home of Tampa Bay. The kids learn about planting and raising healthy food, eat it and then compost it.
Martinez has taught aspiring gardeners how to develop urban gardens, and I recently saw the fruits of his advising in Cuba, at a thriving plot next to a neighborhood. He speaks on WMNF Radio and teaches free seminars throughout Tampa Bay.
The ethic of connectedness from gardens to the communities in which they thrive is the common thread here. Even if your thumb is decidedly ungreen, buy locally grown food — for the health of our area, if not the sake of our souls.