Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By B.C. Manion

When John Ciani decided he wanted to venture into a new business, he chose something personally satisfying and beneficial to others, not only to himself.

So, he decided to launch Odessa Organic Farmer’s Market, a place where customers can buy organic fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products.

The outdoor business, under a big tent at 8701 Gunn Highway, features locally-grown organic fruits, vegetables and locally-produced dairy products and offers them to customers who come primarily from Keystone, Odessa and nearby communities.

The business offers vegetables grown by Magnolia Farm in Wesley Chapel and fruits and vegetables grown by Parke Family HydroFarms in Dover. It also sells dairy products from The Dancing Goat, a business in northwestern Hillsborough County.

Buying locally allows Ciani to offer competitive prices, he said.

Ciani, who has been in the lawn care business for a couple of decades, said the organic stand represents something he’s passionate about. He wants to bring healthy fruits and vegetables to the local market, and he believes there’s a demand for it, especially among young people, he said.

The stand’s offerings include green onions, lettuce, beets, spinach, bok choy, swiss chard, red peppers, collard greens, squash, cucumbers and other organic vegetables. It also sells a few organic fruits.

Besides being a place where patron can pick up fruits and vegetables, Ciani also wants his stand to become a focal point for community gatherings.

Along those lines, he’s staging his first Odessa Open Market day from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 7. He expects more than 20 vendors, including a beer vendor, and there will be live entertainment, Ciani said. Alex’s Southern Style Barbecue, which has a stand on the front part of the property, will also be on hand.

Ciani hopes the occasional open markets will create a place where people from Odessa and Keystone and other nearby communities will gather to shop, enjoy the ambience and socialize.

In the future, Ciani also plans to build a stage on the rear portion of his lot and where he plans to hold concerts.

The market days will be free, but the concerts will have varying charges, Ciani said.

Ciani said he was motivated to launch his business because he’s passionate about offering healthy food choices.

“I have children and grandchildren,” said Ciani, who lives in Lake Magdalene and is a graduate of Chamberlain High.

He hopes his business will develop a strong following and said he is always open to listening to ideas from patrons for ways he can improve it.

“I want it to be for the people of Odessa and Keystone,” he said. “I want it to be comfortable for everyone. If people have suggestions — suggest.”

For more information about the stand’s operating hours or future open markets call Ciani at (813) 944-8654 or email

 

 

If you go

Odessa Open Market, 8701 Gunn Highway

More than 20 vendors, including a beer vendor, live entertainment, Alex’s Southern Style Barbecue.

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

More information: (813) 944-8654 or

 

 

 

By Kyle LoJacono

Pasco Extension Director and horticulture agent B.J. Jarvis has lived in the county for 20 years, but she still remembers having to change the way she thinks about growing plants.

“I grew up in Ohio and I had to reprogram my mind,” Jarvis said. “The seasons are all different. Growing up in the Midwest I would look at catalogs in January and you had a few months to prepare. You didn’t start planting until May. Here if you wait until May it’s too late. You need to look at the time that’s the harshest, which is the winter up North and the summer here.”

Another challenge of being the only horticulture agent in the county is the wide variations of climate from east to west Pasco.

“There is a tremendous microclimates in Pasco County,” Jarvis said. “In Dade City we have a lot of hills and it gets colder. It stays warmer in Land O’ Lakes and central Pasco. So when someone calls, I always ask where are they from. It makes a big difference and unfortunately, not everything is going to do well in our different climates.”

Jarvis has been working with the Pasco extension office for five years. Her passion for horticulture began after a childhood trip to the Cincinnati Zoo.

“I went to a really cool program in high school and we got to plant landscapes and find out which ones could go with the animals,” Jarvis said. “That’s when my love of plants and growing things started. I never could decide to go to the plant or animal side of the natural world, so when I went to college at Ohio State University I did both.”

Jarvis graduated from Ohio State in 1982 and has spent the last 30 years working in horticulture. She worked at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden before coming to Pasco. Her first job in Florida was with the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

“At that time they were starting water restrictions,” Jarvis said. “They didn’t have a horticulturist to make sure what they were mandating would work. I was there for 15 years, but one day I realized I never got to go outside and grow plants and talk to people about them. I heard they were looking for someone in Pasco, and it was the perfect opportunity.”

It is that teaching that keeps Jarvis at her post.

“What really keeps me going is the aha moment,” Jarvis said. “I’ll describe something to someone and they’ll say ‘yes that’s it,’ or you tell someone what to do to fix a problem and it makes sense to them.”

Jarvis is passionate about growing plants, but she is not interested in spending all day with finicky ones.

“I call myself a lazy gardener,” Jarvis said. “There are enough plants that will flourish without a lot of fuss. I do like some high-maintenance plants like roses, but I don’t have a whole bunch of them. I think people over manage a lot of the time and that hurts plants. Often the answer is just stop causing harm and let the plant grow.”

She does get a certain kind of satisfaction from weeding, a chore for most gardeners.

“I find weeding to be very therapeutic,” Jarvis said. “It doesn’t take a lot of mind power and it doesn’t matter if you spend a lot or little time because you made some improvement. I tell my husband sometimes I have to go weeding, and he understands I just need some time. I come back and I’m always in a better mood.”

Jarvis said most of the calls she gets have to do with a bug or disease in plants. She said the mild winters prevent large number of bugs from being killed, and the hot and humid summers are just what diseases need to spread. However, she believes the major problem with most landscaping is too much watering.

“When I moved here only 25 percent of people had irrigation systems and today 75 percent do,” Jarvis said. “One of the biggest problems in their landscape is too much water. Not too little. The stress of too much water attracts bugs, so it’s a double whammy. People see the plant dropping and having problems and they think it needs more water. Over watering is probably the biggest issue people have.”

Jarvis, her husband Randy and their two children, Tory and Craig, live in San Antonio. Tory, a senior at Pasco High, was the grand champion for her azaleas presented at the Pasco Fair in February. Craig, a student at Pasco Middle, also entered several plants in the event.

“I was a very proud mother,” Jarvis said.

For more information on the Extension, call (352) 518-0231, email Jarvis at or visit pasco.ifas.ufl.edu.

 

Jarvis column wins state award

Pasco Extension Director and horticulture agent B.J. Jarvis has been writing columns for The Laker and the Lutz News every other week for about a year. Her work was named the best column done by a horticulture agent in Florida. She heard about the honor on April 8.

“It was great because it’s something I love to do and I got recognized for it,” Jarvis said. “Horticulture agents got to send in some examples and now I move on to the regional competition. It’s nice to know people enjoy what you’ve done.”

 

Origins of Cooperative Extension

The United States Department of Agriculture records that the first semblance of the current Cooperative Extension service goes back to 1862.

That is when The Morrill Act, “established land-grant universities to educate citizens in agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts and other practical professions,” according to the departments website www.csrees.usda.gov/index.html.

The idea of the Extension was formalized in 1914 to help spread knowledge gained at universities to farmers to better feed the country.

“The idea was the farmers had questions and the universities had answers and that’s how the name Extension started,” said B.J. Jarvis, Pasco’s Extension director. “The mission is a little different now. It’s more for citizens with questions, but the idea is the same.

“The cool thing about Extension services is it can be customized for the area,” Jarvis continued. “Issues here are a lot different than Miami. Some places have a marine agent, some might have more horticulture agents.”

 

 

 

The class is part of a Habitat for Humanity building program

By Ayana Stewart

At the Lowe’s Home Improvement Store in Zephyrhills, 15 women mingle and chat, waiting for their workshop to begin.

Once the instructor arrives, the talkative women quiet down and quickly transform into a group of attentive students.

They are preparing for Women Build Week 2011, a Habitat for Humanity event that will occur from April 30 to May 8. The goal of the project is to build two homes in Pasco County in less than two weeks. Women from all over the area will gather and work in shifts in order to aid Habitat for Humanity in its efforts.

Larry Bailey, department manager of Lumber and Building Materials at Lowe’s, led the April 26 session. The focus was on installing insulation and drywall in a home. Previous classes have covered safety, framing and siding.

“Does anyone have any experience with drywall?” Bailey asks, hopefully.

He’s met with blank stares.

“I have drywall in my house if that helps,” one woman jokes. The rest of the group giggles.

He starts from scratch, explaining in great detail how drywall and insulation should be measured, cut and hung. Since the workshop focuses on being interactive, he asks for a volunteer to help demonstrate the process.

Patricia Strobridge raises her hand. She listens carefully as Larry explains how to staple the insulation to the wall frame and then takes a turn with the staple gun herself.

The majority of the women have little experience with construction and labor.  The one thing that they share is the desire to make a difference in the community.

Patricia hasn’t been involved with the project long but enjoys herself immensely. “It’s delightful and entertaining,” she said. “It’s a good feeling to help someone else.”

Soporro Burns and Ramona Atkins were chosen as the recipients of the homes that will be built. Both women attend the Lowe’s workshops with their families and will volunteer during Women Build Week.

“I was renting homes on and off and wanted something of my own, so I filled out an application at the Habitat for Humanity office,” Ramona explained. “When I found out that I was chosen, I cried.”

Burns is also filled with gratitude. “I really appreciate everything that Habitat for Humanity is doing. They’ve been wonderful.”

For Crystal Paoloemilio, Stephanie Black and Kaci Wubbena, organizers of Women Build Week, this is what it’s all about. They’ve all been involved with Habitat for Humanity for a number of years and are pleased with the turnout this year.

Women Build Week proves that regardless of age, experience, or gender, it is possible to change a life in your community.

To find out more about the upcoming event or donate to the cause, please visit www.ephabitat.org.

By B.C. Manion

The elementary school children were sitting at a table with a reporter, talking about their idea for powering homes and businesses with energy tapped by a new technology they conceived, called a Solar T.R.E.E. when suddenly a group of adults swooped into the room, armed with video cameras and cameras.

Apparently, something big was happening.

And, indeed it was.

For at that moment, Bridgett Nicholson, of Countryside Montessori Charter School told Catie Tomasello, Achyudhan Kutuva and Eyra Gualtieri that they had won second place in the 19^th annual Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision awards program.

The girls were obviously thrilled, smiling broadly and cheering their success.

Nine-year-old Achyudhan had a question, though: “Who won first place?” he wanted to know.

As a result of their winning entry, the children will receive an all-expense paid trip, along with two family members, to Washington, D.C. in June to celebrate their success. The youngsters each get a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond and will have the chance to meet members of Congress, to sightsee around the nation’s capital and attend a gala awards banquet.

Their teacher-coach, Nicholson, and their parent-mentor Heather Tomasello, also get a free trip to Washington, D.C.

The Countryside Montessori Charter students placed second among kindergarten through third-grade teams in the United States and Canada. The competition is one of the largest kindergarten-12^th grade competitions in the world, drawing thousands of team entries.

The contest selects winners based on how students combine imagination with the tools of scientific research to envision future technologies that could exist in 20 years.

The trio of children began meeting weekly in September, to work on their entry.

First they brainstormed ideas.

“Everybody had to like the idea,” Achyudhan said.

Reaching consensus took a few conversations.

“It took us about three meetings,” said 7-year-old Catie, the youngest member of the team. She acknowledged she initially wasn’t keen on the team’s idea of a Solar T.R.E.E. that would convert sunlight and wind energy into electricity. But she came around to the idea, and, of course, now she’s glad she did.

Heather Tomasello said the contest gives children a chance to learn how to work as collaborators. It also encourages them to use their imagination to come up with concepts that could possibly be executed within a two-decade time frame.

The Solar T.R.E.E. the children envision would have leaves made of nanotubes, protein and purple bacteria that harvest the energy.

The prototype they built obviously doesn’t work. It’s just a physical representation of their idea.

But the children contend their concept would address needed improvements. Today’s solar panels are not efficient, do not repair themselves and don’t capture the energy of wind, they noted.

Their project abstract states that generating electricity creates the most pollution out of any industry in the nation through the burning of coal, which creates greenhouse gases, smog and acid rain.

Their Solar T.R.E.E. would create clean and affordable energy, making it possible for people who live in poor countries to have electric power without a power grid.

Before advancing to the national competition, the Countryside team won the Southeast Regional competition, with each team member receiving a flip camcorder from Toshiba and the school receiving a laptop computer.

The competition gives children a chance to develop the kinds of critical thinking skills that are needed in the 21^st century, said Dennise Ondina, the school principal. Those skills include collaboration, creativity and curiosity, she said.

The competition also taps into a resource that schools sometimes overlook, Ondina said, noting that parents can provide a rich bank of talent to help schools.

For the Tomasellos, winning second place in the competition feels a bit like déjà vu.

Heather Tomasello was the parent-mentor of Catie’s team in 2009 when the team took second place in the competition for their called “The EpiWatch.” The wristwatch they envisioned would deliver life-saving Epinephrine for people suffering from severe allergies.

The watch would alert medical help and held a GPS so responders could locate the person in distress.

All four of the children on that team were being home-schooled at the time.

 

 

By Kyle LoJacono

Nick Schuyler is remembering one of the worst days of his life with a fun community event to raise money for the organization that saved his life.

Schuyler and the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department will have a 7-on-7 flag football tournament in Lutz on May 14 and 15, more than two years after a boating accident that changed his life forever.

On Feb. 28, 2009 Schuyler, a former University of South Florida (USF) football player, went out on a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico with three of his friends. The four were caught in a storm that flipped their boat and stranded them in the water 38 miles off shore. Two days later when the U.S. Coast Guard found the capsized vessel, only Schuyler remained.

Schuyler is now 26 years old and a trainer at L.A. Fitness in Lutz. He started the Nick Schuyler Foundation to support the Coast Guard, which saved his life two years ago.

“I wanted to start this foundation so that my fallen brothers would never be forgotten,” Schuyler said. “Most importantly, I hope the Nick Schuyler Foundation can help prevent similar boating accidents.”

The foundation also helps fund the Will Bleakley Memorial Scholarship, named after one of the three men who died in the boat accident. The scholarship is given to a student entering USF who exemplifies courage, kindness and commitment.

The 7-on-7 flag football tournament is at the Oscar Cooler Sports Complex, 770 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road in Lutz. The event is the weekend of May 14 and 15 to raise money for the foundation.

County spokeswoman Kemly Green said the department was happy to help put on the event.

“It’s the kind of thing we want to be a part of,” Green said. “Not only is it a very important cause, but it’s something people in the county can do to have fun while using the recreational facilities here in Hillsborough.”

The cost for a team to register is $400 and includes a T-shirt. The tournament format is double elimination until only one team is left. Complete rules for teams and game play are available at www.nickschuylerfoundation.com. There people can also sign up or donate to the foundation, and also can find safety tips for boaters.

“I want to thank everyone for continuing to support the foundation two years after this tragedy,” Schuyler said. “The prayers alone have been tremendous. I want to thank all of our sponsors for their generous donations and thank all of our volunteers.”

For more information on the tournament or to register a team, call (813) 777-2382.

By Gary S. Hatrick

The public got an opportunity to see the Florida Department of Transportation future plans for US 301 and the city’s alternative side by side at a workshop last week at Alice Hall Community Center.

The state is considering a plan to make US 301 a northbound, three-lane, one-way road through Zephyrhills, while city officials favor an approach that would keep US 301 in its current two-way state.

To this date, plans to improve and widen US 301 are all on paper. City manager Todd Vande Berg said that there are no construction dollars available for any road building at this point and it is anyone’s guess as to when that money will be available. One FDOT representative said that the work could possibly take until 2035.

Vande Berg also said that the construction of several east-west corridors taking traffic past Zephyrhills in the near future could change traffic patterns to where a three-lane highway may not be necessary.