The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Pasco Extension Office

Their stories — and foods — are varied

By

A small group of entrepreneurs gathered recently to sell their goods at a drive-thru vendor fair at the University of Florida/Pasco County Extension’s One Stop Shop, at 15029 14th St., in Dade City.

Those wishing to make a purchase could swing by on Oct. 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., to order items and purchase them, from the comfort of their cars.

Hillbilly Farms prepares gluten-free foods. The company’s founders sold the storefront, but are still selling items prepared at an incubator commercial kitchen in Dade City. (Courtesy of Pasco Economic Development Council)

The idea was to support the small businesses, while providing a safe place to shop, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participating vendors included Hillbilly Farms Bakery Shops, Charm City Eats, Lanky Lassie’s Shortbread, Superfood Bakeshop, and Chef Sweets of Luminous Concession.

The stories, shared by some small business owners taking part in the event, are as varied as the foods they sold.

Rhoda Mazerolle, of Hillbilly Farms Bakery, previously sold her gluten-free foods from a storefront that she operated with her husband. They have sold that store and have scaled down, but she continues to prepared wholesale foods at the SMARTstart commercial kitchen, at the One Stop Shop.

The commercial kitchen initiative is the result of a partnership between the Pasco Extension Office, which is part of the University of Florida Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences, Pasco County and Pasco County Economic Development Council Inc., with assistance from Welbilt, an industrial kitchen company.

Amy Henninger, of Charm City Eats, is a newcomer to the Pasco County area — moving here less than two months ago.

She said the commercial kitchen allows her food truck — which specializes in authentic Maryland cuisine — to operate.

Charm City Eats offers authentic Baltimore cuisine. The company was one of the vendors taking part in a recent drive-thru vendor fair at the One Stop Shop in Dade City.

Charm City Eats offers such foods as broiled crab cakes, slow-smoked pit beef, Baltimore fried chicken, hot chicken and hand-cut fries.

Getting into the food business is a big departure for her, she said, noting she used to run a copier company in Baltimore.

But, the pandemic has been a turning point, she said.

“I’m going to be turning 40 soon, and I was just sick of the corporate world, and quotas and nonsense, and stress and all of that. I just wanted to do something different and work for myself,” Henninger said.

Plus, her fiancé loves to cook.

Like Henninger, Mary Katherine Mason Souter — who owns Lanky Lassie’s Shortbread — was greatly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, the entrepreneur said she’s had her shortbread business for years, but it was always a “very, very side hustle, hobby.”

It turned into a full-time career, she said, “100% because of COVID.”

The owner of Lanky Lassie’s estimates she’s baked about 5,000 pounds of shortbread since being laid off from her previous full-time job of doing interior designs and selecting furniture for hotels.

Before turning all of her attention to running a baking company, she did interior designs and selected furniture for hotels.

That came to a halt earlier this year, when she was furloughed in April, then laid off in July.

“Since April, I have made about 5,000 pounds of shortbread,” said the baker, who uses her maiden name, Mason, on her business documents.

Her company’s slogan — “Long legs, short bread” — is a reference to her height, of 6 feet.

She’s grateful for the SMARTstart kitchen.

“Without that kitchen, I would not be able to have my business because in order to be able to ship legally and sell legally online, you have to have your manufacturing license.

“The only way you can have your manufacturing license is to have your commercial kitchen, and it has to be inspected by the Department of Agriculture,” she said.

It turns out that the kitchen is just 2 miles away from where she lives in Dade City.

Dan Mitchell, Pasco EDC’s SMARTstart program coordinator, said “the drive-thru vendor fair was a way for our community to experience the new food businesses that have been developing at the incubator.”

It also gave entrepreneurs a chance to get some feedback and hone their skills, Mitchell added.

Whitney C. Elmore, director of Pasco County Extension, said she’s proud of the vendors who produce their foods at the incubator kitchen.

“They’ve persevered during the pandemic – some had lost their job as a result and we were there, along with Pasco EDC, to provide the resources they needed to start their business,” she said.

“Our vendors provide phenomenal products,” Elmore added, “We were excited to showcase them in a drive-through vendor fair at our One Stop Shop in Dade City.”

Published November 18, 2020

Pasco opens first incubator kitchen

By

An incubator kitchen has opened in Dade City, to promote economic development through food businesses.

The new facility is a collaborative effort between University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS)-Pasco County extension, the Pasco Economic Development Council, Inc.’s SMARTstart incubator program and Pasco County.

The kitchen was officially unveiled on Sept. 23, during a ribbon cutting at the Stallings Building, in Dade City.

Mark Richardson, Ron Oakley, Michael Anderson and Mick Hughes congregate inside the new incubator kitchen at Dade City’s Stallings Building. The kitchen is expected to support education and economic development.
(Brian Fernandes)

Pasco County Commission Chairman Ron Oakley, told those gathered, “This kitchen is going to do great things for Pasco County. It’s going to start those businesses off, and then they’re going to create jobs.”

The incubator will be operated in a renovated kitchen, where participants will  learn culinary skills and entrepreneurs will have a launchpad for new businesses.

Dr. Whitney Elmore said she had that vision in mind, when she first saw the building five years ago.

“Turning this corner out here on 14th Street, I saw this county-owned (Stallings)building sitting unused in a community that was, frankly, in need of resource development and economic opportunity.

“I saw this building’s potential to become an educational outreach center where members of the community, and all of Pasco County, could come for educational services and furthermore, empowerment,” Elmore said.

The Stallings Building, also now known as the One Stop Shop, was established in 1991.

It had been vacant when Elmore, the director for the Pasco Extension Office, came across it.

She has helped to establish the building as a hub for educational classes and food demonstrations.

The kitchen was not in a suitable condition for showing demonstrations, Elmore said.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences-Pasco County Extension, recently unveiled its new incubator kitchen at the Stallings Building in Dade City.

The renovation has been three years in the making, she added.

The $30,000-project included refurbishing the oven hood, installing a built-in grease trap and new ceiling tiles. There also is a pantry closet to store dry foods and other products.

Welbilt, a kitchen equipment company, donated a stove, oven, a three-compartment sink, stainless steel counters, an ice maker, a fridge and a freezer.

“Not only did they donate that kitchen equipment that you see in there,” the director said, “they helped us figure out what needs to go where, to optimize safety and to optimize utility of the different parts.”

And Welbilt is planning to do more, Elmore said.

Oakley said the project is a “public-private partnership, working together for the betterment of the community.”

After the ceremonial ribbon cutting, guests had the opportunity to tour the newly-built kitchen.

What sets the incubator kitchen apart from other commercial kitchens, said Elmore, is that it’s open to the public to stock and preserve food.

The kitchen can be a learning space and can serve as a stock room, for a culinary instructor about to teach a class.

The storage space can be used by food trucks, too.

Those using the kitchen for storage will pay a fee.

Dan Mitchell, manager of Pasco Economic Development Council’s SMARTstart incubator program, has been involved in the project, too.

SMARTstart offers memberships so people can take advantage of the kitchen.

“When we start a new entrepreneur [as] a member, we build an action plan for them,” Mitchell explained. “If they think it’s going to take them a year to launch, we meet with them once a month, we coach them, we hold them accountable and we help them get to that launch date.”

Elmore said the kitchen will help people develop skills to be culinary entrepreneurs. She also thinks it will be an incentive for migrant workers to stay within the region.

Elmore also believes the kitchen will give people healthier food options, which will lead to fewer chronic illnesses.

The kitchen could help reduce crime, too, she said.

“We know through many different models all across the nation, and all kinds of studies, that if you offer economic opportunity, job growth development [and] educational services, that you can cut down on the crime,” Elmore explained.

And with a community garden based outside the Stallings Building, the kitchen provides a convenient space for preparing one’s own produce.

Long-term plans include starting an educational program for single mothers to become businesswomen within the food industry, as well as adding new incubator kitchens throughout Pasco County.

“That’s our goal,” said Mitchell, “to knock down the barriers to entries to starting a business, and be that launching pad.”

Clearing up some myths about Spanish moss

By

Spanish moss is an icon, symbolic of lazy southern days.

It sways in the breeze, welcoming travelers to Florida.

Its tendrils trail, acting as a beacon to those looking for adventure in the Sunshine State.

But for some Florida residents, Spanish moss is not always such a welcome sight — especially if it’s hanging from our oaks, cypress trees and ornamental shrubs.

Spanish moss is often misunderstood. Some people think the perennial plant is a parasite. But the truth is, this perennial is actually a bromeliad and rarely causes damage to its host plants. (Courtesy of Whitney C. Elmore)
Spanish moss is often misunderstood. Some people think the perennial plant is a parasite. But the truth is, this perennial is actually a bromeliad and rarely causes damage to its host plants.
(Courtesy of Whitney C. Elmore)

That’s because Spanish moss is often misunderstood.

Spanish moss is a bromeliad and not a moss at all.

It’s a perennial plant closely related to the pineapple.

Spanish moss is an epiphyte, which means it grows on other plants, but it isn’t a parasite.

Epiphytes gather nutrients from the air and even from the dust settling on the surface of their host plant. Spanish moss literally catches moisture and nutrients using tiny scales along its leaf surface and is quite drought tolerant.

When residents notice Spanish moss, or even ball moss, on plants that seem to be in decline, many automatically assume that the Spanish moss is the problem.

If fact, what you’re seeing is the moss inhabiting “easy” areas on the plants that are already struggling due to some other issue. The Spanish moss (and ball moss) isn’t a parasite or a disease, so it rarely ever causes a problem.

Spanish moss doesn’t have roots, so it cannot “hook” itself into plants – it simply hangs on by wrapping itself around a structure and using it for support.

When a plant is struggling, the canopy will often thin exposing the Spanish moss that’s hanging on the plant to more sunlight. That causes the moss to grow more vigorously.

Hence, it appears that Spanish moss is causing a problem, but it really isn’t.

So, Spanish moss is not killing trees.

On rare occasions, moss growth can be heavy enough to shade the leaves on trees causing photosynthesis to the host plant to slow, and that might result in slower growth.

But a healthy tree will outgrow the moss.

With heavy moss accumulation – the added weight can break branches.

So, it may be necessary to remove excess moss to keep limbs from breaking and causing damage to property, people or animals.

If you wish to remove the moss, keep in mind that it will grow back. While it’s usually best to have an arborist remove the moss, you can remove it by hand – just be careful not to fall or injure yourself.

Most of the time it simply isn’t necessary to remove the moss.

In fact, many birds build nests from Spanish moss, and other animals use it to build shelters. So, removing the moss can have a negative impact on wildlife.

Historically, Spanish moss has been used for everything from stuffing in cushions and mattresses to home insulation. Today, it’s more commonly found in floral and ornamental arrangements.

If the moss hanging from your plants bothers you, carefully remove it.

The rest of us will simply enjoy the view.

For more information about Spanish moss, call the UF/IFAS Pasco Extension Office at (352) 518-0156.

By Whitney C. Elmore

Dr. Whitney Elmore, UF/IFAS Pasco County Extension Director and Urban Horticulture Agent III. This column was adapted from B. Larson, et al, Florida’s Native Bromeliads (CIR 1466), Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation.

Published June 24, 2015