Hello Co-operator!
Join the Co-op as Music In The Park Returns
A VERY Happy Hot Dog Happy Hour
The official South Philly Food Co-op hot dog. Pictured is vegetarian style. Beef also available.
Yesterday evening over 70 people came through Underdogs from 5:30 to 8:30 as part of the Co-op's Hot Dog Happy Hour. We just may have stumbled onto something with this great hot dogs and free beer idea! Even a brief downpour from about 6pm to 6:20pm couldn't hold back an torrent of Co-op members and fans that may have caught the Underdogs folks just a little off guard. Hey... that's how we roll, baby.
Attendees caught up with folks they hadn't seen in a while, which continues to show how the social aspect is one of the best parts about the Co-op.
And, of course, the best news of all was that three more member-owner households joined up last night bringing our total to 479!
Thanks again to Underdogs for hosting and making that great, special hot dog in our honor with a family ratatouille recipe that was simply great. And thanks to Victory Brewing Company for donating five (!) cases of beer for the occasion. If you missed the event we put a few photos up on our Facebook page. Stay tuned for the next great happy hour event. We hope to see you there!
Sarah's Garden: Rain
Above is lavender and what I assumed was Lamb's Ear until these bright magenta flower showed up. Turns out it's rose campion and I'm not entirely sure where it came from! On the left side of the picture is a blackberry (or possibly raspberry) from Bartram's Garden. I get it last summer and it's starting to flower so maybe I will get some berries? We'll see.
The excitement of this week was when I harvested some beans...11 of them, to be exact. They seem a little small but the pods were turning yellow so I looked in one and hey! beans. I'm letting these dry and hopefully I will get more so I can make something with them. Next year I promise I'll plant more than one bean plant.
Other than that I've been frantically staking my tomato plants to keep up with all this growth. More pictures next week, once things dry up a bit!
Let's party our way to 600 members!
House party hosted by the Knapp-Bazis member-owner household.
One of the Co-op's most successful member recruitment tools this year has been the house parties and get togethers organized by members who invite small groups of friends who might be interested in joining. During our recent 75in75 campaign, over a half dozen different members hosted this parties which were attended collectively by dozens of prospective members. It's a great way to help recruit new members while showing off your party-hosting skills.
And with summer upon us and the season of backyard barbecues, roof-deck gatherings and small group picnics with pick-up softball games, there are plenty of opportunities to gather a bunch of your friends without worrying about them making a mess in your home!
Here's how it works.
1. Let us know you want to one of these by emailing [email protected].
2. You pick a date, invite a bunch of friends and do all of the other things you'd normally do when organizing a party: putting together a menu, getting your iTunes playlist together, practicing your flip cup and beer pong skills, etc.
3. We will arrange for one of the volunteers in our Speakers Bureau to attend the party prepared with a 5-minute pitch about why joining the Co-op would be such a great idea. You can feel free to chime in - since they're your friends - about why you joined, or just leave the talking to us. The speaker will also have plenty of forms on hand for people to join on the spot.
4. Make sure to take plenty of pictures and let us know how the event went so we can post them to our Facebook page and put on our blog. The more pictures of people eating great food and having a good time, the better!
If you have any questions or if you're new in town and want to know when the next house party is happening, send an email to [email protected]. We'll answer your questions or check with the host to see if he or she has room for more guests.
Pallet Gardening Workshop: June 1, 2013
What better way to spend a sweltering early summer afternoon that keeping cool in the newly designed gardens of South Philadelphia High School? More than 30 people participated in the first Pallet Gardening Workshop, organized and presented by Molly Devinney. Not only is Ms. Devinney a skilled gardener who is ready to impart her green thumb skills to eager urban agrarians, but she is also the coordinator for the student gardening program at South Philadelphia High School.
Judging from our pictures taken by Co-op member Stefania Patrizio, the attendees didn’t mind the heat. In fact, many of them found the program informative and helpful. One participant, Josh Satinoff, shared how this event gave him the opportunity to create a garden for his house and that the event was “awesome”. The Co-op helped to provide pallets and other materials for pallet gardening.
Although this event quickly filled up, the South Philadelphia Food Co-op hopes to host more events that will focus on creating more green space in South Philadelphia. Whether it is creating your own verdant oasis with a pallet garden or touring the various community gardens of South Philadelphia in September, the Co-op is ready to provide more opportunities for residents of South Philadelphia to explore how urban gardening can enhance our community’s aesthetics and bonds. Interestingly enough, South Philadelphia High School’s parking lot, which served as the site for Saturday’s workshop, will also serve as the hub for this fall’s Community Garden Tour. The Co-op is on the lookout for gardens in South Philadelphia to feature for the Community Garden Tour. If you have a garden that you want to show off, or if you just want more information about the Garden Tour this fall, you can go here.
Event organizer and workshop leader Molly Devinney helps participants transform their pallets into gardens.
Sarah's Garden: Growth
Hello! My plants have now been outside for a month and besides some cold nights about a week ago it's been smooth sailing. Let's look back and see how much these cuties have grown.
Here they are on May 2nd after having survived the first night outside:
Here's the next day...looking quite bedraggled from all the sun (note to self: next year don't worry about hardening off but do give them a few days of partial sun before going all in):
But then things started looking up. Here they are on May 7th, growing well:
Here's the whole bed on May 8th, still looking pretty sparse:
Here are some baby beets on May 10th:
Here's the whole bed on May 16th, getting a little greener. I actually had too much room and had to go out and buy some more veggies (starts cause I was too late for seeds) from Greensgrow. I got an eggplant (still trying to get just one eggplant, maybe the third time's the charm?), Green Zebra tomato, yellow pear tomato, some lemon cucumbers and zucchini:
May 20th:
hey, slightly different angle!
Which brings us to today, the last day of May:
lots of growth thanks to all that rain!
Almost all of the tomatoes are staked (or, uh, should be...) and last night I made myself a very little salad of arugula, beet greens and baby chard. Pretty good! My father came down and helped me with those trellises, which are just from the South Philly Lowe's painted with leftover paint from the trim of my house. I think I may paint the raised bed that color, too. The wall is my neighbor's garage and he graciously told me to do whatever I wanted with it, including drilling things into it. Thanks, Matt!
So here's what it all looks like now that the back is cleared:
That back patch of dirt will hopefully be grass soon and next year I'd like to get some of the concrete out of there, but for now the concrete is integral in keeping the weeds away. And I think my plants are loving the raised bed! They should, there are like 40 gallons of Bennett Compost in there.
And now it's June (almost) and the real growing will begin. And the real test of the irrigation system. But one month in the raised bed is looking good!
Show off your garden on the South Philly Garden Tour!
Take a look "behind the scenes" at the Co-op
- Statement of Activities and Statement of Financial Position and bank reconciliation submitted to the board on a monthly basis.
- Still awaiting final CPA approval of FY13 final numbers
- Reviewed outstanding member equity numbers as briefly discussed in April board meeting. Pledged but not received for all calendar years = $26,647. Of that total, $5,050 is currently past due.
Upcoming:
- Develop new bank deposit form, in progress
- Treasurer playbook
- Looking for CPA to handle taxes moving forward, no luck finding one that handles co-op so far
- Move from member records in excel to QuickBooks for accounting and tracking needs
- Begin using QuickBooks at start of FY14 - Not implemented
- Begin transition of past FYs to QuickBooks on 6/1/13 after FY13 is officially closed out- Soliciting quotes for support in implementing QB
- Provide reliable and accurate financial stewardship to people who have trusted us with their money records are reconciled
- Written policy and procedure manual for member tracking, CRM entry, and bookkeeping practices. DEADLINE TBD based on CRM selection Pending
- Monthly reconciliation for banking Records reconciled as of 5/16. Current active member count is 466 (members in good standing = 411 and equity past-due = 55). Cash on hand = $67,602. (excluding $1,750 transferred to Fair Food account). Non-equity cash = $1,270.
- CRM database and QuickBooks to be updated twice a month. Done
- Membership cards and welcome letters to be mailed once a month mailed at least once every calendar month
- Assist with development and conversion to the Co-op’s CRM system. Pending
- Distribute membership certificate shares at each general meeting list provided for 5/19 meeting
- volunteer management (you can do this all by email)
- neighborhood outreach (we’ll provide the training!)
- hosting Eat and Greet Potluck dinners or other creative events for your neighborhood/friend network