Finally the weather is warm and soon I'll be putting all these guys outside:

black krims peeking out the window

In their soon-to-be new home!

better than a bathtub!

Ten feet long by three feet wide means space for lots of veggies and soon there will be a trellis on the wall for giganto-bean, cucumbers and tomatoes.  Exciting!  But there are lots of other things coming back out too, like a little ginkgo:

hi friendly ginkgo

That little thing spent the winter looking like a stick stuck in the ground but I figured if these trees have been around since the dinosaurs they must be pretty tough.  Same (except for the dinosaurs part) goes for the mint:

mint

This mint has been planted and dug up and replanted so many times I've lost count.  But now they are in a big container so that my entire backyard doesn't turn into a mint forest.

And some bulbs finally came out!

a mix of lots of things containing blue squill, eranthis, crocuses and others I've forgotten

Winter Wolf's Bane:

otherwise known as winter aconite or eranthis but obviously winter wolf's bane is the best name

The Winter Wolf's Bane even looks good after it's done flowering:

little flower lions manes

And here is one little blue squill in the deceased bathtub (RIP):

pitiful?

I also have lots of blackberries, raspberries and strawberries but that "wing" of the yard is not done yet.  Soon!

And they need your help! In partnership with South Philly High, LoMo has launched a fundraising campaign for a new SPHS campus master plan which would create what would be Philly's first public school rooftop farm, right in South Philly. With the plan to work with a local landscape architecture firm and expand to the roof, they'd be able to produce a massive amount of food for the neighborhood. Help fund this project here!

The 2013 Spring General Membership meeting will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2013 from 3:30 - 6 p.m. in the Community Room at PEP (Programs Employing People) located at 1200 South Broad Street (Broad & Federal Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19146.

The agenda for the meeting can be found HERE. Apart from getting updates from the various committees (including real estate site selection!), elections for six board members will occur at the meeting. You can see the list of nominees and get other voting information HERE.

Not able to make it to the meeting on May 19th? Fret not. You can vote by absentee ballot. Click HERE to download the ballot. Please note, however, that your ballot must be received in the mail by  5:00 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2013 to be counted. Send absentee ballots to:

Election Committee
South Philly Food Co-op
PO Box 31506
Philadelphia, PA 19147.

For those of you able to make it to the meeting, light refreshments will be made available. As always, there will be community spirit and friendliness to spare. Come on out on May 19th for a couple hours of community, updates, voting, and overall growth of the South Philly Food Co-op.

 

Celebrate the Co-op and the success of our 75 day membership drive that began February 15. Find out how many members we've gained (hint: it's more than our goal of 75) and meet fellow member-owners.

Admission of $7.50 goes to the Co-op's efforts to open our community-owned grocery store. You'll receive a wristband for drink specials from Fountain Porter, as well as a raffle ticket toward door prizes from many our great local businesses. Plus, you'll receive one additional FREE raffle ticket for each member you've referred during the 75 in 75 campaign!

Event: 75 in 75 Celebration
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 6-9pm
Location: Fountain Porter, 1601 S. 10th Street at Tasker
Cost: $7.50 to be collected at the door (No RSVP required but feel free to let everyone know you're going by joining the event on Facebook.)

Congratulations to Hayden N. who gets a gift card to The Expressive Hand (a Shop South Philly partner) for taking the Co-op's member survey! After joining the Co-op our members receive a phone call from one of our board members welcoming them and asking them whether there is anything the new member would like to ask about or suggest. We follow that up by emailing a brief survey to get to know new members better and to ask for their feedback in a few key areas.  It is absolutely one of the easiest, least time consuming things a new member can do to help the Co-op. Our board values the insights they get from the members since, after all, the members own the Co-op and have the ultimate authority in how it is and will be run. These are just a couple of the ways that the board reaches out to hear from members. (The general membership meeting - May 19, 2013 3:30pm - 6:00pm, PEP Community Room, 1200 South Broad Street - is another.) Have you taken the survey yet? Keep an eye on your inbox for the survey link. We'll be sending out an email to members with the survey link. And even though helping out the Co-op is its own reward, we're also offering everyone who completes the survey additional chances to win prizes from other Shop South Philly partners (including one of three $10 gift certificates to Wishing Well!)

 

 

Programs Employing People (PEP) will having upcoming spring plant sale Wednesday May 1 through Saturday May 4th 10 am -  6pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featuring: leading consumer GMO expert and author Jeffrey Smith Location: Old First Reformed UCC Church, 151 N. 4th (at Race Street) Philadelphia, PA, 19106 Date: Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 2013  Time: 7 pm. Doors open at 6 pm.

There are still some tickets left for the Eat & Greet at Miss Rachel's Pantry on April 17th.

This is a great opportunity to meet other co-op members and learn more about our efforts to bring a community based grocery store to the South Philly area. Plus, there will be amazing vegan tapas from Miss Rachel's.

Reserve your tickets at our ticket leap site. The cost is $10 for adults and $8 for children (10 and under). Ticket sales go directly to Miss Rachel to pay for the cost of food.

Here are some of the details:

• • What: Vegan tapas (bruscetta, mini tacos, caramelized onion tartlets, mini cupcakes and more)

 

• • When: Wednesday, April 17th from 6:00-8:00 pm.

 

• • Where: Miss Rachel’s Pantry 1732 W. Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145

 

Listen.  I planted a lot of seeds.  I always do.  And when they first start sprouting, they all look the same.  So I don't have much news to report other than:  more things have sprouted!  You'll just have to take my word on what all these are.

Hey, little green things!  This is romaine lettuce.  Mmm mm.

Look at these green things!  These are lettuces too, only bibb this time.

I planted these a few weeks after my first seeds so that's why they're all so small.  But below are my mustard greens, which are actually starting to look like mustard greens:

Cute.  And now, the bean that's grown like a foot since last week.  Just a couple more weeks, bean, and you'll get to go outside!

Crazy one, that bean.