Now that summer is here, here are some Organic Farmer's Market you might want to try for fresher and cheaper fruits and vegetables and other products. Call ahead.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
Sweetwater Sunday Organic Market
6942 Comanche Avenue- Hillsborough/Hanley (parking off Hanley Road)
Tampa, Florida 33634
November through May
Sunday, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Rick Martinez, Market Manager
(813) 765-0282
organicintegrity@msn.com
http://www.sweetwater-organic.org
Tampa Wholesale Produce Market
2801 East Hillsborough Avenue
Tampa, Florida, 33610
Monday through Saturday, 3:00 to 10 a.m.
Tom Joseph
(813) 237-3314
Ybor City Saturday Market
Centennial Park (Corner of Eighth Avenue and 19th St.)
Ybor City, Florida
Year-round
Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Rain or shine
Lynn Schultz
(813) 241-2442
ybormarket@yahoo.com
yborfreshmarket.citysearch.com
Brandon Fresh Market
Winthrop Town Center (Southeast corner of Bloomingdale & Providence Ave)
October through May
Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Olga Santamaria
814 Childers Loop
(813) 748-0441
brandonfreshmarket@hotmail.com
http://www.brandonfreshmarket.com/
PASCO COUNTY
Dade City Farmers' Market
Corner of Meridian and U.S. Highway 301 in front of the Old Historic Courthouse
Dade City, Florida 33526
October through April
Second Saturday of each month, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Ann Krumrei or Lisa Knous
(352)521-0766
(352)518-0973
dadecityfarmersmarket@earthlink.net
Florida Estates Winery
25241 State Road 52
Land O' Lakes, Florida 34639-7172
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Mark Wagner
(813)996-2113
(813)995-0393 Fax
corp@flewn.com
http://www.floridaestateswines.com
*Please visit the web site for schedule of events
PINELLAS COUNTY
Downtown Clearwater Farmers' Market
Clearwater City Hall parking lot, 112 South Osceola
Clearwater, Florida 33757
November through mid-April
Wednesdays, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Bob or Pat Fernandez
(727) 461-7674
pbjfernandez@ij.net
http://www.clearwaterfarmersmarket.com
Gulfport Art Village Fresh Market
2908 Beach Boulevard
South Gulfport, Florida 33707
September through May
Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Mike McKee, Market Manager
(727) 459-1963
mmckee@craftech.com
http://www.artvillagevoice.org/
Old Palm Harbor Community Farmers' Market
1190 Georgia Avenue at 11th Street
Palm Harbor, Florida 34683
October through April
Thursdays, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Rain or shine
Chaz Foy
(727) 934-7001
oldpalmharborfarmersmarket@hotmail.com
Safety Harbor Farmers' Market
John Wilson Park, 401 Main St.
Safety Harbor, Florida 34695
Mid-November through April
Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Debbie Pauley
(727) 726-2890
%20debbie@safetyharborchamber.com%20
http://www.safetyharborchamber.com/
St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market
Central Avenue, between First and Second Streets
St. Petersburg, Florida 33733
October through May
Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
David Cellon
(727) 455-4921
saturdaymkt@yahoo.com
http://www.saturdaymorningmarket.com/
POLK COUNTY
Winter Haven Farmers' Market
Corner of Third Street and Avenue G, N.W.
Winter Haven, Florida 33880
Year-round
Thursdays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Audrey McIntosh
(863) 291-5870
amcintosh@mywinterhaven.com
MANATEE COUNTY
Bradenton Old Main Street Market
Old Main Street (between Manatee Ave & Barcarrota Blvd)
Bradenton, Florida 34206
September through May
Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
(941) 322-2446
oldmsmmanager@mindspring.com
http://www.oldmsm.com/
Feng Shui is not superstition, religion or philosophy... it is the Art and Science of living in harmony with the environment. It describes the communication that take place every day between you and your environment, be it your home, garden or work. This discipline investigates the universal feelings and reactions of human beings to all environments, including our world.
The teachings explore how connections (TAO), balance (Yin/Yang) and vitality (CHI) impact our lives. An environment affects all aspects of our being in the world…from health, safety, family, friendship, spirituality... to even how we love.
Now, more than ever before, it is important to clear the clutter out of our lives and minds…to allow POSITIVE LIFE FORCE to support, nurture and empower us, via a balanced and harmonic environment. The location of clutter in an environment reveals the content of a person's inner struggle.
The absence of disorder empowers us. As we are connected by energy to everything in our environment, you might want to review the following and check to see where you may be struggling in your life:
LOCATION OF CLUTTER
•Entrance door... fear of relationships
•Inside closets...unwilling to examine emotions
•In Kitchen...resenting/overwhelmed by caretaking
•Next to Bed...desire for change or escape
•On Desk…frustration, fear of letting go or need to control
•In a corner or behind a door...detachment from others
•Under a piece of furniture...importance of appearances
•In a cellar...procrastination
•In an attic...living in the past
•In a garage...inability to actualize
•All over...lack of self love or anger and self-loathing
Every area of a house can be viewed uniquely according to Feng Shui theory, with some rooms being more important than others just based on the amount of time spent in those locations.
Sometimes called the “chi gate,” the main door is like the mouth for the house. It is the gateway between the world and the privacy of the home and air currents literally enter and exit at this point. The positioning of a main door can determine the fortune or misfortune of the occupants.
Many people enter their home through a back or side door out of convenience. Garage entrances are very common as well. If this is the entrance used more than the formal front door, then the energies at this side entrance will affect you more. This does NOT however change the orientation of your house.
Hallways are transition rooms and are like the arteries of the house. They should be relatively bright and not too narrow or cluttered. A chronically dark hallway should have a skylight or artificial light on. Ideally, hallways should not be excessively long, unless there are many rooms off the hallway where the doors can remain open.
The living room is where we entertain, generally speaking. It may also be a place for the family to gather. Some people hardly ever step foot in their living rooms. To the extent that you use your living room, that is how much it will affect your health and well-being.
Like the living room, some people hardly sit down in their formal dining room. This should be a place where friends and family gather for a relaxing time. There should be a moratorium on arguments in the dining room, otherwise family members will eat too fast just to be done with the experience.
The kitchen is referred to as the “hearth” of the home. The vibrations in this room are important in the way that food is prepared and the residual affect. Yet it is not considered the most important part of the house since only an hour or less is spent there on a daily basis. Sometimes the location of a kitchen in a house can determine which family members will argue the most or if the whole house is vulnerable to a variety of mishaps. Generally, the kitchen is NOT the first room you want to see when you enter your house.
Bedrooms should be sacred spaces where an adult or child can retreat and regenerate. We spend roughly one third of our lives in our bedroom, so maintaining balance and serenity in this area is essential.
A lot of water passes through a bathroom, yet that does not qualify as a water remedy if that part of the house needs the water element to be balanced. Water that leaves through plumbing is not the same as a water fountain or an aquarium, which re-circulates in that same area. Bathrooms usually should not be in the center of the house or the first room your eyes land on when you enter your home. A toilet should not be too close to a sleeping area, which challenges the Western design ideal of having a private toilet adjacent to the master bedroom.
There are two basic types of home offices: the one where we store and file papers, pay bills and pass recreational time on the computer and the real home office where we sit for at least several hours a day conducting business and generating income. The real office and its location within the house are crucial to financial success.
Stairs should not be aligned directly with a heavily used entrance door. When they exist in the center of the house, the activity of moving up and down the stairs will stimulate the unseen potential of the house, for good or for bad depending on the uniqueness of the house. Stairs of any kind, indoor or out, should be clean and safe to use. Dilapidated stairs and unstable railings are not good Feng Shui for obvious reasons.
Windows should always open properly and allow sufficient light or pleasant views into the room. To scale with the room, windows should be a defined height and width. It is not ideal to sleep with your head just inches from a window.
Feng Shui is a process that requires constant monitoring from space clearing negative thoughts in our minds, to clearing clutter in our environment. The choice to live a conscious and balanced life, free of clutter, is a freedom that no one can deny us, but.... ourselves!
Where Paychecks are Growing Fastest
Birmingham enjoys the nation's best record of long-term income growth, while New Orleans is mired in last place, according to a new Bizjournals study that looks at 25 years of changes in per capita income in the 100 largest metros in the country.
- Birmingham climbed in the income standings by diversifying.
- It boosted its per capita income by 98% between 1990 and 2005, the largest increase registered by any major market over that span. The national average for the same period was 77%.
- Birmingham evolved into a regional hub for banking, health care and wholesale trade. The payoff has been greater economic stability and a much larger inventory of high-paying jobs.
- Birmingham's per capita income at the beginning of the 25-year period was $9,078, which was more than 10% below the U.S average for 1980.
- Its 2005 figure was $35,663 - $1,200 above the national norm.
"For a long time, Birmingham was strongly reliant on heavy manufacturing -- steel, pig iron," says John Norris, chief economist of Morgan Asset Management in Birmingham. "The economy here was much undiversified. But the recession of the early 1980s was a wakeup call, which turned out to be a good thing."
New Orleans also tried to diversify during the 1980s and 1990s, but with less success. Its economy, still dependent on the energy sector, grew erratically until the 2005 onslaught of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which wiped out 11 years of growth.
- The per capita income of New Orleans, as a result, inched up by just 16% between 1990 and 2005.
- That was one-sixth as fast as Birmingham's pace.
"There have been some good things going on since then, some major construction projects," says Loren Scott, president of Loren C. Scott & Associates, an economic-consulting firm in Baton Rouge, La. "But we don't see New Orleans coming all the way back anytime soon. In fact, the growth rate seems to be slowing in recent months, which is a bit unnerving."
Bizjournals analyzed 25 years of federal income data for
the nation's 100 major metropolitan areas.The study focused
on per capita income (PCI), a key indicator of earning
power and economic vitality.
- PCI is defined as the average amount of money received by each resident of a given area in a given year. It encompasses such diverse sources of income as salaries, interest payments, dividends, and rental income and government checks.
The runner-up in Bizjournals' standings is Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., the most affluent metropolitan area in America. Its PCI ballooned 346% from $15,068 in 1980 to $67,269 in 2005. No other major market was above $52,600 in the latter year.
Rounding out the top 5 are 3 markets that elevated their income levels during the past quarter-century without much national fanfare: San Diego, Baltimore and Charleston, S.C.
Income growth for Top 10 Markets
Rank | Metropolitan area | Score | Per capita income (2005) | 25-year income growth rate (1980-2005) | 20-year income growth rate (1985-2005) | 15-year income growth rate (1990-2005) | 10-year income growth rate (1995-2005) | 5-year income growth rate (2000-2005) | Population (2006) |
1 | Birmingham | 38.15 | $35,663 | 292.9% | 172.1% | 97.9% | 58.3% | 25.6% | 1,100,019 |
2 | Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn. | 37.09 | $67,269 | 346.4% | 191.4% | 96.1% | 60.4% | 14.1% | 900,440 |
3 | San Diego | 33.34 | $40,569 | 265.5% | 145.2% | 94.6% | 72.4% | 23.7% | 2,941,454 |
4 | Baltimore | 28.17 | $41,320 | 274.9% | 151.1% | 89.6% | 63.2% | 24.1% | 2,658,405 |
5 | Charleston, S.C. | 27.96 | $30,844 | 279.9% | 151.5% | 87.1% | 64.4% | 21.9% | 603,178 |
6 | Boston | 25.88 | $47,168 | 327.1% | 163.7% | 90.9% | 59.2% | 13.8% | 4,455,217 |
7 | San Francisco-Oakland | 23.51 | $52,543 | 272.9% | 152.8% | 94.0% | 63.4% | 8.7% | 4,180,027 |
8 | Nashville | 23.26 | $36,655 | 301.1% | 157.0% | 95.6% | 50.0% | 19.8% | 1,455,097 |
9 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. | 21.45 | $36,577 | 260.5% | 145.5% | 81.7% | 58.2% | 26.1% | 571,344 |
10 | Madison, Wis. | 20.58 | $38,993 | 253.3% | 159.5% | 92.6% | 56.2% | 19.3% | 543,022 |
Where Tampa Fits In
Rank | Metropolitan area | Score | Per capita income (2005) | 25-year income growth rate (1980-2005) | 20-year income growth rate (1985-2005) | 15-year income growth rate (1990-2005) | 10-year income growth rate (1995-2005) | 5-year income growth rate (2000-2005) | Population (2006) |
51 | Richmond | 1.99 | $36,537 | 246.0% | 133.5% | 72.8% | 51.1% | 19.6% | 1,194,008 |
52 | Tampa-St. Petersburg | 0.82 | $33,250 | 246.0% | 131.8% | 77.3% | 48.6% | 16.0% | 2,697,731 |
53 | Cincinnati | 0.67 | $34,961 | 245.8% | 140.2% | 78.1% | 48.3% | 14.7% | 2,104,218 |
54 | Ogden, Utah | 0.26 | $28,070 | 235.6% | 127.3% | 81.8% | 48.2% | 15.9% | 497,640 |
55 | Deltona-Daytona Beach, Fla. | -0.04 | $28,347 | 224.7% | 117.1% | 73.7% | 51.9% | 21.5% | 496,575 |
56 | Tucson, Ariz. | -0.17 | $28,869 | 216.2% | 120.6% | 80.4% | 49.8% | 19.4% | 946,362 |
57 | Las Vegas | -0.25 | $34,980 | 212.9% | 135.6% | 76.9% | 44.6% | 18.2% | 1,777,539 |
58 | Columbus | -0.46 | $34,960 | 251.8% | 136.1% | 79.2% | 47.2% | 13.7% | 1,725,570 |
59 | Springfield, Mass. | -0.81 | $32,678 | 248.3% | 130.4% | 72.6% | 48.9% | 18.5% | 686,174 |
60 | Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla. | -1.08 | $31,800 | 226.0% | 118.9% | 72.5% | 53.0% | 18.1% | 534,359 |
61 | Albuquerque, N.M. | -1.16 | $30,884 | 245.7% | 124.3% | 81.8% | 44.3% | 19.5% | 816,811 |
62 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale | -1.16 | $37,507 | 228.3% | 125.3% | 68.6% | 47.8% | 20.1% | 5,463,857 |
63 | Hartford | -1.73 | $42,369 | 254.4% | 136.2% | 68.2% | 50.3% | 14.6% | 1,188,841 |
64 | Orlando | -2.55 | $31,557 | 234.3% | 122.3% | 72.6% | 49.9% | 16.8% | 1,984,855 |
65 | Harrisburg, Pa. | -2.93 | $35,188 | 258.6% | 136.3% | 69.9% | 45.0% | 18.4% | 525,380 |
66 | Kansas City | -3.65 | $35,769 | 232.8% | 128.1% | 82.7% | 47.1% | 13.2% | 1,967,405 |
67 | Knoxville, Tenn. | -4.11 | $30,898 | 250.1% | 137.0% | 73.4% | 43.0% | 15.1% | 667,384 |
68 | Augusta, Ga. | -4.51 | $28,361 | 264.3% | 123.3% | 65.0% | 46.8% | 18.6% | 523,249 |
69 | Wichita, Kan. | -5.10 | $33,671 | 203.5% | 121.6% | 76.5% | 50.6% | 21.0% | 592,126 |
70 | McAllen-Edinburg, Texas | -5.24 | $16,359 | 208.8% | 119.1% | 76.2% | 47.7% | 20.5% | 700,634 |
71 | New Haven, Conn. | -5.51 | $39,292 | 252.6% | 135.3% | 68.9% | 45.2% | 14.2% | 845,244 |
72 | Akron, Ohio | -5.58 | $33,396 | 228.6% | 130.8% | 76.8% | 43.7% | 12.9% | 700,943 |
73 | Buffalo | -6.31 | $32,071 | 222.7% | 124.0% | 70.3% | 46.3% | 17.9% | 1,137,520 |
74 | Phoenix | -6.95 | $32,414 | 211.7% | 115.1% | 73.8% | 49.5% | 14.3% | 4,039,182 |
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