Save on grass fed beef & support HomeGrown Coop

Florida Fresh Beef Company will donate 5% of all proceeds from its online gourmet butcher shop sales to the Homegrown Coop for any orders received though January 31, 2011. Use Voucher Code BeefBaron2011 in the checkout section of our website.

Go to http://floridafreshbeef.com/Products.aspx for information on our 100% Grassfed, dry aged, Aberdeen angus beef. Raised organically without any hormones or antibiotics. Pass this email on to as many people as you like. Any orders with Voucher code BeefBaron2011 will be flagged for 5% and sent to Homegrown Coop in February 2011. Show your support while experiencing the highest quality grassfed gourmet beef available anywhere. We also have available (but not on the website yet, pastured grassfed Katahdin lamb and pastured gourmet pork.) For those items, please call the office @ 352-566-8586 and speak with Customer Service.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and  prosperous New Year,

All the best

Jan Costa, Director

J. Leslie & Associates, LLC

Florida Fresh Beef Company

Florida Glatt Kosher Meats

Ocala, Florida 34482

jan@floridafreshbeef.com

http://www.floridafreshbeef.com/

Call for Urban Gardeners at Festival Park Community Garden in Orlando

• Do you live in downtown Orlando?
• Do you want to be part of an urban garden community?
• Can you commit to a research study and maintain a 4' by 12' plot all year long?

If you answered yes to these questions, Festival Park Community Garden is now seeking participants for its ongoing research study and to fill a few plots (already tilled and built).

For more information and a chance to grow your own veggies, contact Tia Meer tiameer@gmail.com.

Related articles

• What is the difference between a regular garden and an urban garden? (greenanswers.com)
• How do urban gardens help the environment? (greenanswers.com)

Spotlight: Ethos Vegan Kitchen

Ethos Vegan Kitchen: Creating Options for the Vegan community

By now, many Orlando foodies have been to Ethos Vegan Kitchen once or twice, or like many, it may be your favorite “go-to” restaurant. Whether you’ve been there a lot or not at all, Ethos Vegan Kitchen has been dishing up lunch, dinner and Sunday Brunch since 2007.

What does Ethos mean? According to its web site, by definition, it means, "the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution."

Ethos Vegan Kitchen is located on N. Orange Avenue near Lake Ivanhoe; a hip, evolving area in downtown Orlando. Owners Laina and Kelly Shockley have created an inviting, fresh, compassionate environment and approach to dining in the constantly evolving food service world of Orlando. Here are a few things that you might not know…

Did you know…that 90% of all the products are prepared daily at Ethos?

Did you know…Ethos is 100% Vegan?

Did you know…that up to 50% of their products are organic?

Did you know…they use Seitan (say-tahn)?

Did you know…they are working on a kids menu? (think Mac & Cheese, PB & J)

Did you know…they offer free WiFi ?(inside only)

Did you know…Laina does all the design and development on the web site?

Did you know…Kelly’s favorite at Ethos is the Vegan Pepperoni Pizza?

To find out more about its menu, Laina, Kelly and the incredibly talented staff at Ethos Vegan Kitchen, check it out yourself and let us know something about Ethos that you know. Open seven days.

Ethos Vegan Kitchen; 1235 N. Orange Avenue #101 Orlando 32804; 407.228.3898; http://www.ethosvegankitchen.com/

Post by Maureen Cavanaugh Berry

Photo courtesy of Ethos Vegan Kitchen

Get your 4 x 12 garden on this fall

Happy Monday Gardeners!

Here are a few useful sites for your reading/growing pleasure.

Get Active Orlando http://www.getactiveorlando.com/get-active/community-garden.php

American Community Garden Association (FPCG is registered) http://communitygarden.org/

Food Freedom http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/our-future-farmville-urban-community-gardens-are-growing-in-orlando-florida/

Plan Garden http://www.plangarden.com/

Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/urban-gardens/

Happy Growing!

Lettuce; bolting, flowering and a few things I learned this week.

I harvested my lettuce today. Well, some of it. I couldn't bring myself to pull all those beautiful red and green leaf lettuces out of the rich, dark soil. So I left a few for Saturday.

If you're anything like me (which is a loaded statement, I know) then you're probably new to gardening, planting, watering, maintaining and nurturing your new fall crops. I thought I would have lettuce all winter long, or at least through the end of the year. Not so. I've been watching my lettuce grow with fascination, awe and surprise. My lettuce grew as if I gave it a triple dose of hair tonic.

Last week, I learned that my lettuce were growing so fast they were bolting! What the heck does that mean, anyway? If you're growing green leaf lettuce, it means they will be shooting towards the sun and baby flowers will appear in the top center of the plant. Go ahead and pull the whole plant out of the ground. Harvest the leaves and replant something else (broccoli, cabbage, etc).

If the lettuce is left in the ground too long, the leaves get bitter. Well who knew? So, harvest your lettuce and share your wealth. They're be salad on my table for a few more days.

Enjoy.
MCB