Hello Friends of the Gainesville Organic Blueberry Farm,
I want to extend a Big Thank You to the kids at Job Corps and their leader, Aaron Pringle, as well as the folks from Swallowtail Farm and a big bunch of volunteers they brought out last Saturday. Thanks to all these hard working folks, the berry patch by the church is completely cleaned out - nothin but berries and blossoms and 2 trees left for a little shade- a great deal of mowing got done thanks to the Swallowtail Farm folks bringing out a bushhog and zero turn mower, and we worked on the ballfield patch after the church patch was done-so the farm is looking beautiful in its spring blossom gown – if the number of flowers and bees is any indication, it looks to be a very berrylicious year! It is so sweet to go and pick berries from the bushes you helped save – a sort of cycle coming full circle reminding us that our ancestors only ate domesticated food by the sweat of their brow, and that the work that field laborors do every day is more difficult and exhausting than most of us have any inkling of. But just wait til the season starts, every drop of sweat will be worth it! By the way – there is no quarantee that there will be U-Pick this year, since I have no desire to take that on again, and I dont know anyone who does, so if you want to pick, you will most likely have to work in the fields – not wait for U-Pick.
Tonight unwind at Common Grounds for the Peace benefit concert – read below for details from Dan =>
“Please Peace Me – a Rock, Pop, and R&B” concert (4 bands and 1 solo performer) – featuring the exciting comeback of Little Jake and the Soul Searchers (old time r&b/soul singer with a new horns section). Also The Righteous Kind (groovy rock and roll), Heavy Petty (local Tom Petty cover band), and Travis Atria (of Morning Bell).
It’s a benefit for The Peace Alliance (my main “extra-curricular activity” – www.thepeacealliance.org), the Student Peace Alliance (the student version – www.studentpeacealliance.org), RAWA (Revolutionary Afghanistan Women’s Association – wow, hardcore, serious), and our own local H.I.T.T. (the Hippodrome Improvisational Teen Theater – they work in juvenile detention centers, healing kids in jail using theater).
The ticket is $5 – the bands will be fun – hope to see you there!
And Finally read below for details of the Food on the Lawn Fair and Farmer’s Market - first ever farmers market at UF. It is from 11-3 on Monday – come visit Michael and I at our table representing the Blueberry Farm and our two groups www.GvilleBlueberryFarmFriends.org and www.EdiblePlantProject.org
Hope to see you today at the farm, Tonite at the PEACE BENEFIT CONCERT and Monday at the Food on the Lawn on UF campus-Please read on for details! 
maureen
At the University of Florida J. Wayne Reitz Union
Monday, April 12
9:45 – 11:00am – Panel: Challenges and Opportunities for the Food System in Alachua County, Rion Ballroom
Panelists include Sean McLendon, Sustainability Manager, Alachua County; Gretchen McIntire, Representative, Community Kitchen Project; Marty Mesh, Executive Director, Florida Organic Growers; Cynthia Chestnut, Board Member, Alachua County Nutrition Alliance; Pegeen Hanrahan, Mayor, City of Gainesville; Maria Eunice, Nutrition Director, Alachua County School Board
11:00am – 3:00pm – Food on the Lawn Fair and Farmers Market, North Lawn and Terrace
Be a part of the first ever farmers market on campus. Buy local produce and learn about local and state food organizations and efforts.
3:30 – 5:00pm – Panel: Challenges and Opportunities for the Florida Food System, Rion Ballroom
Panelists include Kevin Morgan, Executive Director, Florida Farm Bureau; Joan Dusky, Associate Dean for UF/IFAS Extension; Dan Snowden, Culinary Director, FreshPoint; Ian Olsen, Sustainability Director, Darden; Chris Stemen, Senior Director of Sustainability, Aramark Higher Education; Rick Hawkins, Florida Food Policy Council
8:00 - Michael Dimock, Can Food Be Local, Healthy and Fair? Rion Ballroom
Tuesday, April 13
9:30 – 10:45am – Basics of Home Gardens, JWRU Room 286
9:30 – 10:45am – Stories of Local Cheeses, Dairy Farms and Cheese Lovers, JWRU Room 285
11:00am – 12:15
1:30 – 2:45pm – Making Food Visible: Practice and Pedagogy in the Arts, JWRU Room 286
3:00 – 4:15pm – Faith and Seed: Sustainable Agriculture and Religious Values, JWRU Room 286
3:00 – 4:15pm – The Meaning of Labels, JWRU Room 285
5:00 – 7:00pm – Public Gallery Reception – Exhibit: Range, Furrow and Grove: Images of Florida Agriculture
7:30pm – Robert Stone and Carlton Ward, Jr., Florida Cowboys: Reflections on the Past and Visions for the Future, Rion Ballroom
All Food Summit events are free and open to the public.
For more information visit: http://www.sustainability.ufl.edu/what-can-you-do/FoodSummit.html
The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. Get busy.