While we are well known for our strawberries, one of our summer crops is “pickles” or pickling cucumbers.  These “pickles” are grown right here in Plant City.  They are about half the size of a regular cucumber and twice as crunchy.  Our cashiers love to snack on them with Trenchas Chile Powder and lots of lime juice.  But you better hurry because our pickle season is about to end.  So give them a try before they are gone.

Another great thing about summers at Parkesdale is the Summer Fruit!  A few weeks ago we had Florida peaches and they were phenomenal.  Not as big as Georgia Peaches, but just as sweet, if not juicier.  Georgia peaches are just coming in and they are deliciously sweet.

Cherries from the west coast are also starting to show up.  This week we’ve had the mixed batch of yellow and red cherries.

And not to be forgotten, watermelons are here.  Whether you prefer sangrias or seedless watermelons, we have a large variety of sizes.  Personally, I prefer honeydews to cantaloupes, but they’ve both been super juicy and sweet.  At our market, we always have samples of our honeydews and cantaloupes to reassure you of our quality products.

I know you are all missing our strawberry shortcake because I miss them too.  But during the summer our “shortcake area” brings out a new menu.  Our Summer Menu includes banana splits, sundaes, ice cream cones, kid treats and fruit-filled milkshakes.

Get ready to try the best banana split you’ve ever had for only $2.59 (plus tax).  We start with a sweet banana and three cups of vanilla ice cream, then we top the ice cream with strawberries, pineapples and chocolate syrup, plus whipped cream and peanuts.  It’s almost a meal all by itself!  We have a variety of sundaes available: strawberry, chocolate, hot fudge and caramel for $1.99 (plus tax).  For the kid in you, we have ice cream cones with either chocolate, vanilla or swirl.  We also have tangerine ice cream cones!  Either flavor combination is 99 cents.

We have a few options for the kids.  Our newest addition is a kid “Dirt Cup” for $1.29 (plus tax).   Your kid can pick their ice cream flavor (chocolate, vanilla, tangerine, swirl), then our staff will load their “Dirt Cup” with crumbled Oreo cookies and top it with gummy worms!  We also have a “Cookies and Cream” ice cream cup with either sugar wafers or chocolate chip cookies.  For only $1.29 (plus tax), it’s a great treat for your “cookie monster”!

My favorite part of the Summer Menu is all of our fruit-filled milkshakes.  You know we are already famous for our Strawberry milkshake, but did you know we make coconut, banana, mango, blueberry, pineapple, orange and peach milkshakes?  If you haven’t tried our blueberry milkshake, I suggest you stop by soon before they are gone!  They are only available for a limited time while local blueberries are available.  And just for fun, what’s summertime without an apple pie.  Yes, we created an apple pie milkshake!  So, while we may not have our strawberry shortcake, there are a lot of new things to try.

When was the last time you stopped by for an ice cream treat?

What’s your favorite fruit filled milkshake?

What’s your favorite summer fruit?

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This is one dish I’ve been eating ever since I was a little girl.  If you order this dish in the island, expect to get the whole fish.  I mean head and tail.  :)  To be honest, I love this dish because of the olives.  To me, the olives makes this dish.  Like most sauces, the longer you cook it the better it will taste.  Plan on about 20-30 minutes for the sauce to simmer.  You’ll be glad you did.

“Al Mojo” Sauce

Ingredients:

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 medium white onion, sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

lots of olives

1 tbsp capers

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp vinegar (I prefer apple cider)

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

water (use to thin out sauce if too thick)

Recipe adapted from Puerto Rican Cookery by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli.

Add olive oil to a warm saute pan on medium heat.  Saute onions till clear, then add garlic, olives, chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, capers, vinegar and bay leaves.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  If the sauce gets too thick, or you’d like more liquid, add a little bit of water.  Then saute on low heat for about 20 minutes.  Serve sauce on top of grilled fish or chicken.

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What’s Beautiful? Under Armour is at it again.  Back in April 2012, I first heard about the #whatsbeautiful Under Armour campaign from my friend Meghann.  I signed up and listed “finish a triathlon” as my goal.

I must admit, I was a bit intimidated by the other women on the page.  However, I remember going back to the website and seeing all of these “real-life” women putting it all on the line.  It was very motivating to read about all of the great things these women were doing.  Later that June, I completed my goal of finishing the Dunedin Sprint Triathlon.

Whether you are a fitness instructor or someone who wants to start an exercise program, I encourage you to check out this community.  Think of it as a place to come together, look for motivation and help others reach their goals.  Think of it as a fitness diary journey.

We are all beautiful.  Beauty is not just a pretty face.  Being beautiful is being strong.  Being beautiful is being courageous.  Being beautiful is shooting for the stars, never giving up.  Getting up after falling down.  Over the past couple of years, I’ve finally been able to keep somewhat of a “workout schedule”.  I’ve carved out some “me” time and although it may seem selfish to some, sometimes it’s the only time I have to clear my head.  Because with two little ones at home, sometimes even going to the potty is a public event.

What’s in it for you? Do you still need some motivation? Well, every week Under Armour will giveaway “swag bags” to women who are working towards their goals despite what life might be throwing their way.  Not enough? How about after eight weeks, Under Armour will choose the top 10 women who gave it their all making their story the one to follow.  Out of those top 10, three will be chosen for a 4 day trip to Costa Rica to attend the Under Armour yoga and surf retreat.

Now that I have your attention, all you need to do is follow this link and set up a goal.  It can be something short term or long term.  Remember this is your journey.  Join some teams or create your own team.  Invite your friends or family members to join for a little friendly competition.  Once you’ve set your goal, show Under Armour how you are achieving this goal.  Show the world what you are made of! #IWill.

My goal is to complete the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon in 2:00.  What’s your goal?

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Winthrop Barn Theatre photo courtesy of yelp.com

This was our second visit to the Winthrop Barn.  In early April, Amy invited us to Chef Gary’s French Country Dinner at the Winthrop Barn.  The dinner consisted of four courses: fresh green salad with a poached egg, Pork sausage with wilted spinach, grits and feta cheese, a second main course of red wine braised duck leg with lentil Brussels sprouts, apples and L’Orange sauce and a pickled peach clafoutis with basil Chantilly.

French Country Dinner

Every dish was perfectly executed.  Just amazing.  The braised duck leg with L’Orange sauce and the basil Chantilly were my favorite.  I will never forget either dish.  I almost licked the sauce off the plate with my finger.  That Basil Chantilly, so delicately sweetened, is what I would imagine a cloud would taste like.  They are hosting another theme dinner at the Winthrop Barn this Wednesday, May 1^st at 6:30pm.  Here’s a link for more information.  If you are available, you should really check them out.

Along with Chef Gary’s offerings, other local restaurants were sampling their food: Pelagia Trattatoria, Hula Bay, Eats, Fred’s Market and the corner store.

Hula Bay had some amazing ceviche and my favorite sushi roll made with cucumber instead of rice.  Fred’s Market was sampling their grits with salmon and field green salad.  I didn’t get a chance to try the dish, but everyone was raving about it.

Parkesdale Strawberry Cookies

And you know what other people were raving about???? Our Strawberry Cookies!!!! Most people at the event had never heard of our famous cookies.  I almost felt like the cookie fairy.  These people would take one bite and immediately smile.  They couldn’t believe how fresh they tasted.  By the end of the night, people were coming back to our booth to get some cookies to go.  Mission accomplished!

If you are still on the fence about our strawberry cookies, you better hurry.  We only have the cookies seasonally and we’ll probably have them for another week or so.

Have you used yelp before? 

Have you had our cookies?

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Here’s a list of local blueberry farms who are now open for U-picks.  Remember to dress comfortably when visiting these farms, wear a cap/hat and bring sunscreen.  Also, bring cash and please call ahead to make sure they are open.  But most of all, have fun!

Big Bear Farms

Big Bear Farms is located at 7606 Kinard Rd, Plant City, FL.  Big Bear Farms will be open April 26 from 1pm to 6 pm and April 27 from 9 am to 6 pm.  In addition to blueberries, they sell elderberries and un-gassed tomatoes.  Please remember to bring cash and call before heading out there.  Big Bear Farms can be reached at (813) 986-1152 or via email at bigbearfarms@verizon.net.

 Keel and Curley Winery

photo courtesy of www.keelandcurley.com

Keel and Curley Winery is located at 5210 W. Thonotosassa Road in Plant City, FL.  Their Winery is open year around, but their fields are only open for U-pick during their Annual Blueberry Festival.  This year they are celebrating their 6th Annual Tampa Bay Blueberry Festival on April 27 and 28, 2013.  Entrance to the Festival is free, but they charge a $5 parking fee.  For more information, please contact them directly at (813) 752-9100.

Update: Keel and Curley will be open for U-pick Saturday, May 4th and Sunday, May 5th from 8 am to 2 pm.  They’ll provide buckets for you to use.  Blueberries will be $4/lb.

Kirkland Farms

Bucket of blueberries courtesy of www.kirklandfarms.net

Kirkland Farms is located at 2632 Old Medulla Rd in Lakeland FL.  You can check out their Facebook page for u-pick information.   We had some of their blueberries last week and they were amazing.  If you sign up for their email newsletter, they will send you an email Saturday night with u-pick times for Sunday.

Blue Youth Berries Farm

photo courtesy of www.orangespoken.com

I found this farm through my friend Steph at Orangespoken.  She’s a Parkesdale frequent shopper and a friend.  Her enthusiasm for u-pick farms borders on fanatic.  Blue Youth Berries Farm is located at 8201 Cosme Rd in Odessa FL.  For more information, follow this link to their website.

Are you ready to go blueberry picking?

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After spending almost two days away from the market, my brain is just bursting with ideas.  Listening how big name brands like Jet Blue, Campbell Soup and ESPN do their marketing has made me fall in love with our market all over again.  :)  Obviously, as a small business we do not have the same advertising budgets as some of these giants, but the point is still the same: listen to your customers!

Spike Jones’ presentation “Word of Mouth – Your Ultimate Distribution channel” resonated with me because that’s what Parkesdale Market is all about.  One of my favorite things to do when I’m at the market is ask customers how they heard about us.  Sometimes they are locals, but a lot of times they are not. So many people at our market tell me they’ve heard of us through a friend, a neighbor, or a coworker.  These “new” customers are so excited to be here.  It’s like they’ve gain access to the secret clubhouse.  Thankfully, they are willing to share us!

Through my time at the market, I’ve heard so many stories about how Grandpa Parke would wear his Parkesdale Farms hat everywhere he went.  And people all over the world would recognize him and say hello.  That’s how you create a community.  He created a “community” of fans and followers before there was Facebook and Twitter.

Ted Rubin’s presentation “Content Creation is the Ultimate Fan Advocacy” also touched on the same topic of making connections, telling stories and building relationships.  Long after Grandpa Parke “retired”, he still loved coming to the market and shaking hands with customers, sorta reliving the past meanwhile building relationships.  Funny that my takeaway message from a social media conference, would be to follow Grandpa Parke’s footsteps.

As part of the Social Fresh conference, we were to participate in a group exercise to create a campaign.  Unfortunately, I was unable to participate because I left early to finish some things at the market.  Other friends of mine who participated really enjoyed the networking opportunity the exercise provided.  However, I was still able to make some great connections during break times and through Twitter.

Overall, I was very happy to participate in Social Fresh. The caliber of the speakers and attendees was exactly what I expected, highly qualified motivators and engagers.  My feeling is that after attending a conference, one should feel renovated and motivated to improve.  Otherwise, the time and money spent was a waste.  Social Fresh was definitively a very engaging and motivational conference for me.  I’m already using some of the ideas from the conference and can’t wait to see how Parkesdale Farms’ social media increases throughout 2013.

The post Feeling Fresh…Social Fresh appeared first on Parkesdale Farm Market Blog.

For the past four months I’ve been training to run the Iron Girl 1/2 marathon in Clearwater.  I’ve been thinking about running this particular race ever since I drove to Clearwater last year to meet up with some friends.  A lot of hard work and sacrifice went into running this race.  Knowing that we would be running up and down the Clearwater Bridge and the Sand Key Bridge twice was my biggest fear.

The last two weeks before the race were the hardest for me.  While running one morning, I felt a sting on my achilles.  I was terrified this would keep me from my goal of completing my second 1/2 marathon.  This meant that instead of 3 scheduled runs per week, I would take it easy and only run/walk once a week.  As a runner, this was the toughest thing to do.  Knowing you have a race coming up and staying off running was maddening.  But, boy am I glad I did!

I was able to meet up with some of my running friends (Beth, Caroline and Tori) before the race.  I looked everywhere for “Aunt Nanci” because I knew starting with her would help me overcome that first bridge.  And overcome it I did.  Thanks Nanci!

After almost 2 1/2 hours I crossed the finished line.  After all my races, I’ve always had a family member waiting for me at the finish line.  Not this time.  This time, I drove there alone but I did not finish alone.  As we were coming down the Clearwater bridge to reach the finish line, people were lined up with signs cheering us on to the finish.  Those people who I don’t know and will probably never see again were my family for that morning.  Thank you for cheering us on even as our own minds were failing us.

After the finish line, I bumped into some more running friends Beka and Genna.  If you are ready for a beautiful and sometimes challenging course, then the Iron Girl Clearwater might be for you.  The bridges are not easy, I’m not going to sugar coat it, but the view from up there is amazing.  I was able to “run” up them the first time around, but the second time back I ended up walking up and running down.  The course had plenty of water/gatorade stops through out the course at what felt like almost every other mile.  They also handed out powergels and my favorite: Girl Scout cookies!  That was an unexpected treat.

Overall, my favorite part was the spectators.  Those strangers who put their hands out for a high five as I was on my way back knowing I still had 7 miles to go.  That guy who was handing out gardenias.  The little kids who were handing out water cups and Girl Scout cookies.  Thank you!

The post Thank you Iron Girl! appeared first on Parkesdale Farm Market Blog.

Easter Centerpieces

On Easter, everyone brings a dish to share.  This year, I brought roasted beets with yellow peppers and strawberry onions.  It’s super easy and I love the color combination.  To make this dish,  just cut up the beets, yellow peppers and onions in cubes, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Season with salt to taste, and broil in the oven for about 20-30 minutes.  I turn them half way through.  If you try the beets, and they taste like dirt, then they are not done.  Cook them for a bit longer until they taste sweet.  That’s how you know they are done.  ;)

My plate consisted of ham, smoked pork (made by Matt), broccoli salad, squash casserole, broccoli casserole, and my roasted beet dish.  Can you tell I love veggies?

While everyone was eating, Piper decided the pool needed some cleaning.

And Hayden was ready to help!

Jordan brought a delicious strawberry pizza made with a shortbread cookie crust.  It was delicious.  After dessert, it was time for some Egg Hunting!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

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Sun Loving Flower Garden

If you love yellow flowers, then you can’t go wrong with these Bush Daisies in your flower garden.  Make sure to give them enough space when planting because they’ll definitively spread into a beautiful bush.  Very easy to take care off, they just need to be regularly watered when first planting.  Once they are established, they’ll be fine with weekly waterings.  They do love sun, so make sure they get plenty of it.

Bush Daisies

Another showy flower is the “Cleome” or Spider Flower.  Cleome is available in white, pink and beautiful fuscia bringing amazing color to your flower garden.  This flowering plant is an annual and it will bloom from now until fall.  They are native to South America, which makes them great drought tolerant plants for Florida weather.

Cleome or Spider Flower

Once you decide where to put your flower garden, make sure to figure out how much sun that area gets daily.  The amount of sun your garden gets will define what type of flowers will survive.  Make sure to water your newly planted flowers daily until they are fully established.  Depending on flower type and the soil conditions of your garden, after two to three weeks, you may need to change your watering schedule.  Here are some resources for gardening in Florida:

Bed Preparation is the key to successful flowers and vegetables

Florida Yards and Neighborhoods Handbook

The post Flower Garden in Florida appeared first on Parkesdale Farm Market Blog.

And now for the FTC disclosure: you should know, I have been invited to attend Social Fresh in exchange for my honest opinion.

Having had such good and not so good experiences at these social media conferences I had to find out more about Social Fresh 2013.  Social Fresh is a social media conference coming to Tampa on April 18-19, 2013.  This social media event will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel located at 4500 W Cypress Street, Tampa.  Hotel rates for the event are $139/night with special promotion code SOC.

What makes Social Fresh 2013 the Social Media Conference to attend?

With over 49k followers on Twitter and 23k fans on Facebook, my interest was peaked.  What do these people know about social media training?  First, let’s look at the history of Social Fresh.  Social Fresh was founded by Jason Keath in 2009 as a social media training company.  Their website offers free and paid materials all related to social media training.   The Social Media Blog was just listed as the #1 Social Media Blog by the Social Media Examiner.  Their flagship event is the Social Fresh one day social media conference.  Social Media Today listed Social Fresh 2013 as one of the best 12 social media conference to attend in 2013.  As a hopeful “soon to be” small business owner, I was glad to see that 14% of their past attendees were business owners/partners and 11% were small business owners.  So far so good.

Secondly, we all like choices.  Choices are nice when you are trying to decide what to eat a restaurant.  However, when you are attending a conference, making choices between speakers is a completely different thing.  I always get that feeling in my gut that no matter what I’ve chosen, I’ve picked the wrong one.  Luckily for people like me, Social Fresh is a one-track social media conference.  No more worrying whether you picked the wrong speaker or not.  Win win.

Lastly, the caliber of speakers and the presentation topics surely have great promise.  I’m looking forward to hopefully meeting Ted Rubin from Collective Bias (previously with e.l.f. cosmetics and OpenSky).  Ted Rubin is the most followed Chief Marketing Officer on Twitter.  Clearly, he is doing something right.  Other great speakers I’m looking forward to are Adam Kmiec (Campbells), Morgan Johnston (JetBlue) and Kevin Vine (DunkinDonuts).

In addition to having world known speakers, what makes a great conference is the networking opportunities.  Social Fresh has scheduled networking receptions both nights of the conference.

For more information check out Social Media:

Website: www.socialfreshconference.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/socialfresh 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/socialfresh

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