Urban Jacksonville

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You can now listen right on the blog, click the play button above. This has been one of my favorite shows. Rapid fire topics with lot’s of great information and insight. We’re redefining content in the city!

Topics

• Jacksonville Jazz Festival – Rain or Shine
• Downtown Demolition – 118 Main Street
• Convert the Shipyards to a mixed income Transit Oriented Development
• World Cup in Jacksonville
• Free Burritos at Hightide Burrito
• Sanctuary Community Garden at 8th and Pearl in Springfield
• Wine Cellar at Three Layers in Springfield
• Times-Union Addresses Morris Publishing Woes via @editormarilyn on Twitter
• Johnny Rotten becomes Jonathan Rotten
• Jacksonville Observer and Hyperlocal Journalism
• Kids Fest at The Riverside Arts Market with Justin Roberts
• Yo Gabba Gabba

Recommendations

• Joey: Infrastructurist.com
• Jonathan: Smashing Magazine
• Tony: Streetsblog.org and My Commute Sucks

As wonderful as the Springfield Community Garden is, there is one big drawback. You have to BYOW, or bring your own water. Which means lugging it up those steps to you bed.

There are plans in the works to move the garden to the 1400 block of Laura Street (seen below). The move will sacrifice the visibility of the current location on Main Street, but will be much more accessible.

View Larger Map

The lot on Laura Street is twice the size of the current garden. Here is what Amanda Searle of IntownJacksonville says about the new location

the owner is wanting us to sign a 5 year lease (which is great!) and he will have the water line plumbed up – he also wants a plot – so an involved owner would be great too. I think we will be able to get way more plots on it, so a lot more people could get involved. The spot we have now, a lot of people have dropped out, I think because of the fact you gotta haul your own water.

The latest news on the move is the garden people met with the woman from the City extension office on Saturday and she agreed the other lot is a much better place so the garden is definitely going to move.

If you have any questions or want to get involved, contact Amanda Searle at 904-710-5702 or you can email her. My only question is are they going to move those beds?

Before and After Shots: Main Street

More on the Springfield Community Garden

The Springfield Community Garden Rises Again
Springfield Community Garden Class Nearly Full
Springfield Community Garden needs Adopt-a-bed gardeners
Podcast Episode #13: Springfield Community Garden

That’s right, a good old fashioned roller jam. Totally outside the Urban Jacksonville coverage zone, but my good friend Caz, of Royal Treatment and Home Team DJs fame, will be tearing it up that night. Along with DJs Dan and Nick Fresh. $10 make you holler!

I’ve heard lot’s of rumors flying around that TSI is closing and I have a good source that says TSI IS NOT CLOSING. There is no sense in mentioning the proposed date, just know there will be a massive party once they do open. Also The Outer Box has an update on the TSI Art and Music Variety Mixer.

Jacksonville was recently ranked dead last in an “America’s most walkable big cities” survey done by Walk Score, a Web site that helps people find real estate in walkable neighborhoods. The company did a study of the 40 largest cities in the U.S. and gave each a Walk Score of up to 100 – Jacksonville scored a 36. San Francisco came in tops with an 86. (Daily Record)

Update on Boston Tom from Dylan. It sounds like the benefit went off too. Thanks to everyone who went out and supported.

Janet just came into Shanty and told me Tom is now at Brook’s rehabilitation center where he’ll be for the next month. Great news.

The Springfield Community Garden class is FULL! They are asking if anyone is interested in starting a new garden in the Jacksonville area (preferably in Riverside), and is able to take charge of that, to give a shout. Also, the have seeds they need to get into the ground this season, or risk losing them entirely. If you’re interested in flying solo with your own garden, get in touch. They might be able to hook you up with some heirloom genetic material. Mmmm, that sounds scientific! Leave a comment and I can connect you if you are interested.

The Main Street Improvement Project between 4th -12th is on schedule. There is new temporary pavement in the middle of Main St. and work on the west side of the street will begin in about one week. Damn!

Links!
Quality of Life in Jacksonville (Metro Jacksonville)
JaxCal Redesign! Nice, I like it.
The Green Kids, or I’m Jealous of the Black Kids (JaxCal)
John Gorrie daydreams, a few steps closer to reality (RADO)
11E Starbucks is Closing (Jacksonville Confidential)
This, in my opinion, is a significant hit to downtown. Another vacant store front, Arrgh! A Caribou or Dunn Brothers would fit nicely.

Finally don’t forget Traumatic Tuesday tonight at Mark’s! Biggie Tea and I (Joe E Fresh) will be laying down the entire Black Kids album at Mark’s. It’s probably going to start late (around 11). $1 pbr $2 draft $3 jager all night.

If you have a video camera and are interested in filming the first ever Springfield Community Garden class get in touch. The classes are full, but they would like to make the classes accessible to a wider audience. The class begins at 9:00am on Saturday July 19th.

Contact me or leave a comment and I can put you in touch with the Springfield Gardeneers!

I wrote about Adopting-a-Bed at the Springfield Community Garden a while back, now there are only a few spots left.

In partnership with the University of Florida Cooperative Extension service, we will be teaching a group of 17 gardeners all there is to know about growing food organically in Northeast Florida. The class will run through the fall growing season, and if it goes well we’ll continue it all the way through the spring season as well.

Students will gain technical knowledge on plants themselves, seasonal and regional varieties, organic pest control, organic fertilization, and more. In addition, we’ll get the chance to discuss other topics surrounding the notion of local food, social justice, environmental responsibility, and living “the good life”, as the Nearings would say. Everyone will get a notebook full of the lessons we discuss.

Classes will be weekly starting in late August, with one or two meetings before then to learn about what a garden needs during the fallow season, which for us is the hottest part of the summer.

There is no cost for the class and gardeners who sign up first will have a plot in the Springfield Community Garden to try out what they’re learning. There will also be space for a few “observers” who will attend all the classes but won’t have a plot. Contact jmccharen@gmail.com if you’re interested.

Join the Springfield Community Garden for sustainable, local food this fall.

The Springfield Community Garden is looking for adopt-a-bed gardeners. This is a pretty amazing program and I’m really excited it’s right here in Springfield. This initiative is in step with other programs around the country that emphasize eating locally and organic farming.

Starting Saturday, August 30th, we will be hosting our first season of food gardeners, who will join us in learning how to grow food organically here in Northeast Florida.

The first team of gardeners will get a season-long education on food production put together by JCNI and the County Extension office, including:

• what crops to grow when
• propagation
• organic techniques for pest control and fertilization
• seed-saving and much more

Seeding will begin in September and there will be weekly classes throughout the growing season, all the way to food preservation ideas after the harvest. After the harvest there will be a potluck to celebrate at the end of the season. Depending on the success of this first course we’ll start again in the Spring, with classes tailored to those crops.

Interested gardeners should get in touch now. The garden can accommodate up to 15 individual gardeners, or couples and that’s sure to fill up quick!

At the moment, we are still working on Saturdays to complete the raised beds and will soon begin work on the garden shed. We’re now meeting to work in the morning, at from 8am until we’re finished, to escape the heat.

The shed will be an essential part of the site, and will offer us much needed shade, irrigation through rainwater catchment, secure storage and a small office. Right now we need 2×6 lumber at least 10 feet long, and as always, we prefer to use recycled and reclaimed material, or anything that might otherwise go to waste.

Also here is a general Community Garden alert! They also looking for recycled 2×6 lumber, at least 10 feet long. If you’ve got a source, let them know.

Any interested gardeners should email jaxgreen at gmail dot com, or call Jennifer at 904.657.1177 (you must dial the area code).

More photos of the Springfield Community Garden
Interview with Phillip Ramsey and Jennifer McCharen about the Springfield community garden

Here’s an update on the Springfield community garden

Thanks to a very generous (anonymous!) donor, and a handful of smaller donations we were able to pay to have the concrete footer poured, rebar placed, and blocks laid. We were helped immensely by a couple of homeless men who knew how to lay blocks properly, and offered their help in a, “hey…you’re not doing that right, let me show you,” kind of way. The wall is now drying and awaiting a coat of stucco. Then we can paint a lovely mural on it, to let everyone know about the garden.

It sounds like the next project in the works is a sustainable shed. Listen to Phillip Ramsey and Jennifer McCharen talk about the Springfield Community Garden in an interview we recorded a few months ago.

Here are some tentative hours I found on the Inertia site: Every Saturday and Sunday 12-3pm at 1st and main (Right after The Pearl if you are heading North) – Co-op Garden development and Gardening. bring some tools, some plants, and yourself.

Thanks to Jennifer McCharen for the two wall-repair photos above!