Photo courtesy of The Federal Food, Drink & Provisions

Roadshows, taverns–what century is this? Here are some food events worth checking out this weekend and beyond…

[Update] And a gourmet garage sale!

The holidays are over, but people are still hungry
Thurs. 1/12

Feeding South Florida distributes food to 700 food pantries and non-profits in South Florida.  Their “Come Together” event raises money for their cause while serving food from restaurants including 1500 Degrees, City Hall, The Forge, Makoto, Scarpetta and Whisk.  See the full list at Feeding South Florida. Tickets are $125.
7 to 10 p.m. at Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, 591 N.W. 27th St.

 
New year, new skills!
Sat.  1/14

Muriel Olivares of Little River Market Garden is giving a workshop on how to make pizza and a braided Italian loaf in the wood burning oven at her garden.  You’ll eat the pizzas together after the class and take home your braided loaf to share with friends and family.  If you don’t have a wood burning  oven, never fear.  You can get tips from Lifehacker here and here. There are only ten spots in the class so register soon.  The class is $35. Olivares is also offering a class on “Raw Recipes: Three recipes using ingredients which are easily grown in any South Florida garden” on Sat. 2/11 ($25).
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Little River Market Garden.  Register here.  

Gourmet garage sale
Sat. 1/14

The local chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier Miami is selling “everything but the kitchen sink” this Saturday.  Find gently used and high quality aprons, bakeware, ceramics, cookbooks, crystal, dish towels, pots and pans, small kitchen appliances and stemware at this paradise for those of us who love our kitchen toys.  One example: last year, Jackie Sayet, brand manager for Michael’s Genuine, donated the dishes and glassware which served as props for the Michael’s Genuine Food cookbook photo shoots.  There will also be a  market selling locally grown fruits and vegetables, potted herbs, vegetable starts, prepared foods and baked goods.  All of the foods are contributed by the farmers, caterers and chefs who belong to the Dames d’Escoffier Miami.  The garage sale benefits their agricultural, school garden and cooking/nutrition education projects.
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1217 Granada Boulevard, Coral Gables

Cocktail road show
Sun. 1/15

Dale DeGroff, the James Beard award winning mixologist and author, is bringing his show, “On the Town: A Tribute to Bars, Speaks and Legendary Saloons” to Clarke’s on Miami Beach this Sunday.  He’ll tell the story of the American cocktail through songs, stories and of course cocktails.  Guests will be served classic cocktails from a few of the eras he describes, along with light hors d’oeuvres.  DeGroff will be accompanied by jazz guitarist Joel Perry.  DeGroff has been tending bar and reviving classic cocktails for decades, including a  tenure at New York City’s Rainbow Room.  He’s also the primary founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail.  Tickets are $40 ahead of time, $45 at the door.
6 to 8 p.m.at Clarke’s, 840 1st Street, Miami Beach

 
The Federal Food, Drink and Provisions Opens
Mon. 1/16

 It’s tavern time!  The folks behind Phuc Yea! pop up restaurant will open their brick-and-mortar MiMo restaurant on Monday.  As they did at Phuc Yea, they’ve got the entire concept down here–from the decor to the recipes to the menu–this time in the vein of a modern American tavern. Think comfort food, potted meats, game meats and dishes of yore like the Hot Brown sandwich (open faced turkey sandwich with mornay sauce.) They’ve been doing their research and doing their own pickling.  All breads and desserts will also be made in house.   Look for dishes like biscuits and gravy, Nantucket Bay scallop crudo with candied beet salad, charbroiled fish and iron-roasted porterhouse made in a cast iron skillet.
Open Mon. through Sat., 5 to 10:30 p.m., 5132 Biscayne Blvd.

Blue Collar Opens
Fri. 1/13

Self-described “blue collar cook” Daniel Serfer channels his vision for a place where everybody knows your name into Blue Collar, a new comfort food restaurant.  It’s in the storefront of the Biscayne Inn (where American Noodle Bar used to live.)  Look for homemade pastas, and a daily rotation of veggie small plates and braise, “parm” and ribs of the day to fulfill that empty longing inside of you.
Open Sun. through Thurs., 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Fri. and Sat. 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.,  6730 Biscayne Blvd.

I’ve made some personal resolutions this year, including one to eat more vegetables of more varied colors more often.

Another is to travel back to Chicago–I missed my yearly visit in 2011.

I also have some professional resolutions.  One includes finally blogging about all of my food recommendations in Chicago.  People often ask me where to eat in Chicago before they go on trips.  I’ve been there so many times, that it makes sense to have some kind of evolving blog post to record where I’ve enjoyed eating and what I’d like to try next in my other hometown.

I also intend to finally write that “My 7 Links” post that Frodnesor at Food for Thought nominated me for. It seems like a good beginning of  the year exercise.

Another one of my professional resolutions for 2012 is to blog more often and more freely–basically to follow Amanda Hesser in foregoing the role of expert in favor of participating in a community.  I know this isn’t earth shattering in the world of journalism, but it is sort of a stepping out for me.  It’s not like I’ve ever fully embraced the role of expert or authority.  That’s never really been my style, although I do consider myself to be quite opinionated. At the same time, I tend to shy away from blogging about projects I’m currently working on (like articles or radio stories) or things I’m thinking about in favor of more carefully sourced, researched and verified work. In short, until I have something pretty authoratative to show.  I’m finding lately that  blogging about something that’s in process can be useful in terms of thinking about a story or just starting a conversation that could lead somewhere really interesting. Again, I know–”duh.”

It’s basically a path I’ve been heading down in my journalistic/writing work, but I just need to jump. I’m going to be criticized. I’m going to be wrong sometimes. My hope is that if I just keep my head down and continue to aim for integrity and good work, making that process more transparent won’t bite me in the butt. Basically, I think I just need to get over it and get out of my own way.

That’s part of the reason I started my Sound Bite project. Nancy Ancrum and I started that blog to to showcase our radio work.  We also did it to make communicating with other people more a part of our work. Not that it isn’t already, but it can help broaden our sources and inspiration.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon conscientiousness either.  However, the whole process of producing, whether it’s a radio feature or a blog post, is a lot more fun, when you think about it like a dinner party conversation rather than a treatise that must forever stand the test of time.

As Andrew Sullivan wrote in “Why I Blog,”

A blog, therefore, bobs on the surface of the ocean but has its anchorage in waters deeper than those print media is technologically able to exploit. It disempowers the writer to that extent, of course. The blogger can get away with less and afford fewer pretensions of authority. He is—more than any writer of the past—a node among other nodes, connected but unfinished without the links and the comments and the track-backs that make the blogosphere, at its best, a conversation, rather than a production.

and then later…

To blog is therefore to let go of your writing in a way, to hold it at arm’s length, open it to scrutiny, allow it to float in the ether for a while, and to let others, as Montaigne did, pivot you toward relative truth. A blogger will notice this almost immediately upon starting. Some e-mailers, unsurprisingly, know more about a subject than the blogger does. They will send links, stories, and facts, challenging the blogger’s view of the world, sometimes outright refuting it, but more frequently adding context and nuance and complexity to an idea. The role of a blogger is not to defend against this but to embrace it. He is similar in this way to the host of a dinner party. He can provoke discussion or take a position, even passionately, but he also must create an atmosphere in which others want to participate.

And of course, there are also the reasons of accountability and transparency.  That’s why I’m telling you these resolutions. Now I’ve put them out there and now I’ve got to do them.

So, I know this is more meta than I usually get in this blog.  I’ve been thinking about the whole process a lot more in the past few months, as I just wrapped up an online “Food Blog U” seminar/workshop taught by one of my writing idols, Molly O’Neill as part of the Cook N Scribble series.  Thanks to the Cook N Scribble folks for pointing me towards the two articles linked to in this post. Also, a big thanks to that workshop for helping me think more clearly about what I’m doing and how I’m going to do it better.

I just wanted to take a moment to introduce my new online project.  It’s where you can listen to the food radio stories longtime journalist Nancy Ancrum and I produce.   You can also see pictures and videos related to the stories.  It’s a sort of portfolio for our radio work.  That’s not all.

I hope that Sound Bite will be a notebook, a workshop and a conversation about food in South Florida.  It’s where Nancy and I will share collected scraps, sights and sounds as we work on new projects.  It’s also where we invite you to help us answer the question, “What does South Florida taste like?” and to share your thoughts, ideas and photos.   This part is most important me.  If there’s anything I’ve learned while blogging and reporting, it’s that a story is never static and that people want to be a part of the telling of their own stories,  rather than deferring to an “expert” voice– not that I’ve ever claimed to be an expert!

Sound Bite will be more focused on themes throughout time than Miami Dish as we work through various projects.  However, Miami Dish continues! I’ve been busy getting into the rhythm of my new freelance life (a much anticipated move that I recently made) and I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it.  Look for some cool new videos very soon. Thanks for all of your support, comments and stories!

The Indian Summer cocktail at Sra. Martinez (David Samayoa)

Northerners refer to an “Indian summer” when warm temperatures persist into fall after an initial frost.  Of course, hot days that drag into fall and winter are the norm in Miami. People up north might celebrate a balmier fall, but we jump out of bed on the rare days we can rock our sweaters.  The Indian Summer cocktail at Sra. Martinez is good company whether it’s a true fall day or just a humid excuse for one.

Scott Mayer, beverage director at Sra. Martinez, envisioned the cocktail as a summer drink—a twist on the mojito. “Indian” also refers to the flavor—Mayer was inspired by a mint chutney recipe.  However, the warming ginger of the Domaine du Canton and the chilis also make it ideal for “true” fall days. A moderate heat creeps over the tongue as the chilis continue to steep

The Indian Summer ($13) is part of the new cocktail menu at Sra. Martinez, where the was bar lauded by Esquire earlier this year. The recipe is below.

Scott Mayer, beverage director at Sra. Martinez, pours me an Indian Summer. (David Samayoa)

The Indian Summer cocktail, right after Mayer garnishes with chile peppers. They get stirred in. (David Samayoa)

Indian Summer Cocktail

Recipe courtesy of Scott Mayer, beverage director at Sra. Martinez

Serves 1

 Mayer makes his own coconut infusion to avoid the “suntan lotion” taste of many coconut rums.  He recommends drinking the cocktail without a straw to feel more of the heat. I had a hard time finding Santa Teresa Claro, but I finally scored some.  You can try claro rum from 10 Cane or Ron Matusalem as substitutes.

INGREDIENTS

3 mint leaves

1 ½ oz  toasted coconut infused Santa Teresa Claro rum (See recipe below for how to infuse the rum.)

½ oz Domain de Canton

½ oz  fresh lemon juice

½ oz  honey syrup  (Mayer combines hot water and honey to make a syrup, so that the honey is easier to pour.  I followed chef Marcus Samuelsson’s directions for making honey simple syrup, which made the drink a little sweeter.)

3 thin slices of jalapeno chile

3 thin slices of Fresno chile

For infusion: Store bought coconut flakes (1 4oz bag)

TO MAKE

To infuse the rum: Toast the flakes in an oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes until golden.  Wait a few minutes for flakes to cool. Infuse the flakes in the rum for 3 hours, then chill.  The coconut flakes will separate and rise to the top of the infusion. Try to skim out as much of the coconut as possible.

Combine cocktail ingredients in a shaker. Shake and serve on the rocks, garnished with  chile slices.  Briefly stir the chile slices into the drink.

by Andrew Shirey (Courtesy of Burger Beast)

Choices, choices. . . It’s that time of year–every weekend from here to January overflows with events!  Here are some of my picks for food events to mark on your calendar this weekend.

If you’re attending the Miami Book Fair this weekend, there’s a separate post on food related events at the festival.

Food Truck Choices

Sat. 11/19

Choose from a carnival’s worth of food trucks from South Florida, along with some guest trucks from other towns in Florida at the third annual Burgie Awards this Saturday. Choose from a selection of some of Burger Beast’s favorite hamburgers from restaurants around town too.  Burger Beast (a.k.a. Sef Gonzalez) announces the winners of this year’s awards for best comfort foods in town.  Enjoy the free screening of the documentary, Hamburger in America, on a giant screen while you enjoy the carnival of indulgence.  Admission and parking are free.

5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Magic City Casino, 450 N.W. 37 Ave.

Vegan Choices

Sat. 11/19 and Sun. 11/20

There are some good options for vegans this weekend. This Saturday is the grand opening celebration of Choices Vegan Café with DJ (this is Miami!) and sangria.

7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 379 SW 15^th Road in Brickell

Sunday is the monthly Waffle Brunch at Sweat Records. Made to order vegan and gluten free waffles with a selection of toppings are $6.

11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 5505 NE 2^nd Ave.

Burgie Awards http://burgerbeast.com/2011/11/03/final-additions-to-the-3rd-annual-burgie-awards/ showinh hamburger doc http://burgerbeast.com/2011/10/09/burgies-2011-announcement/

Motown Brunch

Street fair at Miami Book Fair International at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus (Courtesy of Miami Book Fair)

There were so many of this weekend’s Miami Book Fair International events to include in The Week in Food post that I decided to give the Book Fair a post of its own.  Here’s a selection of some of the food related events.  Festival admission is $8 for adults, $5 for teens and adults over 62.  Admission is free for kids under 12.   Miami Book Fair speaking events are at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus at 300 NE Second Ave.

There are new cooking demo events at the Miami Culinary Institute (415 N.E. Second Ave. ) this year. Those events are ticketed and capped at 38 people.  Tickets for the demos are $40.

Sat. 11/19

 The Story of Food: Two time James Beard Award winner Andrew Carmellini of New York City (and now Miami) on American Flavor, Gabrielle Hamilton, chef/owner of Prune in New York City, on her memoir Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef and cookbook author Jessica B. Harris on High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America. 

Sat. 11/19 at 11:00 a.m. at Presentation Pavilion (N.E 3rd St. and 1st Ave.)

Cooking Demo: Terry Walters, health counselor and author of Clean Start: Inspiring You to Eat Clean and Live Well with 100 New Clean Food Recipes demonstrates recipes.  Ticket includes demo, tasting and cookbook.

Sat. 11/19 at 12 p.m. at Miami Culinary Institute (415 N.E. Second Ave.)  Tickets are $40.

Cooking Demo: Sandra Gutierrez presents recipes that combine the Latin flavors of her roots with the Southern flavors of her home in The New Southern-Latino Table. Ticket includes demo, tasting and cookbook.

Sat. 11/19 at 2 p.m. at Miami Culinary Institute (415 N.E. Second Ave.) Tickets are $40.

Cooking Demo: Daniel Orr, chef and author of Paradise Kitchen demonstrates the flavors of his new home of Anguilla in the British West Indies.  Ticket includes demo, tasting and cookbook.

Sat. 11/19 at 4:00 p.m at Miami Culinary Institute (415 N.E. Second Ave.) Tickets are $40.

Sun. 11/20

The Story of Food: Mary L. Zamore presents the anthology of essays on Judaism and culture she edited, The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic, food and fashion writer Cheryl Tan presents her food memoir A Tiger in the Kitchen about living and cooking with her female relatives in Singapore, and local chef/owner Michael Schwartz (of Michael’s Genuine and Harry’s Pizzeria) presents Michael’s Genuine Food: Down-to-Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat. 

Sun. 11/20 at 3 p.m. at Presentation Pavilion (N.E 3rd St. and 1st Ave.)

Latino and Caribbean Cooking:  Sandra Gutierrez presents The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South, chef Daniel Orr talks about his cookbook/travel guide/memoir, Paradise Kitchen and Raquel Rabade Roque, owner of Downtown Book Center, presents Cuban Cooking. 

Sun. 11/20 at 4:30 p.m. at Presentation Pavilion (N.E 3rd St. and 1st Ave.)

Wanted: Lionfish hunters
Fri./Sat. 11/4-11/5

The next REEF Lionfish Derby is this Saturday. Cash prizes will be awarded for biggest, smallest and most lionfish captured. If you want to participate, late registration is at 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm today at Hurricane Hole Restaurant & Marina in Key West.  Derby participant fee of $150 includes raffle tickets and a banquet.  More information at REEF.

Lionfish tastings for the public are Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Hurricane Hole.

Listen to my WLRN-Miami Herald News story to learn more about the invasive fish and why we need to eat as many as we can.

Hurricane Hole, 5130 Overseas Hwy 1 (MM 4.5), Key West

Fall is officially here
Mon.-Sat. through April

Knaus Berry Farm is open. You know what to do. Early on Saturday morning, herd your sleepy family and friends into the car. Bring your cash (no credit cards accepted) and head south to the Redland to avoid long lines for the famous cinnamon rolls, herb breadsticks and strawberries. You can also pick your own strawberries and tomatoes once they’re available. Open Mondays through Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. until mid-April. 15980 SW 248^th Street in Homestead.

While you’re down south
Sat. 11/5

Homestead al Gusto is another reason to head south on Saturday (11/5) for music and food. Fifteen food trucks gather and several of them compete in a cook-off using a mystery basket of local ingredients. Bee Heaven Farms sells tomato, eggplant, basil and nasturtium plants for your garden and chef Adri Garcia gives cooking demonstrations.  6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Losner Park (104 North Krome Avenue) in Homestead.

Pop up at the Wynwood Supper Club this Tuesday
Tues. 11/8

Lester’s and Gypsy Kitchen food truck team up for Wynwood Supper Club on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Gypsy Kitchen describes their style as “internationally inspired, locally sourced street food with a heavy Indian influence.” The four courses include shrimp ceviche paani puri, chilled avocado cream soup and  salad of grilled heirloom tomato, roasted corn, confit leeks and toasted walnuts, short ribs with guava glaze and an Indian-inspired creme brulee. Dinner is $45 for four courses and wine pairing.  Call 305-968-2325 or email info@lestersmiami.com to reserve with your credit card.  Lester’s, 2519 NW 2nd Ave.

Tuesday is the final evening of the food justice film series at O Cinema. Fresh is a documentary about farmers and entrepreneurs trying to reinvent the food system in the United States. Tickets are $10 per person, $7.50 for O members. Sip fruit wines from Schnebly Winery at 6 p.m.  Film starts at 7 p.m.  O Cinema, 90 NW 29th Street, Wynwood.

Advance notice: Slow Food Lebanese Feast
Fri. 11/18

Tickets are on sale for the Slow Food Miami Lebanese Feast on Friday, November 18.  The dinner is at an undisclosed Coral Gables home which will later be revealed to ticket holders. Redland goat herder and cheese maker Hani Khouri prepares foods from his native Lebanon, including a dozen appetizers, five salads, several entrees and white and Turkish coffees. More about Hani Khouri’s elaborate menu at Short Order. Tickets are $125 for food and wine.

“Inexplicable” blackbird pie from Apocalypse Cakes by Shannon O’Malley, Running Press.  (Photos by Keith Wilson)

You can bake any cake in Apocalypse Cakes, but the recipes were not author Shannon O’Malley’s primary focus: “To me, it never really mattered what was in the cakes more than them fitting the idea.”  She borrowed recipes from the Internet and tweaked them to fit her irreverent cake ideas like “Fallen Angel Food Cake,” “Black Deforestation Cake,” and “Immigration Mayhem Mexican Chocolate Cake.”  Yes, that’s right, O’Malley is making statements via cake.

O’ Malley works in advertising so she used her day job techniques to get her book published. O’Malley also happens to be an old classmate of mine from (Governor Rick Scott’s scourge) New College of Florida and a former South Floridian.  At this time of year when we linger on, joke about and indulge in all things dark, I thought it would be a good time to chat with O’ Malley about her book.

The apocalypse frightens some people and fascinates others.  But an apocalyptic cookbook? What gave you the idea?

In 2008, it was my girlfriend Katie’s birthday and I wanted to make her something.  She’s one of these people that eats and eats and never gets fat, so I thought, “Why not make her a cookbook?” At the time, she was reading a lot about the apocalypse.

So, the night before her birthday I just kind of put these ideas together.  It’s like “Cake…it would be your final indulgence at the end of the world.”  So I basically stayed up all night making her a cookbook of apocalyptic cakes with online images and recipes.  After not sleeping all night, I went to work, printed it out, collated it and gave the cookbook to my girlfriend.  I was like, “Man, why can’t my real job be something that makes me want to stay up all night like this?”  So I decided to keep doing this and turn it into a book.

My interest in the Apocalyse has kind of evolved. It’s not like I really believe in the rapture or anything like that.  It’s been more of a way into other topics, whether it be political commentary or whatever.  It’s  a platform that allowed me to talk about things.  I have opinions about the world like “President Palin Half-Baked Alaska.”  It’s not an interesting idea—lots of people have that idea, but when you do it through cake, it’s unique.

You have no previous baking experience.  What was it like creating a cookbook?

I got in touch with an author friend who said if I wanted to turn the idea into a book, I should start a blog.

At the ad agency, we were doing a lot of work with Twitter and other interactive media. I thought, “Well, instead of like sending out book proposals through the mail, why don’t I do what I know how to do, which is pimp s— online?”

So I created Apocalypse Cakes Twitter/Facebook accounts and participated in their conversations. That’s how they found out about the project. I ended up getting a literary agent that way.

I don’t bake and I didn’t invent the recipes. Most of the recipes I took off the Internet and changed.

The idea is first and the recipe is secondary.

To me, it never really mattered what was in the cakes more than them fitting the idea. That kind of thinking is what I do every day at my job in the creative department of the ad agency. I come up with ideas and think about how to execute them later.

Some of the cakes really push the envelope.  What kind of response have you gotten?

All kinds.  I have certain audiences for the project–like nerdy horror fans—that I didn’t really expect, although I’m not sure why I didn’t expect that. Some of the people think they’re really funny.

Some people are totally offended by cakes like the “Seismic Haitian Mud Cake.” It’s made of mud shaped like a cake, decorated with rocks and stuff.  I had another photographer come do it really nicely so it looks like something from Bon Appetit. That one came out on the blog right after the Haitian earthquake.

I’m from Miami too, so news of the Caribbean has always been in my life. In Miami, we’re always getting immigrants from Haiti and we’ve always heard about how impoverished it is. I was kind of pissed about how, after the earthquake, the whole country went [crazy]. People were like “They don’t have health care, let’s go help them.” Yes, I think people should go to help them and that was wonderful, but I also had to wonder, “Where were you all these decades?”

The media picks certain stories and then people want to be a part of what is happening now. All of a sudden, Haiti’s poverty became something that gave meaning to people’s lives.  It just pissed me off that all of a sudden people noticed Haiti.  I did think about whether people would be angry about the cake but I settled with it.  That Haiti cake is not funny and some of the other cakes are not funny.  Twenty percent of those cakes are kind of complaints about the world. They all bring attention to some kind of gruesome reality.

Apocalypse Cakes by Shannon O’Malley.  Photos by Keith Wilson.  Running Press, 2011.

Photo by Piku (via stock.xchang)

Fall is my favorite time in South Florida.  One reason:  it means the time hastens when I replace the mealy, tasteless orbs that I deign to buy at the grocery store.   Heirloom tomatoes also have some evocative names.  This is your week if you’d like to grow your own Cherokee Purples, Chocolate Stripes, Charlie’s Mortgage Lifters, Sheboygans or Sudduth’s Brandywines.

Here are some of this week’s opportunities to buy your own heirloom tomato seedlings:

Sunday, October 16^th at Little River Market Garden

Farmer/gardener Muriel Olivares will offer twenty eight heirloom tomato varieties, four eggplant varieties and four pepper varieties for sale at Little River Market Garden.

Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes: Sungold, Brown Berry, Peacevine Cherry, Green Grape, Dr. Carolyn’s and Herman’s Little Yellow.

Small/Medium Fruit: Amish Gold, Amish Red, Ace 55, Green Zebra, Garden Peach, Earl of Edgecomb, Black Prince, Black Ethiopian, Chocolate Stripes, Orange Russian.  Olivares says she also has a variety called Lime Green Salad that is perfect for growing in pots since the plants are miniature, but still produce abundantly.

Paste/Sauce Tomatoes: Jersey Devil, Amish Paste, Federle, Speckled Roman and Purple Russian.

Large Fruit: Gold Medal, Mexico, Rose, Charlie’s Green, Black Krim, Tropic (a variety developed by UF specifically for South Florida) and Kewalo (a Hawaiian variety.)

Eggplants

Ping Tung Long, Louisiana Long Green, Rosita and Early Black

Peppers

Sweet Chinese Giant, Kim-Chi, India Jawala (Olivares’s favorite drying chili) and Erawa.

When: 10a.m. to 3p.m. (rain or shine)

Where: 8290 NE 4th Avenue

How much: $4.00 each, for every five, get one free. Cash only.  Bring trays, boxes and bags to carry seedlings home.

Tuesday, October 18 at National Food Day Celebration

Bee Heaven Farm will be at this Food Day Celebration event selling heirloom tomato seedlings, eggs and honey.

When: 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Where: Stephen P. Clark Government Center, 150 N.W. 1st Street

How much: Seedlings are $3 each.  Buy five, get one more free.  Buy fifteen, get five more free. Pay with cash, debit, credit card or SNAP benefits.

Saturday and Sunday, October 22-23 at Fairchild Edible Garden Festival

Bee Heaven Farm is selling more than fifty varieties of heirloom tomato seedlings.  You can purchase some Slow Food Ark of Taste varieties, which have been declared endangered heritage foods by Slow Food USA.  You can also find eggplant and hot pepper starter plants.  Farmer Margie Pikarsky is giving a demonstration on planting and caring for your tomato plants Sunday at 11 a.m.

When: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables

How much: Entrance to the festival: $25 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and up and $12 for children 6-17.   If you walk, ride your bike or take public transportation to Fairchild, receive $5 off admission for adults and $2 off admission for children.

Tomato seedlings:  Seedlings are $3 each.   Buy five, get one more free.  Buy fifteen, get five more free.  Pay with cash, debit, credit card or SNAP benefits.

Saturday, October 29 at Bee Heaven Farm

If you couldn’t make it to the Edible Garden Festival, you can visit the farm the following weekend.  “Be warned,” says farmer Margie Pikarsky, “your selection may be limited.”  The farm is not usually open to the public for plant sales, so this is a rare opportunity.

When: 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Bee Heaven Farm, Bauer Drive (SW 264th St) 1/3 mile west of Redland Road (197th Ave). Look for the farm sign and flags.

How much: Seedlings are $3 each.   Buy five, get one more free.  Buy fifteen, get five more free.  Pay with cash, debit, credit card or SNAP benefits.