Rutabaga Nights

[michael gill]

Hello Everyone.

I'm posting to invite you all to a party.

Anyone reading this is probably familiar with LEAF (Lakewood Earth And Food) and City Fresh, both of which work with Ohio farms within about 75 miles of Lakewood to bring picked-the-same-day produce to Lakewood residents and others around the Cleveland Area. Perhaps you've bought vegetables this way, or happened upon LEAF Night in the summer in front of the Library. Hundreds of your neighbors do, and hundreds more have been on waiting lists because frankly for the last two years LEAF has operated at full capacity. We literally didn't have enough room on the truck for all the Ohio grown vegetables Lakewood wanted to buy.

You probably also know that LEAF coordinates community gardens in town, made possible by the Mayor's recognition that allowing residents to plant gardens in city parks is great for a whole bunch of reasons, only beginning with the fact that those folks are growing their own food. There are something like 140 community garden plots in town, and if you haven't signed up for yours yet, you'd better hurry because they will certainly be all spoken for very soon.

All this is a great reason for a party, and so that is what we are going to do.

RUTABAGA NIGHTS is going to be an absolutely rocking good time. For centuries people have celebrated the harvest season, and for the last two years LEAF has done that too. But the excitement of putting seeds in the ground and growing a market for fresh produce grown by our neighbors--both in the city and at small Ohio farms--has us planning to celebrate the GROWING season.

Do not miss this grand hoo-ha.

Saturday May 2 at the Screw Factory, 13000 Athens Avenue, 7 p.m. to midnight you will find local food, drinks, music, art and other silent auction items, and a bunch of goofy stuff we're doing just for fun. To wit: you might want to check out the Interactive Video Play Station, featuring Real Dirt.

The lineup of bands includes bluegrass (Outside Jakes), jazz standards (Mobius) flamenco based world music (Good Things), and some prowling, home grown stuff by the Green Escalators and Hobo Monk.

Tickets start at $25 unless you're a student, in which case you can get them for $15. You can get tickets from GreenSmart Gifts, Lakewood Phoenix, and your LEAF community neighbors, and in Cleveland at Gypsy Beans coffee.

I'm looking forward to seeing you there.