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KATHLEEN FFA CAPTURES NATIONAL TITLE
By Morgan Carlton
On October 29 and 30, four members of the Kathleen Senior FFA Chapter competed in the National FFA Forestry Career Development Event in Louisville, Kentucky. Team members were Taeler Dupre, Brevyn Foreman, Emmett Lee and Lexi Sanchez. In the Forestry event, members must learn how to complete 12 possible individual practicums. Of the 12, only six are used in the contest. In addition to the individual portion of the contest, the team must work together to complete a forest management practicum, which can use all 12 individual topics. The 50-question, hour long, general knowledge exam, required students to prepare by studying various forest management books and journals. Questions range from determining the seed classification of various trees to the number of varieties of a specific forest pest. This was the first activity of the two-day contest. The following morning, each participant from across the nation met at the Louisville Expo Center early in the morning, where they loaded onto charter buses in route to Bernheim Forest, where the remaining portions of the contest were held. The day began with the forest issues interviews. The possible interview topics were released three months in advance, giving team members time to research each topic. These interviews lasted 10 minutes and were conducted with an industry professional. As soon as the interviews concluded, teams were assigned their management activity and had 90 minutes to complete the task. The skills utilized in this activity ranged from wood identification to estimating timber values of a given forest stand. Soon after completing the team activity and a brief lunch break, the teams were divided for their individual practicums. Students had to identify a total of 20 trees, and some were growing in the park and located along a trail. Participants used bark, leaves, fruit and growing habits as aids to identify these trees. The remaining trees had to be identified using only small clippings laid out on tables. Students were required to identify 20 common tools used in the forest industry, ranging from a clinometer to a belt weather kit. The compassing and pacing porWWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
tion required students to shoot azimuths using a hand compass from fixed locations within the forest. The other portion of this practicum consisted of participants walking from a starting point to an ending point and measuring the distance between the two, using only their pace count as a measuring tool. The final practicum was timber cruising. In this practicum students were given a Biltmore stick, which they used to measure the diameters of trees, and determine how many full and half logs could be harvested from the 10 marked trees. With this information, students used a Log scale to calculate the board feet they estimated to be in the trees. The Kathleen Forestry team members anxiously awaited the Forestry CDE banquet, which was held the following day, October 31, at noon. After lunch, the team first learned that all four team members were ‘gold,’ meaning they were in the top 30% of the individuals in the nation. Next, it was announced that Emmett Lee was the third highest individual in the nation, and that he tied with Taeler Dupre for the highest individual practicum score in the nation. The excitement continued for the team when it was announced that Brevyn Foreman was the second highest individual in the nation, and that he earned the highest written exam score. Lastly, Taeler Dupre was announced as the national high individual. Moments later, the Kathleen FFA Forestry team was announced as the winner of the 2014 National Forestry CDE. Each team member received a $1,000 scholarship and a backpack full of goodies from Husqvarna, the national sponsor. This is the first national championship title for Kathleen FFA.
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December 2014
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POLK COU NTY
®
Contents
CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION
V O L . 7 • IS S U E 7
Contents
VOL. 8 • ISSUE 4
F eature S tory
Rob Krieger Citrus P a gPage e 34
24
cover photo by Melissa Nichols
Forestry Carreer Developement Event
Page 28
Master Gardner
Dundee Elementary Academy
Fishing Hot Spots
More R&D
Page 3
Page 10
Field Day
Page 32
Page 14
Page 34
PCCA Fall Dinner
Recipes
Page 16
Page 38
P.O. Box 9005 • Drawer HS0 3 Bartow, FL 33831 -9005 President – J. B. Wynn OFFICERSDave Tomkow (863) 665-5088 (863) 581-3255 & B OARD OF DIRECTORS cattlemenslivestock@ jbwynn29@gmail.com P resident - C harlesearthlink.net C lark ( 863) 528-8537 Vice President – David Mike Facente McCullerscclark@ expoco.com 697-9419 (863) 635-2821crookedlaV ice P resident - Dave(863) Tomkow keranch@verizon.net ( 863) 6 6 5-50 88 cattlemanslivetock@ earthlink.net Standing Committee Chairs: Secretary/Treasurer - Justin S ecretary/ Treasurer - J ustin B unch Membership- J.B. Wynn Bunch ( 863) 4 25-1121 jbunch@ agriumretail.com (863) 425-1121 A l B ellotto - ( 863) 581-5515Events- Kevin Fussell jbunch@agriumretail.com R ay C lark - ( 863) 6 83-819 6 (863) 412-5876 rclark@ tampabay.rr.com State Director – Ray Clark L .B .(863) F landers, DV M - ( 863) 6 4 Trade 4 -5974 Show640-0719 rclark@tampabay.rr.com Dewey F ussell - ( 863) 9 84 -3782 Rodeo- Fred Waters Mike F ussell - ( 863) 69 8-8314 Al Bellotto fussell.flafarm@ verizon.net (863) 559-7808 (863) 581-5515 David McC ullers - ( 863) 528-1195 Website – Chris Nelson MobyCharles Persing (863) 533-1020 Clark- ( 863) 528-4 379 Ned W aters - ( 863) 69 8-1597 RChrisnelson@gmail.com watersn@ doacs.state.fl.us (863) 528-8537 J .B . W ynn - ( 863) 581-3255 cclarkc4@yahoo.com Cattlewomen – Vice Presijbwynn29 @ gmail.com dent, Laura Slocumb L.B. Flanders, DVMFacente - ( 863) (863)697-9419 660-7000 A lternate - Mike (863) 644-5974 laura@higgenbotham.com S tanding C ommittee C hairs:
Membership - J .B . W ynnExtension – Bridget Carlisle Dewey Fussell
Literary Time Machine
Cucumber
Page 19
Page 39
Rocking Chair Chatter
Natuarlly Amazing
Meet the Minks
Closer Look
Page 22
Page 42
Page 26
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December 2014
(863)- 984-3782 PO Box4 12-5876 9005, Drawer HS03 E vents K evin F ussell ( 863) Bartow, FL 33831
R odeo - F red W aters ( 863) 559 -780 8 Mike Fussell (863) 519-1048 watersf@ doacs.state.fl.us (863) 698-8314 bccarlis@ufl.edu Website - Chris Nelson
fussell.flafarm@verizon.net C attlewomen - P resident Sheriff’s Dept. – Sgt. Marjorie W ood ( 863) 6 6 0 -4 137 Moby Persing Tommy Dixon onnie397@ aol.com 863-528-4567 (863) 534-7205 E xtension - B ridget C arlisle ( 863) 519 -8677 tdixon@polksheriff.org bccarlis@ ufl.edu
S heriff’s Dept. - S gt. Tommy Dixon
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December 2014
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Letter from the Editor Alan’s Air Conditioning..................47
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The trees are trimmed, stockings are hung and multi-colored lights are flashing both inside and out! You also know it is the Christmas season when you go shopping. Just finding a parking spot can test the most patient of people. So as you are dealing with the holiday crowds, keep this in mind, shop local. Locally owned businesses are the foundation of our community. They also tend to give special attention to each person they serve. Locally owned businesses provide jobs for residents in our neighborhoods. Even better, product selection is based on what the community wants, not on a national sales plan. You are also helping to strengthen the economic base of your community. When shopping for your holiday parties and meals, or your daily bread, remember to buy Fresh From Florida. And as you bow your head to give thanks, add the farmer and rancher, they allow us to have the safest most abundant food supply in the world. Each year I like to remind the reader to please remember the reason for the celebration and this year is no different. And there were shepherds living out in the field nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Until Next Month
Publisher/Photography Karen Berry
Bankers South................................23
Senior Managing Editor/ Associate Publisher Sarah Holt
Cecil Breeding Farm.......................13
Editor-In-Chief Al Berry
Everglades Farm Equipment........48
Office Manager Bob Hughens
Farm Credit.....................................33
Sales Manager Danny Crampton
Florida Fence Post..........................15
Sales Al Berry Tina Richmond Danny Crampton Melissa Nichols
Fl Strawberry festival...................44
Creative Director/Illustrator
Grove Equipment Service............36
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. - Numbers 6:25
INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
December 2014
Country Village..............................20 Eli’s.....................................................31 Ellison RBM Inc...............................37 Exo Creative...................................37 Fancy Farms......................................7 Fl Ag in the classroom....................9 Florida Farm & Ranch...................21 Fl Dept of Ag..................................29 Fl Mineral, Salt & AG.....................45 Floor & Decor...................................2 Fountain Farm Services.................17 Fran Haasch.......................................5 Fred’s Market Restaurant..............23 Grove Equipment Service.............19 Gulf Coast Tractor.........................30
Photography Karen Berry Al Berry Stephanie Humphrey Melissa Nichols
International Market World.........27
Contributing Writers Woody Gore
6
Cattleman’s Livestock Auction.....12
Juan Alvarez
Staff Writers Al Berry Sandy Kaster James Frankowiak Sean Green Ginny Mink Libby Hopkins Melissa Nichols
Sarah
Broke & Poor..................................45
Helena Chemical-Tampa..............27 Jason Grimes Contracting............12 Key Plex............................................41 Lightsey Cattle Co.........................37 Mosaic................................................17 Pathway Biologic...........................35 Polk County Cattlemen’s Association...................4 Polk County Youth Fair.........................................37 Prevatte Enterprises.....................20 Seedway...........................................23 Southeastern Septic......................21 Stephanie Humphrey.....................42 Strawberry Distance Challenge..........................7 The Bug Man..................................37 The Southern Barn.......................40
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Stop by our produce stand and pick up some delicious strawberries. We’re sure they’ll make your holidays berry special!
Our produce stand is now open.
Located at the corner of Rice and County Line Road | 813.478.3486 or 813.754.4852 | FancyFarms.com
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December 2014
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Well, it looks like we made it through another Florida “Winter.” We welcome the Spring on March 20 with green grasses and highto cattle Asbeen I’m awriting letter, am It’s hard believe prices. it’s almost year sincethis I first wroteI one reflecting on how good it is to be in the cattle business of these messages for In The Field magazine. It’s very hard to and how thankful I am to get to work with such a good believe of it’speople. almost Christmas. The holidays are a special time group
the concession stand - and they never disappoint! Fred Waters has younger chaired -this committee yearback - sothis thank when I was I look forward toevery bringing trahim when you see him. Without these people, this event dition! Those who attended also enjoyed hearing from Dr. Luwould never happen.
Ranch Rodeo & Trade Show was a big success once In November, we held the PCCA Annual Meeting and Dinner. again. Held on February 15 at the Agricultural Center in Bartow, camehad outin to It was a greatapproximately success with the1,500 largestattendees turn out we’ve a watch cowboys andtogirls compete in new, various events long time! It was great see friends, old and join togethincluding Cow Milking Wildtoo. Horse Race. er for someWild fun, fellowship and aand little the business, We heard T welve andpresident, tried their hardest to win from ourteams Floridacompeted Cattlemen’s Henry Kempfer, on asome coveted or especially the level. first place prize of theevent issuesbuckle we’re facing on the state As well we of a trophy saddle. First place title and saddles went heard from Brooke South from Kansas City, a representative to Lightsey Cattle Company. Congrats to Clint and Cliff and attorney fromand theCharity Livestock Marketing Association, on Lightsey, Dusty Crosby and Michael Grimalissues that livestock markets face across the country. di. This team will represent Polk County well in the 2014 Ranch Rodeo State Finals in Kissimmee this Fall.
County 4th graders the importance of agriculture in our state and it’s impact on our Volunteers I do believe as huge cattlemen we have a loteconomy. to be thankful for. As are always needed. Also, thedays Florida LegislaThanksgiving was just a few ago,Cattlemen’s it reminds me to say tive Quarterly takesI’mplace in Tallahassee on my March 11-13. out loud the things thankful for, including wife, my This gives the cattlemen and women an opportunity family, our freedom, this land and the opportunity to work to in meet withthat state legislators regarding issuesso facing our a country allows us to keep what we work hard for. It industry. If you have a chance to attend the FFA’s 11th definitely could be a lot different. Annual Beast Feast & Auction on March 22 - it’s always a great time (especially to try new wild food).
of year for family and friends to spend time together and give thanks. Speaking of good people, the Polk County Cattlemen’s
We gave away quite a few door prizes this time, including feed, committee gift cards, tack, some beautiful paintings The would never be able to pulland offtwo thisminrodeo event This without the me helpof of eral boxes. reminded thevolunteers meetings wewho usedprovide to have
their time, trucks, trailers, stock and equipment. A big thank you as well to all of the sponsors! These companies and individuals donate their money, so make sure to remember these companies when it comes time to doing business. The CattleWomen provide the food at
Jean Waters on how well the Florida Cattlemen’s Leadership Academy is going. inaugural class has traveled which across March is the monthThis for the Polk County Agri-Fest the state during various 3-day seminars, touring and learning takes place in Bartow at the Agricultural Center. Running valuable leadership from March 10-14 skills. and 17-21, this program teaches Polk
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to andathearing all well-organized of you next year!events! Hope to seeing see you any offrom these
JB Wynn JB Wynn JB Wynn Polk County Catlemen’s Association President Polk County Cattlemen’s Association President
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PRINT Ag Tag ad In the Field Mag Glades School.pdf
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A wild turkey’s gobble can be heard a mile away. An acre of trees can remove about 13 tons of dust and gases every year from the surrounding environment. Agriculture land provides food and habitat for 75% of the nation’s wildlife. Americans today consume 17.3 billion quarts of popped popcorn each year! The average American eats about 68 quarts! The same chemicals that give tart cherries their color may relieve pain better than aspirin and ibuprofen in humans. The eggshell may have as many as 17,000 tiny pores over its surface. Through them, the egg can absorb flavors and odors. Storing them in their cartons helps keep them fresh. Bananas are a great source of potassium. Potassium helps build muscle power and keeps your body fluids in balance. In 1970, consumption of broccoli was only a half a pound per person. Today, the average person in the United States eats four and one half pounds a year. Dried chile pepper wreaths are called “Ristras” - a symbol of plenty and hope. On Pancake Day in Newfoundland (the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent), items are placed in the pancake batter before it is cooked to foretell the future for family members. If a boy received an item for a trade, it meant he 9/25/14 4:33 PM would enter that trade. If a girl received an item for a trade, it meant she would marry a person from that trade.
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Cityscapes MA ST ER G A R D EN ER By Debra Howell The serene and beautiful Lake Mirror Park area was recently designated to the top ten most popular great public spaces in America. This peaceful spot, which is located at 121 South Lake Avenue, Lakeland, boasts amenities such as the Barnett Family Park, Hollis Gardens, the Lakeland Community Theater, the Magnolia Building, the Peggy Brown Building and the Frances Langford Promenade and its complement of attendant waterfowl. Let us also not forget the tribute to the “Spirit of Volunteerism” sculpture. The Lake Mirror Park area was designed in the 1920s by New York architect, Charles Leavitt. In 1983, this multi-faceted entertainment complex was named to the National Register of Historic Places. This area is meticulously maintained and landscaped and is a great place to visit when you are out riding around in the area. There are other great places in this area to also visit. If you take a road trip south on US 17, you will discover quite a few quaint towns. One such place is Wauchula, in Hardee County, which was declared Florida’s Main Street Community of the month in September.
by. One praise report is the rapid increase of more Florida-Friendly™ plantings in the municipal landscape plan. By their nature, FloridaFriendlies™ save money by adhering to the nine Florida-Friendly™ principles, including savings on maintenance, water and fertilizer. Indeed, many cities are using predominately Florida-Friendlies™ and native plantings with the exception of specimen plants which may tend to be tropical. After all, in the Sunshine State, we are expected to be flush with palms. In fact, the city of Frostproof has removed their Main Street shade trees in lieu of Royal palms. The city of Lakeland gardeners, under the aegis of Bill Kohn, regularly maintain 8,000 palms of different types throughout Lakeland. Volunteers are used for certain tasks as well to help maintain everything. For instance, the knockout roses, which require constant pruning to remove the spent flowers, are regularly dead-headed by a group of local women. Also, the Master Gardeners have enjoyed a long symbiotic relationship with the City of Lakeland nursery.
Towns like this all share something in common. They exhibit historic and cultural interest, a vision and community involvement, and a “sense of place.” One large contributor to the “sense of place” is the landscaping theme and its use of structures such as gazeboes, pergolas, fences, benches, plus sculptures and murals.
In Fort Meade, the Garden Club has been forthcoming in providing and maintaining two nice gardens, and the Curb Appeal Committee has installed a butterfly garden in Patterson Park and a FloridaFriendly™ garden at the entrance to the Fort Meade Outdoor Recreation Area. Like many small towns, funding for gardening is tight and Fort Meade, in particular, has only one city gardener, Maria Carillo. Maria is also a Master Gardener and one of the hardest working people around.
As chairman of the Fort Meade PRIDE Curb Appeal Committee, the study of municipal landscape themes has become somewhat of a hob-
Wauchula Garden Club members are also fine volunteers with a commitment to beautifying their town.
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Of the handful of municipalities visited, there were some common threads. Some of the plants these places have in common are arboricola schefflera, blue plumbago, thryallis, ornamental grasses and loropetalum. The arboricola is popular for its cream and green variegation. The plumbago produces masses of blue flowers. Thryallis is flush with yellow, aromatic blooms and the loropetalum has beautiful maroon foliage and bright pink tassel flowers. These plants are usually readily available in big box stores. Downtown Wauchula is picturesque with rough wood and red brick and a wonderfully historic persona. They display rustic murals depicting the agricultural background of Hardee County, and they provide magnificent examples of their mascot, the sandhill crane. The name Wauchula is Native American for “call of the sandhill crane.” Examples of the City of Wauchula’s downtown plantings include Japanese blueberry trees, little gem magnolia, bird of paradise, firebush, jatropha, podocarpus, caladiums, arboricola and cat’s whiskers clerondendrum. In the Lake Mirror section of Lakeland, they employ large urn-type containers as eye-catching centerpieces with evergreens and sweet alyssum, as well as maroon dracaenas and coleus. They have tastefully installed thryallis, gingers, blue spruce trees, gold dust croton, loropetalum, bulbine, plumbago and belly bamboo. The Buddha’s belly bamboo was a pleasant surprise as bamboo is usually thought to be invasive. This type, however, is a “clumping” type and not prone to spread like running cultivars and is an exotic beauty. In addition to the iconic sculpture, “Spirit of Volunteerism,” there are benches, play equipment, the waterfront itself with its assortment of waterfowl, and a very accurate rendition of a longtime Lake Mirror denizen, One-Eyed Joe, the alligator. One-Eyed Joe was a reptile who gained fame in Lakeland as a regular at the promenade who could be seen sunning himself daily at Lake Mirror. Bartow is known as the City of Oaks and Azaleas. Since azalea blooms are seasonal, the oak-lined Main Street and downtown area has become a focal feature. Especially beautiful are their Shumard variety oaks with their leaves scalloped like those of a turkey or blackjack oak. WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
Plant choices can sometimes be a blessing or a curse. Even professionals may occasionally want to rethink strategies. You can never know all the implications until they present themselves. For instance, towns like Arcadia and Lakeland experienced repercussions with their oaks, such as root encroachment. Oaks require a great amount of space for their extensive roots and also can make quite a mess with leaves and acorns. Once upon a time, the Curb Appeal Committee, in conjunction with the City of Fort Meade, and by the graces of citizen donors, little gem magnolias were placed in large downtown planters. We needed a small tree with a slow growth habit and evergreen nature to replace old drake elms that had outgrown the brick planters. So, while the little gems have complied with our slow growth criteria, they have grown painstakingly slow. Were we to revisit this project, we would probably use Japanese blueberry trees like the City of Wauchula. But, as you well know, hindsight is indeed 20/20. Now while most of the listed Main Street plants are appropriate for our Central Florida zone 9, some of the specimen or centerpiece plants are better suited for zones 10-11. Examples of cold sensitive plants are the gold dust crotons and the Royal palms. Royal palms are really happy from about North Fort Myers to further south. One aspect of municipal planting is their ability to purchase large amounts of plants enabling the installation of color blocks of vegetation. One such mass planting of blue plumbagos was located outside the Latt Maxcy public Library in Frostproof. Blue plumbagos look great in conjunction with thryallis, gold mound duranta and loropetalum with its cranberry-colored foliage. Most of the plants utilized by cities are going to be ones that need the least amount of water and maintenance possible. It has been shown that residential yards in cities and towns often mimic vegetation used in the municipal landscape. If you are stumped as to what to install in your own landscape, take a road trip. Visit several towns with established downtown landscaping, taking photos and making notes when you find something which appeals to you. Then go home and plan your beautiful landscape, and be sure to include the nine Florida-Friendly™ landscaping principles.
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Winter Artificial Lures As a promoter and artificial lure angler since a small boy, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed fishing some of my favorite lures during the fall and winter months. In early fall, as waters begin cooling, you’ll often find me tossing an early morning Top Dog Jr. As the sun gets up I’ll switch to an artificial swim or jerkbait. While you might not get as many strikes with larger lures, depending on the feeding cycle, it’s not uncommon to attract larger fish. Larger lures are similar to using other artificials. The principal factor is making a proper presentation, the patience to fish it correctly and having the confidence it will catch fish. As a youngster, with the desire master the art of artificial lures fishing, I would take two rods on each trip. One rigged with a topwater Dalton Special or MirrOlure, the other with a soft plastic worm, jerk or swim bait. Making the decision to become skilled at artificial lures early in my youth, I would constantly quiz dad, Uncle Bill and others who seemed adept at using artificial lures. I quickly realized this journey was something that would not happen overnight. Everyone seemed to emphasize the first basic theme was for me to gain my own level of confidence. This meant believing that I could actually catch fish using a piece of plastic or wood. So, began my journey into the world of artificial lure fishing. I spent hours learning to cast an old wooden lure (hooks removed) into a Hula Hoop (remember those.) Then I would head to the Hillsborough River, get into my eight foot plywood boat, with an eight horse Elgin air cooled outboard and travel up and down the river between Hillsborough Ave. and Nebraska Ave. tossing lures at the banks. It must have worked, because today I still enjoy fishing artificial’s and often reflect at the enjoyment I get from my level of confidence in using them. What Tackle? Since artificial lures require endless casting, my recommended choice includes a medium to medium/heavy 7 to 7½ foot spinning rod w/extra fast tip and a 3000 to 4000 Penn sized reel spooled with 8 to 15 pound braid, which is ideally suited for its casting distance. I also use 12 to 18 inches of 30 pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader, because it’s virtually invisible with incredible knot and tensile strength. I tie it to the braid using a Yucatan or Double Uni-knot. Finally, I always make the final connection of lure to leader using a loop knot. What Lure, Hard or Soft? One of the most asked questions is what is the best lure? In my opinion and regardless of the manufacturer, the type and construction makes little difference on whether you have chosen a hard or soft lure. What might make a difference in the manufacturer, type and construction is the lures ability to perform correctly under the various water, 14 14
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depth and light conditions. Over the years I’ve discovered the one thing that really does make a difference is the angler’s ability, skill and acquired level at presentation. It’s simply a matter of presenting the lure in such a manner that makes the fish become interested in eating it. This means your lure should emulate a fast, slow, erratic, and sometimes wounded baitfish. If you are going to catch fish with an artificial lure, it’s to your advantage to skillfully present it within the strike zone. What Color? What colors should you carry? This decision is hard to make. I usually carry a small variety of color patterns so I can fish in any water clarity or sunny or cloudy day. However, if I had to decide on only a few colors it would be root beer or new penny for stained water and white or white/light green for clear water. The primary things to consider for color choices are clarity of water, time and type of day. Remember contrasting colors can make a difference. 1: Use natural, light-colored lures for clear water/sunny days. 2: Use very bright or very dark lures for dirty water/cloudy days. 3: Local baitfish and native forage patterns are go-to colors. 4: Don’t be afraid to try something completely different.
Learn to Fish Artificial: Fishing artificial can be both exciting and adrenaline-charged. The idea of consistently enticing a fish into striking a non-natural lure is the true measure of an artificial angler. Once proficiency and a level of personal confidence have increased you’ll find yourself on the water relaxing with a peace and solitude, anxiously anticipating the thunderous strike of that next trophy on your next cast. WWW. INITNHE FIELD MM AGAZINE.COM WWW. THE FIELD AGAZINE.COM
Tampa Bay Fishing Report December 2014 “Let’s Go Fishing in December”
Tampa Bay is one of, if not the largest, open-water estuary in Florida, and it’s also home to innumerable sea grass flats and marine life. As we approach the cool water temperatures of winter, shallow water fishing definitely improves. The fish start feeding fairly aggressively for winter and become more active as they search for food. They’ll take an assortment of baits from live to dead. And since they will have large appetites anglers will have greater success using a wider range of artificial lures.
Snook:
Snook are usually tops on the list as the fall transition has started and we are catching Snook on just about every shoreline. They are still on the protected list but are still fun to catch and release. The best bite has been at the beginning and end of either incoming or outgoing tides. Snook normally respond to live baits as well as top water lures, jerk baits and shallow diving lures. However, we’ve been having good success on dead baits on the bottom.
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Visit his website at: WWW.CAPTAINWOODYGORE.COM send an email to wgore@ix.netcom.com or give him a call at 813-477-3814
Spotted Sea Trout: Sea trout are found inshore and near shore in and around sea grass flats, mangrove shorelines, deep holes and channels and above oyster bars. Free-line live shrimp or small pinfish near the bottom to entice trout out of grass-bed holes. Attaching a float will allow these baits to drift over the grass beds. Casting with soft-bodied jigs and top-water poppers can also be effective. Trout are very delicate, so returning unwanted or illegal fish promptly to the water is necessary to maintain a healthy population. Spotted sea trout are a good eating fish. Otherwise winter’s a great time for the big gator trout especially as they start working their way into the backcountry and deeper grass flats. Redfish: The reds are still biting and some are still schooled up biting everything tossed in their direction. They should continue to be consistent on the flats and around the mangroves. A variety of artificial lures are catching their share along with live shrimp, sardines, and pinfish. The key to finding redfish is fishing dark patchy bottoms, especially around schools of larger mullet. Although chumming with live bait works, tossing dead cut bait around the mangroves on flooding tides usually brings them out to investigate. Most are holding close to the shoreline. Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, Bonito, Bluefish:
December cold fronts are here and so are the traditionally high winds that follow. As the water temps fall with each passing front, the near beach kingfish bite should improve. Tons of bait should bring the kings, Spanish mackerel, bluefish and bonito within a mile or so of the beach or inside the bay. We’ve been having great success on huge Spanish mackerel inside Tampa Bay. WWW. WWW.IIN NTTHE HEFFIELD IELDM MAGAZINE.COM AGAZINE.COM
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Fall Dinner
By Megan Atkinson
The Polk County Cattlemen’s Fall Dinner was held November 20, 2014 at the Stuart Building in Bartow. The Cattlemen didn’t disappoint, as they served their infamous mouthwatering steaks complete with roasted potatoes and green beans. While the men were cooking the Cattlewomen were busy making desserts. These ladies provided an array of delicious treats including chocolate cake, pecan pie, homemade peanut butter fudge, butternut cake and much more for everyone to savor. The ladies also sponsored a toy drive to benefit the Salvation Army of Lakeland with their Holiday Assistance Programs. Majors Ken and Connie Morris accepted the donations and thanked the Cattlemen and Cattlewomen for doing their part to provide assistance to approximately 4000 families in need this upcoming holiday season. Additional guest speakers at the dinner included a representative from L.A.M., the Florida Cattlemen’s Association President Henry Kempfer, and LuJean Waters, D.V.M. President Kempfer spoke about upcoming topics in legislation pertaining to the cattle industry and projects the Florida Cattlemen’s Association will be working on in the upcoming year. Dr. Waters thanked the Cattlemen for the opportunity to attend the Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Tour. She discussed various aspects of the tour and the insight into the industry that the tour provides.
Throughout the dinner raffle prizes were given out by Cattlemen’s President J.B. Wynn, with help from our Cattlemen’s Sweetheart Hailey Tomkow and the representatives from Warner University’s Agriculture Programs. Raffle items included gift certificates from local feed stores, herbicides, horse tack, cattle feed and feed storage boxes. The evening was full of good food, fellowship and fun.
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Sharing A Decade of Success The Mosaic Company is celebrating a future full of promise and our first decade of providing farmers across the globe with essential crop nutrients. We are thankful for our 4,000 talented Florida employees, and our dedicated vendors and contract partners, whose outstanding performance and commitment were essential to accomplishing this milestone. Recently, employees from Mosaic’s three Polk County facilities partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Mulberry, the George W. Harris Youth Shelter and the Achievement Academy to help celebrate our first 10 years – and to show their appreciation for the important services these organizations provide in the community. As we look ahead to our second decade, Mosaic’s employees draw inspiration from our mission to help the world grow the food it needs. More than ever, we look forward to continued partnerships in the communities where we all live, work and play. ®
At Mosaic, we believe in strengthening communities through giving.
mosaicco.com/florida
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By Ginny Mink Upper, An ornamental slathouse at the auther. Lower, Small Place one hundred feet wide, properly planted. Mark the open lawn, the foundation planting and spaces at the sides of the house for a circulation of air. The borders of the lot are densely planted
Previously we discussed how incredible it was that Charles Torrey Simpson, back in 1926, had a wonderful concept of natural preservation and conservation. This month we’d like to continue our voyage through this classic piece of literature. While we are still in the first chapter, there are some quite relevant, and probably even wholly useful things to consider herein. The first thing that stood out to us in this reading is how different the Florida of the 1920s must have been compared to the obnoxiously bustling metropolis it has become. In fact, one of the references to its natural habitat, found on page 2, took us quite by surprise. So much so, we’d like to present this historic piece of truth to you. Mr. Simpson revealed, “Most of the homes in Florida must be located in pineland for there is but little hammock in the state and it is not advisable to build in the lowland if it can be avoided. It is getting to be the fashion in some places – and a good fashion it is – to allow most of the clean, healthy pine tree to stand when preparing land for a home.”¹ Pinelands? Really? Did we sacrifice them all to Christmas and door wreaths (as is quite the fashion)? On top of that, how many of us are living on property replete with Cypress knees? We love his continued thoughts about preserving the pinelands, “They furnish some shade and shelter and blend well with the planted vegetation. They do not rob the ground to any great extent and they relieve the place of the dreadful appearance of bleakness and nakedness it would have if everything was cleared away.”¹ We wonder what he’d have to say about the fields of today. We wondered also what cattle ranches were like in his time.
a visitor, whom he says claimed to be an artist. Yet, he records the man’s comments about his property with great irritation. According to Simpson, the man announced after spending a good time in his hammocks, “If this timber were mine I would take my ax and cut out all the underbrush, the crooked and small trees and I would pull off and burn all that long moss and clean up all the rubbish you have lying around then it would look as though somebody had been here and done something.”¹ These comments deeply affected Simpson who adds, “That is just what the average person wants to do, he wants to clear up and improve, he wants to do something, he is sure nature hasn’t properly finished up her work.”¹ Surely he was right in his assessment, how many of us want to leave our marks and in so doing we are scarring the very land that provides for us daily? Why have we this overwhelming pride that convinces us we can somehow make God’s creation better than He did? Thusly, we shall conclude this segment of the literary time machine with yet another consideration for us all. Simpson admits, “I wish it were in my power to persuade my readers who come into possession of such land to leave this glorious vegetation essentially as nature made it. The small remnant of this untouched beauty is fast disappearing before the settler’s fire and ax and especially the onslaughts of the real estate developer. Mankind everywhere has an insane desire to waste the good and beautiful things nature has lavished on him.”¹ Indeed. Notes: *http://www.floridamemory. com/photographiccollection/ photo_exhibits/ranching/ ranching2.php ¹ Simpson, Charles T. (1926). Ornamental Gardening in Florida. Published by the Author; Little River, FL. Printed by J.J. Little and Ives Company, New York. (p. 2-4).
In fact, we wondered enough to look it up. Apparently, the first barbed wire fence for a cattle ranch didn’t happen until 1910 and that was in Osceola County. An even more amazing historic fact is that in the 1920s Texas tick fever had entered the state and therefore the Livestock Board of the time ordered all ranchers to dip their cattle every two weeks in an arsenic solution for the purpose of eradicating the infestation. This led to an increase in fencing on ranches to separate the infected from the healthy cattle*. Pictures that we looked at from that time show a lot of trees compared to what we’re used to today. Though we didn’t note that they were pines! Simpson continues his recommendations to preserve the natural flora and fauna by describing, specifically, some native species he says, “… should be left standing wherever possible.”¹ These indigenous species include: the saw palmetto, a dwarf cabbage palm (Sabal adansoni), the needle palm (Rhapidophyllum) and a low growing palm (Coccothrinax). Though he was certainly enthralled by the palms, he wrote the following that for us just summed up the awe and splendor that is Florida, “No word picture can give the faintest idea of the bewildering beauty of many of our hammocks. The live oaks and some other trees are draped with wonderful festoons of Spanish moss, the strange and startling cabbage palmettos are everywhere in evidence, wild coffee and other handsome, shining leaved plants carpet the floor of the forest and an orgy of vines and creepers sprawls and clambers over all.”¹ We wonder how many today are so busy in their fast-paced worlds that their views of Florida’s regal magnificence has been obscured. We are so saddened by the change in times, the depreciation of appreciation. Seriously, how many people would ever think to describe Spanish moss as wonderful festoons? Instead we’d rather pull it down! Simpson wasn’t a stranger to such attitudes. He reveals a time he had WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
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Figures of Speech At a recent Plant City Chamber of Commerce Contact Breakfast I sat at a table with three local funeral home managers, Edwena Haney, Verna McKelvin and David Wolf. Edwena used a phrase I had not heard for years. She ended a sentence with “As a figure of speech.” “Figure of Speech,” now just what does that mean? I went to Google on my computer and looked it up, and this is what I found:
Figures of speech
An expression that uses language in a nonliteral way, such as a metaphor or synecdoche, or in a structured or unusual way, such as anaphora or chiasmus, or that employs sounds, such as alliteration or assonance, to achieve a rhetorical effect. Huh? No kidding. I do declare. I asked around to see if I could get an answer. Nobody seemed to know. I’ll bet if my English teacher, Mrs. Smith, Mac Smith’s mother, was alive she would have an answer I could understand. As a last resort I went back to Google for the answer. I did not get an answer I could understand, but I found some examples of “Figure of Speech.” You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. The evening news is where they begin with “Good Evening,” and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Where there’s a will, there are relatives. And lastly the one most everyone can understand. Well, his goose is cooked! There you have it. Now you know a figure of speech when you hear it or read it. As a kid I remember we would have fun seeing who could come up with the most tongue twisters. The most familiar most people remember is: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick? See if you can read this one without making a mistake. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood. Try these two: But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought so much.
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A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk. The skunk thought the stump stunk. What stunk the skunk or the stump? I have always thought the dictionary is filled with words that are seldom used. Open any page and you’re likely to find a word you have never heard, whether it’s gongoozle, which means to stare idly at a watercourse and do nothing, or zwodder, a feeling of drowsiness. We see it, and think to ourselves that we absolutely must use it in conversation. Sometimes people never understand what you’re saying. They hear what they want to hear. Point in case! About a week before this last Christmas I was at the checkout stand at a local grocery store. The lady in front of me wanted to buy some postage stamps to mail some Christmas cards. Here’s the way the conversation went. “Ma’am, I got these Christmas cards I need to mail today. I need 14 stamps, please.” The clerk said, “O.K., I have books of 6 first class or 12 second-class stamps.” “OK”, she said. “I’ll take 14 second-class stamps.” “I’m sorry,” the clerk said, “We only sell the stamps in books of 12.” “Yes. I need 14 stamps, please.” The clerk replied, “Okay. So two books will be $11.04.” The customer replies, “What! That seems like a lot of money for 14 stamps.” Clerk: “No, madam. That is for 24 stamps. We only sell them in books of 12.” Customer: “But I only want 14.” The clerk remained calm and said. “Lady, we are not a post-office, we only sell stamps in books of 12. In order to get 14 stamps you will have to buy two books. I am sure you can use the rest of the stamps later. Now, if it’s a real problem there’s a post office just around the corner past the fire station, which will be open in the morning.” Very loudly she says, “Don’t you understand I only need 14 stamps?” The clerk at the cash register politely said, “Sorry, I cannot help you.” With that the lady said, “ Well give me one book!” She turned and looked at me and said, “I’ll hand deliver the other two cards tomorrow.” People not only hear what they want to hear, but have trouble writing what they want to say. As an example, here are some notes a teacher friend of mine collected over the years. “My son is under a doctor’s care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him.” “Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick, and I had her shot.” “Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought it was Sunday.” “Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.” And I leave you with this, which has nothing to do with anything written in this column. “If you can’t have a midnight snack why do we have a light in the fridge? WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
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By Melissa Nichols In a day long before the civilized Florida we know today, lived fellow agriculturists. These agriculturists worked hard to find a way to live off the land, searching for the riches such as those found out west with the discovery of gold and oil. The tale is told where “Florida Gold” was discovered, not buried deep within the earth, but from trees growing from our rich soil. This gold was and has always been the agricultural backbone of Polk County. Although it has had several nicknames over the years these “golden apples” stand as the foundation of the production agriculture industry in Polk County. This industry is the citrus industry and our feature story this month is not about one particular citrus grower, but about the industry as a whole, where citrus came from and what the future of the citrus industry holds. The long time love affair with Citrus groves goes back farther than many people realize, yet not as far as some believe. Citrus is not native to Florida despite popular belief. Citrus was brought over by Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon and planted in the area of modern day St Augustine. By the late 1570s citrus was flourishing and groves were established. With geographic locations that made it easy to export, St Augustine and Tampa had become the center of the Citrus industry. Oranges, tangerines, lemons and limes were growing well by 1823 when French Count Odet Philippe brought grapefruit seeds from the West Indies to Florida to plant the first grapefruit grove near Tampa. In the late 19th century the citrus industry in Florida continued to expand as the railroad connected parts of the state to unestablished areas. Tragedy hit the citrus industry with “The Great Freeze” of 1894-1895, killing out a vast majority of the thriving trees. The freeze left many wondering if and when the citrus industry would ever recover. It took 15 years and a change of geographic locations for the citrus industry to recover from that freeze. Instead of groves being planted in St Augustine and Tampa, many moved farther inland and south. Polk County ended up being the location that fit the bill almost perfectly for the industry to start over, and that is where the love of citrus came into play here in Polk County. 24
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As you drive through modern day Polk County it is not odd to see a multitude of orange, naval, grapefruit or tangerine groves. According to the Polk County Farm Bureau, Polk County is ranked first in the state in citrus production with groves producing oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and tangelos. The 2013 total production is 42 million boxes produced from 11,147,700 trees covering 95,050 acres. The citrus industry in Polk County employs approximately 8,000 people. Today’s citrus industry is being plagued by a disease known as Citrus Greening. Greening is a disease that is spread by an insect known as the Asian Citrus Psyllid. The Psyllid was first found in North America along the east coast of Florida in 1998. Greening was not confirmed in Florida until 2005, however, when it was found in Miami-Dade County. The effect of greening has hit the industry with such a force that it has caused some groves to go “belly up” and others to fight to maintain. Many have asked how one insect could cause a multimillion dollar industry so much harm. This simple little insect has left such an impact on the industry that orange juice is at an all-time high and production is down nearly 30 percent. Greening can have a variety of effects on citrus trees, ranging from premature fruit drop and misshapen fruit, to leaf splotches and leaf drop. Greening is also having trees that once had a life expectancy of 40 plus years, having a life expectancy of maybe 15 years. The first few years after they are planted are years they are too immature to produce fruit. Increased costs of growing citrus and reduced supplies have caused the price of orange juice to increase. These increased prices are directly related to greening, because growers must use best management plans to stay on top of the bacteria that is plaguing the citrus trees. Fruit is smaller and it takes much more fruit to fill a box, causing a shortage of oranges. Higher pricing has resulted in lower consumer demand for orange juice, which is not good on behalf of the grower because it is costing them double to produce the fruit, they are getting less fruit, and now less demand for the product. The citrus industry is facing some serious hardships. WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
Susan Hancock Lanier is the great-great-great granddaughter of William Hancock, one of the founding citrus producers in North Lakeland (Historic Socrum), who settled the 50 acres in Historic Socrum in the 1860s. He quickly needed a way to live off the land, like many settlers in his day, so he plowed the field and planted oranges. For the next five generations the family continued to run the same grove, producing around 25,000 boxes of quality Hamblin and Valencia oranges. Susan’s great grandfather, CC Hancock, once gave a cutting of a variety of grapefruit to C. M. Marsh. This variety was later named Marsh seedless grapefruit. Although Marsh is recognized as the developer of this variety, it actually was something that CC had developed and didn’t want recognition from. Some of the trees were over 50 years old when Susan’s father passed away in 2008. The grove was hit hard by Citrus Tristeza, a virus that causes a ring around the trunk of the tree and, in simple terms, chokes the tree out of nutrients. When hit by Tristeza, Susan and her husband Rick Lanier decided to replant with a different rootstock that was not susceptible to the virus. They replanted a few years ago and went from sour rootstock to swingle rootstock trees which is not susceptible to Tristeza but is susceptible to Greening, just to have the grove develop Greening, which is killing out a large portion of this five generation family grove. Susan said that having gone from producing 25,000 boxes to only 1,500 boxes and the continued rise in costs associated with the grove, will make this the last year the grove will be picked and there will not be a 6th generation of citrus producers in her family. Seeing the hardships the Lanier’s are facing first hand is devastating. What was for so long a seamless “easy” way to farm has turned into so much more. Susan recalls as a child, all her father, Albert Hancock, did was disc, plant, water, fertilize, mow and harvest oranges. Now she would have to spray to keep the psyllid’s away nearly 12 times per year, a cost that the grove is no longer able to afford. Labor and material cost is up and production is down which means she has no choice but to not produce oranges. To get a general idea of what large growers are facing I spoke to Larry Black, Citrus producer, President of Citrus Mutual Board of Directors and General Manager of Peace River Packing, a citrus cooperative that provides caretaking, harvesting and citrus packing. Larry WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
said, “Most growers are adapting to the challenges of citrus greening, while others are exiting the business, converting to other crops or selling their property to other growers. Experts feel citrus greening will cause the industry to consolidate, resulting in larger farms.” I asked Larry about the small grower and how they will survive the challenges, similar to those of Susan Lanier. He said, “Smaller Citrus producers are going to have to either work full time controlling the Greening or work cooperatively with larger producers to maintain their groves.” It is very obvious that it is not possible to run a citrus grove like producers were able to do twenty years ago. Larry also said, “Progressive growers are participating in Citrus Health Management Areas, or CHMA’s to effectively control the psyllid. Growers are also evaluating nutritional therapies, high density plantings, and new rootstocks to combat the impacts of citrus greening.” I was able to visit one of the groves being harvested and see greening first hand in young trees. With the practices of CHMA’s the grove was still able to produce about the same as it was before Greening plagued the industry. I asked what the consumer could do to help the citrus producer and the answer was simple, although prices are up, it is vital that we still continue to buy citrus products. Citrus is such a huge part of agribusiness in Polk County we must continue to buy these products as we would before the prices. I also asked if there was any additional incentives for the producers to continue to grow oranges despite the problems they are facing. Larry educated me on the tree assistance programs being offered both by the government and Florida Natural and Coca Cola Company, to help growers who have lost a large number of their trees, to replant and continue to push forward even with the adversities they are facing. In closing, I must say I knew very little about the citrus industry going into this article, and now having researched the history, interviewing producers and spending countless hours searching everything I could about Citrus Greening, I see this is a very serious issue. I will definitely be buying more Fresh from Florida Citrus this year than ever before because it is a win-win situation for the consumer. The producers need our support and the health benefits from citrus are second to none. Vitamin C that comes from our Florida Citrus is essential to our health. So go out and support your local citrus producer, because when you do, you are supporting growers here in Polk County. INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
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On Vacation! By Ginny Mink
The Minks went on vacation! Yep! So this month’s piece is a little more involved than some of our previous experiences. Namely, we were given the opportunity, for free, to enjoy a weekend at Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo! We’d only been hoping for access to the weekend rodeo but they gave us two nights onsite too! Thusly, the Minks went on vacation and to the rodeo! When I told Hazel we were going to stay, “in a hotel,” she got excessively excited. She’s had one other hotel experience and that involved a pool. Therefore, she was none too happy to discover that this adventure would be pool-less. However, the excitement that overcame her about staying the night somewhere else was enough to keep her walking on cloud nine all the way to Lake Wales (I wish I could say the same about Zeke). I checked us in and got the tickets to the rodeo that Kacie Boniberger, the Public Relations Coordinator, had reserved for us. Imagine my surprise when I discovered we’d also be given the use of a private gas-powered golf cart for the weekend. This is a big deal as there were people constantly coming into the lodge hoping to rent one and here we were getting one free. George, the guy in charge of golf carts, gave me a rundown on night driving, transmission positions and the governor. This was helpful since I’d never driven a golf cart (although I wasn’t concerned) until this weekend. Paperwork signed, golf cart driven to the room, I went back to get the gang. Hazel started crying when I got in the van because she thought we were leaving. I had to explain that I had to take us to the room. This changed her tune immediately. The room had two double beds and attractive furnishings. It also had a mini-fridge, microwave, toaster and dishes/silverware. That was a definite bonus, though we’d brought our own because I was feeding everyone from the room (a la crock-pot, sandwiches and pop-tarts). Hazel claimed her bed immediately and we laid down to watch the 40 inch TV (this might not be a big deal for some, but it’s at least 10 inches bigger than our box). Since check-in was at 4 there wasn’t much we could do at 5:30 when we got there (we had to stop once in the hour and half drive because Zeke was losing his mind in his car seat). So, we ate our leftover turkey (thanks Mom) sandwiches and chips and settled in for the night. Hazel got a little whiny (sadly, she came down with an awful sounding cough the very day we got there) so I decided to take her out on the golf-cart, some mom-daughter time. We cruised around the place for a little while and she was thrilled. She couldn’t wait to go fishing and to play on the playground, but she had absolutely no idea we’d be attending a rodeo! Saturday morning we got up and went to the catch and release pond. Hazel fished with my cane pole while I fought with Zeke to sit still and since he wouldn’t, he and I took off on the cart leaving Chris (my husband), J (the eldest) and Hazel to fish in peace. Sadly, that’s all they did, fish, no one caught a thing. Hazel eventually got bored and so I scooped her up and the three of us rode around, visiting the shooting range and the shops. We stopped for pizza at the General Store and then we went back to get Chris and J. Chris wanted Zeke to at least have a go at the pole so Zeke’s great thrill was slapping the water with the poor worm hanging on the end of the cane pole’s hook. Great delight lit his face (which is more than I can say for the worm).
he could whenever Chris would try to get him to pet them. This led us to the playground where Zeke became enthralled by the mechanical bull and the zip line participants. He laughed whenever the bull threw people and he smiled wide at the loud zipping sound whizzing past him. Hazel and J desperately wanted to ride the mechanical bull. Sadly, Hazel was too short and I was able to dissuade J with some money for the video arcade. Seeing how enthusiastic she was about the bull riding, I felt certain that the culminating event, the whole reason for our being there, was going to blow her mind. Let’s keep in mind that the rodeo started at 7:30 (half an hour before the kids’ bedtime) and it was a wee-bit chilly out. So, there was some whining about wanting to go to bed (remember also that she was sick) but then…the real bull riders performed, and the trick riders, and the barrel racers and then some more bull riding and eyes were saucers on all three of them. Zeke smiled with utter glee and clapped as loud as he could with the crowd. Hazel squealed incessantly and repetitively, “I wanna ride a bull, I wanna ride one!” This was great especially when her attire was taken into account, a John Deere Tractor Girl shirt, pink cowboy boots and a brand new pink cowboy hat from the Western Wear store onsite. “I’m a cowgirl,” she later informed me. Oh how I wish I could turn her into one! But I digress, we were all enamored by the seven year old barrel racer and the nine year old trick rider. Hazel cheered on the barrel racers and J moaned whenever a bull rider was, “so close,” to the eight second mark. Chris laughed at the jokes aimed at the bulls, “Your mom’s a cow and your sister’s a heifer!” railed the MC. There was a man who rode two horses at once and did so over a line of flames. I heard J gasp, no doubt imagining where that heat was aimed and what it might do. When it was all over (too fast) all I kept hearing from Hazel was, “That was great!” and “I want to ride bulls and horses,” and, “I loved everything it was so cool!” J admitted that he too wanted to ride a bull. Chris said it was fun but it would have been better if we’d had a lot of extra money to do all the other things: swamp buggy rides and airboat rides, boat rentals and horseback riding, skeet and trap shooting, etc. The kicker though was the sentence that came out of my Zeke’s mouth, “That’s fun.” Keep in mind, Zeke is only 1 ½. All I can add is that it was an amazing experience, one that we won’t quickly forget and one that we owe a great debt of gratitude for. So, thank you so much, Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo! We hope to make it back one day! If y’all decide to check it out sometime, send Kacie Boniberger an email to let her know we sent ya! Contact: https://www.westgatedestinations.com/florida/lake-wales/westgateriver-ranch/ - By the way, they have military, police, firefighter and other service personnel discounts. There are also senior citizen, Florida resident, educator and AAA discounts, as well as package deals! Trust us, this is definitely worth checking out! Kacie Boniberger: kacie@tjmcommunications.com
We headed to the petting farm area then and Hazel and J had a good time feeding the goats, sheep, deer and llama. Zeke had fallen asleep in Chris’ lap while riding in the golf cart so they joined us later. Of course Zeke (my goat-traumatized one) kept pulling as far away as 26
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Lightsey Cattle Company Field Day
Organic Matters Inc, sponsored a field day held at Lightsey Cattle Company’s Tiger Lake Ranch in Lake Wales on November 13th. Ribeye steaks with all the trimmings were served to all the attendees. Cary and Layne Lightsey welcomed everyone and following the speakers, took guests on a tour of the ranch. Speakers were on hand to discuss a variety of topics, including the Cogongrass Treatment Cost Share Program available in all counties in Florida. This program offers reimbursement of 50 percent of the cost to treat Cogongrass infestations with herbicide for two consecutive years, up to a maximum of $100 per year for treatment of up to one acre, and $75/acre per year for any additional area. For more information contact your Polk County Forester at 863-519-1066. Jim and Max Stevens, owners of Organic Matters Inc also welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending. Through innovative organic recycling practices, Organic Matters Inc, has emerged as a pioneer in the creation of renewable resources. As the largest commercial food waste recycling in the state of Florida, Organic Matters Inc, is a symbol of excellence in the agricultural and recycling industries. We custom blend organic and food waste feed stocks into high quality livestock feed, servicing the dairy cattle, beef cattle and poultry industries. In addition to being a major supplier/manufacturer of cost efficient, high quality, alternative livestock feed, we are also a premier supplier of poultry layer manure and specialty organic soil products.
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Fresh From Florida: Nurturing Success. Growing the Future.
B&W Quality Growers Richard and Steven Burgoon Fresh From Florida Members since 2001. “For five generations and over 140 years our family has specialized in growing premium quality fresh and flavorful watercress and baby leaf specialties.” “We are proud members of Fresh From Florida and salute their ongoing efforts to help Florida’s farmers bring fresh and healthy foods to the Americas and beyond.”
For more information on member benefits visit FreshFromFlorida.com or call (850) 617-7399. WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
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Okeechobee 863-763-2984
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Arcadia 863-494-6088
Dundee 863-439-6655
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By: Jennifer Dettling Chickens, Rabbits, and Fish! Oh My! Students at Dundee Elementary Academy have the opportunity to interact with these animals, learn about plants in an outside garden, and dive into the study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.M). Dundee Elementary Academy (DEA) opened its doors this year and welcomed in a new flock of students. Nestled in a rural part of Polk County between Orlando and Tampa, the school offers kindergarten through fourth grade students the opportunity to apply various tasks normally associated with schooling- like reading, math, and science-to the field of agriscience. Last year DEA, formally Dundee Elementary, learned that it was part of a multimillion dollar grant to create a continuous K-8 program on the east side of Polk County. The grant is for three years and provides the school with funds to transform it into a state of the art agri-STEM school. A portion of the funding also provides staff and students with a variety of technologies. Third and fourth grade students are able to work with class sets of iPads. Kindergarten through second grade share class sets of iPods. Teachers and students are able to utilize other technologies like digital microscopes and probes as they explore plants, soil, or anything else that might catch their eyes. Dundee Elementary Academy is also exploring the possibility of becoming an IB school and will apply for candidacy in April of 2015. Once accredited, DEA will be the only elementary school on the east side of the county that offers International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme. These two foci provide students with an insight to how their actions, attitudes, and decisions concerning agriscience can have a global impact. Students at DEA have the opportunity to participate in S.T.E.M lab on a regular basis. In the lab, students are able to see science concepts unfold right before their eyes. For example, first grade students were able to better visualize precipitation thanks to a little water, shaving cream, and food coloring. Students of all grades are also able to learn about aquaponics. This is the process of growing plants that are fertilized by using water that passes through a fish tank. The waste of the fish is used to provide nutrients to plants. In the classroom, students are also exposed to the process of design embedded within S.T.E.M. During a classroom S.T.E.M lesson, students first learn about a topic by closely reading about the topic and problem. Then, 32
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they collaborate and develop possible solutions for the problem. Finally, they test and report about their solutions. During a third grade S.T.E.M project students were learning about flight. Teachers had students design their very own airplanes and conducted tests to determine which design was the best after growing their knowledge about the history and mechanics of flight. The classroom teacher can also utilize the outdoor classroom, which was purchased and installed by Double Thumb Growing Solutions and Evergreen Irrigation. There are two components to the outdoor classroom. One is the actual functioning classroom. There are seats for students and even an outdoor chalkboard for the teacher. The other is the full garden that is already producing various vegetables, strawberries, and herbs. The garden houses eight growing tables, two three tiered shelves, and large round growers all with built in fertigation. This system allows students the opportunity to see how their food is produced from pollination to picking. Classroom teachers can use the outdoor classroom in a variety of ways. Instead of learning about measurement in the classroom, teachers can have their students capture measurement data about the growth of various plants. Teachers can also use the outdoor classroom to learn about compare and contrast by having their students compare the variety of vegetables growing in the outdoor classroom.
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deed restrictions dealing with landscape issues; pruning practices; problem plants such as invasive, non-native plants; pesticide and fertilization practices; plant nutritional deficiencies; mulch application; and irrigation system issues including frequency and timing of applications. Other frequent areas of interest cited by communities participating in the FFL Community Association Outreach Program have included stormwater pond best management practices, dealing with erosion caused by stormwater runoff and questions involving reclaimed water. Evaluations and recommendations are based on science-based research from UF/IFAS. In addition to site evaluations, the Community Association Outreach Program offers onsite presentations about the FFL principles. The FFL Community Association Outreach Program is a free resource for HOAs and other community associations to provide for guidance in instituting sustainable landscape practices, reviewing landscaperelated covenants and working with landscape maintenance contractors. FFL has had several success stories with communities that adopted FFL practices from which they were able to see reduced water consumption and water utility and maintenance costs. Contact me at the Hillsborough County Extension Service, 813-744-5519 x 54142, if these services would benefit your homeowner or condominium association. For more information on environmental horticulture topics, contact your local County Extension Service. Additional information on Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ can be accessed at http:/ /floridayards.org, http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu and WaterMatters.org. The Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Community Association Outreach Program is sponsored by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the Hillsborough and Polk Boards of County Commissioners and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
The students at DEA have an opportunity like none other for they have the opportunity to see how learning and life are interdependent. They are excited about learning because of the medium of animals and plants classroom teachers are using to teach the content. Open Enrollment for the 2015-2016 School Year will begin on November 18, 2014 and remain open until January 9, 2015. Notification will be mailed or emailed to all applicants in March 2015. Please visit https://magnet.polk-fl.net/app_1.asp to complete an application. If you would like more information on Dundee Elementary Academy or to schedule a tour, please call (863) 421-3316. WWW. WWW.IN INTTHE HEFFIELD IELDM MAGAZINE.COM AGAZINE.COM W W W. I N T H E F I E L D M A G A Z I N E . C O M
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Agriculture needs more R&D By Jack Payne
IFAS is asking for your help to make sure the Legislature knows it needs to invest in the future of Florida agriculture. We’ll be requesting a $5.5 million funding increase to our budget in the upcoming session. We need more people to meet your growing needs – and to move faster on the things for which you’ve been awaiting solutions. We’ll prioritize the new funding, sending it to the areas of greatest need. It’ll be spent on expertise – bringing in more researchers to tackle agriculture’s most serious challenges and extension agents who take those discoveries to your fields, pastures and groves. Threats to the water supply, pest invasions, the spread of disease, fertilizer restrictions, volatile markets, the list of challenges to your ability to earn a livelihood from the land is growing. But your R&D shop is not growing. In fact, IFAS is coming off of six years of declining or flat funding. We’re down
nearly 30 faculty and 300 staff from what the state provided for in 2008. Agriculture’s innovation deficit is even larger when you think about what could have been, given that respected academics now estimate a 20-fold return on investments in agriculture research. We can’t wait another six years for a solution for citrus greening. We have to continue creating popular sellers like the Tasti-Lee tomato. We need to diversify Florida’s agriculture by helping create new industries like we did with blueberries. There are a lot of new faces in Tallahassee and it is a real challenge and a continuous mission to bring our message to the state’s policy makers. Please contact the leaders of your commodity groups or Mary Ann GosaHooks (mgosa@ufl.edu), who leads our government relations efforts, to find out what you can do to make sure your lawmakers make adequate investments in the future of agriculture.
Jack Payne is the senior vice president of agriculture and natural resources at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 34
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s e p i c e R These recipesipes come from WWW.STRAWBERRYSUE.COM
Florida Strawberry Midnight Shortcake INGREDIENTS 1 lb Florida strawberries 2 tablespoons sugar 4 jumbo chocolate cupcakes Whipped cream
DIRECTIONS Rinse the fresh strawberries then remove tops and slice the berries. Place the sliced berries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Slice jumbo chocolate cupcakes in half and stack sweetened strawberries. Next put a dollop of whipped cream on top of the strawberries and finish off by placing the chocolate cupcake top on the shortcake. Garnish with more strawberries, serve and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.
Florida Strawberry Muffins INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups fresh Florida strawberries, chopped 3/4 cup sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt 2 eggs, beaten 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. Mix the eggs, butter, vanilla, remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and liquid from strawberries in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in reserved strawberries. Spoon into 12 greased muffin pans. Bake for approximately twenty minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins. Serve warm dusted with powdered sugar or with Sweet Strawberry Butter.
Method Combine the strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for one hour. Drain; reserve liquid and strawberries separately. 38
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Note: Pure vanilla extract may be acquired from several sources. Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Kirkland Signature Pure Vanilla Extract, and Tone’s 100% Pure Vanilla Extract are some outlets. WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
Florida
Cucmbers By Sandy Kaster, M.S. Clinical Medicines, B.S. Nutrition Science
Also known as “cukes,” cucumbers are a crisp, juicy, refreshing fruit that is delicious eaten raw or in pickle form. Though eaten as a vegetable, the cucumber is technically a fruit and belongs to the same botanical family as melon, summer squash, and winter squash. While most people think of cucumbers as dark green and long, they are also available in white, yellow, or orange colors and can be short, oval, or round. There are hundreds of different kinds of cucumbers! The entire cucumber is edible, and the skin and seeds are rich in vitamins and minerals. Cucumbers grow easily in Florida and are available from fall through spring. Considered a warm weather crop across the country, cucumbers do not thrive in the state’s hot, humid summers or in conditions below 30 degrees. According to the University of Florida, Florida ranks second nationally in cucumber production, and first in value of fresh-market cucumbers. In 2002, fresh cucumbers accounted for 28% of national value and 25% of national production of cucumbers in the state. Peak sales for Florida cucumbers are in April, with a smaller peak in December. NUTRITIONAL PROFILE According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, one cup of raw, sliced cucumber (104 g) contains 15.6 calories, 0.68 g protein, 0.11 g fat, 3.78 g carbohydrate, and 0.52 g of dietary fiber. It also provides 19% of the Daily Recommended Value (%DV) for vitamin K, 12% for molybdenum, 5% for pantothenic acid, 4% for potassium, phosphorus, copper, manganese, and vitamin C, as well as significant amounts of vitamin B1, biotin, and magnesium. ANTIOXIDANTS Fresh Florida cucumbers contain a high amount of antioxidant nutrients. These include vitamin C, beta-carotene, and manganese. Antioxidants work to neutralize the effects of harmful free radicals and preventing its damaging effects on cells. By fighting cell and tissue damage, vitamin C protects against cancer and other diseases, such as the common cold. Vitamin C also enhances iron absorption from other foods, which reduces the risk of anemia and aids in the maintenance of healthy skin, and strong bones and teeth. Beta-carotene is essential for optimal eye health and can help prevent night-blindness, as well as supports white blood cells in fighting infections. Betacarotene is also involved in hearing, taste, and normal fetal development. Manganese is associated with strong bones, skin integrity, and blood sugar control, in addition to its antioxidant properties. WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
Additionally, cucumbers contain a variety of flavonoid antioxidants, which also works to decrease free radicals and reduce unwanted inflammation in the body. WEIGHT CONTROL A one cup serving of fresh cucumbers has less than 16 calories. Cucumber is comprised of 95% water, which adds volume and hydration to your meal with very few calories. Eating more cucumber and other fresh vegetables is linked with lower body weight, increased energy, and lower risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. HOW TO SELECT AND STORE Choose cucumbers that are firm, with smooth rounded edges and a deep green color. Avoid any that are yellow, have soft spots, or wrinkled tips. Cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to several days. HOW TO ENJOY Cucumbers are delicious eaten out-of-hand or as pickles. Their mild flavor and crunchy texture make them a welcome addition to any salad or dish. Other ways to enjoy cucumbers include:
• Use cucumber slices in place of crackers for toppings like hummus or salsa • Dice and mix with other vegetables and herbs in a salad • Puree fresh cucumbers with tomatoes and onions for an easy cold gazpacho soup • Use thinly sliced cucumbers as a salad topper • Dice and add to salsa or fruit salads • Peel into ribbons for a garnish and side dish • Stir fry with soy sauce and other vegetables • Shred and add to yogurt for a Greek dip • Add cucumber slices and mint leaves to water for a refreshing beverage • Dice and mix with tomatoes and feta cheese Enjoy delicious Florida cucumbers today and every day. With their mild flavor and crisp crunch, cucumbers are a nutritious treat for your palate and your body. SELECTED REFERENCES http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh031 http://www.whfoods.com
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Naturally Amazing Activities
By Sean Green Photo by Jennifer Pohlhaus
Ribbon Tree If you happen to have some scraps of ribbon laying around the house this month and would like to do something constructive with them, this is the project for you. With a few household items and some creativity, you and your children can have a grand time making a tree out of the scrap ribbon, and anything else that could serve as decoration
Suggested Material: Empty Toilet Paper Roll Ribbon Scraps Stapler
for the tree. In this project, we have not done anything special to the ribbon, but you can try things like curling your ribbon, braiding it, putting beads on them, or anything that suits your fancy. The point is to have fun with it. This activity is intended as a beginning, the real magic will come from your own imagination.
Hot Glue Gun (optional) Beads (optional)
Directions:
Step 1 Find an empty toilet paper roll and cut several strips of ribbon to about 2” each.
1
5
Step 3 Make a loop of the ribbon strips by folding them in half. Beginning at the bottom of the cone, attach the folded ribbon to the empty roll.
3
Step 2 Cut the empty roll lengthwise and staple it into a cone shape.
2
Step 4 Continue attaching ribbon until the top is reached. If you have beads, thread the ribbon through the bead before attaching it to the cone, this will be the trees ornaments.
4 Step 5 Top the tree off with an interesting object. It could be a cluster of battery powered lights, an old ornament, a paper star or angel, or any cool object you find around the yard or house.
813-767-4703 301 South Collins Street, Suite 101, Plant City, Florida 33563
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P o rtrait P h o tograp h er Spe c ializ ing in H igh Sc hool Se niors
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A Closer Look
by Sean Green
Ribbon Snakes (Thamnophis sauritus )
Picture credits: Peninsula Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus sackeni) by Sean Green When I was a young boy I often came home with pet animals that I had found during hiking or camping trips, one of the most common being any species of garter snake (Thamnophis) that I could find. At first, the harmless snake was not welcome and I had to convince Mom that it would not get loose and even if it did, it was perfectly harmless. I cannot claim that my arguments ever set her mind at ease, but she did eventually develop a tolerance to my odd passions. These childhood memories arose again on a recent hiking trip through Circle B Bar Reserve off Lake Hancock in Polk County. The end of November was cool, I did not expect to see any snakes on my hiking trip, but was graced with seeing a Peninsula Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus sackeni) feeding on a frog. A closer look at this species will reveal why it may be one of the few snakes still active in Florida’s sparse bouts of cooler weather. What we commonly call “Garter Snakes” are small snakes in the (Thamnophis) genus. These harmless snakes are native to North America and are very common throughout the continent, including parts of Canada and Central America. Within the Thamnophis genus (basic garter snakes) is a species described as “Ribbon Snakes” (Thamnophis sauritus ). There are four recognized varieties called “subspecies” by scientists. The subspecies we are most likely to find in Hillsborough, Polk, and Heartland regions of Florida are the Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus sauritus ) and the Peninsula Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus sackenii). Members of the Thamnophis genus are among the most abundant snakes in North America. Averaging 30 inches in length, they can easily be housed and are a common first snake for budding naturalists that have a passion for reptiles. Although they are not venomous and rarely bite when handled, they do produce a foul musk from their anal gland when threatened and usually release their digestive track if danger persists. Ribbon snakes can be found in a variety of habitats including pinelands, hardwood hammocks prairies, marshes, streams, and ponds. Their main diet of frogs, fish and salamanders will direct their activity to water sources. Ribbon snakes are born in late summer and grow to maturity within a couple years. They typically remain active all year long, but do hibernate in ant mounds, or crawfish burrows when colder months make it necessary. The relationship between weather and Thamnophis birthing strategies has WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
been of particular interest to scientist and researchers Most reptiles are oviporous, they lay eggs that have a shell similar to that of a bird or platypus and from this external shell, the offspring emerges. Reptile shells however, are typically soft and leathery rather than hard and brittle like a bird egg but include a similar yolk that provides nutrition to the embryo while it develops. Most mammals are viviparous, they truly bear live young. There is no internal egg structure at any time during the development of the offspring. More importantly, a placental connection (rather than egg yolk) provides the embryo with nutrition during its development. There is a middle ground in birthing strategies, and the correct term for it is ovoviviparous, it describes animals that produce a shell and carry the eggs internally. The embryo is nourished with a yolk rather than a placental connection and completes its development while inside the mothers body. By the time the embryo has finished developing, the shell has worn to little more than a thin mucus membrane (like the inside membrane of a chicken egg). By the time the embryo is ready to emerge and the mother delivers the eggs, the shell is very thin, or already broken, making the delivery appear viviparous (live birth) when it is actually ovoviviporous, (an egg that was hatched within the body). Snakes can be either oviparous or ovoviviparous. Learning the snakes scientific name, such as (Thamnophis sauritus )will help identify the family the snake belongs to, in the case of our Ribbon Snakes (Thamnophis sauritus) a Google search will reveal it belongs in the colubridae family. Colubrids are generally egg laying (oviparous) snakes, in this case however, the garter snake genus (Thamnophis) is a fascinating exception. Scientist claim ancient reptiles switched back and forth between these two strategies around 175 million years ago to finally settle on egg-laying strategies (oviparous). The general consensus is that temperature was the dominant factor in the evolutionary strategy. Colder conditions increased the incubation time, requiring the female to retain the eggs longer and eventually triggered the switch to an ovoviviporous strategy. Should you happen upon a ribbon snake, or a garter in the cooler months when snakes should not be out, take notice, you’re witnessing an intelligent design that still astonishes scientists. INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
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FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
®
ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE DEC 4th! • www.flstrawberryfestival.com
FEB. 26 - MAR. 8, 2015 • PLANT CITY, FLORIDA Artists Appearing on the
Bobby Vinton
Thu. Feb. 26, 3:30 $15 & $20
Soundstage:
Alabama
Thu. Feb. 26, 7:30 $40
Mel Tillis
Fri. Feb. 27, 3:30 $15 & $20
Sat. Feb. 28, 3:30 $20
Kevin Costner & Modern West
“Brett Eldredge”
Sat. Feb. 28, 7:30 $35
Sun. Mar. 1, 3:30 $20 & $25
Sawyer Brown
Happy Together Tour
Ronnie Milsap
MercyMe
Mon. Mar. 2, 3:30 $15 & $20
Mon. Mar. 2, 7:30 $25 & $30
Tue. Mar. 3, 3:30 $15 & $20
Scotty McCreery Fri. Feb. 27, 7:30 $25 & $30
Hunter Hayes
Sun. Mar. 1, 7:30 $40
Sara Evans
Tue. Mar. 3, 7:30 $20 & $25
Ricky Skaggs
Wed. Mar. 4, 3:30 $15 & $20
Craig Morgan
Wed. Mar. 4, 7:30 $20 & $25
Visit www.flstrawberryfestival.com or call 813-754-1996 and get your tickets for the best seats available! Oak Ridge Boys
Newsboys
Thur. Mar. 5, 3:30 $15 & $20
Thur. Mar. 5, 7:30 $20
Loretta Lynn
Fri. Mar. 6, 3:30 $20 & $25
Boyz II Men
Fri. Mar. 6, 7:30 $20 & $25
Free Grandstand 3:30 & 7:30pm Seating is on a first come, first seated basis. Dan + Shay
Sat. Mar. 7, 3:30 $15 & $20
John Legend
Sat. Mar. 7, 7:30 $50
Parmalee
Sun. Mar. 8, 3:30 $15 & $20
REBA
Sun. Mar. 8, 7:30 $50
Concert dates and times are subject to change
Candyland Warehouse • Stingray Chevrolet • Mosaic • Alessi Bakery • AMSCOT • Carolina Carports • Astin Farms • DIRECTV TECO • Verizon Wireless • Netterfield’s Concessions • Florida Blue • VOSKOS® Greek Yogurt • Southern Ford Dealers Outcast Watersports • Florida’s Best • Bionic Band • Images Everywhere! • Good Health Saunas • bluegreen vacations 44
INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
December 2014
WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
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INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
December 2014
45
Classifieds
Tel: 813.759.6909 Info@inthefieldmagazine.com 2002 EXISS
ANIMALS & NEEDS
3H Slant w/Mid Tack and full living quarters, $31,500. Email brie1936@gmail.com for more information.
CECIL BREEDING FARM
Full service thoroughbred farm from foaling to the track. Broodmare care. Investment opportunities. (863) 899-9620
ANIMAL & BIRDCAGES
Equipment serving the fur bearing animal & exotic bird industry! Cages built to order. Wire by roll or foot. (813) 752-2230. Call Don Ammerman. www.ammermans.com Swaps November 30, 2014.
CHICKEN MANUIRE FOR SALE
HUSTLER RAPTOR
MASSEY FERGUSON 1100
Registered 13 year old grey Paso Fino gelding in Tractor 93 pto hp, 2wd with 6 cylinder. excellent health. Gorgeous & Fabulous Needs TLC. $3,950 Call Alvie (813) 759-8722 personality. Intermediate plus rider. $2,500 813-892-2469 FOR SALE
BUILDING SUPPLIES
KITCHEN CABINETS & VANITIES
METAL ROOFING
Thousands of 8ft. & 10ft. sheets. In Stock. Prices from $6 and up. Custom lengths available. 813-752-7088 ask for Ferris. We have all your aluminum needs! Screen Room, carports & awnings. Call Blake (813) 752-3378
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
We have all your aluminum needs! Screen Room, carports & awnings. Call Blake (813) 752-3378
808 W. Risk St. Plant City. 3/2 Bungalow, recently updated and ready for occupancy. $115,000 mlsT2728687Call for showing 813-967-0168.
FOR SALE - 45 ACRES VACAT LAND
(Pasco County) 45 acres are comprised of gently rolling hills with big trees & solid ground, A great setting for residential development. To the east of the property is a 60 acre parcel (Lake Gilbert) that adds significant aesthetic value to the 45 acres. Zoning: AR (Agricultural-Rural) Call Heidi Cecil for more information (863) 899-9620
LOOKING TO LEASE
SERVICES
DOORS & WINDOWS SPECIAL ORDER
JOBS
ALUMINUM
1109 S. Wiggins Rd. Plant City. 3/2.5 Manufactured home with pool situated on 1 acre. $134,900 mlsT2725652 Call for showing 813-967-0168
Get quality all wood cabinets for less than the 10 Plus acres prefer North Lakeland for BIG Box STORES! Call Today! cattle. Will maintain fences and mowing. Ask for Blake. (813) 752-3378 Call Reggie 863-698-2967 No upcharge. House & Mobile Home. Many standard sizes in stock. Ask for Blake. (813) 752-3378
REPLACE DOOR
HOME FOR SALE
HOME FOR SALE
42” cut, 21 hp Kawasaki engine. Dry and available immediately! Call Tim Ford 3 year warranty. $2,799 or Danny Thibodeau (863) 439-3232 Call Alvie (813) 759-8722
FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE
CALLER ON HOLD
A low cost service that enables you to communicate important information about your business to customers while they are on hold. No monthly payments or annual payments. Call today and ask for Al (813) 763-2220
Write about events in your community. immediate openings in Hillsborough and Polk MISC. Counties. Paid per article. Responsibilities include covering community events and taking WINDOW SCREENS FOR INFORMATION on the first and We make window screens of all sizes available pictures. Email your resume to only patented organic doctor approved sarah@inthefieldmagazine.com in different frame colors. Gentlemen’s Blend coffee contact Call Ted(813) 752-3378 Al (813) 763-2220
T1-11 4X8 SHEET 5/8 INCH THICK B-grade $22.95. Call Ted (813) 752-3378
LAWN EQUIPMENT/ SUPPLIES
BRAND NEW HUSTLER RAPTOR
Zero Turn Mower 52” cut, 23hp. Kawasaki engine, 3 year warranty. $2,999 MOBILE HOME TUBS Metal brand new in bo 54” Mobile Home Tubs Call Alvie 813-759-8722 Call Ted (813) 752-3378 $175.00
FARM EQUIPMENT KUBOTA L175
Tractor with 60” Woods belly mower. $1,975 Call Alvie 813-759-8722
KUBOTA B7500
4X4 With loader, 21hp. 11045 hours. $7,950 Call Alvie. 813-759-8722
RUBBER MULCH
All Colors, buy 10 bags, get 1 FREE! $8.99 a bag. Call Ted (813) 752-3378
PRODUCE
KING 9’ OFFSET DISK
Off-set Grove Disk. Good condition. $2,000 Call Alvie 813-759-8722
HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL?
Call us today! 813-759-6909 or email us: info@inthefieldmagazine.com Let us help you get rid of it!
FRESH PRODUCE
Forbes Road Produce. Open everyday from 7:30am - 8pm. Forbes Rd. & I-4 @ exit 17. Come out and see us!
MASSEY FERGUSON 210 2wd, diesel tractor $3,750 Call Alvie. (813) 759-8722
KUBOTA L500 4X4
Tractor w/loader, very good condition, 27hp. $8,950 Call Alvie 813-759-8722
46
INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
Merry Christmas
December 2014
WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM
INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
December 2014
47
GET MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK WITH EVERGLADES FARM EQUIPMENT
Serving our customers with 12 Locations Package a fleet of tractors, gators and other equipment together with a 2 or 3 year lease and always have new, worry free equipment with service available from Everglades Farm Equipment’s fleet of road service technicians with Green Fleet.
Plant City
2805 SR. 60 West Plant City, FL 33567
Leesburg
1800 US HWY. 441 Leesburg, FL 34748
813-737-1660
352-315-1016
Odessa
2240 Success Drive Odessa, FL 33556
Okeechobee
727-842-8618
820 US Hwy. 98, North Okeechobee, FL 34972
Clearwater
863-763-1921
5090 Ulmerton Road Clearwater, FL 33760
727-259-7748
Fort Pierce
6150 Orange Ave. Ft. Pierce, FL 34947
Palmetto
772-461-5568
906 US HWY 301 North Palmetto, FL 34221
941-722-3281
Loxahatchee
13295 Southern Blvd. Loxahatchee, FL 33470
Fort Myers
561-784-4000
9501 State Road 82 Fort Myers, FL 33905
239-332-5045
Belle Glade
Corporate Headquarters
Immokalee
775 E. Main St. Immokalee , FL 34142
239-657-4413
2017 N. W. 16TH Belle Glade, FL 33430
561-996-6531
Naples
1945 Pine Ridge Road Naples , FL 34109
239-260-8800
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INTHEFIELD MAGAZINE
December 2014
Since 1963
WWW.INTHEFIELDMAGAZINE.COM