Off-Season Improvements

Growhio is using the off-season to make extensive changes and improvements to its website! What started as an effort to provide all information related to local food in Northeast Ohio on the site is now an active effort to provide only the best information on local food - in a clear, concise and easily navigable format. But we aren't going to spoil the fun of discovery now!

Look for gradual additions to the website content over the next few months. If you would like be notified when all planned improvements are live, please sign up here. We will not use your email address for any other purpose than this single notification.

As part of this transition we are also transferring web hosts, making our growhio.org email addresses inactive until at least mid-February. In the meantime, you reach us at growhioinfo@gmail.com.

Growhio Merchandise at Pop-Up Gift Shop!

This holiday season: Get Local. Get Green. Get Creative. Get Gifts.

Growhio is fortunate to be included in this year's Pop-Up Gift Shop, a unique use of space at Trinity Commons (2242 Euclid Avenue). Pop-Up Gift Shop is open Thursdays (excluding Thanksgiving) through Sundays, November 18-December 19, 2010. Growhio's gray and black t-shirts, reusable totes, and car window decals will be available for purchase.
Pop-Up Gift Shop is the genius of local artists Trish Supples and Nicole McGee (PlentyUnderfoot.com)--a demonstration of Cleveland’s many amazing resources (local artists, reused materials, empty retail spaces, innovation and creativity as far as the eye can see!). The idea was born out of an encounter between the artists and Dean Tracy Lind from Trinity Cathedral while they all attended this year’s Sustainability Summit: GlocalEngine. GlocalEngine was a follow-up to Sustainable Cleveland 2019, the summit out of which Growhio was born.

Help us celebrate reuse, sustainability and fun in Cleveland by shopping at the Pop-Up Gift Shop this holiday season for unique local gifts and supporting Growhio!

LESS Productions' SC2019 Local Food Video

ODA Specialty Crop Grant - Graphic Design

In addition to the promotional video discussed in the previous post, Growhio's Ohio Department of Agriculture specialty crop grant covers the graphic design and production of promotional materials for the marketing campaign, educational program, and new vendor start-up program--such as RTA bus ads, postcards, and signage. Growhio will be issuing an RFP in early December soliciting proposals from graphic design professionals to design these pieces. If you or any designers you know are interested in submitting a proposal, please send the contact name and email address to gforte@growhio.org to be added to the distribution list.

ODA Specialty Crop Grant - Video Production

Growhio's ODA Specialty Crop Grant (introduction article from our Autumn Newsletter follows, if you have not read it yet) covers the cost of a promotional video to promote the availability of specialty crops (fruits and vegetables) at the seven farmers' markets in the Cleveland Farmers' Market Guild (CFMG). Growhio issued an RFP to solicit videographers/producers, and received 13 proposals from a diverse range of talented proposers. After a lengthy and diligent review process, Growhio and the CFMG selected Hyndsight Productions as its videographer/producer.

Over the past month, Hyndsight Productions, led by Kelley Hynds, shot on-location interviews at Coit Road, Tremont, and Downtown Cleveland farmers' markets. Hyndsight also took b-roll film at the other four farmers' markets and the Ohio City Farm. Filming has wrapped. The next step is editing, followed by graphics and final touches. Check the pictures below and on our Flickr page!


Article:
In partnership with the Cleveland Farmers' Market Guild (CFMG), Growhio was awarded a $65,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Grant Program to promote the availability of Ohio Specialty Crops (OSCs) at these farmers' markets. The one year grant will cover a marketing campaign, educational program, and new vendor start-up program.

The marketing campaign includes development of promotional videos, postcards, newspaper and RTA bus advertising. The educational program will be planned in partnership with Ohio State University Extension-Cuyahoga County, and will include educational presentations by farmers' market managers at various events, such as block club meetings and other community gatherings, in their focus neighborhoods.

The new community vendor assistance program (CVAP), perhaps the most exciting part of the ODA grant, provides each of the seven farmers' markets with an incubator vendor set-up. Vendors of OSCs who might not have either the resources to rent their own vendor space, or the capacity to fill an entire space with product, can rent the incubator vendor space for free, as needed, and share the space with other start-up vendors. In addition, a going-to-market workshop will be given to first-time OSC vendors to assist them in getting started at one of the seven farmers' markets.

Ohio City Harvest

On Sunday from 1-4, the Ohio City Farm hosted its first Harvest party, in which Growhio was fortunate to participate by having an educational tent.

Harvest was sponsored by Charter One, Cleveland Cuyahoga-County Food Policy Coalition and Local Food Cleveland. Guests were able to tour the farm, nosh on delicious ravioli provided by Ohio City Pasta, browse the educational tents of OSU Extension and others, and meet the farmers of Central Roots and other plots.

The Ohio City Farm is part of the Ohio City Collaborative designed to solidify Ohio City as the hub of Cleveland’s complete regional food system by developing a cluster of urban farming and food production businesses that will utilize the distribution and retail opportunities of the Ohio City Market District.

Growhio.org Suggestions

At the launch party, we put up a large white roll of paper with the question, "What would you like to see on Growhio.org?" We set out a pile of markers and let guests write down their suggestions, which included, among others:

• Video
• Growhio certified gardens and farms
• Community composting (for those who live in small spaces)
• Grants for new businesses
• Foodie dating
• Opportunities for people to participate in outreach to schools
• Ongoing opportunities for people to attend food demos, classes, dinners, etc.
• List of cooks and eaters to learn tips from
• How our region compares to other regions in local food production

We were exciting to see some ideas that we are already working on, as well as some new innovative ideas. What would you like to add? If you did not attend the launch or get a chance to write down your suggestion, we would love to hear it! Comment on this post or our FB page, or send us an email.

Launch Party Well Attended

Growhio would like to thank all of those who came out on a cold and dreary day to support the launch of our new website! The event featured many local food treats served up by Karen Small from the Flying Fig (visit Fig TONIGHT for Local Foods Week Restaurant Night!), Giovanna Mingrone from The Cheese Shop, and Jeff & Michelle from Ohio City Burrito. A special thanks to GETCO for use of a very cool vacant space on W. 25th St. and to Harry Bacharach, who offered to sing at the party at the last minute, despite having to rush from our event to his previously scheduled gig. Thank you!

If you missed the event, you missed some good beer and conversation, information about Growhio memberships, merchandise sales, and a slideshow highlighting our new website's features. We can't offer the same experience again, but you can view the slideshow below and catch us Sunday at the Ohio City Harvest, where will be selling merchandise and memberships and sharing more information about Growhio.

launch party slideshow

See more presentations by Growhio Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

If cider, farms, and donuts aren't your cup of tea, then check out our website from the comfort of your computer chair and send us your feedback. We look forward to continually improving and enhancing the website to meet your needs and the needs of future local food participants.

Website Launch Party

Growhio in the Cuyahoga SWCD Rain Barrel Art Program

Early this year, Amy Roskilly from the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) organized a rain barrel art program. Under the program, artists signed up to paint rain barrels, which were then placed in various public locations throughout the county.

When I received an email about the program, I jumped on the chance to participate. I'm glad I responded quickly because over 120 people signed up for the 33 available barrels! Here is the finished product:

Pictures of the all barrels in the program are online and up for auction, which closes September 30, 2010.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Growhio blog! We'll be using this forum to post news and updates related to Growhio's mission and activities. The past year has been a busy one, full of planning, website building, event participation, and much more. For our first post, we're giving a big shout out to the following events, where we were able to attend as vendors free of charge. Thank you for helping us begin the ground swell!

Fabulous Food Show - November 13-15, 2009

NASA Earth Day - April 15, 2010

Green Dream Eco-Showcase - April 16, 2010

EarthFest at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - April 18, 2010

North Ridgeville Green Fest - April 24, 2010

Great Lakes Burning River Fest - July 24, 2010

Look for us next at Ingenuity Festival, where we will be at the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 table on September 25 from 6-8pm.