Scope out the outdoor market for an array of fresh foods from local food and produce vendors, and pick up information from local environmental organizations. Critters from Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will mingle amongst the human population while DJ Carl Hunt spins vinyl records on an overhanging fire escape. Chicken Lays An Egg is hosting a vintage fashion show at 8 p.m. across the street in the small park adjacent to Old St. Mary’s Church.

Inside, sample our new summer lunch menu while visiting the fully stocked drink bar for Fab Ferments kombucha, Herbal Sage Tea, La Terza coffee and Market Wines. Check out Findlay Market: Heart of the City Exhibit opposite the bar and help us capture the evening’s energy inside Flashbox Studios photo booth.

First 25 people in the door at 6 p.m. get a complimentary fifth anniversary ChicoBag!

First 25 people in the door at 6 p.m. get a complimentary fifth anniversary ChicoBag!

Friends who are celebrating with us as of May 15:

+ Carriage House Farm
+ Chicken Lays An Egg
+ Chocolats Latour
+ Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
+ Clark and Minne’s vegan doughnuts
+ EAT! Mobile Dining
+ Flashbox Studios
+ Happy Chicks Bakery
+ DJ Carl Hunt
+ Market Wines at Findlay Market
+ Mercy For Animals
+ SW Ohio No Fracking Forum
+ Sweet Peace Bakery
+ Urban Greens
+ World Peace Yoga

To participate, e-mail info@parkandvine.com

Food Gardening 101: May 12
Get the dirt on how to start a low-maintenance organic plant-based food production system based in your own backyard 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 12 at Park + Vine. Join Doug Crouch of TreeYo Permaculture for this lively discussion on how to incorporate fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables into a woodland habitat. If you want to learn what you can do to create a more sustainable, equitable and human-scaled future, this workshop is for you. $5 suggested donation. RSVP info @ parkandvine . com and bring a sketch of your home and surrounding features

Blacktop Detox: May 12
Join Alex Temple of Mobo Bicycle Cooperative for Blacktop Detox, a how-to workshop on bicycling and pedestrian advocacy noon Saturday, May 12 at Park + Vine. Pick up tips from Alex on how to be heard as a tax-paying, bicycle-riding citizen and help get bike things done in our fair city and beyond. This workshop is held in conjunction with Bike Month, which is sponsored by Queen City Bike. RSVP info@parkandvine.com

Vegan Kitchen TLC with Stepfanie Romine

Off-Grid Living with Ted Elsasser: May 12
Catch Ted Elsasser, one of the top sustainable builders in the world, before he heads back to the high deserts of New Mexico for a discussion on off-grid construction and living 4 to 5 p.m. May at Park + Vine

Each carrier is $20 for a two-week rental period. Carriers that are returned late are subject to a $5 per day charge. Each carrier rental requires a credit card number or a refundable security deposit to replace the carrier should it be lost or damaged. When we receive the carrier back, the deposit is refunded or can be applied to any store purchase.

Your $20 rental fee is eligible for credit toward the purchase of a brand new carrier. The fee is turned into store credit so you can purchase the carrier of your choosing. (Note that the credit from rental fees is only available to be used on carriers and cannot be used for other items in our store.)

Carriers available, price to rent without credit card (in addition to $20 rental fee):

• Moby Wrap: $10
• Dolcino Woven Wrap: $65
• Original Ergo Baby Carrier: $65
• becoButterfly 2: $65
• becoGemini: $60
• Sakura Bloom Ring Sling: $30

Mud Goddess Photography: Jamee and Cooper

For more information, e-mail jamee @ parkandvine . com, or attend Babywearing Bliss 11 a.m. fourth Sunday of each month at Park + Vine, 1202 Main Street.

Bike Month Lunch Dealio: May 1-31
We’re rewarding every bicyclist who walks through our doors with $1 off lunch in May. Just show us your bicycling hotness and we’ll take $1 off your order at our lunch counter 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you’re unable to make it for lunch, we’ll take $1 off any food or drink item prepared at the bar. Lock your bike safely in the Main Street Bike Corral in front of the shop. Bike Month is presented by Queen City Bike.

Queen City Bike Swap: May 6
Sell, buy or trade bikes and bike stuff, and hang out with other bike lovers 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 6 at Park + Vine. Presented by Queen City Bike, organizer of Bike Month. For more information, visit queencitybike.org

Blacktop Detox: May 12
Join Alex Temple of Mobo Bicycle Cooperative for Blacktop Detox, a how-to workshop on bicycling and pedestrian advocacy noon Saturday, May 12 at Park + Vine. Pick up tips from Alex on how to be heard as a tax-paying, bicycle-riding citizen and help get bike things done in our fair city and beyond. This workshop is held in conjunction with Bike Month, which is sponsored by Queen City Bike. RSVP info@parkandvine.com

Bike Happy Hour Commuter Station: 4:30 to 6 p.m. May 14

Bike To Work Commuter Station: 7 to 9 a.m. May 17

Ride With Confidence: May 19
Learn the law of riding your bike on Ohio’s roadways and strategies for protecting your right to ride as a bicyclist from Bike Lawyer Steve Magas 1 p.m. May 19 at Park + Vine, 1202 Main Street. Steve’s presentation touches on the history of bicycling in America, several criminal cases where motorists were prosecuted for hitting cyclists, and hot button issues impacting cyclists today. $5 suggested donation benefits Queen City Bike. RSVP bikelawyer@aol.com before May 18. For more information about Ohio’s Bike Laws, visit www.ohiobikelawyer.com

Queen City Bike + Dine 6: June 2
Pedal out of Bike Month and into summer at Cincinnati’s sixth Queen City Bike + Dine 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 2. Ride your bike to Park + Vine for hydration and a quick air-brakes-chain check before departing at noon on a bike tour around Cincinnati. Ticket is $25… plus processing fees and includes five-course expedition to five local restaurants and bars. Proceeds benefit participating businesses and Queen City Bike, our region’s bicycling advocacy organization. Tickets are non-refundable. Event is rain or shine. Helmets required. For more information, e-mail info @ parkandvine . com

Bike Month T-shirts are available at Park + Vine and other local spots. Photo by Michael Providenti

The vast majority of La Terza beans are certified Rainforest Alliance or Fair Trade, and La Terza is a roasting partner for La Armonia Hermosa project. We routinely offer a blend exclusively roasted for the band Over the Rhine, FTO House Espresso, Mofos on Main, while rotating Brazil Mogiana Pocos de Caldas, Sumatra Mandehling and others. We offer a monthly coffee dealio for $20 and special orders are encouraged.

In addition to Park + Vine, La Terza is available at local farmers’ markets, local coffee shops (Corner BLOC in Price Hill, Rohs St. Cafe in Clifton Heights, Taza in Corryville), Otto’s in Covington and Whole Foods Market. Click here for Yelp reviews of La Terza.

NPR story (May 16, 2012): Can Coffee Help You Live Longer? We Really Want To Know

La Terza in Italian means “The Third”. There are a lot of thirds that reflect the values of this company. We believe that 3rd places play an important role in our communities and must be preserved. We believe that producers in 3rd world nations must be rewarded fairly for their labor and their commitment to quality.

–La Terza Artisan Coffee Roasterie

Running alongside the Ohio River between downtown and Lunken Aiport, Riverside Drive is a picturesque and flat six-mile road that mainly serves motorists and scares off all but the most confident cyclists during rush hour. This is all about to change, though, now that the city is poised to move forward with plans to add bike lanes and other improvements that will slow down traffic, make life more pleasant for East End residents and businesses, and attract more bike commuters.

Riverside Drive exemplifies what’s happening with local environmental issues. If our city, like any other, believes that recycling, bicycling and urban farming are part of a better future, it’s going to struggle through reluctance and adversity.

Struggles aside, here are just seven things happening right now in the Queen City:

1. The city’s expanded recycling program diverted a record 18,870 tons of waste from the Rumpke landfill in 2011. It generated about $900,000 in transportation savings and boosted participation rates in recycling to 70 percent of eligible households
2. Cincinnati could be the first city in Ohio to be powered by renewable energy. Not the sexiest of terms, aggregation allows municipalities to form purchasing pools of residents who, if they agree to participate, can negotiate for better electric and/or gas rates
3. 70-year-old Civic Garden Center in Avondale offers a bunch of classes that give people a basic understanding of how plants grow. Their free Community Garden Development Training Program is a hit with folks who want to implement and sustain community gardens
4. Opened in 1875, the Cincinnati Zoo calls itself the greenest zoo in America, and for good reason. The zoo partners with a local garden shop to compost one million pounds of “Zoo Do” every year, and a 6,400-solar panel installation above its main parking lot serves as a power source
5. An increasing number of local businesses, such as Green Dog Café, Greener Stock and Park + Vine, feature green and locally-produced merchandise and food not found in chain stores
6. Enright Ridge Urban Eco Village Farm Project in Price Hill begins its fourth community-supported agriculture season and is preparing to plant fruit trees for the first time
7. Bike commuters are excited about the opening of the Cincinnati Bike Center at Smale Riverfront Park in May. Besides renting bikes, the center features bike lockers and shower facilities

Bottom line: Things are changing everyday here in the Queen City. We have a long way to go before we create a truly sustainable city. While Cincinnati leads the country in drinking water quality, it is one of the worst for combined sewer overflows. Add your vision of what Cincinnati would look like as a green utopia and get involved with Green Umbrella and Cincinnati Green Group

CNKY Scene

Dates:
April 21 – Nov. 3, 2012

Locations:
Environmental Enterprises, Inc.
4600 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati
Tuesdays: 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Environmental Enterprises, Inc.
10163 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Sharonville
Wednesdays: 2 to 6 p.m. (closed July 4 and Oct. 31)

Acceptable items:
Pesticides, fertilizers, solvents, thinners, lawn/pool chemicals, cleaners, household/auto batteries, fire extinguishers, propane tanks, mercury, fluorescent bulbs, driveway sealer, gasoline, antifreeze, thermostats, motor oil and oil-based paint

Unacceptable items:
Latex paint*, prescription drugs, radioactive materials, medical waste, explosives/ammunition, gun powder, heating oil tanks, tires, yardwaste, garbage, roofing materials, appliances, computers/electronics, fuel tanks, unmarked cylinders, fireworks and smoke detectors.

For more information about Hamilton County’s Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Program, call the Recycling Hotline at 513-946-7766 or click here.

*Latex paint is only accepted if resident brings other household hazardous waste. Otherwise, residents are charged $1.50 per gallon of paint, with a minimum charge of $5. Check or credit cards only. No cash is accepted.

ReUse-apalooza! coincides with Final Friday in Over-the-Rhine, where galleries and shops keep their doors open until 10 p.m. Park + Vine is featuring the artwork of Kevin Curtis the DJ stylings of Brad McNutt.

ReUse-apalooza!

• Holds 80 gallons
• Made from recycled plastic
• Easy snap together assembly
• Vertical and horizontal columnar ventilation

Earth Machine ($80)