Dear Neighbors

Wow! This just in from Charlie Novak, one of our neighbors on Pizarro. Picture was taken by Larry Panchuk on Saturday, March 27th. A Sea Otter who had caught a pretty good size catfish and was eating it on Charlie's floating dock. The fish was gone the next day, all except the head which Charlie said was about the size of his fist.

You may remember a couple of years ago, we also had some manatees visit our canals. I feel so lucky to be able to live in Treasure Beach.

Welcome Spring! Is anyone still complaining about the weather? Our Vermont visitors left on March 31st to return home. I hope they will return next year. The early mornings at the beginning of April were so pleasant for walking (without a jacket!) and working out in the yard. It's a good time to be planting a garden if you haven't done it already. About a week ago (March 26th) I planted a cherry tomato plant in a patio planter. It is growing nicely so far and in about 60 days (if all goes well) I look forward to harvesting my crop. In our backyard, the weeds were the first thing to green up. Especially the dandelions. Did you know that if you harvest the plants early enough (while they are still small and before the flowers have fully bloomed) you can cook up some wonderful greens for dinner? Not sure how she did this, but my Mom had a lot of success cooking the greens just the way I like them. If you're a little bit curious, just google "dandelion greens" and there are lots of resources to help you make sure you know what you're doing before you try it. Did you also know that dollar weeds are edible? I recommend you do more research before delving into the possibilities. Here is a good resource for more info on dollar weeds and a couple of recipes too! http://bradford.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/CuttingEdgeSeptember09.pdf

If you want to know more about landscaping, gardening, flowers, weeds, etc. visit http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/

Treasure Beach and Anastacia island threatened !

Treasure Beach basin threats !    On my desk this month is a copy for a new classification for the waterway in this area. Most of us might not know about it, but the environmental protection agency is looking at us. YEAH, wake up!  There is a proposal to designate portions of the Matanzas River basin as OUTSTANDING FLORIDA WATERS. Ok, in short, this would mean, NO BOATS, NO DREDGING ...ever! and lots of restrictions. The proposal would also see us all on sewer, making the present septic tanks used on the island illegal. The meetings already in progress threaten our way of life. The list of restrictions goes on to include that every home on Anastasia Island would have to be on city sewer. Plus restrictions to beach access and that's just the top of the iceberg. For more information about this new deal, you can contact Janet Klemm in Tallahassee at (850) 245 8427.   The first meeting for this workshop is open to the public in Palm Coast. Nice uh ? So, someone in Tallahassee and a workshop in Palm Coast ?? to restrict waterways near and around Treasure Beach ??? Yes! and by people that do not live in the area. The proposal would in many ways affect everyone on the island, and our economy. More about this next month as the information comes in.  I'm still in shock over this proposal myself.   Treasure Beach suffered a hard blow this past month with the loss of a young fellow.   Our thoughts and hearts go out to the family of Robert Richard this month. I first personally met Robert when he worked at Palms Grill restaurant at the entrance to Treasure Beach. A large smiling face, with a gentle sense of humor, Robert was always fun to chat with about Treasure Beach or motorcycles. I nicknamed Robert, " Chef Robert", as his cooking was awesome on weekends at the local diners. Last year Robert called on me several times about mechanical problems he'd run into with his pickup truck or motorcycle, asking for assistance or advice, he was fun to work with. Due to his friendly personality, I'd run over and do my best to assist him at his Majorca street home. Robert left us suddenly at age 29 with a massive heart attack here in Treasure Beach. Most of Roberts friends including me were shocked by this loss. From what I understand Robert had never shown any health troubles before. I know from speaking with local friends we are all still trying to deal with this one.   Gentleman's agreement, yes within our canals was a basic word of mouth agreement over docks. No, not the hard fixed to your seawall docks, but the floating docks. More than 20 years ago at a meeting with the Treasure Beach Association, it was said, that each home owner would offset the floating dock across from the other owners. Basically, if your floating dock was to the right or left of your property then the guy across the canal would put his opposite to keep the center open for larger boat traffic. In effect this sounds great until you drive around the canals and see if this old agreement was kept up. Answer is simply NOT A CHANCE!  I did some inspection and it looks more like a circus of how big, and how much float can we get out there. Most seem to be directly across from the other in each canal. This just shows why we end up with county restrictions, and laws over us. Leaving it up to the home owners the floating docks are just another example of things needing control. No we don't all have to get the same size or style but so much for gentleman's agreements. While we are on that topic I watched several floating docks fall apart last month in these canals. Did the owners jump to repair or remove the mess? NOT A CHANCE. Instead, the dock was left to rot and dismantle into the canal. Another great example of why we end up with laws to restrict us. Seawalls are still a sour deal here, but I keep watching the ones grow out at an alarming rate getting ready to hit the canal with dirt. Seeing the county was informed and now nothing done by the owner or the county means just another big load of dirt will end up in our canals. Will the county help out ? NOT A CHANCE!   Life here on the canals is great, so wake up and clean up.   L.A. Panchuk ( Author: The Devil's Magnet ) Reporter: Xzone radio   Treasure Beach     Release. I hearby release this for publication to The Saint Augustine Record, to be used in anyway they see fit. / LP