Council Growers Sod Farm in Ruskin will host its inaugural farmers market Saturday, Oct. 10, bringing local food vendors, live music and family activities to the garden center. The event is the first organized under new garden center manager Jessica Colabuno.

The Council Farmers Market will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3226 24th St. SE, with free admission and parking. Between 20 and 25 vendors are expected to offer fresh produce, locally raised poultry, seafood, sourdough bread, honey, microgreens, jams and coffee, according to The Observer News.

The event is the first farmers market organized under garden center manager Jessica Colabuno, who joined the family-owned business in May.

Local food, live music and family activities planned

Ruskin honorary Mayor Earl Bush will lead a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the market.

Bush's Sweet Tea Tiki Bar food truck will serve local favorites, including deviled crabs, hush puppies with hot honey butter and Southern fried steak Cuban sandwiches.

A band featuring Lennard High School students will perform jazz and soft rock. Children can participate in an obstacle course and receive temporary tattoos.

Participating vendors will also contribute items to a gift basket raffle benefiting the Robert L. Howard Foundation, a South Shore nonprofit that provides scholarships and youth programs.

The foundation honors Howard, a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy and military veteran who died in 2023.

New manager brings changes to family farm

Colabuno, originally from Perry, Ohio, joined Council Growers in late May after former garden center manager Ida VanDamme left to be closer to family in New York.

A military spouse married to Army Sgt. Maj. Joe Colabuno for 22 years, she previously volunteered with the American Red Cross, USO and Military Family Readiness Group.

Since joining the business, Colabuno has redesigned the garden center layout and introduced a pottery station where customers can select containers and plants and assemble arrangements using soil provided by the farm.

She works alongside Becky Council, the farm's communications director and a fifth-generation member of the Council family's agricultural business.

"The hook for me was the Councils didn't want this to simply be a garden center," Colabuno told The Observer News in an Oct. 4 profile.

Colabuno said the family's goal is to make visitors feel welcome at a working farm rather than a traditional retail garden center.

Council family hopes market becomes annual tradition

Owners Travis and Amber Council have longstanding agricultural ties to Ruskin.

Travis Council and his father, Pat, began growing sod in 1997. By the mid-2000s, citrus canker and greening had devastated the family's citrus operation, prompting Travis to focus on sod production full time.

Amber Council said the family hopes the farmers market becomes an annual tradition.

The garden center is normally open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

Following the farmers market, the farm's next scheduled event is Cookies with Mrs. Claus on Saturday, Dec. 5.