The Corner Store & Parkesdale Farm Market – Plant City, FL

Yesterday we spent our day wandering Plant City.  Besides going to the Strawberry Festival once in high school, I don’t think I’ve ever spent time in Plant City, even though it’s only a half hour away. 

We started off with some lunch at The Corner Store (which I’d read about on the blog Eat a Duck).   It’s in a cute brick building on the corner of E. Reynolds St. and N. Palmer St in downtown.  The atmosphere is warm and inviting – it feels like an old-timey general store.  The menu consists of salads and sandwiches – with most of the ingredients organic and local.  We ordered our food at the window, and then walked around to check out the shelves stocked with local honey, spices, homemade soaps, and sweet treats. 

We sat by the front window to people watch while enjoying our food.  Lance had The Italian Job – ham, salami, provolone, red onion, spinach, tomato, mustard, mayonnaise, and Italian vinaigrette on a ciabatta roll.  

I ordered The Goat – which had goat cheese, roasted red peppers, red onion, tomatoes, and spinach on multigrain bread.   

They also serve beer, wine, and sangria, so Lance had a Jai Alai and I had an Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager (seemed appropriate for Plant City).  They didn’t skimp on the ingredients on my sandwich.  It was oozing with goat cheese, and my strawberry beer paired perfectly.  I would definitely visit again. 

We wandered the quaint downtown shops afterwards – there were about a dozen antique stores within a few blocks of each other. 

That afternoon we headed to Parkesdale Farm Market – the largest family-operated strawberry & citrus market in Florida.   

It has a wide selection of decently priced fruits and vegetables grown on their hundreds of acres of farm land.  It’s been around since 1969, and while it is charming, I don’t think it’s had many updates since then.  It looks like someone went a little overboard decorating with tinsel garlands and fringe that has faded over the years.    

Food Network claims that Parkesdale has “America’s Best Strawberry Milkshake,” so we ordered a shake and a parfait.  Wow they were sweet - the shake was so thick I had to eat it with a spoon.  The parfait had large chunks of strawberries and was loaded with whipped cream on top. 

We picked up a watermelon and some Strawberry Rhubarb spread to take home (we bought the no-sugar-added kind that’s just sweetened with natural juices).    

After all the food, we ended our afternoon at Edward Medard Park – a pretty state park with boardwalks, campgrounds and a big lake.  The short trip to Plant City was the perfect way to relax and get out of the "big city" feel of Tampa for the day. 

The Corner Store is located at 121 E Reynolds St, Plant City, FL 33563 and is open 10am – 3pm Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sundays & Mondays.  First and Third Saturdays of the month they are open until 9pm.  The Parkesdale Farm Market is located at 3702 W Baker St, Plant City, FL 33563 and is open every day from 9am – 6pm (they are closed on Mondays from May through September and closed the first two weeks of August). 

New Leaf Produce – Tampa, FL

Our fridge was running pretty low on fresh fruits and veggies (I think all we had in the crisper drawer was a lemon and some parsley), so this morning I stopped by New Leaf Produce.  They had sent me a coupon in the mail for $10 off my purchase of $20.  

I had been there awhile ago when I lived down the street, but back then it was called “Garden of Eaton”.  It is a small farmers market with decently priced produce and plants.  They also have seafood, cheeses, and freshly cut roses in their refrigerated section.  You can take a walk-through of the market on their Google Map here.

They have a nice variety of basic produce that is in season – but if you’re looking for something specific, you may want to check your normal grocery store.  Today they didn’t have pomegranates or Serrano peppers that were on my shopping list. 

The only other complaint I’d have is that my receipt didn’t really itemize my purchase – they just rang up “tomatoes” multiple times for different prices, so I couldn’t really tell how much I paid for each item.  I didn’t even buy tomatoes today!  The top says “refund requires receipt”, but it doesn’t really make sense if it doesn’t even outline the foods. 

One thing I really love is their bumped and bruised area in the back – fruits and veggies that are marked down because they aren’t in perfect shape.  As their sign says, they are great for cooking or juicing.  They also have overripe bananas that would work well for banana bread. 

A French supermarket called Intermarché came up with a similar way to prevent food waste.  They marked down the imperfect produce, calling them “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables”.  The idea was so popular they couldn’t keep the damaged foods on the shelves. 

Overall, New Leaf Produce was a nice place to shop, but I did need to take a trip afterwards to Publix to pick up the rest of my list.  Without my $10 off coupon, the prices would have been pretty similar to other grocery stores, so I’d probably only go there if I was already in the area and only had a short grocery list.   

New Leaf Produce is located at 3401 S West Shore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629 and is open from 7am – 7pm every day.