Here’s a good option for those who want access to locally grown fresh produce during the winter and spring months, when most CSAs are not operating. Winter Harvest is a buying club that works with regional producers and offers delivery locations in West Philadelphia. Membership is free and all you have to do is fill out an application online. After that you order what you want on a biweekly basis for weekly deliveries. You can choose a prepaid option, where a weekly amount is withdrawn from your account, or pay-as-you-go. And you can choose to order a little, a lot, or not at all as each week rolls along.

Currently, Winter Harvest has two West Philly drop-off/pick-up locations – in Spruce Hill (see more details below) and in Overbrook (near Drexel Rd. and City Ave) – and deliveries of fresh produce, dairy, eggs, poultry, flour, coffee, meats, cheeses and more start in November and go on through April.

For our Spruce Hill neighbors, the first ordering window opens on Friday, Oct. 25, with the first delivery on Thursday, Nov. 7. Pick-ups on Thursdays will be at 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Spruce Hill delivery site, at a house near Melville and Locust intersection, with “after hours” pick-up nearby. More details about the pick-up locations are available after registration.

For more information about Winter Harvest and to sign up, click here.

A new voice in support of more and better biking has been added. The University Bike Collective is holding its first information session tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct 23), according to the group’s Facebook page. The info session, “powered by pizza,” will be held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Meyerson Hall, B6 (210 S. 34th St.) beginning at 12:30 p.m. and interested folks outside of the Penn community are also invited.

The University Bike Collective will introduce their plans for the year, including fun social rides to explore the city, research and advocacy efforts, and workshops. Susan Dannenberg of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia will share updates on the latest in Philadelphia bike advocacy.

Come to the session if you:

• Are looking for fun bike-related events, avec free pizza;
• Want to see more bike lanes and bike parking.
• Ever thought about biking in Philly, but you’re not sure how to get started.
• Interested in perfecting the art of layering clothes to avoid over-sweating on your ride to class.

For more information and to RSVP, visit the event’s Facebook page.

You can visit the Artifact Lab, learn more about conserving Egyptian mummies and meet a conservator during Penn Museum’s Open House on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Penn Museum)

On Wednesday, Oct 23, Penn Museum is opening its doors to community members of all ages during a free Community Night and Open House. There will be opportunities to get behind the scenes, meet the curators and staff, and enjoy music, dance and storytelling. There will also be gallery tours and a mummy workshop. Want more? How about Egyptian hieroglyph and Mesopotamian cuneiform classes? Also, arts and crafts for the whole family where you can make African masks, Chinese lanterns and Brazilian tambourines.

The event starts at 5 p.m. with the Highlights Tour and goes on until 8 p.m. Check out this page for more information on the scheduled activities and have fun!

A notice has appeared on the burned-out building at the corner of 46th and Spruce Streets. It says that the Department of Licences and Inspections has determined the building to be “a blighting influence” and issued a violation notice to the owner, Transition to Independent Living Inc. L & I ordered the building owner to secure all the windows with “windows that have frames and glazing.”

It’s been almost three years since the building located at 4534 Spruce Street, the former home to the Transition to Independent Living Center, was damaged in a fire (more about it here). A quick search of the L & I database returned information that a permit was issued to demolish the building and erect a two-story structure to be used as a rooming house with 22 bedrooms and one care workers’ unit. However, the permit was appealed in the Zoning Board of Adjustments in January 2012 and since then there hasn’t been any progress made with the project.

There have been no signs of renovation or demolition work so far and it seems that the building is slowly decaying. West Philly Local tried to contact the owners recently as there were reports of workers spotted by the building, but our calls haven’t been returned.

On the upside … if you like street art, the building has been used as a canvas for a couple of years now.

Sanhita Nandi
(Photo via CrossroadsConcerts.org)

Crossroads Music, a local concert promoter that invites great musicians from all parts of the world to perform at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th & Baltimore), is presenting free monthly pre-concert events for our little neighbors this fall. These children’s concerts feature many of the same world-class artists as the adult concert series.

The concerts kick off tomorrow (Oct 20) with a performance by Indian musician Sanhita Nandi. Also this fall: Balkan brass with the West Philadelphia orchestra and Argentine tango with Héctor del Curto. All children’s concerts begin at 6 p.m. (adult concerts start at 7:30 p.m.) Visit the Crossroads Music website for more information.

Here are more details on the upcoming free performances:

Sunday, October 20, 2013
Sanhita Nandi
Classical music from Northern India

Sunday, November 10 2013
West Philadelphia Orchestra
Philly’s Balkan village band

Sunday, December 8, 2013
Hector del Curto Trio
Argentine tango

The 3rd Annual Cobbs Creek 5K Run has been rescheduled for next Saturday, Oct. 26, according to Alon Abramson, founder of West Philly Runners and member of Friends of Cobbs Creek. As we had reported earlier, the run was supposed to take place on Saturday, Oct. 12, but the heavy rainfall flooded the course at the end of last week and the strong winds knocked down branches forcing the organizers to reschedule the race, Alon told West Philly Local.

Packet pickup will still be available at the Philadelphia Runner store (3621 Walnut Street) on Friday, Oct 25 from 3-7 p.m. However, late registration is now only available at the race on Saturday morning. To read more about the Cobbs Creek 5K Run, click here.