How do we know that the summer’s almost over? The final 2011 Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll will take place this Thursday, Sept. 1. Yes, the fourth and the final one this year. So, don’t miss the chance to enjoy $1 deals again and say goodbye to this event until the next summer.

We hear that nearly 20 businesses, vendors and food trucks will participate in the final Dollar Stroll, so look out for new participants.

The stroll will start as usual at 5:30 p.m. (it’s not a bad idea to come early) and will go on until 8:30 p.m. Apart from the vendors, there will be live music and street performances as well. And, as always, there will be copies of the free West Philly Mix Tape download card available for pick-up. If you haven’t got one, stop by the University City District table in front of Calvary Church (48^th and Baltimore).

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Mariposa Food Co-op is throwing open its doors a few times over the next month so that West Philly residents can keep tabs on the renovation of its new space ahead of the official opening in the fall.

The first of the three open houses is Sunday, August 28, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Others will be on September 13 (5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) and October 2 (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.). All three will take place at the soon-to-be Mariposa location at 4824 Baltimore Ave (see picture).

You can drop by the open house at any time and kids are welcome. Mariposa is encouraging people to RSVP here.

It is Dock Street Brewery & Restaurant’s 4th anniversary today and in honor of their birthday specially prepared Flemish Sour will be on tap. The festivities begin at 5 p.m. For more information go here.

This month’s installment of Sustainable Saturdays, the West Philly local food series, will take place this Saturday, August 20, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The theme is “From Seed to Compost” and features workshops on composting, mushroom growing, homebrewing, seed bomb building and more.

Here are some details:

9 a.m. – Composting Workshop | Woodlands Community Garden (Woodlands Cemetery, 4000 Woodlands Avenue )

Learn about how to reduce the amount of material that you send to the landfill, while creating compost for your garden in just a few months. 25 free composting bins will be raffled off to participants.

10:30 a.m. – Make Your Own Worm Composting Bin Workshop | USciences’ Rosenberger Hall (43rd Street between Regent Square and Woodland Avenue)

Learn about compost worms, keeping a worm composting bin, and using worm castings (aka worm poop) in your garden. By the end of this class you will have built your own worm composting bin and be ready to use it in your home. Worms will be available at the event for $20/lb. When registering, please indicate if you plan to take a worm bin home and purchase worms. RSVP at http://wormcompostingbin.eventbrite.com

Noon – Growing Mushrooms | USciences’ Rosenberger Hall (43rd Street between Regent Square and Woodland Avenue)

Learn about low tech do-it-yourself methods of growing edible mushrooms which are particularly well suited for tight urban spaces.

2 p.m. – Homebrewing 101 + Mead and Soda Fermentation Workshop | USciences’ Rosenberger Hall (43rd Street between Regent Square and Woodland Avenue)

Learn all aspects of making your own beer, mead (a fermented honey drink), and fermented soda from start to finish. Also brewing, kegging, bottling, ingredients and equipment.

3:30 p.m. – How to Build a Seed Bomb | USP Lower Mill Creek Garden (43rd Street between Chester Avenue and Regent Square)

This DIY Seed Bomb Workshop is presented by the staff of Bartram’s Garden. Made of clay, compost, and seeds, these pocket-sized concoctions can bring vegetative life to vacant lots and otherwise blank urban spaces. You’ll also learn more about the common weeds in our midst, and Bartram’s Gardeners will be on hand to answer your burning plant-related questions and dish out gardening advice.

The last Sustainable Saturday will take place September 17. Stay tuned for more information.

A group of West Philly youths have decided: If the people can’t get to fresh fruits and vegetables, they’re going to get the fresh fruits and vegetables to the people.

Starting tomorrow the Youth Urban Mobile Market (YUMM) will begin delivering fresh produce from 52nd to 60th Streets in a bicycle-driven cart. The cart will launch on Friday at the first ever Youth Growers Market at Malcolm X. Park (51st and Pine Streets) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  The YUMM cart will pedal the neighborhoods four times weekly, helping relieve the dearth of fresh food in many parts of West Philly.

The cart and tomorrow’s market are staffed by young folks from the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, which is part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Students from a number of area schools are involved, including: Martin Luther King High School’s “Seeds for Learning;” Saul High School’s “Henry Got Crops;” the School of the Future; Pepper Middle School; the Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance; Earth Keepers; and Walnut Hill Farm.

If things go as planned a lot more people in Philadelphia will see mobile fruit and vegetable carts around the city. The YUMM cart is the first of the City’s “Healthy Carts” program. Twenty carts are planned to begin operating in low-income neighborhoods in 2011-2012 as part of the “Food Fit Philly” program.

For more information on the YUMM cart or the youth growers program, write Lan Dinh at: landinh89 [at] gmail.com.

They will all be on Baltimore Avenue tomorrow.

The monthly Baltimore Avenue Stroll, which runs tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., will feature the usual large selection of dollar items – from cans of beer and samosas to theater tickets and ice cream. But new additions include the city’s first “parklet,” which will be officially unveiled a few hours before the stroll begins. As we reported earlier, the parklet is on 43rd Street, adjacent to the Green Line Cafe.

As part of the celebration DJ Osagie will play some tunes in the parklet.

Speaking of music, there will be a lot of action at the west end of the stroll this time. None other than Schoolly D, a gangsta rap original, will be DJing outside Elena’s Soul, which will be serving dollar wings, yams, potato salad, mac and cheese. Schoolly D also has a song, “West Philly,” on the downloadable “West Philly Mix Tape.” You can pickup a card that gives you access to the download at the University City District table, which is usually located near the Calvary Center at 48th and Baltimore.

The Philly rock band The Makes will be performing and the new Mediterranean restaurant Aksum (4630 Baltimore Ave.) will participate in its first Dollar Stroll. There will likely be more food trucks in the mix this time too. For a rundown of vendors, click on the image.