Pictured above: Scott Smith, Blue Jackalope Groceries & Coffee. Photo by Michael Cooper
At the corner of Third and Phoenix sits a small brick building, memorable for its bright, French-blue façade. There, you’ll find Scott Smith’s eccentric Blue Jackalope Groceries and Coffee shop. Push your way through the front door around nine in the morning and you’ll see a bulletin board full of friendly neighborhood notices. In the middle of the room, around a table for six, might be sitting a group of fully-awake people having a meeting and enjoying a cup of coffee together. Oil paintings hang on the walls. The more you look around this little store the bigger and more interesting it gets. But it is only part of the story in Crosbie Heights. Single Cup Coffee Brewers are very simple to use and are ideal for individuals living alone.The best single cup coffee brewers are designed to brew one cup at a time without any clutter or hassle.The main reason for people going after these is the new machines provide you with the ultimate cup of perfectly brewed coffee every single time you make it.One cup coffee makers are available on the market in three different types K-cups and T-disc brewers. You can find more information about 10 Best Drip Coffee Makers For Your Money through this site https://greatcoffeebrewers.com/best-drip-coffee-maker-for-your-money/.
Long considered an enclave of small town charm, Crosbie Heights is a Tulsa neighborhood in revival. It is laid out on a hill, across the tracks, on the near Westside, with a scenic view of downtown. While the Jackalope is preserving the neighborhood around it, just across the street is Tulsa’s most cared-for community garden.
The garden, later this summer, will begin stocking the Jackalope with bushels of fresh vegetables on consignment. Matt Truelove, the architect and developer of the garden, projects it will yield twice the amount of vegetables over last year. He’ll remind you vegetable gardening is never easy, but that in Tulsa it is especially daunting, because we live in the Continental East, i.e., east of the western edge of the deciduous forest to our east; plus we have eleven level III eco-regions. And our growing season is humid. But somehow this garden has flourished, which evidences a lot of work, by a lot of people.
Tulsa lags other cities when it comes to the urban agricultural movement. But we’re catching up. Our neighbors are transforming their backyards into vegetable beds. Vegetable gardening is no longer restricted to our backyards, but thanks to a little enlightened political help, community gardens, like the one in Crosby Heights, are sprouting up everywhere.
This year Tulsa’s zoning code was amended to permit communal gardening. At the same time, legislation pends in the Oklahoma Senate that will promote small, more health-conscious neighborhood grocery stores. It passed the House by a vote of 95-0 and is expected to become law soon. Sponsored by Rep. Seneca Scott, House Bill #3015, or the “Healthy Corner Store” initiative as it is commonly known, addresses obesity issues, advances conservation, and ameliorates the “food desert” problem with which Okies are all too familiar. Both initiatives are good news for residents of Crosbie Heights and for the whole of Tulsa.
Communal gardening builds a sense of community, provides its members with low cost, fresh produce, and according to several studies is proven to reduce crime. The entrepreneurial example of Tulsans like Scott and Matt is changing the way food is produced, distributed, sold and consumed in our city. At the same time, they’re rebuilding and deepening our sense of community.