Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 89F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..
Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Low 78F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Updated: July 16, 2024 @ 8:21 am
From left, Lilly Xu, Maryann Bishop and Valerie Van Stronder look over the grounds of Rosebud Continuum, a 14-acre sustainability center in Land O’ Lakes. The center has programs in reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management and also offers tours, camps and volunteer work.
Maryann Bishop, owner of Rosebud Continuum, feeds fish that are part of the center’s aquaponics program.
Rosebud Continuum director Valerie Van Stronder looks at the fish in an aquaponics tank at the 14-acre sustainability center in Land O’ Lakes.
The Hoophouse at Rosebud Continuum is home to several of the sustainability center’s programs, such as reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management.
The Hoophouse at Rosebud Continuum is home to several of the sustainability center’s programs, such as reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management.
Rosebud Continuum has an El Dragon Biodigester, which is a tank that uses bacteria to break down organic waste, producing biogas and a nutrient-rich slurry.
Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes features an agroforestry program, which is a land use management system that combines forestry and agricultural technologies by integrating trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems.
Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes features an aquaponics program, which is a form of agriculture that combines raising fish in tanks (recirculating aquaculture) with soilless plant culture (hydroponics).
Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes features a regenerative agriculture program, which is a farming and land management approach that aims to improve the environment, social life, and economy of food production.
Lasagna planting, a method of layering bulbs in a garden bed or pot to create a succession of blooms throughout the spring, is used at Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes.
Can and glass recycling can be done at Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes.
Rosebud Continuum, located at 22843 Hale Road in Land O’ Lakes, is a 14-acre sustainability center with programs in reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management that also offers tours, camps and volunteer work.
From left, Lilly Xu, Maryann Bishop and Valerie Van Stronder look over the grounds of Rosebud Continuum, a 14-acre sustainability center in Land O’ Lakes. The center has programs in reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management and also offers tours, camps and volunteer work.
Maryann Bishop, owner of Rosebud Continuum, feeds fish that are part of the center’s aquaponics program.
Rosebud Continuum director Valerie Van Stronder looks at the fish in an aquaponics tank at the 14-acre sustainability center in Land O’ Lakes.
The Hoophouse at Rosebud Continuum is home to several of the sustainability center’s programs, such as reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management.
The Hoophouse at Rosebud Continuum is home to several of the sustainability center’s programs, such as reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management.
Rosebud Continuum has an El Dragon Biodigester, which is a tank that uses bacteria to break down organic waste, producing biogas and a nutrient-rich slurry.
Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes features an agroforestry program, which is a land use management system that combines forestry and agricultural technologies by integrating trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems.
Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes features an aquaponics program, which is a form of agriculture that combines raising fish in tanks (recirculating aquaculture) with soilless plant culture (hydroponics).
Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes features a regenerative agriculture program, which is a farming and land management approach that aims to improve the environment, social life, and economy of food production.
Lasagna planting, a method of layering bulbs in a garden bed or pot to create a succession of blooms throughout the spring, is used at Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes.
Can and glass recycling can be done at Rosebud Continuum in Land O’ Lakes.
Rosebud Continuum, located at 22843 Hale Road in Land O’ Lakes, is a 14-acre sustainability center with programs in reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management that also offers tours, camps and volunteer work.
LAND O’ LAKES — Sustainability, simply put, can actually be very simple — even just many simple solutions.
That’s what those at Rosebud Continuum, the 14-acre sustainability center have been researching and experimenting to find in programs such as reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management.
Founded on property owned by residents Sonny and Maryann Bishop, the center has been working to educate the community on ways to live sustainably for about the past eight years.
“What I want,” Maryann said, “is that when people come out (and see all that we do) that they see they can make even just one change in their life, whether it be stop using plastic water bottles or start reusing grocery bags and it makes a difference. Then, maybe they say, ‘Now, that wasn’t so hard — maybe now I can do more.’
“I’ve always wanted to do right by nature, but I didn’t know how.”
The Bishops have owned the property since 1999. For a time they had horses, but those became hard to maintain, as did the invasive plants on the property that also includes a four-acre lake.
They needed help weeding out those invasive plants and recruited the services of Dr. Craig N. Huegel, who is now with USF Botanical Gardens. He helped, but couldn’t commit full-time to that or what eventually would become the sustainability center.
Over time, the Bishops met more experts to help not only with the plants, but to develop the many projects on the grounds today. Thanks to a partnership with the USF Patel College of Global Sustainability, there are research areas now available, as well as tours, camps and volunteer opportunities at Rosebud.
The name “Rosebud” came from the South Dakota reservation where Sonny was born, and “continuum” can be defined as a continuous sequence that changes and endures as time passes.
“I thought,wouldn’t it be nice to have somewhere to come and learn all (about sustainability), and there was no place,” Maryann added. “There are all the different aspects of how we live and how they can be detrimental to the sustainability of nature and our lives, and I’m still learning all the time — I’m not an expert in any of this. I just care, and there’s other people who care and want to come out and make a difference, too.”
There absolutely are other people.
For example there’s Rosebud’s director, Valerie Van Stronder, who came out as a volunteer, joined the center’s board and now has been in this position for more than a year. She’s pushing hard for more tours and camps, to get a younger generation to the Continuum since it’s zoned for education and agriculture and those kids can learn a lot.
“When (Maryann and I) talked about the mission about this place,” Van Stronder said, “she said she wanted for when people leave here, they say, ‘What can I do, in my life, to make the world a better place and make it more sustainable?’
“There are small simple solutions that add up to big changes.”
Even though they encourage recycling and even accept plastic and glass (Pasco County does not take glass recycling), Van Stronder says it can go beyond that, such as composting at home. Or making sure plastic water bottles are empty before being thrown out or recycled.
The Continuum is always accepting feedback from the community, at large, that wants to contribute to finding the right solutions to better sustainability. Residents and conservation-minded citizens are welcome, every Saturday, to try new ways or collaborate with those at the Continuum.
“This is an education center and its main objective is to educate the community,” Van Stronder said. “Not in a way that we’re telling them this is how things should be done. It’s a way of bringing people together to find solutions to problems that haven’t been solved yet. The goal is to find the solutions that can be taught and learned and shared that will help sustainability.”
And, of course, Rosebud practices what it educates. Organic matter is put in biodigesters — containers or tanks that use bacteria to break down organic waste, producing biogas and a nutrient-rich slurry that can be used as fertilizer.
The center has a glass crusher that turns it into sand, which they then use to make “trash-crete” — a form of building material they are still experimenting with but made stepping stones and some pots out of it.
As for the camps, they are constantly adding to the center’s “outdoor MOSI” — The Hoophouse, which is home to several of its other programs such as regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management.
“Nothing is wasted,” Van Stronder said. “Everything is used, to maximize the potential use out of everything that is here on property. That way nothing more ends up in a landfill.”
It really is that simple.
“Our goal is not to say there is one aspect of sustainability that is more important than the other, but to work together on it,” Maryann Bishop added. “We’re open-source, so if we figure something out, we share it, but if someone else knows a better way, please come here and show us.”
Mike Camunas is a staff writer for the Tampa Beacon. He can be reached at mcamunas@tampabeacon.com.
Rosebud Continuum
Where: 22843 Hale Road, Land O’ Lakes
Details: A 14-acre sustainability center with programs in reclamation ecology, agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, aquaponics, renewable energy and water resource management that also offers tours, camps and volunteer work.
For more information, visit www.rosebudcontinuum.net or email rosebudcontinuum@gmail.com.
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