At 3226 24th St. SE, a harvester cuts grass into rolls while Tyler Richie, sales manager at Council Growers Sod Farm, works the controls. On Saturday, Oct. 10, that same farm opens its gates for the first Council Farmers Market. The Council family has farmed here since the 1800s.
Five weeks later, Council Growers shows up again, this time on the sponsor list of the 36th Annual Ruskin Seafood Festival at E.G. Simmons Park. That link runs through the whole season. Ruskin's fall calendar is still hosted, stocked and partly paid for by the people who grow things here. If you follow the farm names, you get the season in order.
A Market Run By The People Who Grow The Grass
Travis Council started growing sod in 1997 with his father, Pat, and was doing it full time by the mid-2000s. He and his wife, Amber, run the operation now. Garden center manager Jessica Colabuno and director of communications Becky Council had been planning a fall market since at least July. Colabuno told the Observer News what drew her to the job. "The hook for me was the Councils didn't want this to simply be a garden center," she said. "They want people to feel like they're coming to the family farm."
The Oct. 10 market runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Organizers expect 20 to 25 vendors selling:
- fresh produce, local poultry cuts, seafood and sourdough bread
- local honey, microgreens, jams and jellies
- fresh flower arrangements from Oops A Daisy
- EarthBoxes from EarthBox Garden Center of Ellenton
- popcorn, kettle corn and homemade soup mixes from Sassy Pop
- coffee from Pour Intentions, and seeds from Plant It Forward, a youth gardening organization
Ruskin's honorary mayor, Earl Bush, will be there with his Sweet Tea Tiki Bar food truck, which he runs with Annette, the person the Observer News calls his "boss." The menu includes deviled crabs, hush puppies with hot honey butter, a new Southern Fried Steak Cuban and frozen sweet tea. Bush is also cutting the ribbon. A garage band of Lennard High School students will play jazz and soft rock, and kids get an obstacle course. A UF/IFAS extension entomologist is bringing bugs and giving a talk on insects.
The farm is treating this as a working day, too. Council Growers will sell plants, pottery, perennial peanut and pieces of sod. Council Oxford of Ruskin will have information on fertilizers, herbicides and turf supplies. If your lawn came through summer patchy, you can bring that problem to the people who grow the grass. Every vendor is donating to a basket raffle for the Robert L. Howard Foundation, a South Shore nonprofit that funds youth scholarships in memory of a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy and military veteran who died in 2023.
"This is a farmers market run by farmers. We want to share our farm and the farming experience with everyone in the community, and we hope to make this an annual event." Amber Council, co-owner, Council Growers Sod Farm
The Same Names Pay For November
The Greater SouthShore Chamber of Commerce produces the Ruskin Seafood Festival. Its sponsor list for Nov. 14 and 15 reads like a directory of Ruskin's food and farm businesses.
| Name | What it does in Ruskin | Its role this fall |
|---|---|---|
| Council Growers | Sod farm and garden center | Hosts the Oct. 10 market and sponsors the Seafood Festival |
| Ruskin Fresh Market | Family-owned produce market at 2619 14th Ave. SE | Seafood Festival sponsor |
| Sunset Grill | Waterfront restaurant at Little Harbor | Seafood Festival sponsor |
| Earl Bush, Sweet Tea Tiki Bar | Honorary mayor with a food truck | Vendor and ribbon cutter on Oct. 10 |
| Advent Health and Elite Marine Dock & Seawall | Festival sponsors | Covering everyone's park entry fee for the festival |
The paid entry matters because E.G. Simmons is a county park. Chamber Executive Director Bonnie Peacock said festival admission is free and that sponsors are paying everyone's park entry for the weekend. The Chamber recently moved into a new headquarters at 226 W. College Ave. that it calls the "SS SouthShore," and the opening had a nautical theme.
Six Weeks, In Order
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Council Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 3226 24th St. SE.
- Oct. 16 to 18: "Murder on the Orient Express" at the Firehouse Cultural Center, 101 1st Ave. NE, with Friday and Saturday evening shows and a Sunday matinee.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: The Ruskin Veterans Day Parade is on the Greater SouthShore Chamber calendar. Check there for the route and start time.
- Nov. 14 and 15: The 36th Annual Ruskin Seafood Festival at E.G. Simmons Park, 2401 19th Ave. NW.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: "The Tortoise & The Hare: The Musical" at the Firehouse at 10:30 a.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Cookies with Mrs. Claus, the next event back at Council Growers.
The season starts and ends on the same farm.
The Tomato Thread Behind The Fresh Market
These businesses take the calendar seriously because farming here has always been a business. Paul B. Dickman planted Ruskin's first acre of tomatoes in 1928. By 1940 he was shipping 64,000 bushels, and the Ruskin Vegetable Cooperative formed the next year. It took thirteen years to go from one acre to a co-op.
That history still shows up in today's grocery shopping. The Osprey Observer describes Ruskin Fresh Market as family-owned. The founders' father owns Florida Vine Ripe Farm Inc., a Ruskin wholesale and repack tomato farm, and the market is known for its tomatoes. The market opened April 26, 2024, and held a two-day anniversary event this past April. So one of the festival's sponsors is also selling the crop the town was built on.
The bay side works the same way. Ruskin Seafood Company and its prepared-food counter, Ruskin Seafood Shack, share a spot at 701 US Highway 41 S. The Shack is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the market is open Wednesday through Saturday. In November 2025, Tampa Bay 28 reported that the business had been open nearly three years and sold Gulf fish along with seafood from other suppliers. If you want Gulf fish on a weekday in October, that's the place.
When The Festival Crowd Shows Up
The Chamber expects 15,000 to 20,000 people over the festival weekend, and Peacock says the footprint is bigger this year. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Shuttles run from the parking areas. If you live near 19th Ave. NW, plan your errands around those hours.
Inside the gates you'll find:
- Food: 22 food trucks and booths with seafood and fair food, a "Party Barge" bar and several smaller bars around the grounds.
- Saturday music: opening ceremonies, then J Lowery Steel Drums, Josh Bidwell, Randy McNeeley and Iruption Reggae.
- Sunday: a Sea Glass Church service, then J Lowery, Emma Christine, Bidwell and McNeeley.
- Sensory Zone: Last year's Sensory Tent is now a Sensory Zone run by the festival's Special Needs Committee. It has two quiet respite tents, one for children and one for adults, plus vendors offering applied behavior analysis, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
- Bark Zone: a shaded rest spot for dogs with water bowls and toys.
Details will be posted at ruskinseafoodfest.org.
The park is worth a visit on a quieter weekend, too. Hillsborough County lists kayak rentals, a 700-foot beach on Tampa Bay, fishing access and paddling trail information at E.G. Simmons Conservation Park. A late-October paddle there will feel very different from festival weekend.
Citrus Opens The Same Week
The last farm on the list opens just as the festival tents go up. Dooley Groves Country Farm Market and citrus U-pick, at 1651 Stephens Road, runs from mid-November through mid-to-late April. The U-pick page still shows the end-of-season notice from April, so check Dooley Groves for this year's crop and opening day before you go. If the timing works out, you could have local honey from the Council market in October, festival deviled crab on Nov. 14 and fresh-picked citrus the following week.
Gerry Tomchinsky follows the South Shore calendar as closely as the local market. The farms, festivals and new businesses on that calendar shape the case when it's time to price a Ruskin home. If you're weighing a move in or out of Ruskin this season and want a direct read on what local buyers are responding to, Let's Connect.
