Editor's Note: This is a new feature where we get to know bloggers around Tampa Bay. You don't have to be a Patch blogger to be featured. E-mail blogger suggestions to charles.schelle@patch.com if you would like to be featured.

In this edition, we find out about Denise Mannino's passion about being green in Tarpon Springs.

Blog: Sustainable Tarpon Springs

Town: Tarpon Springs

Writer: Denise Mannino

Started: Sept. 7, 2012

Why did you start your blog?  

We were new to Tarpon Springs, Florida, and I wanted to reach out and connect with others who had the same vision for building sustainable community. 

Has your blog evolved over time?  

Yes!  It did exactly what I'd hoped.  Our family met like-minded families, and by December we'd started an intentional community - Growing Together.  We meet throughout the week to help one another with our permaculture garden projects, or to socialize.  We have a weekly, Monday night potluck to 'grow together' as an extended, community family.

What do you do when you're not blogging?  

I am a bicycle mechanic at a local bike shop.  My husband, son, and I play music together, and volunteer weekly at the Tarpon Sunday Market to play bluegrass music.  I participate in a poetry writers community called Werd Nerds. And I'm also a painter, developing my work so I can eventually transition into more full-time fine art painting.

When do you find time to write? 

Since I like to post my weekly blog on Tuesday mornings, I start writing on weekday evenings, and finish refining my thoughts on Sunday afternoons.

What's the coolest example of sustainability in Tarpon Springs you can give us?

Within our community, we are developing a network of 'micro farms' in order to grow as much local food as possible.  Those projects are still in the infancy stages, but our relationships, which form a safety net of community resiliency, is the best part of sustainability.  We know and love one another, and welcome like-minded newcomers into our circle regularly.