We all knew that the heat wave was going to give way to a storm at some point. Last night’s downpour and high winds knocked down trees and left many in West Philly temporarily without power.

Near 49th and Hazel a large tree crashed onto a shed, leaving a man inside trapped for about 30 minutes (see video). The man was not seriously injured.

6ABC Action News was on the scene. Below is video that includes incidents from around the city. The part about 49th and Hazel starts at about 2:20.

The farmers’ market season is in full swing now and while just about everybody knows about the Clark Park market,  many might not know about two other chances to get fresh food in West Philly going on today and tomorrow.

• The Walnut Hill Community Farm Stand

Youth growers from the Walnut Hill Community Farm (4610 Market St.) will be selling food from the farm today (and every Tuesday and Friday) after school from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the farm’s location, right near the 46th Street El stop.

• The African American Farmers of Operation Springplant in Henderson, NC at the 50th and Kingsessing rec center

This is a rare opportunity to meet some small-scale farmers from out of town who will be selling fruits and vegetables (from kale and sweet potatoes to apples and watermelon) who will be selling stuff not yet in season up here. Operation Springplant is made up of African American and limited-resource growers around Henderson, North Carolina. They will be selling their goods from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 50th and Kingsessing near the rec center, where some neighborhood youths also run an urban farm. So far this is planned to be just a one-day deal. If successful, organizers say, the farmers will make return trips to West Philly.

Urban gardening comes in many forms – the backyard plot, the communal garden and even “take back the land” Johnny Appleseed inspired “guerrilla gardening” like Plotland at 44th and Locust. After tonight, guerrilla gardening will get a little easier and quicker.

The University City District will unveil the first quarter-operated seed bomb machine in Philadelphia tonight at the Night Market (3911 Market St.). This retrofitted gumball machine dispenses little seed clusters that can be tossed into an open space with dirt and within a few days (or after there is a little rain or watering) wildflowers will start to grow. Based on the “seed grenades” of the 1970s, these gumball-size, handrolled spheroids contain a little clay, a little compost and some seeds.

The L.A.-based startup Greenaid supplies the machines and the seed balls.

After tonight, Grid reports that the University City District’s machine will go into their lobby and be brought out for special occasions.

You can also buy your own bombs from Greenaid and even get a wooden slingshot for long-distance planting. Look out for more of these in the future. This is right up West Philly’s alley.

Here’s a cool video that shows how it works:

Common Studios: Green Aid from ISHOTHIM on Vimeo.

We went around the neighborhood and snapped pictures of yard/porch/sidewalk sale flyers. Then we put them in a slideshow and ,Voila!, now all the flyers are in one place.

If you have a flyer or spot a flyer that should be here, just snap a picture and send it to editor [at] westphillylocal.com.

You have a chance to see two gems (as in “a person or thing considered to be outstandingly good or special in some respect”) of the West Philly music scene in an intimate setting Friday night. Musicians Joshua Marcus and Emily Bate are combining for Sweet Sound of Music at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.) beginning at 8 p.m. The suggested donation for the show is $8 and sweet teas and simple infused syrups are on the house.

Here are Emily and Joshua’s backgrounds (from the Studio 34 website):

Joshua Marcus

Joshua Marcus lives in Philadelphia, PA and has produced nine recordings under different bands and monikers in the last nine years, including Fan of Friends. This spring Marcus will release his newest recording, Reverse the Charges, on Chicago’s Contraphonic and Philadelphia’s High Two record labels. Joshua is currently working on a collaborative project to produce a folk recording dealing with current U.S. social and environmental justice struggles.

Emily Bate

Emily Bate’s spent 10 years performing, recording and touring, and singing sweetly about complicated things. She’s released three full-lengths and an several EPs. She is one half of the drag cover cabaret band Gender Mountain, with Dave End, and plays with lots of other buddies in West Philly. On this special occasion, expect some ukulele shredding, fingerpicked electric guitar, and big singing.

Sometimes when a handful of musicians with similar tastes and passions find each other, magic happens. So it is with The Oscuro Quintet, a collection of musicians who have come together from diverse backgrounds to form what might be Philadelphia’s first tango ensemble. It probably won’t surprise you to know that the group has abundant West Philly connections – four out of five members live here.

Formed in 2006, the quintet includes accordionist Shinjoo Cho, pianist Thomas Lee, violinist June Bender, guitarist Alban Bailly and bassist Ben Blazer. Together they have played a number of performances in recent years while pursuing other things (Lee, for example, is a doctoral student in perceptual science at Penn and Bender studies at Temple).

Now the group is ready to release its first record and it needs a little help. They have decided to try to raise enough money online to cover the costs of mastering the recordings, designing the album and CD manufacturing. This is a rare chance to be a patron of a unique musical ensemble for as little as $5.

Go to Oscuro’s Kickstarter page to contribute. There are premiums as well. For example, a $25 donation gets you a reserved copy of the CD. Fifty bucks gets you a CD and a free tango lesson. There is a bit of urgency. They need to raise $5,000 by June 17. They are already about halfway there.

Here is their Kickstarter video.