Athens Locally Grown Weblog

Availability for May 17

Sun, 13 May 2012 22:33:50 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Recipes

Easy Tomato-Malabar Spinach Quiche

“A quick and easy summer brunch or supper dish. Variations: If you don’t have Malabar spinach, you could substitute another type of green leafy vegetable. For an extra hearty dish, layer 1 c. diced pan-fried (hash brown) potatoes on top of the other veggies before adding the egg mixture.”

Source: based on a recipe found at http://blog.charlotefresh.net/2011/008/04 (Entered by Janice Matthews)
Serves: 6-8
Vegetarian!

Ingredients

1 10-inch pie crust
4-5 large tomatoes (or equiv. smaller ones)
1/2 c. chopped malabar spinach leaves
1/2 c. chopped basil
1 small onion cut in rings, or 1/2 c. walking onions, cut crosswise
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup milk or soy milk
6 large eggs, beaten
4 0z. shredded cheddar cheese
to taste salt and pepper

Step by Step Instructions

1. Preliminaries: Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and place pie crust in pan. Slice the tomatoes, squeeze them gently, and let them drain for a few minutes. Mix eggs, milk, and half the cheddar cheese, and add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
2. Place drained tomatoes in an even layer on the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper if desired. Layer sliced onions on top of the tomatoes, and evenly distribute the minced garlic. Top with spinach and half the basil. (If doing variation with hash browns, layer them on top.)
3. Pour egg mixture evenly over the vegetable layers. Layer with remaining basil. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over the top.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes until set. Eat and enjoy! (Or let cool, then refrigerate. It’s also good cold!)

Market News

A special hello to all the mothers out there this week! I hope your families treated you to something a little above and beyond this weekend.

There’s still no dairy this week, but I have been talking with the Glover Family at Mountain Fresh Creamery, up in Clermont. They’re interested in selling their low-temp pasteurized milk and other products through ALG, but they also sell at a farmers market in Gainsville on Thursdays. It’s a traditional market, so they have to set up their booth and stay there all afternoon. We’re working on figuring out a way for them to get their products here and still do that market, and I’ll let you know when we find the solution.

Atlanta Fresh Creamery, the makers of the Greek Yogurt so many of you love, relied on Johnston’s delivery truck to get his yogurt to ALG. Until he figures out a way to get his his products here again, he’s had to withdraw from the market as well. Hopefully he can hook up with some of the other Atlanta-area producers who sell through our market and “car pool” their products here each week.

This is your last chance to sign up for our May “Grower for a Day” event at Sundance Farm in Danielsville, happening this Sunday. It’s free, and we’ve got all the details below and on the website, in the Event Reservations category. Note that this tour is on a Sunday afternoon, a departure from our typical Saturday morning schedule. If getting up early on a Saturday has discouraged you in the past (and I know that’s one reason why some of you shop primarily here instead of the Saturday market), well, now you can both sleep in (or go to church) and come on a farm tour.

Thank you for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!

May 20th: Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

Be sure to sign up early for this popular tour at Sundance Farm in Danielsville, Madison County to be held Sunday, May 20th. This is the second FREE event in the Farmer for a Day Tour Series of 2012. Remaining tours will be June 24, August TBD, and September 23.

Each event will offer you a chance to experience real work on the farm, so come prepared to work! The work session will last for two hours. You may want to bring your own work gloves, weeding or digging tools, etc. if you have them. Be sure to prepare for the weather appropriately and dress for getting dirty or muddy. You will be in an agricultural setting and can expect sun, rain, bugs, wildlife, dogs, electric fences, pets, and farm animals to be part of the experience. Do not bring your dog with you for a day in the country. Please plan to closely supervise your children during all activities. Water will be provided during the work session and lunch is provided. Farmers may have products available for purchase at the event, so you may want to bring cash/checks and a cooler with you. If you have special dietary needs, plan accordingly to bring those with you. To save resources, bring your own water bottle and dishes with you.

Sundance Farm is Certified Naturally Grown and produces a diverse variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruit, and berries in addition to chickens, heritage turkeys, and goats. Ed and Kim Janosik and their three children ages 9-13 work together to bring this delicious food to Athens Locally Grown, Athens Farmers’ Market, local restaurants, and farm sales. They have a facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sundance-Family-Farm/154062297963818.

The event will last from 12:30-5:00 PM. What you can expect:

12:30 sign in, meet and greet
1:00 lunch and orientation
1:45-3:45 work session
3:45-5:00 Tour and shop for produce/order turkeys

The work session at Sundance Farm may include planting, weeding, or harvesting. We are reserving 20 spots for the event. Don’t be left out! I will be taking names for a waiting list once all “tickets” are claimed. Please note that you do not need to be a member of Athens Locally Grown to reserve an event ticket. Non members can sign up by emailing Cathy Payne. Address any questions to organizer Cathy Payne at 706-416-6611 or email broadriverpastures@gmail.com. Find out more and share photos and comments at https://www.facebook.com/FarmerForADayToursWithAthensLocallyGrown.

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market has returned on Saturday mornings at Bishop Park and on Wednesday afternoons downtown at Little Kings! You can find more information on their website. The other area markets are starting to stir, too. I’ll have more info here as I get it. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for May 10

Sun, 06 May 2012 22:42:25 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

Today I enjoyed a lovely brunch “in the field” at Mills Farm, one of Athens Locally Grown’s founding farms. Tim & Alice Mills hosted a good number of people (150, maybe?) and seven Athens restaurants prepared dishes using the Mills’ Red Mule Grits while Luke, the red mule, looked on. Kate Morrissey and her band alternated sets with a celtic trio (I forget their name, unfortunately) to accompany the meal. The weather was perfect. Eating outdoors at a farm has become a pretty trendy event, but often the price of a ticket approaches triple digits, and I’ve never gone to one of those. But The Classic City Cooks and Chefs Association charged a mere $10 for this, and all the proceeds went to Project Safe and to their scholarship fund, which gives culinary training to disadvantaged youth. It’s one thing to know your farmer and the places where your food comes, but there’s something primally satisfying about enjoying the food right there on the spot, in the company of other members of your community, united for a good cause.

A week or two ago I mentioned that Athens Locally Grown was featured in John Deere’s world-wide magazine, The Furrow. They devoted three pages to the very well-written article, and it was great to see someone usually identified with super-large scale commodity agriculture spreading the word about a town like ours making strides toward feeding ourselves. John Deere and the article’s writer, Charles Johnson, have given us permission to share the article with all of you (and in turn for you to share it with others whom you’d like to brag about Athens). You can find it here: http://athens.locallygrown.net/files/document/document/1566/original/TheFurrow.pdf

In other news this week, I’m sorry to report that Johnston Family Farm has left the market, so their dairy products are no longer available. Russell Johnston was the first in Georgia (in modern times) to legally offer small batch low-temperature pasteurized milk, but they paved the way for several other dairies to follow. I’m talking with them, so hopefully in the near future we’ll have a source for milk, cream, buttermilk, and butter again. In the meantime, I believe the Daily Co-op, located a couple blocks up the street from Ben’s Bikes, at the corner of Pope & Prince, still carries the milk.

May 20th: Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

The event will last from 12:30-5:00 PM. What you can expect:

12:30 sign in, meet and greet
1:00 lunch and orientation
1:45-3:45 work session
3:45-5:00 Tour and shop for produce/order turkeys

Other Area Farmers Markets

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for May 3

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:24:13 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

Can you believe it’s already in the 90s, and we’re still in April? Growers here and across the country are scrambling to adjust for what seems to be a year of extremes. I’ve already heard people calling this “the year without winter”, and while it may have been nice to not have to deal with freezing rain and ice this year, we’re already starting to see some of the downsides to going without the cold. One, fruit trees need a certain number of hours in the cold to trigger hormonal changes and other activity in the tree, to shut it down for the year and then wake it up again in the spring. Without those hours of cold, the trees essentially never reset themselves, and then don’t bear fruit (or much fruit) that following year. It’s usually not an issue, but it looks like this year we may not have been cold for long enough, and some of the peach and apple orchards are wondering if they’ll have anything at all to harvest this year.

Secondly, winter kills off a lot of the bugs. Without a stretch of cold to break the hatch-and-lay-egg cycle, the bug population just grows and grows. And so here in April there are swarms of mosquitos, ticks crawling everywhere, and a host of bugs in the garden munching everything they can. And it’s probably only going to get worse throughout the summer. State officials are already sounding the alarm about a new pest that caught a lot of people off guard last year: the kudzu bug. This little thing, kind of like a shiny grey ladybug, is a natural predator of kudzu that recently arrived here. That sounds great at first, since kudzu itself is such a pest, except that kudzu is a bean and these bugs like all beans. Commercial soybean growers reported significant reduced harvests last year, and home gardeners reported infestations on their green beans. I’d never seen this bug before last year, but I had to abandon my green beans mid-summer because of them. I’ve noticed triangular bug traps hanging from trees along pretty much every road I’ve driven recently. I’m not for sure, but I believe they’re collecting data on this new bug, which is already swarming this spring.

Growers elsewhere are dealing with similar problems. I buy maple syrup every year from a small Vermont farm (the growers happen to also run a locallygrown.net market up there), but this year the trees didn’t get cold enough to reset themselves, and for many groves in the northeast, the sap flow never came. I’ve been hoarding the bottles I have left from last year. Though, when I read this blog entry from Sow True Seeds (an heirloom seed company based up the road in Asheville, NC), I wondered if maybe I could grow my own syrup. So, I ordered some sorghum seeds and today planed a bunch to see what might happen. Like the article suggests, I also have bean seeds and winter squash seeds to plant alongside them, for a version of “the three sisters”. So, who knows, maybe we’ll have a sorghum syrup making demonstration at our Hunter’s Moon Feast we host at our place every October.

Yesterday we held our first “Farmer For a Day” event at Darby Farms in New Hope, GA. In two hours, the gathered hands did what would have taken farmer Daniel Dover over two days to complete, and the work ended with a nice lunch (made with some of Daniel’s products) and a farm tour. Our next event, totally free (we’ve decided to remove the $5 deposit), is on Sunday, May 20th, at Sundance Farm in Danielsville. This farm is one of my favorites to visit, and I can’t wait to be there again. You’ll find more information below, and on the website in the “Event Reservations” category.

So, thank you so much again for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!

May 20th: Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

The event will last from 12:30-5:00 PM. What you can expect:

12:30 sign in, meet and greet
1:00 lunch and orientation
1:45-3:45 work session
3:45-5:00 Tour and shop for produce/order turkeys

Brunch in the Fields!

Sunday, May 6th: Brunch in the Fields at Mills Farm. The Classic City Cooks and Chefs Association and Mills Farm (the home of Red Mule Grits) are proud to present this annual event from 11am to 2pm. There will be music and crafts as well as a wide variety of dishes prepared by chefs from around Athens. Tickets are $10, but you can save $2 by bringing a canned food donation for Project Safe. No RSVP is needed. Mills Farm is located at 150 Harve Mathis Rd, Athens GA 30601. You can contact Alice Mills at 706-543-8113.

Upcoming Class: The Kitchen Herb Garden

Saturday, May 12th: From seed to table, learn how culinary herbs benefit your health, “spice up” your food, and create a bountiful and beautiful garden!

In this class, we will discuss: Growing & caring for your culinary herb garden; Harvesting, preserving, and storing your herbs; Using herbs in the kitchen and herbalicious recipes; Health enhancing benefits of culinary herbs. In addition: Take home herbs that you plant yourself, tour speaker’s expanding herb garden, enjoy an herbal infused lunch feast, taste test herbal condiments, and receive informative handouts and recipes covering all we discuss. Class will be interactive and aromatic!

Cost: $40-60 sliding scale/ participant (plus $5 materials fee, paid day of class) Class open to 15 participants, so sign up early! Delightful vegetarian lunch provided. Please dress appropriately for some outdoor activities. Class held in Winterville, Georgia at private residence.

Contact for more details and to register: 864-425-6668, wintermoonspirit@yahoo.com, http://bluehouselife.wordpress.com/

Other Area Farmers Markets

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for April 26

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:18:50 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

On Friday night, I was very honored to receive, alongside Craig Page, founder of P.L.A.C.E., the Alec Little Environmental Award. The award committee gives it each year to recognize exemplary efforts to improve the Northeast Georgia area through environmental action, and this year they wanted to spotlight the wonderfully vibrant sustainable food system that has developed in our area over the last decade. Craig and I often serve as the faces of the movement, but the effort has been one of thousands of people working in concert, and could not have happened without everyone cooperating in this way. There are a few dozen people organizing and managing our farmers markets (including ALG), several dozen people who regularly volunteer their labor to keep the markets running efficiently, over a hundred farmers, growers, and food producers that sell at these markets, and thousands of people who patronize those markets. There are also restauranteurs and other business owners who use locally grown ingredients in their own products, professional gardeners who help households start and maintain their own food gardens, educators who teach students of all ages the importance of gardening, and community leaders who organize communal gardens owned by the neighborhoods they are in. Each of these efforts contributes to a virtuous cycle that has led to Athens being a national role model. Even John Deere, one of the iconic giants in American agriculture, featured Athens (and Athens Locally Grown) in the latest issue of their magazine, The Furrow.

Even if you think you’ve no big part to play in all this, trust me when I say that you do. You have made the choice to shop at our markets and to bring locally grown food into your home. It’s not always the easiest choice, and you have gone out of your way to take part in our food system. When Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food International, came to visit Athens a few years ago, he tossed aside the usual term for shoppers at markets, “consumers”, in favor of a new term: “co-producers”. Without people willing to buy and eat the food that they grow, our growers would not be growing anything at all. So, we all thank you for your continued patronage, your willingness to seek out locally grown foods even in the dead of winter, and the evangelism you provide when you tell your friends and neighbors about the great food you’re able to eat. Without that, we’d all be eating food trucked in from halfway around the world and we’d all be much, much poorer for it.

This Saturday you have an opportunity to do more than just eat the food. You’ve also got a way to help actively grow the food, too! Our first Farmer for a Day event is being held at Darby Farm, and this is your last chance to make reservations to attend this free event. See below for details. Our next event will be at Sundance Farm next month. You can make reservations for one of both of these events when you place your order. Just look in the Event Reservations category on the website for all the info.

Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

We are arranging tours for the months of April, May, June, July, and September, and the first one will be Saturday, April 28th, at Darby Farm in Good Hope, Georgia. There are only 5 weeks to sign up for this experience, and only 20 slots available, so be sure to get your event ticket today! You can find the event listed in the “Event Reservations” category, and you can add however many people you want to bring to your order. The event is free, however to help us with planning we are asking for a $5 deposit per reservation. You will get this returned to you at the event!

Each event will offer you a chance to experience real work on the farm, things that many hands can really help our growers with. The work session will last for two hours. You may want to bring your own work gloves, weeding or digging tools, etc. if you have them. Water will be provided during the work session and afterward, lunch is provided, free of charge. Farmers may have products available for purchase at the event, so you may want to bring cash/checks and a cooler with you. If you have special dietary needs, plan accordingly to bring those with you. To save resources, bring your own water bottle and dishes with you.

Darby Farms is a family-owned, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach in Walton County operated by Daniel Dover. They offer pasture- based eggs, chicken broilers, turkeys, and pork. Let them be your “clean meat connection.” Daniel offers instructional classes on the farm and is active in Georgia Organics. He has done much to connect and support poultry producers in Northeast Georgia. The farm is about 26 miles from Athens at 2795 Nunnally Shoals Road, Good Hope, Georgia.

What you can expect:
9:30 – 10:00 Gather and orientation with an introduction to Daniel Dover
10:00 – 12:00 Work session – Clearing pasture and stacking slash from chain sawn logs to provide wildlife habitat. Suggested dress is long pants, long sleeves, hat, comfortable work shoes/boots, and work gloves.
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Farm Tour

We are reserving 20 spots for the event. Don’t be left out! We will be taking names for a waiting list once all “tickets” are sold. Please note that you do not need to be a member of Athens Locally Grown to purchase an event ticket. At the end of the tour, the price of your ticket will be refunded. This is an effort to get a firm commitment for the farmers hosting the event. Address any questions to our Farmer For A Day organizer Cathy Payne at 706-416-6611 or email broadriverpastures@gmail.com.

Brunch in the Fields!

Upcoming Class: The Kitchen Herb Garden

Saturday, May 12th: From seed to table, learn how culinary herbs benefit your health, “spice up” your food, and create a bountiful and beautiful garden!

Contact for more details and to register: 864-425-6668, wintermoonspirit@yahoo.com, http://bluehouselife.wordpress.com/

Other Area Farmers Markets

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for April 19

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:15:20 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

I knew that we were going to get another frost. Even as I was planting all my tomato plants and starting the cucumbers, I knew in the back of my mind that there would come a frost, and they were all going to die. But then I also thought, what if it doesn’t? With days in the mid-eighties in early March, there was the possibility of fresh tomatoes in April. And so I planted them all, and of course they all froze to death Thursday morning. So it goes.

It was quite a bit colder up here in Franklin County where I live that it was in Athens proper, so I hope your gardens survived the cold. That was probably the end of it for Athens, but I may yet get another before it warms up for good. But maybe not. I’m sure I’ll be out in the garden again this week, replanting everything that I lost, even if there is a chance for one more cold night.

There are still many great events coming up, so I’ve repeated them from last week down below. Coming up very quickly is our own first “Farmer for a Day” event, being held on Saturday April 28th at Darby Farms. These events are free, including lunch, but space is limited so we ask you to make reservations by adding them to your order. You’ll find the event in our “Event Reservations” category. Even though it’s free, we are asking for a $5 deposit when you place your order. We had a big problem last year with people making reservations, shutting out other people who wanted to go, and then never showing up. So, to help us plan better, we’ve added the deposit, but you’ll get it back in cash on the day of the tour.

Thanks so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!

Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

15th Annual Dr. Bob Rhoades Seed Swap

Grove Creek Farm on Legacy Rd. in Crawford, GA is pleased to host the 15th Annual Dr. Bob Rhoades Seed Swap to be held April 21st 2012 from 10AM-4PM. Dani Adams and her husband James are carrying on the Seed Swap tradition originally organized by her father Dr. Bob Rhoades and naming the event this year in his honor. Get the feeling of stepping back in time with this event. The Seed Swap brings people together from all walks of life for one common purpose: sharing seeds, stories, and knowledge. There are hundreds of varieties of heirloom seeds throughout the South and many of them have fascinating histories linked to families through generations of seed saving. Since the 1900’s however, hundreds and even thousands of varieties of heirloom vegetables, flowers and fruit have disappeared. Once lost, these varieties can never be recovered—their important genes and a piece of American history are lost forever. Saving and swapping seeds helps preserve the varieties that remain so they can be used in the future. These seeds need all the help they can get! Seed swapping is also a fascinating and fun hobby and a great way to meet fellow gardeners and farmers.

The Seed Swap is a celebration of heirloom seeds, old-timey agriculture (known today as ‘local’ agriculture), and good conversation as folks share stories and gardening knowledge. The event will feature kid’s activities in conjunction with Oglethorpe County Schools including planting their very own seed or plant to take home. There will be a mule-drawn plowing and seeding demonstration by the Old Time Plow Club, Oglethorpe Fresh Historic Tours/W Bar W Ranch Wagon Rides, food for the event will be provided by Sandy Cross Community Fire Department and live old timey music throughout the day will be provided by a variety of local musicians and more.

Want to learn how to start saving seeds? Or maybe you have a specific question? If so, make sure to catch the Seed Saving Presentation lead by master gardeners through the UGA Extension Offices. You will be able to buy food from Sandy Cross Community Fire Department while listening to live music, you can shop fresh spring produce and agricultural crafts from local farmers to help us kick-off the Oglethorpe Fresh Farmer’s Market 2012 Season which will be opening May 5 in Lexington. For more information on Dr. Bob Rhoades Seed Swap visit www.grovecreekfarm.org and on Oglethorpe Fresh Farmers Market 2012 Season in Historic Lexington, Georgia contact: Linda Helmly 706-338-2898, lhelmly@oglethorpefresh.com, Oglethorpefresh.com or visit us on facebook.

Upcoming Class: The Kitchen Herb Garden

From seed to table, learn how culinary herbs benefit your health, “spice up” your food, and create a bountiful and beautiful garden!

Contact for more details and to register: 864-425-6668, wintermoonspirit@yahoo.com, http://bluehouselife.wordpress.com/

Raw Milk Drinkers Wanted

Hi there,

I am on the faculty in Geography at UGA, and I am doing a research project about controversy over access to raw milk. As a member of Athens Locally Grown, I asked Eric W about his thoughts on the project, and he suggested that I reach out to other members of ALG through the newsletter. I would like to interview past, present and aspirational drinkers of raw (fresh, unpasteurized) milk to learn more about what attracts you to drinking it, how you believe raw milk should be regulated, how you interpret the FDA’s and Georgia’s regulatory stance toward raw milk, and that sort of thing. My bigger project is looking at how the politics of raw milk access play out in 4 different states, with different sized conventional dairy sectors and different degrees of open-ness to raw milk sales. (I’ll also be working in South Carolina, Maine and Vermont, each of which is more open to sales of raw milk than Georgia). The broader goals of this study are to think through debates about how to balance government risk management and personal choice.

I’d like to interview folks who’ve been able to purchase raw milk through Athens Locally Grown in the past about what is it you value in raw milk and why, how you think through whom to believe about the health- or harmfulness of drinking raw milk, and your feelings about food-borne risks and government regulation more generally. Research interviews should take about 45 minutes to an hour, and participants will gain the satisfaction of talking through an issue that we take seriously and of contributing to new research insights about the politics of raw milk. I can meet you in a location of your choice, or we can talk in my office or a classroom in the Geography Dept at UGA, whichever works best for you. If you are interested in sharing your thoughts about access to raw milk, then please contact me soon at hkurtz@uga.edu.
I very much hope to hear from you!

Thanks,
Hilda Kurtz
Associate Professor
Geography Department
University of Georgia

Other Area Farmers Markets

New Website Aimed at Educators for School Gardens

Alice Waters has launched edibleschoolyard.org, a new website for educators to share lessons and best practices for school garden, kitchen and lunch programs around the world. The site also maps the growth of the edible education movement as programs join, creating a tool for members to connect with one another. This week, the site received a terrific endorsement from the New York Times. If you’re at all involved in a local foods project at a school, please visit the site and collaborate with others doing the same.

Blueberry Pickers and Manager Wanted!

Jim, a disabled veteran, is having on-going health problems that has taken a turn for the worst. He needs blueberry pickers to bring in this years crop from now into July. Along with the birdsong and fresh air, you will get a blue tongue from sampling as you pick, and, even better, you can keep 20% of what you pick to help this disabled vet keep his farm! For quality of your experience and the blueberries, we pick from 8am to 12 noon to beat the heat on you and the crop. Come for part of the time or the entire morning. Immediate need now that the hundreds of blueberry bushes are blooming, is the need to do a last pruning and checking the irrigation system to ensure the abundance of these yummy berries. Blueberry Manager needed to direct pickers and to help with sales at Athens Farmers Market on Saturdays. Need a commitment through July. Please email intention to come participate. Contact Jim if you can help at jimsfarm@windstream.net More details at http://jimsfarm.webs.com/

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for April 12

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:55:24 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

With the beautiful day we had today, it was easy to appreciate the many springtime holidays that cluster this time of year, starting with the Equinox a couple weeks ago and ending with Easter and Passover this weekend (and including several others in between). I hope all the ones you celebrate were good to you!

There is lots of news and info to pass along to you this week, so I’ll put each one in its own little section below, starting with our first Farmer For A Day event of the year, being held on the 28th at Darby Farms. We’d love to see you there!

Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

15th Annual Dr. Bob Rhoades Seed Swap

Upcoming Class: The Kitchen Herb Garden

From seed to table, learn how culinary herbs benefit your health, “spice up” your food, and create a bountiful and beautiful garden!

Contact for more details and to register: 864-425-6668, wintermoonspirit@yahoo.com, http://bluehouselife.wordpress.com/

Raw Milk Drinkers Wanted

Hi there,

Thanks,
Hilda Kurtz
Associate Professor
Geography Department
University of Georgia

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market has returned on Saturday mornings! You can find more information on their website. The other area markets are starting to stir, too. I’ll have more info here as I get it. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

New Website Aimed at Educators for School Gardens

Blueberry Pickers and Manager Wanted!

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for April 5

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:37:39 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

I spent the better part of the last two days out in my little garden (the current remnants of Boann’s Banks Farm), and it felt great. The weather was warm, but just springlike enough to let me pretend that the weather so far this year hasn’t been freakish. Up until last year, we had a frost at our place the first week of May going back nine years, when we first moved out here. This year, I wouldn’t be surprised if my last frost came and went weeks ago.

Another thing I was glad for this week was being able to eat normally again. A few weeks ago I had extensive mouth surgery that left me on a no-chew diet for way longer than I’d liked. There was all this wonderful food coming into season, and about all I could handle for a week and a half was gently scrambled eggs. I’m so happy to be able to browse through all 1203 items listed this week (including three listings of strawberries!) as I plan my meals.

Several of our growers have special egg listings especially for dying. And several more have dozens of brown, white, and naturally pastel eggs if you want to skip the dying and hide them a natural.

Athens Locally Grown’s “Farmer for a Day”

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market returns this coming Saturday! You can find more information on their website. The other area markets are starting to stir, too. I’ll have more info here as I get it. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

Blueberry Pickers and Manager Wanted!

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for March 29

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 22:32:18 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

After the heatwave we’ve been having, it sure felt good to have a more normal spring weekend these past few days. I took advantage of the weather to catch up on a lot of yardwork, things I needed to do before I could really get in and work in the garden. Are you starting a garden this year? There are so many live plants now available through our market, you can really get a jump on things. If you haven’t yet considered a garden, or have no dirt you can play in, how about trying some cherry tomatoes in a pot? It’s an easy first step, and popping a sun-warmed freshly-picked cherry tomato in your mouth rivals any candy you can find. Even Turkish Delight.

Many of you have been taking advantage of the new online payment system I added to the market a few weeks ago. For those who want to pay via credit or debit cards, it really has made things easier for everyone on both sides of the cash register. The lines at the cash box have gotten shorter, and my work of balancing the accounts each week has gotten easier. We do still take cask, checks, credit/debit, and EBT in person, of course, but if you’re going to pay with credit or debit anyway, give paying through the website a try!

And speaking of paying via credit/debit in person, Square (the processor we use to swipe your cards) released a new iPhone & Android app today called “Pay With Square”. This makes paying even easier, as you don’t have to hand over your card at all. Start the app, and you’ll see ALG listed as ready to take your payment. Tell our cashier who you are, and we’ll see you on our screens. We’ll put in the amount, and you’ll get an immediate receipt. Super simple!

This week we’re pleased to announce the first of our monthly “Farmer for a Day” events! We are arranging tours for the months of April, May, June, July, and September, and the first one will be Saturday, April 28th, at Darby Farm in Good Hope, Georgia. There are only 5 weeks to sign up for this experience, and only 20 slots available, so be sure to get your event ticket today! You can find the event listed in the “Event Reservations” category, and you can add however many people you want to bring to your order. The event is free, however to help us with planning we are asking for a $5 deposit per reservation. You will get this returned to you at the event!

Upcoming Local Food Events

March 31st: Athens Food Cart Festival On Saturday, March 31st, 2012, students from the UGA College of Environment and Design (CED) will stage a Food Cart Festival celebrating local and regional food production. An outgrowth of the CED’s CounterSPACE project, the street food festival is designed to raise awareness of the many benefits of mobile food vending for the Athens community. The event will feature food trucks from Atlanta as well as Athens food vendors, including FarmCart, La Fonda Dawgs, an empanada cart, and King of Pops. The festival will be on College Avenue between Washington and Hancock Streets from 12:00-6:00 p.m., in correlation with the CED’s annual Alumni Weekend campus activities. The public is invited.

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market has closed for the winter. You can watch for news during the offseason on their website. They do plan on starting back up on Saturdays on April 7th, just a couple short weeks away. Most of the other area markets are also all closed for the season too. All but Athens Locally Grown, that is.

Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

Bulk Beef Available

Blackbriar Farm passed this along to me:

Would you like to buy 1/2 or 1/4 side of grass-fed pasture raised BEEF for your freezer?

At Blackbriar Farms we use NO antibiotics or hormones. Buy the entire side or a mixed-quarter. Quarters contain 65-75 pounds of grass-fed beef and will take up about 3 cubic feet of space (double this for the whole side). The typical breakdown of cuts (by percentage of weight) is appx 25% steaks, 30-35% roasts, 5% soup bones and stew meat and the remainder (+- 30% ) in ground beef. **You can specify how you would like yours cut…even taking it all in ground beef if that is what you want !

Half a steer and mixed-quarters of beef are $7.00 / lb which INCLUDES the processing and delivery in the Athens area

Thank you for your confidence in our farm. For more details and to place your order contact: Leslie Lawson or John Lawson, 706.247.5601 or 706.201.9240, or email us at BlackbriarFarms@hotmail.com. (To visit our farm please sign up for one of our free bi-annual Farm Day tours)

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for March 22

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:39:09 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

It’ll be another quick email again this week. Normally this time of year I’d be going on about all the spring crops that are starting to come in, but since it’s practically been summer already, the normal calendar is just out the window. There’s asparagus, sure, but there’s also tomatoes growing right out in the open instead of in heated greenhouses. I have received several reports of snap peas, something that should be just starting to set, withering to nothing while cucumbers are taking over hoop houses. I can only shrug and be glad that our growers are trying to make the best of things and grow what wants to be growing, no matter what time of year the calendar says it is.

Oh, do any of you happen to have an old iPhone or iPod Touch sitting in a drawer somewhere? We’ve now got exactly enough to use filling orders on Thursday, and Id love to have a few extras before the summer rush gets here. It doesn’t matter is the screen is scratched or the case is dented, and we only use WIFI, so the phone part doesn’t matter at all. If you’ve got one that’s too beat up to sell but still works, we’d love to put it to good use! Just bring it along with you on Thursday to drop off, and thank you!

Upcoming Local Food Events

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market has closed for the winter. You can watch for news during the offseason on their website. They do plan on starting back up on Saturdays on April 7th, just a few short weeks away. Most of the other area markets are also all closed for the season too. All but Athens Locally Grown, that is.

Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

Garden With Gnomes!

Hungry Gnome Gardenscapes is a small design/build/maintain firm located in Athens, GA. We specialize in edible landscaping, empowering people to grow their own food! We are passionate about teaching and we encourage all our clients to work and learn with us in the garden. We are also available for tree and shrub pruning, fence installation and repair, hardscaping, consulting and master planning.

New this year, we are offering a range of support programs for vegetable gardens. All support programs include:

regular visits from a Gnome (the number of visits is program specific)
1 soil prep to start the year off right
a soil test to check fertility
all the seeds and starts needed for a bountiful garden
a scale drawn map of your vegetable garden
a monthly email newsletter with info on harvesting, pest control, planting, garden techniques and recipes
thorough and complete weeding and pest management

Whether you are an experienced gardener or a back porch container pro, it’s not that easy to get your seeds and starts in the ground at the right time. We have done all the planning and we can set you easily on the path to a bountiful harvest. Check out our website – www.hungrygnome.org – for more information about our business and details on the support programs.

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!

Availability for March 15

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:17:10 -0400

Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

This week, I thought I’d highlight a few features of the website you may have overlooked.

At the top of the Market page, there’s a carousel of “Featured Products”. Each grower can flag up to five of their products as “featured”, and they’ll show up on that list. In addition, if anything catches my eye (as market manager) that the grower didn’t mark, I can put it in there too. Up to ten of the items will be things I hand-picked to go in the list. Before I added this carousel, I was always missing items that were just coming into season or items that the growers wanted to highlight for the week. Now, I can guarantee you that when I do my shopping, before I go anywhere else on the site, I’ll be spinning that carousel around and adding items to my cart. Next, I’ll hop down to the “New Products” carousel right below, which shows the last thirty items that have been added to the site.

I understand if you might not want to do the same, though. You can shop however you want, in any section you want. This isn’t IKEA. So, if you’d rather not see the Featured Products carousel, or the New Products carousel, or your Order History, you can turn off all three of them. Just look over to the left side of the page, in the little section called “Display Options”. Click the links to hide what you want, and it’s done. If you change your mind later, you can turn them on in the same place.

There’s another little-used feature of the site there in that same section. Did you know that you can turn off and on specific growers? You can do that, and it’ll remember your preferences every time you come back to the site (with that browser on that computer). One example I’ve seen is you can turn off all of the meat farmers if you want a vegan version of the site. I can understand that you might not want to be scrolling up through beets and suddenly see a thumbnail picture of beef cheeks. If you’d rather that not happen, uncheck the meat producers, and you’ll have a meat-free product listing. Or, if there’s a farm that for whatever reason you’d rather not order from, even on accident, just turn them off and be done with it.

Another nice thing over there is a link to subscribe to an RSS feed of the product listing. If you don’t know what that is, just skip over it. But if you do use a news reader to keep up with your favorite weblogs and news sites, add the ALG product feed, and you’ll see new products right as they get added to the site. It’s a great reminder, and a way to whet your appetite during the weekend, as the growers are busy getting the site ready to open for the week.

Upcoming Local Food Events

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market has closed for the winter. You can watch for news during the offseason on their website. The other area markets are also all closed for the season too. All but Athens Locally Grown, that is.

Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

Garden With Gnomes!

New this year, we are offering a range of support programs for vegetable gardens. All support programs include:

regular visits from a Gnome (the number of visits is program specific)
1 soil prep to start the year off right
a soil test to check fertility
all the seeds and starts needed for a bountiful garden
a scale drawn map of your vegetable garden
a monthly email newsletter with info on harvesting, pest control, planting, garden techniques and recipes
thorough and complete weeding and pest management

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!