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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

Yesterday was our annual “Hunter’s Moon Feast” out at my place, an event that celebrates another wonderful year of Athens Locally Grown. This past year was our eleventh year of connecting our community’s small sustainable growers with those looking for the kind of food they produce, and every year has been better than the last: more growers, more food choices, more people fed. The feast doesn’t mark the end of the season, though! We go on all year ’round, even after the other farmers markets shut down for the winter. Our growers have gotten pretty good at managing their passively-heated hoop houses and actively heated greenhouses to keep the greens coming through the winter, and sometimes even surprise us with beans, cucumbers, and even tomatoes when the ground outside is icy.

It was a busy and really pretty stressful week for me at Locally Grown. I’ve been working on a big software and server upgrade for our website for a couple months, and Thursday night after our pickup was my go-live date. There’s a huge list of what changed, since practically everything but the actual look and feel of the system got touched in some way. It used to be when I made changes, it was no big deal, but now there are about 300 markets across the continent using the website all at the same time, and I have to treat things like I’m a big software company with many thousands of customers. Because, I kind of am. There were a few minor glitches that have been getting worked out, but over all things went very well. I’ve seen billion dollar companies mess up server upgrades, so I was a bot nervous. Now that that’s done, I’ve got a whole mess of improvements and new features I’d like to add. It’ll be an exciting year ahead!

Thank you for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers and their hard work, 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!

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market happens Saturday mornings at Bishop Park and on Wednesday afternoons downtown at outside City Hall. You can find more information on their website.

Also, Watkinsville has a thriving farmers market every Saturday morning, in front of the Oconee County courthouse. And further east, Comer has a nice little market Saturday mornings as well. Both are worth visiting. If you know of other area farmers markets, please let me know so I can list them here as well.

Many of the ALG growers sell through more than one market. Don’t feel like you have to choose a favorite, either. We have many items here you can’t find there, and I’m sure the reverse it also true. Many people stop by the supermarket several times a week, so it’s only natural that you might wish to stop by a farmers market several times a week. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so. We’ll see you there!

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!