Availability for August 2

As we go charging full speed into August, we have a dizzying array of local products for you this week. And I don’t say that to hype things up—a quick spin of the “New Products” carousel will show you more melons, more peppers, more heirloom tomatoes, more southern peas, more eggs, and generally more of every summer item than we’ve ever offered before. There are 257 products in all, which makes me so very happy to see!

We welcome two new growers, both located in Clarke County, to Locally Grown this week. The first, Feed and Seed Organic, actually slipped in right at the deadline last week. Wyatt Nicholson grows a nice variety of heirloom vegetables (using the same source I do, Seed Savers Exchange) in his kitchen garden, and has extras to share with you. The second, Canoe Lake Farm has a few dozen eggs from their free-range hens to add to our selection. Like many of our growers, these two show that you don’t have to operate a large typical American industrial farm to help feed your community. Locally Grown is far from being Athens’ food source, but little bits from every organic garden in the area can go a long way.

The fourth in our series of “Farmer For A Day” tours is this Saturday, hosted by Cedar Grove Farm in Stephens. I believe there may be a few lots left, so if you would like to attend and haven’t yet made reservations, add them to your order this week. You’ll find them in the “Event Reservations” category. We still have one more tour on the schedule, when McMullan Family Farm hosts us in September.

Thanks for letting me know of your interest in the possibility of offering freshly caught Georgia shrimp. Dan Miller still has some regulatory hoops to jump through, but things do look promising. He went out on the boat this past Friday, and generously brought back some he personally pulled out of the nets to sample. They truly were fantastic, and I’ll do what I can to facilitate his offering them through Locally Grown when he’s able.

This email is already plenty long, but I did say I’d share my tomato canning recipe with you this week, as now is the time to start putting them away for the winter. I use this recipe to very, very simply make a ready-made pint of tomato sauce. In a pint canning jar, drop in two to four cloves of peeled garlic. Add a few basil leaves. Take roma tomatoes, dunk them in boiling water for 15 seconds and then dunk them in ice water. Their skins will crack and then slip right off. Pack three or four whole romas in the pint jar. Add a few more basil leaves, and then a squirt of lemon juice. You should have liquid in the jar up to about a half inch from the top. Put on the lids, and process in a hot water bath (no pressure canner required!). When it comes time to use, just heat up the contents (in the jar in the microwave is fine) and mash with a fork. Instant sauce, perfect for a single meal. I make 25 or so of these in the summer, and that’s enough to last me to the next summer. It takes a single afternoon to make that many. If I remember, I’ll bring some Thursday for you to see. It really is very, very easy, and it’s a great way to have the taste of the peak of the season tomatoes all winter long.

Thanks for all your support of your local growers! We’ll see you on Thursday from 4:30pm to 8pm at Gosford Wine.