Availability for September 13

A good number of us had a great time on Saturday out at Fancy Feather Farm in Bowman as we concluded our summer series of “Farmer For a Day” events. Fancy Feathers is one of the newest Locally Grown member farms (so new, in fact, that they don’t yet have anything listed), but they are also one of our most unique. It was great to meet the emus, ostriches, and rheas, as well as the many goats, chickens, ducks, and the miniature Sicilian donkey. Many hands made light work of the chores in the morning, and a lengthy tour was conducted after lunch. It was a great end to the series, but the success this year has convinced us this needs to be a yearly thing, so we’ll have more lined up during next year’s growing season.

There is one more event on the calendar for this year. My own farm will host the first Athens Locally Grown Hunter’s Moon Feast on October 27 (and into October 28th if the feasters wish). Details are still being fleshed out, but you can learn more and make reservations with your order. Look in the “Event Reservations” category for the listing.

We also welcome three new growers this week. Well, only one is really a grower, but that’s what we call everyone who sells through the market. Roots Farm has listed a number of items with us this week. The property Roots Farm sits on was up until a few years ago Beaver Farm (and was one of the founding farms of Athens Locally Grown). Farm owner Paul Chew sold the farm and moved away, and it re-opened for business this year under the Roots Farm name. They has a subscription-only CSA over the summer, but decided to join Locally Grown for the fall rather than do another subscription season.

Also listing products this week is Verdae Skin Therapy (soaps and lotions made for, but not limited to, expectant mothers) and Mertie’s Oven (three types of natural granola). Just last week someone at market asked me if I knew a source for local granola. Well, I do now!

You’ll also find a wide variety of other products on the website. The fall veggies are not here yet (though they soon will be), but there is particularly a good selection of okra, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes, as well as many other items.

I spent part of today making food for my lunches for the week. First was a big batch of baba ghanouj, a puree of roasted eggplant, garlic, tahini (sesame paste) and lemon juice. This is a great way to use up a lot of eggplant in a hurry—five large ones went into my recipe. I also made a bunch of chile rellenos, chile peppers stuffed with lamb and cheese and dipped in a fluffy egg batter and pan fried (and not at all what passes for rellenos at Athens’ Mexican restaurants). Three orders of Backyard Harvest’s poblano peppers went into that, and all of the rest of the ingredients also came through Locally Grown. I really need to finish the website’s recipe functionality, now that I mention it.

September is Eat Local Month, and there are a lot of resources available to help you make the most of your local foods. You’ve already taken the biggest step just by patronizing your local growers, but if you’re looking for more inspiration, www.eatlocalchallenge.com is a great place to start.

That’s probably by far enough to write for this week. We all thank you for all of the support you’ve given your local growers this year. We’ll see you on Thursday, from 4:30pm to 8pm, at Gosford Wine!