Availability for October 4

There’s quite a few new items on the lists this week. Fall is certainly in the air, and we have radishes, greens, turnips, winter squash, and other goodies to go with it. The days are still warm and the nights aren’t quite cool enough to stop them, so we have more peppers, summer squash (lots of this available!), okra, herbs, and a few other remnants of summer. We’ve also got sweet potatoes and fresh peanuts!

We have two new growers with items this week. One is another grower of shiitake mushrooms, and they love this weather. The second is a baker (not a literal grower) with a line of wonderful cakes using organic and (when available) local ingredients.

For those of you with juicers, there is wheatgrass available, which makes one of the most healthy juices you can drink.

For you gardeners (tough as it is with these water restrictions), now is the time to plant your strawberry patches for next spring. Sunrise Organic Farm has a number of strawberry starts from South Georgia available so you can start a patch of your own.

There’s three festivals going on this coming Saturday competing for my attention. One is the Loch Hartwell Highland Games going on in Royston, and the McMillen half of my wants to be there. The North Georgia Folk Festival is going on in Sandy Creek Park in Athens, and that’s always worth going to. Finally, Georgia Organic’s Field of Greens event, celebrating local food and local music, is going on right down the road at Whippoorwill Farm in Covington. I haven’t decided which one I’ll go to, but whichever one, maybe I’ll see some of you there.

Finally, just one note about picking up your order. Last week we had seven no shows, which is a full 5% of the total orders placed. Every week, there are a couple people that have forgotten, and I try to call everyone who hasn’t arrived by 7:30 to remind them. I pay the growers on your behalf when they drop off their produce, so even if you don’t pick up your order I have to charge you for it anyway. Last week was especially bad because several of the orders left behind were placed early on Monday and had a number of items that other people wanted but we weren’t able to fill, and I hated to see those still sitting there at 8 o’clock.

One thing you can do is make sure the phone number associated with your account is your cell phone number (if you have one). Most the time when I call with reminders, I get either work voicemail or a home answering machine, and I know that person almost never gets the message in time. Also, if something come up and you know ahead of time you can’t make it, let me know. At the worst, I can offer your items for sale to other customers so you’re not left with the bill, and at the best we can make alternative arrangements for you to get your order.

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