To Contact Us

Our Website: http://athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: http://facebook.com/athenslocallygrown

Recipes

Broiled Eggplant with Crunchy Parmesan Crust

This is such an easy way to make a crunchy-crusted eggplant appetizer that you may even feel guilty about the raves it receives. Top with tomato sauce for an extra layer of flavor. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables.

oil for greasing the baking sheet
mayonnaise
eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch slices
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Spread mayonnaise sparingly on both sides of each eggplant slice, then dip the slices in the grated Parmesan cheese, thoroughly coating both sides.
3. Arrange the slices in a single layer on the oiled baking sheet and place under the broiler until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the slices and broil until golden brown and crunchy on top and the eggplant is soft, about 3 minutes more

Coming Events

Farmer for a Day: August 7, Saturday, at Flatwoods Farm (Elbert County)

“USDA Certified Organic. We are located in the Flatwoods area of south Elbert County. One of the goals of local sustainable agriculture is to grow crops befitting the culture, the land and the nature of a given area. We specialize in growing organic fruits and vegetables that are best suited for the consumers, retail outlets, markets and restaurants of northeast Georgia and the surrounding area. We concentrate when possible on producing heirloom varieties and raise all our crops in the ground, no hydroponics or container produce.” There are slots still available for both our August and September Farmer for a Day events, and you can find more details on all of them on the Market page of the website, under the Event Reservations category.

Athens Locally Grown Hunter’s Moon Feast: October 23, Saturday, at Boann’s Banks (Royston, Franklin County)

“The October full moon has been known as the “Hunter’s Moon” for millennia, and was a time of feasting throughout the Northern hemisphere. We revive the notion here with a day of feasting at Boann’s Banks (the farm of Athens Locally Grown managers Chris and Eric Wagoner) on the banks of the Broad River outside Royston. It’ll be a low-key affair, without any farm work for you to do. Just good food and drink (Eric will prepare a variety of dishes using locally grown vegetables and locally raised meats, and perhaps brew an adult beverage. There’s also the possibility of home-brewed beer, and the likelihood of good live music. There’ll certainly be good company (all of you), and a river to splash in. There’s even some camping space, for those who really want to enjoy the moon. Come any time, but I’ll be aiming for 2pm to have the BBQ and other dishes ready. Stay as long as you’d like, even into Sunday. Nights are chilly, though, so bring a tent if you’re wanting to do that. There is no charge for Locally Grown members and their families. We do ask that you bring a dish to share, and if it’s made from Locally Grown ingredients, so much the better." You can make your reservations for the feast on the Market page of the website, under the Event Reservations category.

The Athens Farmers Market is held every Saturday morning at Bishop Park from 8am to noon and every Tuesday evening at Little Kings downtown. It’s a totally separate entity from Athens Locally Grown, but you’ll find many of the same growers at both. And of course, you can learn more about that market on their website.

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

Market News

First off this week I wanted to give you a heads up about the paperwork we’ve been printing out each week. I’ve been working over the past several months on an electronic system that our volunteers can use to fill orders so we wouldn’t have to print so much paper. During our last record week, back in early May, we printed almost 750 pages, all of which we sent straight to the recycling bin at the end of the day. We’ve been doing that week in, week out for years, and it added up to far more paper than I even want to think about. Not only did we print your invoices, which we used to pack the order, but we also had a condensed version of them all for the payment table and another report with much of the same information we used to check in the growers.

The folks at Ben’s Bikes let us use their internet service, so the first thing I did was add a grower check-in system to the website’s back end. Then, using some iPads that I borrowed (and one the market bought), we were able to get the payment table using the website as well. In the process, we were able to add a second cashier, eliminating our biggest bottleneck. We were donated some old iPhones to help us test filling the orders electronically, and that has worked really well. I found a great deal on some refurbished iPod Touches a couple days ago, so when those arrive we’ll be able to go 100% paperless. It’s a huge relief for me to get us to that point. I just hated to see all that paper going into the recycle bin every single week.

So, what does that mean for you? First of all, we won’t have a paper receipt for you take home with you. FEw of you asked for it, but I know for those of you who did it was very important. Those invoices have always been available to you on the website, and they will still be there. These are the exact same things we printed out Thursday afternoon. You’ll find them on the Your Account page of the site, under “Your Order History”. There, you’ll see you can generate an invoice for every order you’ve ever placed. The growers are adjusting orders throughout the week to account for things they couldn’t fill, but they are done by 2pm on Thursday. Any time after that, your invoice is pretty much final, and reflect what we expect you to get when you arrive that afternoon. You can view or print that any time you need to.

There are occasionally adjustments we need to make on the spot, however, so that’s the second thing. Since our volunteers will be filling your order electronically, and since the cashiers will be seeing that same information, we’re going to ask that you not pay until after you’ve received your items. That way, if we need to make any adjustments on the spot (usually either due to the grower accidentally leaving something out or us making a mistake getting the right items to the right people), the cashiers will already have that info on their screen when they give you your total. Paying first, then getting your items, and then making refunds/credits has been a bit confusing for everyone.

We’ll still have the paperwork for another week or two, but it will soon be a thing of the past.

The two week long “Taste Your Place” celebration of Athens’ thriving local food system organized by P.L.A.C.E. culminated yesterday with the awarding of the Athens Local Food Awards. The Athens Local Food Awards are an acknowledgement of those who are working hard to create a strong, accessible local food culture in Athens. The awards are presented in four categories.

The first award is the “Excellence on the Farm” Award. We love all the farms we have around Athens. But for this category we want to acknowledge the farms that go the extra mile by raising the standard of farms in our area, reaching out to individuals to teach them about farming, and/or developing innovative farming techniques or business models.

The 2010 Excellence on the Farm Award was presented to Backyard Harvest. Backyard Harvest has been providing Athens with sustainably grown produce on an 18 acre farm in Oglethrope County since 1995. Boo and Becky have over 25 years farming experience between them and have been mentors to many a local farmer. Anyone who knows local food in Athens knows Boo.

The second award is the “Excellence in Education” Award. All educators work hard balancing teaching requirements with the individual needs of their students. Below is a short list of educators who have caught out attention as seeing the need to get their students outside of the standard classroom environment to learn about protecting our natural world, serving our community, and growing food. If you know of an educator who should be on this list, please write in their name to cast a vote for them.

The 2010 Excellence in Education Award was presented to David Berle. Berle is a UGA Horticulturalist who brings a wealth of knowledge to his classroom from his experiences as a county extension agent, nursery grower, landscape contractor and horticulturist for both the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and the UGA Grounds Department.

The third award is the “Excellence in Business” Award. With the local food scene booming in Athens, a few local businesses have helped raised the awareness of local food and/or increased the availability of local food to the Athens community.

The 2010 Excellence in Business Award was presented to Daily Groceries Co-op. Open to all, this Athens staple helps shoppers looking to buy high-quality, organic groceries, produce, supplements and lots more since 1992. Daily tries to keep locally grown goods stocked when possible but always lets you know where their food is coming from.

The final award is the “Excellence in Advocacy” Award. Building a local food culture requires the dedication of many people working hard at many levels. The individuals below are a few of the early advocates and movers-and-shakers of Athens burgeoning local food scene.

The 2010 Excellence in Advocacy Award was presented to Hugh Acheson. Hugh cooks contemporary American soul food as executive chef at Five & Ten in Athens, Georgia. In 2004 he also opened Gosford Wine, and in August 2007 he added the National, a restaurant serving a Mediterranean menu. Hugh is one of the local food pioneers in Athens, supporting local farmers who showed up on his doorstep looking to sell produce and serving local food to his customer, before almost anyone else in Athens.

It is important to state that the Athens Local Food Awards are not a competition. There is no best farm, educator, business, or advocate. The vibrant local food scene that Athens enjoys today is due to countless people working on many levels over the course of many years. It is impossible to recognize everyone, but we feel that it is important to create a space where we can recognize a few outstanding individuals each year.

In other news, several of you noticed the return of raw milk to Athens Locally Grown last week. No, we haven’t yet won our lawsuit against the FDA. Gooneybush Dairy is an Athens (very) small goat dairy, licensed by the state of Georgia to sell raw milk for pet food. So, if your pets have been needing raw goat’s milk from a good, clean local source, you can now order that through Athens Locally Grown.

Due to some logistical conflicts, both Split Creek Farm and Mac’s Eggs will be going to an every-other-week schedule through the end of August. They are listing this week, so if you’re a regular customer of either farm, get two week’s worth now, because they’ll be unavailable again next week.

We’ve re-instated our regular “Meet the Grower” table during the Thursday pickups. This week Blackbriar Farm will be manning the table. Blackbriar sells an eclectic mix of products including dog treats, worm composting bins, fruitfly traps, firewood, and other products made or grown on their farm. While you’re waiting for us to fill your order, step up to the table and say hi!

Thanks so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown and everything we’ve tried to accomplish. With you’re help, we’ve been able to build something truly great and inspirational to people all across the country, more than you could know. Thank you also for your support of 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!