News for the Week

I’ve mostly got my computer problems at home sorted out. It took getting a brand new computer to fix some of the trouble, and the rest just comes with living in a rural area without access to true broadband internet. But, things are better to the point that I can send you what I’d wanted to on Sunday.

First, now that the veggies are coming in, Thursday pickups are busier than ever. We’ll be tweaking out system to allow more orders filled at a time, but still our volunteers are working non-stop for hours to get everything filled. There’s a few things you can do to help the process. First, double check our work to make sure you get everything on your invoice. If we forget to give something to you and the item is labelled, I’ll know to give you a refund. A good number of things, though (meats, dairy, breads) have no label, so we don’t know who should have gotten it. Second, our growers are dropping everything off between 3:30 and 4:30. If they all arrive early, we can often get set up with time to spare, but more often than not, we’re all running around trying to get organized before we “open the doors” to you at 4:30. Please understand that if you arrive at 4pm and demand that we fill your order early, we probably won’t be able to help you (and indeed, we’re probably still waiting on produce to arrive). We’ll open early if we can, but our first priority will be to get organized so that the following three and a half hours go smoothly. Finally, I start making reminder phone calls to everyone who hasn’t arrived by 7:30. Lately, there have been so many that it takes my 20 minutes or more to make it through the list. If you have a cell phone number, make sure that you’ve listed it on your account (you can do so in the “Your Account” page of the site). I spend most of my calling time leaving messages on home answering machines and voice mail. Reaching a person speeds things up considerably.

We’re also expanding our volunteer workforce. We’ll be having five volunteers plus myself working each week. If you’d like to get on the list, please send me an email. I’ve got a core group that are working most weeks, but I’d like to get more trained up that can fill in from time to time. Volunteers get $50 credit for working about five hours.

Finally, I’m sad to say that I can see the day when Gosford Wine won’t work well any more. It’s already very crowded with customers, and we have veggies spread out over much of the back parking lot. I’d hate to leave, as both the place and the people there have been wonderful to us, and I’ll keep us there as long as I can. But if we keep growing at the rate we have been over the past year, we won’t make it through summer there. I’m not sure where we’d go—the ideal place would be indoors, with lots of room to spread out, and plenty of parking. The fellowship halls at those large churches on Prince Avenue come to mind, for instance. I’d like your input, though. Specifically, what changes would make you less likely to order from us?

Changing the subject, there are a couple events coming up you might be interested in. First is the Southern Seed Legacy’s Old Timey Seed Swap out by Crawford on April 26th. This event, organized by Locally Grown member Jim Veteto, draws people from all over the Southeast and features live music, barbeque, a tour of the heritage farm, the seed swap itself, and other activities. My first visit was last year, and I was nine years overdue. One highlight was an heirloom tomato grower from North Carolina who arrived with hundreds of tomato seedlings of many varieties I’d never heard of. He sold them for $1 each with all the proceeds going to the Southern Seed Legacy. All of the tomatoes out of our garden came from his plants. You can find more information, including a map to the farm, at the website linked above.

Second, the state Ag Department is holding a free egg candling school in Athens on May 20th. This free class is required for everyone who wants to sell eggs at retail. I know quite a few of you are thinking about or have gotten a small flock of backyard hens. Even if you’re not planning on selling your eggs, going through this class is a great way to learn about safe egg handling. If you’re interested, call Wayne Marks at 1-800-786-0175.

Finally, the new Athens Farmers Market has been officially announced. This will be held at Bishop Park on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm starting on May 17th, and will be limited to organic and sustainable growers—just like Athens Locally Grown. Many of the growers who sell at our market will also be at that one (but not the dairies, by federal law), so you’ll be able to shop at either one or both and be assured of getting local and sustainably grown food. This market will replace the one that has been held at Big City Bread the past seven or so years. I’ll have more details about the new market’s grand opening celebration as it gets closer.

That’s plenty of news for now. Thanks so much for all of your support, and we’ll see you on Thursday at Gosford Wine! Stay warm these few nights of winter!