The Weblog
Athens Locally Grown has closed.
ALG Market Open for June 23
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
There’s not much new to report this week. The summer fruits are really starting to come in, from blueberries to blackberries to tomatoes. The veggies are coming along, too. Looks like it’s going to be a scorcher this week, which despite the wonderfully cool weather this weekend will likely finish off most of the tender leafy greens. I think a few growers have lettuce in shade or under cloth, so we shouldn’t have to give up on salads altogether yet.
Thanks so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Upcoming Events
Georgia Mountain Farm Tour
The 5th annual tour will take place Saturday & Sunday, June 25 & 26, 2016. With more than a dozen farms and multiple farmtotable restaurants to choose from on the tour, guests can customize their experience by picking the locations they want to visit each day. From pastured animals and historical landmarks to hayrides and honey extracting, everyone will find something that interests them. Passes are only $35 per car ($30 if purchased by June 15!) This is a fun event for families, farmers, backyard gardeners, and local food lovers. Proceeds support the projects of Georgia Mountains Farmers Network. For all the details and to order passes, visit EatWellBuyLocal.org
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org. Washington, GA also has a lovely little Saturday market, running from 9-1. You can learn all about them here: www.washingtonfarmersmkt.com. If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest, and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for June 16
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
I love how what we have accomplished here in Athens has inspired others far and wide to better the food systems in their own communities. Athens Locally Grown was the world’s first internet farmers market when we started back in 2002, and now there are hundreds. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the most impressive groups is right next door.
Several years ago, a small group of ALG growers and customers who had been driving to Athens each week from Clayton and other pints north formed their own online market, Northeast Georgia Locally Grown. They now have a thriving network of growers and pickup in three towns. There was a really nice article about how they’ve made eating healthily easier for NE Georgians today in the Gainesville Times, and you can read it here: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/m/section/199/article/117423/.
One of the events they organize every year is the Georgia Mountain Farm Tour. The 5th annual tour will take place Saturday & Sunday, June 25 & 26, 2016. “With more than a dozen farms and multiple farmtotable restaurants to choose from on the tour, guests can customize their experience by picking the locations they want to visit each day. From pastured animals and historical landmarks to hayrides and honey extracting, everyone will find something that interests them. Passes are only $35 per car ($30 if purchased by June 15!) This is a fun event for families, farmers, backyard gardeners, and local food lovers. Proceeds support the projects of Georgia Mountains Farmers Network. For all the details and to order passes, visit EatWellBuyLocal.org”
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org. Washington, GA also has a lovely little Saturday market, running from 9-1. You can learn all about them here: www.washingtonfarmersmkt.com. If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for June 9
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
The town has slowed to a crawl, and it seems like my Facebook feed is a non-stop slideshow of photos of people on vacation. I’m still here, working, tending my garden, and enjoying everything going just a little bit slower than it had been. If you’re still in town, I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!
Tink over at Tink’s Grassfed Beef let me know about a dinner and class coming up, featuring her beef on June 25th. It’s going to be held at Southern Scratch, in Washington, and taught by Kathryn there. Long-time ALG members might remember Kathryn and her wonderful items when she was just starting out, and her food has only gotten better since then. Appetizers start at 6:30, Class starts at 7:00pm. The cost is $80/person or $150/couple. “Come learn how to purchase and prepare grass fed beef. Tink Wade will be our special guest discussing which cuts to use for what as well as preparation and cooking techniques for a meal that your guests will swoon over. Class includes a 5 course meal, recipes and the opportunity to purchase meat. Classes are BYOB and the full menu will be sent to you ahead of the class so that you can pair your favorite wine or beer. Space is limited. Sign up by emailing scratchbaking@gmail.com or come by the shop.”
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for June 2
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
It’s a holiday Monday, where we remember those fallen in our wars. It’s also the symbolic beginning of summer, marked with cookouts and other outdoor activities. If you’re out there, grilling your locally grown burgers and veggies, please remember those who have left us.
There’s not much new to report this week. Summer veggies are really starting to come in now, and the recent rains and cool nights might keep the spring items around a little longer. We’re at the change of the season now, and everything is very weather dependent. Just a little too much heat will end the spring items, and just not enough sun will keep the summer goodies from ripening. The last few days have been on the hot and dry side and the spring crops will begin struggling if that keeps up, but that can all change day to day.
We’ve running low on our supply of salmon from Doug’s Wild Alaskan Salmon. Doug and his family are now on their boats, catching fish while the summer weather makes it possible for them to do so. We may not get a fresh supply until the boats get put back in the dock at the end of August, so what we have listed will have to do us for a while. Now’s the time to stock your freezer if you don’t want to go without this summer.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for May 26
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
Now that the schools have finished for the year, Athens officially kicks into slow gear this week. The place doesn’t quite turn into the ghost town I remember in the ‘90s when I moved here, but there’s definitely a change of pace. At the beginning of this week, I was lamenting that the summer heat meant the impending end of strawberries, spinach, and asparagus, while at the same time looking forward to the impending arrival of heirloom tomatoes, squash, and lazy afternoons at the pool. Yet by midweek, as I was trying to remember where I’d packed away all my jackets, the weather reminded me that its still spring and I shouldn’t count my tomatoes before they ripen. Here’s hoping for even more cool rain before the summer heat really sets in for good!
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for May 19
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
It’s a week or transitions, what with UGA done for the semester (and Maymester starting up) and the public schools on their last week of the year. With sudden changes in schedules and routine, it’s also a week that more people that usual tend to forget to pick up their orders. It’s a good time to check the phone number on your account, over on the Your Account page, to make sure that it’s current and preferably a cell phone. I start calling people who haven’t arrived at 7:30 — we are open until 8 — and every week there are folks I reach who completely forgot it was Thursday. There are also usually people I’m not able to reach at all, because I have a number for a home phone or they don’t answer and don’t have voice mail set up, and 8 o’clock rolls around and their food is still sitting there. When that happens I have to give the food away and charge them anyway, because the growers deserve to get paid. I’d much rather you get the food you order, even if we have to work out an an arrangement when I reach you with the reminder call.
I don’t have any other news this week, so I’ll let you get right to ordering. Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for May 12
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
A special hello to all the mothers out there this week! I hope your families treated you to something a little above and beyond this weekend.
This is by far the busiest time of the year for our farmers. They’re out working in the fields weeding and harvesting the delicate spring veggies, trying to protect them from the daytime heat. It’s a challenge to give them enough cool water and shade to keep the greens crisp during the day when it’s over 90 degrees in the afternoon. At the same time, they’re putting in all the seedlings and seeds necessary to maintain a steady supply of summer veggies for the months ahead. They’re preparing beds, thinning seeds, watching over starts in the greenhouse, doing their best to keep bugs off the new growth, and doing what they can to shelter them from the cool night air. While doing all this, they’re going to the many farmers markets that are all now up and running. Some of them attend three or four markets a week, including ALG. Some of them even more. Wherever you might bump into your local farmers, please give them a thank you fore all their hard work, especially this time of year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the best thank yous come in the form of a cup of coffee.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and Wednesdays from 11am-2pm in the atrium at St. Mary’s Hospital. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for May 5
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
Mother’s Day is already coming up next weekend, and if it’s flowers and plants you’re looking for, I think we’ve got you covered. There are flower bouquets, annual flowering plants, container plants ready to go into the ground or your pots, and more are available from of growers this week. There are generally a number of plant sales hosted by local organizations around town this week. I haven’t gotten any details on any this year, but keep your eyes open for signs pointing the way to one.
It was a great week for local arts and crafts, food businesses, and our independent book store. Lots of events came together this weekend, what with the Human Rights Festival, the Indie South Artisan Fair, and activities over at Avid Books on Prince. Yeah, the rain came down hard at times, but my household had a great time anyway, eating from the food trucks, talking to the artisans, playing some games, and bringing some art home with us. It’s always ridiculously easy to find locally made things in this town, but I enjoy it even more when there are festivals that bring it all together in one place.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and their farm stand is open Tuesday afternoons. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for April 28
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
I got to spend some quality time out in the garden this past weekend. Last year I moved to a fairly quiet apartment complex on the west side of town, and had planned on putting in a little container garden on the back of my small patio, which is an easy way to grow a surprisingly large amount of veggies when you don’t have any land to grow in. However, I discovered a little treasure in my neighborhood — a community garden built in 2011 by volunteers with the Athens Land Trust. The garden had fallen into disuse for some reason, but I decided to take it under my wing and bring it back. There were ten raised beds, all overgrown. I planted four of them (one of which contained perennial herbs that I gave space to grow) and kept watch over them, and let anyone who wanted to share the harvest with me have what they could use. I didn’t keep track, but a lot of food went into the kitchens here. This year, some other people have joined me by adopting beds of their own, and I look forward to seeing what we can all do together.
There are a number of community gardens around town, though I suspect more than just mine have fallen into disuse. Like any project that runs on volunteers, the amount of gardening getting done will ebb and flow with the hands available. If you’d like to get involved in bringing and maintaining public gardens for Athens communities, I’m sure the Athens Land Trust and the Community Garden Network would love to hear from you. They have a website where you can find out more: http://www.athenslandtrust.org/community-agriculture/community-garden-network. They have descriptions and other information about some of their current active gardens.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market from the Athens Land Trust is open Saturday mornings and their farm stand is open Tuesday afternoons. They have a website too. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!
ALG Market Open for April 21
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
I’ve gone through all my notes, and don’t really have anything to include for this week’s email. I can’t even complain about the weather, and looking back through the history, that’s the bulk of what I write about during the spring. The days have been beautiful, and that’s keeping our growers as busy as the bees that are racing to find all the wildflowers. So, with nothing more to say, I’ll just let you get right on to ordering from this week’s bounty.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, 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!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market opens this coming Saturday. You can find more information on their website. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open for the season on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. The Oconee County Farmers Market is open on Saturdays in Watkinsville. Their website is www.oconeefarmersmarket.org The other area markets are also all closed for the season, I believe. If you know of any markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!