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

For me, today was the first day where it really truly felt like Fall was here. I know we’ll be getting some more hot days, but the average first frost for much of our area is only five or six weeks away, which will be here before we know it.

The growers are also welcoming the cooler air, as it helps the fall veggies they’ve been planting know that it really is ok to start growing and leafing out. In the meanwhile, they’re nurturing in the summer plants so they can keep harvesting right up until that frost comes.

Many of our growers extend the season with high tunnels, hoop houses, and greenhouses. This lets them keep the summer crops going for a few weeks or even all year ’round. Even a small greenhouse hybrid tomato grown locally and picked when ripe tastes better than a tropically-grown tomato shipped here while still rock hard. Eating seasonally is important, but using a little bit of know-how to extend the seasons enough to get us a few luxuries is pretty nice too.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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 new school year brings many new people to Athens, and many new people to Athens Locally Grown, so I thought this week I’d give a brief primer on how ALG works. Those of you who have been with us during these last fourteen years probably already know all this, but I’ll try to keep it interesting for you too. In January, I’ll spend several weeks going into much more detail about all this.

First off, ALG is best thought of like a traditional farmers market, because except for the lack of tents and tables, that’s very much how we operate. The growers are putting their own items up for sale directly to you, at prices and quantities they have set. The market volunteers and I are here to make sure it all happens smoothly, but the growers are selling their products directly to you. Growers do have to apply to sell through the market, and I personally approve each of them before they list their products. Here’s a summary of the standards we have set:

• All growers must use sustainable practices and never use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
• All growers can only sell what they themselves have grown
• All growers must be from the greater Athens area. Right now, this means within about 75 miles
• All animals raised for meat or eggs must be pastured
• Handicrafts must be made primarily from items produced or gathered on the farm
• Prepared foods must use organic ingredients if at all possible, and locally grown ingredients if at all possible
• All proper licenses, when required by law, must be obtained
• All growers must first participate in the market for a few weeks as customers, so they can clearly see how it all works

When I’ve turned down requests to sell through ALG (and I have turned down many), the items clearly broke one or more of those standards. There are a few edge cases that I take on a case by case basis, such as coffee. In cases like that, we set the standards as strict as we can. With coffee, for example, the beans must be sustainably grown, they must be roasted locally, and the roaster must have a direct business relationship with the farm that grew the beans.

So, the growers list their available products and set their prices. For most all of the products, they do this before they’ve harvested the items, so they have to estimate how much they will actually have. They’ve gotten pretty good at this guess, but it is a guess, and the unpredictable nature of farming means they may have far less than they thought (thanks to deer, a hail storm, etc.) or they may have far more than they thought (a nice rain can double the growth of lettuce overnight, for example). Most of them are conservative with their estimates, and so they let you continue to order even if they’ve already sold more than they guessed they’d have. That’s why popular items may have a quantity in the negatives when you look at the listings. The system will still let you order on the chance that they’ll actually have enough, but you’ll get warnings along the way that you’re taking a gamble.

I do not collect items from the farms, and do not know myself until Thursday afternoon what the growers were able to harvest and bring in to town. The growers do have each other’s contact information, so if one grower is short and another has a surplus, they may arrange with each other to get all the orders filled, but in general, if a grower cannot fill an order for something, they’ll remove that ordered item and you’ll see a comment on your invoice indicating that. Since I’m not a middle-man, I can’t arrange for substitutions myself.

When the growers bring in the items you ordered on Thursday afternoon, packaged and labelled with your name, I pay them on your behalf out of our shared cash box during the hour before we open the market for their sales from the previous week. Then, you arrive and pay into the cashbox for your order this week. We deposit the money you pay (via cash, check, or credit) into our bank account so it will be there when we write checks as the cycle begins anew. As explained elsewhere on the website, you are really ordering directly from and paying the growers yourself, but our shared cashbox system makes things convenient for you and them. (Imagine if you ordered from ten growers having to write ten checks when you picked up your items!) This shared cashbox system does mean that if you place an order and then never arrive to pick it up, we’re left holding the bag. For that reason, you are responsible for paying for orders not picked up, and that amount is automatically added on to your next order for your convenience. We do accept credit card payments on the website, and many customers take advantage of that and skip the pay table. The cards don’t actually get charged until after pickups on Thursday, so your charge will reflect any adjustments that had to get made along the way.

For a number of legal reasons, ALG never takes possession of your ordered items. We don’t buy them from the growers and resell them to you, nor do we repackage them in any way. The growers drop off your items for you, and you arrive and pick them up. The market volunteers facilitate that happening. Because of the need to maintain that separation, we cannot deliver, nor can we generally hold your items later than 8pm on Thursday if you fail to come pick them up. We start calling those who haven’t arrived by 7:30, and quite often we just get answering machines and voice mail. Anything still at our pickup location at 8pm will get divided up among those there at the time, primarily our volunteers, and then we finish loading up the truck and leave. There are some things you can do to insure you won’t get charged for things you didn’t come get:

1. If you know prior to Tuesday at 8pm that you won’t be able to come get your order or send someone in your place, send me an email and I will cancel your order.
2. If you find out later that you can’t come, send me an email. So long as I know before market begins, I can put the things you ordered on the “extras” table, and your fellow customers will almost certainly buy them for you.
3. If you discover Thursday while we’re at market that you can’t arrive, give me a call at 706-248-1860. I’ll put your items on the “extras” table, and if they sell, you’ll be off the hook.
4. If you have a cell phone, make sure that number is the number on your account. You can go to the “Your Account” page on the website to be sure. If you’re out and about and I get your home phone or your work phone, no one gets helped.

Some weeks there is a sizable pile of things up for grabs at 8pm. If you’re in the area and want to do a little extra shopping, swing by at about ten til (or wait until then to come get your own order). There may be things for sale you want, and you can save a fellow customer a charge to their account. Our volunteer workers get to split things up as a benefit of working, but paying customers do come first. And it usually seems there are several things sitting there that were in high demand that week.

Finally, ours is a paperless system, so we do not have paper receipts for you when you pick up your order. An electronic receipt is generated, though, and can be found on the website. Go to the “Your Account” page, view your order history, and you’ll see an invoice for each order. By 2pm on Thursday, it will show what we expect to have for you that evening. After we fill your order, it will show exactly what we packed for you, and what, if anything, was missing. You can view that at any time, even years from now. If we didn’t get you something we should have, or if anything you got was of unacceptable quality, please contact me ASAP. I’ll share the problem with the grower so we can insure it won’t happen again. If you’re logged into the site, most of the growers have their contact info on their profile page (off the “Our Growers” page), so you can contact them directly if you choose.

So, that’s ALG in a nutshell. If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or even complements, please send them my way!

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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

Welcome to September! If you’re one of the 97% of people in town affected by the start of the school year, I hope it’s been a smooth transition for you. Game days are already upon us, too, so the sleepy summer town of Athens has truly been replaced with the bustling city of Athens.

Thinking of all the growth of both the town and the university in recent years, I want to shine a light on one of the unequivocally great areas of growth: UGA’s sustainable agriculture program. It didn’t even exist a few years ago, and already it’s become one of the premier programs of its kind in the country. Not only are students getting immersed in it full time, but the program also offers workshops and classes for new and long-time growers alike, all across the state. Looking at the calendar of events here: http://sustainagga.org/news.html, I see workshops of small ponds, livestock management, attracting honeybees and other pollinators to your garden, growing cover crops, and field trips to working sustainable farms. All of these are open to the public, and you can find details and registration links there on the calendar.

They also offer a journeyman training program for interested beginning growers, even those who (as I did) want to start part time. They have a whole section of information and links elsewhere for people interested in small farms and other small food producing operations, located here: http://sustainagga.org/SmallFarms.html. That page is one of the most comprehensive resources for beginners I’ve seen anywhere, and I wish I had something like that when I was transitioning my large garden to a market microfarm fifteen years ago.

It’s wonderful to see so much progress in the program in so little time, especially since the university (and Georgia agriculture in general) had such a reputation for being anti-organic for so long. The overall emphasis is still overwhelmingly in favor of industrial agriculture, but no longer exclusively. And it’ll only get better from here.

One last thing this week: several weeks ago, a fellow came up to me on Thursday with a question about payment for a previous week’s order. If that was you, I didn’t catch your name, and so haven’t been able to look things up for you and track down an answer. Can you reply to this email and let me know what name your account is under? Thank you!

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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

We’ve reached that part of the season I warned about a few weeks ago, where the heat and humidity have taken their toll on the plants and they just stop producing for a while. The end of August is a pretty miserable time to be a veggie grower. All of the weeds seem to soak of the heat and grow faster than you can pull them (especially the grasses), and nothing you want to produce fruit will. On top of that, if you want to have a lush fall garden, you have to be starting seeds and getting transplants ready to get put out in the garden. They, however, tend to want cold, wet weather (most of what we plant in the fall are actually spring veggies, and they come to life expecting the end of winter, not full-on summer), and it takes a lot of trickery to get them established before they realize what’s really going on. It’s a lot of hot, sweaty work, and I know quite a few growers who just pack it all in during August and take their yearly break then. Northern growers might take the winters off, but down here, it makes a lot of sense to take the summer off instead.

Slowdown or not, there are still many, many items available from our growers this week. Quite often, the summer plants revive themselves in September and through October until the frosts arrive, so we don’t have to say goodbye to them quite yet. And soon the fall produce will arrive! We’re already seeing a preview of that from growers a bit north of Athens with cooler micro-climates, such as the asparagus from Green Acres.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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

One of the things I love most about our maturing local food system around Athens is all of the small food businesses that have popped up that use the great food our farmers grow. The most visible are the many restaurants that Athens is getting known for, but just as important to the system are the bakers and picklers and preservers and all the other people who create something ready to eat using locally grown ingredients.

ALG is lucky to have several such vendors, and the recent enactment of Georgia’s “cottage food” laws means it’s easier than ever to put your talents in the kitchen to work for you. If you’re interested in doing this, there’s an upcoming workshop in Griffin, GA you might want to check out.

WHAT: Starting a New Food Business in Georgia
WHEN: October 6-7, 2015
WHERE: Room 174 of the Melton Building, UGA Campus at GRIFFIN, Georgia
DEADLINE TO REGISTER: Thursday, September 10, 2015
COST: $150 per person
REGISTER ONLINE with a credit card at https://estore.uga.edu/C27063_ustores/web/store_cat.jsp?STOREID=42&CATID=205

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 40 PARTICIPANTS, so register early!
Comments from past attendees: Informative, organized, planned, full of resources, networking. Enjoyed the interaction with the speakers & the attendees, the frank discussions & valuable advice.
The program will answer: Should I produce my product myself or have a co-packer do it? What federal and state food safety regulations will I have to meet? How do I get started?

This workshop will address many of the concerns of the food entrepreneur just getting started. The course will include presentations by Extension faculty from the UGA Department of Food Science & Technology in Athens, the Food Product Innovation and Commercialization (FoodPIC) Center in Griffin, representatives from the Georgia Department of Agriculture and FDA, and others.

Topics of concern to the food product entrepreneur, may include: Food safety and sanitation, Getting your label reviewed, Meeting GDA and FDA regulations, Record keeping and product traceback, Choosing a co-packer or shared kitchen. The program will conclude with product show & tell by attendees, and a panel discussion with experts and faculty answering your questions about the challenges in starting, running, and growing a food business in Georgia.

LODGING: Participants are responsible for their own lodging. A block of rooms at the Quality Inn & Suites, 2014 North Expressway, Griffin, GA 30223, will be available until Friday, Sept. 10, 2015. The room rate is $72.99 plus tax for either single or double room. Do NOT make your hotel reservation online for this workshop! Call 1-770-229-6001 and mention the “Starting a New Food Business” group to get the discount rate.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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 the first day of school Tuesday for Athens schools, so I’ve been running around town getting everything ready for my girls. I’ve got one starting junior high and the other starting kindergarten, so you can just imagine the excitement levels around here. I know there’s a few of you who remember me as a newly wed farmer when ALG began back in 2002, so maybe I’m not the only one shocked that I’ve got a junior high student in the house.

Back to school means it’s also the time of year where we welcome back everyone who left town for the summer and give a big hello to all the new Athenians living here for the first time. With all the hustle and bustle of back-to-school and new routines, it’s easy to forget things like picking up your ALG order. Remember that we can’t keep your items past 8pm, and we’ll try contacting you any way we know how to make sure you get what you ordered. Now’s a great time to check the phone number on your account to make sure it’s a number I can reach you at 7:30 on a Thursday. I start calling everyone who hasn’t picked up yet then, and will keep trying to reach you until 8pm, when we have to pack it all up. I hate seeing people’s food go somewhere else, and having a good phone number on your account is the best way to keep that from happening.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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

We’ve reached that busy part of the year, when the slowness of summer turns over to the hustle and bustle of another school year and the gardens go into overdrive producing more than most people can handle. Often, late in August, it gets so hot here that everything pauses (flowers can’t set fruit when it’s really hot for too long), but for now all the squash, all the tomatoes, all the corn, the okra, and so forth of going gangbusters. If you’ve never tried preserving the summer harvest, now is a great time to learn. Former ALG member Liana Krissoff (like so many in this college town, she moved off to another city a few years ago) has an easy to find wonderful book, “Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry”, that is both a great introduction and a valuable resource of more seasoned folks. Equipment is easy to come by, and there’s little impediment to getting started.

One thing that can be hard to find when all the produce is coming in at once is kitchen space. Athens has an answer for that problem, too. Jennie Phillips-De la Vega, owner of Mama Bird’s Shared Kitchen (where she makes her popular granola), located downtown, always welcomes new kitchen clients. I’ve rented a commercial kitchen for a few hours at a time in years past when I had lots of harvest to put away at once, and it’s amazing how much difference all that space can make. The fees I’ve paid have always been totally worth it. She has a website with all the information you need about her kitchen, including her contact info, here: www.mamabirdssharedkitchen.com.

Myself, I’ve got ten pounds of green beans sitting here ready to go into jars. I was hoping to get to it tonight, but it’s late and they can wait one more day.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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

When August draws near, I usually issue a warning that nearly all of the favorite summer veggies are about to be in short supply. Once it gets really hot for long stretches, many plants just shut down flower production, and without flowers, there are no fruit. So, when the hot still days of August roll around there is often a sudden decline in tomatoes, beans, squash, peppers, and pretty much everything but okra. This year, though, we might be ok. It’s been plenty hot, but there’s been just enough rain to keep things from getting too dry. We’ll be pushing 100 degrees again this week, but the forecast also calls for scattered showers pretty much every day. If we stay lucky and the trend holds for a few more weeks, the bounty we have now just might be with us right into fall.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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 spent the last few days suddenly scrambling after it hit me that summer was almost over and the new school year was almost upon us. I’ve got two girls in school, but even if I didn’t this community is based far more on the academic year than the calendar one. Even though we’ve had the hottest few days of the summer this week, it’s time for me to start thinking about cool season school uniforms, waiting outside for the busses, and trying to keep packed lunches hot.

The new school year brings new people to town, and new ALG customers. Welcome, all of you! I’ve seen quite a few new faces these past few weeks. If you ever have any questions about how our market operates, please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email or talk with me during Thursday pickups. The new year also changes existing household routines, so it’s easy to forget it’s Thursday and you’ve got an order waiting for you at Ben’s Bikes. I do make phone calls to everyone who hasn’t arrived by 7:30, and every week catch at least one person who has completely forgotten. I also get a lot of home phone answering machines, though, so now’s a good time to make sure you’ve got a mobile number on your account if you have one. You can change your contact info and several other account details on the Your Account page of the website.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!

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

Hello, all! I just rolled into town late tonight after being away all week pre-occupied with family. I haven’t seen any news for the coming week you should be aware of, but I haven’t gone through all my messages yet. I’ll go ahead and open the market for you, and if I find anything, I’ll be sure to send you an update.

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!

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. A new Athens Sunday market has opened up at the Classic Center, every Sunday from 11 to 4 now through October. They have a website here: http://www.sundaycentermarket.com. The Comer Farmers Market is open in downtown Comer on Saturday mornings. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville. The Shields Ethridge Cultivator Market is held monthly in Jefferson. 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!