The Weblog
This weblog contains LocallyGrown.net news and the weblog entries from all the markets currently using the system.
To visit the authoring market’s website, click on the market name located in the entry’s title.
Siloam Springs, AR: Online Market is Open!
siloamsprings.locallygrown.net
Apologies for a late opening! Have fun shopping and see you Satuday!
Champaign, OH: Girl From The North Country
So if you’re travelin’ in the north country fair,
where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
remember me to one who lives there.
(Bob Dylan)
Happy Monday morning, lovely market customers!! A perfect song that always makes me think of the fading September that takes us into the rest of the string of the ’ber months.
Just a note that I have put all products on vacation mode, this week, as I am busy adding new Cosmic delights, new soups for the season, and retiring a few other Cosmic favorites. I also will be busy, all week, with the last of the Hippie and the Farmer Pizza Farm Friday pizzas, which are many, to celebrate the closing of the season.
So, in my absence (but, you will still see my smiling face at pick up), take full advantage of all that the market has to offer!!
Have a lovely Monday, lovelies, and get your orders in before 8pm, tomorrow evening…
XOXO,
Cosmic Pam
Dawson Local Harvest: NEW PRODUCTS on DAWSON HARVEST!
NEW PRODUCTS including Longaevitas Pumpkin Spice Granola, Absolutely Apples no-sugar Applesauce, Caramel Apple Bread, and all the other local, all-natural Beef, Eggs, Chicken, Tomatoes and more!
The Market Is Open!
PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW!
Athens Locally Grown: ALG Market Open for October 1
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
October already? That’s… that’s crazy. But here we are. Looks like a beautiful week ahead of us, just right for both the summer veggies hanging on in the garden and the fall crops coming in. Hopefully we can get more like this right on to frost (preferably mixed with a bit more rain — but not on Thursdays)!
Here’s something I haven’t talked about in a while… despite all of our best efforts, sometimes the things you order don’t make it into your bags come Thursday. The growers try their best, but sometimes they aren’t able to fill orders for a variety of reasons. They almost always go into the system and remove the items they can’t fill by 2pm on Thursday, so by then you should be able to look at your order on the website and get a reasonable expectation of what we’ll have ready for you when you arrive. Even then, though, things can go wrong. A grower can leave a box at home, sitting on their kitchen counter, and when we go to fill your order, an item might be missing. We mark those items off on the spot, using our little hand-held devices. I’d like to tell you as I load your car, but that’s pretty impractical most of the time. And sometimes, we mess up ourselves filling your orders and think we put everything in your bag only to find an item with your name on it at the end of the night. In that case, we take it off your order and automatically issue a refund to your account if you’ve already paid.
In any case, if you pay with Venmo, you can see your order on the website to get the total. It should be accurate when you pick up your order. The majority of you are “pre-paying” these days, though, using cards online. It’s a bit of a misnomer because even though you placed your order on Monday or Tuesday, I don’t actually run the cards until the end of the night on Thursday, after all the orders have been finalized. That way, you’re never charged for items the growers took off, or didn’t bring, or that we left out of your box. You can see exactly what you were charged for, and what the status was for every item on your order, by looking at your order history on the Your Account page. There, you can see a PDF invoice for every order you have ever placed at ALG, a line-by-line accounting for every item, and the total you were charged (or paid in person).
And if you ever have any question, please don’t hesitate to ask them of me. Just reply to any email the system sends you, and it’ll come right to me.
We are still getting new customers every week (and we love seeing new masked faces!) so for all of you here’s a quick run-down on how Thursdays go:
- Don’t arrive at the beginning of your pickup window if you’ve got that flexibility. We fill the bags alphabetically (because it’s easier on us that way), but your arrival time or last name has no bearing on what items you get. The growers fill orders based solely on the time you placed your order, so that’s all been long decided by Thursday. Take your time getting there and that’ll naturally spread things out a bit. Flatten the curve, if you will.
- I’m bad with faces as it is, and masks make it even harder to recognize you and even hear you when you give your name. Many of you had papers with your name written in big letters we could read through the window, and that is wonderful. If you think to do that same, it’ll make things even smoother.
- The pickup loop does have a fair bit of room, but we don’t want you backing up into Tallassee. If you arrive faster than we can deliver orders, we may ask you to pull ahead into the loop and circle around. That may mean that some people who arrived after you may get their food before you, but as I said above, that doesn’t affect at all what items you get when things run short.
- We’ve still got three pickup windows, and it’s totally ok if you come later than the slot you chose. If you come early, odds are high that we haven’t filled your bags yet and we may ask you to come back. Tallassee is a pretty drive, and I recommend taking it to the county line and back, just for the scenery.
- We’re not accepting in-person payments unless absolutely necessary. We’ll have a drop box for checks or labelled envelopes of cash, but we greatly prefer Venmo payments to @athenslocallygrown or online payments through a card tied to your account. Venmo is free, and card payments have a 3% processing fee.
- We can not accept any recycling just yet, though that may change once we get settled.
- We cannot take your own bags or bins out of your car and fill them up
- If you’d like to go through your items before you leave to make sure you’ve got everything, or that we didn’t mix up people’s items, feel free to pull into the lot and have a look.
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 at our brand new home on Tallassee Road!
Other Area Farmers Markets
If ALG doesn’t have everything you need, please support our growers at the other markets that are now back up and running, or at their own locations. The Comerian takes online orders for Saturday pickup at the bakery here: https://www.thecomerian.com/online-ordering. The Athens Farmers Market is holding their Saturday market once again in Bishop Park. It’s not anything like it was before, so you’ll want to read up on all the changes on their website, http://athensfarmersmarket.net. The West Broad Farmers Market is back too, holding a drive through market just like us (and using my software too, so it’ll be nice and familiar). You can join them at https://wbfm.locallygrown.net. And of course Collective Harvest is going strong over at https://www.collectiveharvestathens.com.
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!
Falls Park Farmers Market: Welcome to October!
This week we will be entering our final month of market. We do have a bonus in that we have 5 weeks this month!
Thank you for continuing to support your local farmer’s market whether online or in person. Also, be on the lookout for details about what the online market will look like once market season is over.
CLG: Opening Bell: Lettuce, Potatoes, Honey, Tamales!
Hello friends!
Tamales!
Pork, chicken or jalapeño & cheese.
Five for $7. All same kind.
At market this Friday, October 3rd.
Text me your order.
501–339-1039
Our egg supply should be increased fairly soon. Tiffany at Drewry Orchard has a flock she is dedicating to our market.
Early shoppers on Friday found some really nice items on the extra table: kale, collards, cucumbers, banana peppers, eggs etc. This Fridayvwe expect to have several loaves of bread baked by Sandra at Hickory House. This sourdough bread is baked in an outdoor cob oven and it is amazing!
Be sure to SEARCH for your favorite items using the search field. For instance, type in the word “sale” or “pork” and see what pops up. We have almost 500 items available now!
Most items are listed by 6pm Sunday, but check back again before the market closes Tuesday night to see if any other items are ready to be harvested for you! Eat fresh! Eat local! Eat for better health!
And save your eggshells throughout the week for the laying hens! :-)
In accordance with the current guidelines, we will not have more than 10 people in the lobby at any time. We have four volunteers who can bring your order to your car if you prefer, just call or text 501-339-1039.
Come early on Friday for the best selection from the Extras table. See you Friday!
The market is now OPEN for orders. Click here to start shopping:*
https://conway.locallygrown.net/market
How to contact us:
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. Instead…
Phone or text: Steve – 501-339-1039
Email: Steve – [email protected]
Russellville Community Market: The Market Closes at 10 Tonight!
To ensure your order is placed, make sure you click the “Place My Order” button once you have completed your shopping. You will receive a confirmation email.
Orders will be ready for pick-up from 4PM – 8:00PM this Tuesday outside the Downtown Russellville Train Depot. Your order will be brought to your car in full-service fashion!
We have Black and Bronze Muscadines, Mushroom Tofu Burgers, Apple Butter, Fresh Bratwurst, Ground Beef, Mad Hatter Peppers, Long Island Cheese Pumpkins, Irish Cream Truffles, Lemon Drop or Lavender Bath Salts, and more!
Check back frequently as our farmers regularly update what they have available.
Russellville Community Market
FRESH.LOCAL.ONLINE
Foothills Market: The Market is Open!
Visit the market to get more information of what other additional products you can buy between now and 5 p.m. on Wednesday. We’ll have the order ready for pickup on Thursday 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce building.
Magney Legacy Ridge Farm: CSA #31
Dear CSA-ers,
This week’s preassembled bag will contain Arugula, Carrots, Muir Head Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Oregano, Parsley, and Mixed Eggplant. For those of you placing custom orders, you may do so between now and Tuesday evening on the website at: http://magneyfarm.locallygrown.net/market
This week brought cool, dry weather, but also our annual USDA Organic inspection, which occurred this past Friday. In order to maintain our status as a Certified Organic farm, we undergo a yearly inspection which includes an on-farm inspection by a third-party agency, and a tremendous amount of record review. Likewise, preparing for our Organic inspection occupied much of our time this week. We organized our receipts, input labels, seed labels, feed labels, planting maps, and did a lot of in-general tidying of the farm. The amount of documentation required for USDA Organic Certification can be truly stressful on-top of operating the farm itself. Nevertheless, the inspection went very well, and we are grateful to the systems we put in place for organization this year.
It seems appropriate to touch briefly on what “USDA Organic Certification” means this week. Fundamentally, USDA Organic is a standard for agricultural production maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture. Some of the conditions of this standard include forbidding the use of synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Additionally, the standard has conditions which aim to increase animal welfare, food safety, and the environmental sustainability of agricultural practices on farms bearing this label. There are people that ignorantly believe that “USDA Organic” is a meaningless label, but this could not be further from the truth. USDA Organic is meticulously defined and there are many practices common in conventional agriculture that we do not use in compliance with the standard. We sought out USDA Organic Certification because it is aligned with the way that we want to grow vegetables and raise animals. Though the standard is not a substitute for a sound environmental ethic, we hope it conveys some confidence to customers, that have not yet gotten to know us as the individuals behind the farm.
This week, we would like to highlight our eggs, a venture we have been working to expand since we first started listing eggs earlier this year. Our organically raised eggs are delicious and have been immensely popular to the point that it was quite competitive to get eggs when we were only producing 5 dozen a week. Since then, we have added more chickens, all of which travel about the back pasture, protected from predators in the safety of their mobile “chicken tractors.” Different heritage breeds result in eggs that range from hues of brown to olive, and sky blue. We feel these “Easter Eggs” make for a fun and beautiful carton. The chickens receive plenty of organic feed and fresh water daily, and often get fresh vegetable scraps from the other side of the farm. This diet makes for eggs that are rich in flavor and nutrition with dark yolks and strong shells. Over the next few weeks, the amount of eggs listed will be increasing as our current rotation of layers reaches maturity. We hope that this allows many of you who have been wanting eggs the opportunity to receive them. Please remember that these eggs have been washed, candled for defects, and refrigerated and need to stay refrigerated in your home. We have added the chicken meat and eggs on our 2020 Organic Certification and expect that they will be certified soon.
As always, we want to thank you for your support of our farm. Ultimately it is you, our community and customers who empower us to grow the farm. We are grateful for the opportunity you have given us to bring the benefits of Organic agriculture to Western Kentucky.
Sincerely,
The Magney Legacy Ridge Farm Team
The Wednesday Market: Please Order Today
Good afternoon.
The Wednesday Market is open for orders. Please place your order by 10 p.m. Monday. Orders are ready for pick up between 2 and 4 p.m. Wednesday. Check the website for this week’s product offerings. Here is the link: https://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market
Thank you for your support of Georgia Grown. We’ll see you this week at the Market.
Thanks,
Beverly