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.
Falls Park Farmers Market: Online or in Person, We're open for the 4th!
Happy 4th of July week! The online market is open and we have our usual line up of vendors bringing you the best in locally produced goods again this week.
Whether placing an order online, or planning to stop out and visit us in person, the market is open this holiday weekend and we look forward to spending some of our time with you!
Thank you for shopping local and supporting us by finding us online every week!
Athens Locally Grown: ALG Market Open for July 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
Somehow it’s July already. So many things have come unmoored during this pandemic, and for me the sense of time is one of them. Strange as it may feel, the days are getting shorter from here on out. It’s just about perfect growing weather out there, and our farmers have plenty of produce to go around.
Last week’s Thursday pickup went the smoothest it’s gone since the before times. I’m still not sure if this will be our permanent home, as there are still quite a few unresolved questions hidden on the back end, but for now things are working out quite well. We learned some lessons the first week we were there, made some adjustments in our organization, and things couldn’t have gone any smoother. The forecast right now looks like rain for Thursday, so maybe we’ll see how well the new system holds up in the weather. I still have nightmares about the first week we were at the Y and the awful thunderstorms that rolled through, but I think we can handle those just fine now.
We do still need some more people in the back filling bags, and another couple sets of hands will make a huge difference keeping things sustainable. If you’d like to give up five hours of your Thursday (3pm – 8pm) helping growers unload and then filling bags with food, please let me know. Volunteers do get a food credit every week they work, and the labor can be a bit demanding of late. If you’ve told me before you’d like to help, let me know again. Things change so quickly these days, I probably shouldn’t assume that what was true six weeks ago is still true now.
That’s about all I have, so I’ll let you get right to ordering. We’re getting new customers every week (and we love seeing new faces!) so 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 Comedian 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!
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!
Welcome Back to Farm Girl Meats! We’ve got CHICKEN on the market again, and a nice selection of Sausage (Country, Italian, or Maple), Bacon, and Ground Beef. We still have Fresh Peaches and Plums, lots of different little Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Fresh Lettuce. This is the LAST WEEK for ATU Agri’s Live Plants. It’s been so much fun seeing all the excitement over the flowering plants coming through the Depot this past month. I bet your yard is GORGEOUS!
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Check back frequently as our farmers regularly update what they have available.
Russellville Community Market
FRESH.LOCAL.ONLINE
Martin's Farmstand: Lots of berries for u-pick on Monday June 29
We are opening for u-pick strawberries tomorrow morning (Monday June 29) starting at 7 am. This is the later part of berry season There are so many thousands of ripe berries out in the patch that I do not expect to have the patch all picked till late in the day tomorrow but one never knows for sure how many people will come.
The picking pattern we are using is a random one to allow for the best possible social distancing. I do not care which patch you pick in or where you start even if it is smack in the middle somewhere. What I do care about is that you give other groups of pickers reasonable space and that wherever you start picking that you pick all the ripe berries that are in the section of row you work. A section of row needs to be either picked clean or it should not be picked at all. Roaming, grazing type picking is not OK. We will be keeping track of which parts of the patch have ripe berries and be helping incoming pickers find good spots throughout the day.
We did not finish the patch Saturday even though there was a near record amount of berries picked by many hundreds of pickers with people in the patch for the entire day. ( I badly underestimated the patch on Friday) As is normal for the second week of the season the berries are smaller than they are early in the season. There are still some green berries left; the season should last till the 4th of July before gleaning, but the question of how these later berries will size up is still open.
We had a lovely rain shower this afternoon. To give you an idea of how much this means look at these numbers. It gave 6/10 inch x 27,150 gallons per acre inch x 20 acres =325,800 gallons of precious water on a desperately thirsty garden. I hope this is the beginning of more!!
Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 7 AM; Wednesday, start 2 PM (no morning picking on Wednesdays); Saturday, start 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 6 PM.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart or gallon containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buying empties from us.(Quart boxes 25 cents each or $20 per hundred. Gallon buckets$2.50 each.)
As you walk out to the patch you will be expected to walk on the right side of the field roads. Same when you are returning. We will do our best to spread groups apart in the field. I expect family/friend groups to stay together as much as is reasonable to allow for social distancing where it matters. NO DOGS in the field or stand areas.
Pricing (u-pick) $3.50 per Quart; $24 for 8 quart tray and $10 for 4 liquid quart buckets, water pitchers, bowls and other similar sized containers. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts); By using volume rather than weight when it makes sense we can bypass the stand for most of the berries and reduce congestion. Daniel
Dawson Local Harvest: Shrimp, Pastured Beef & Chicken, & More for July 4th!
PREPARE FOR JULY 4TH WITH DAWSON HARVEST!
See Everything That’s Available and Place Your Order Now!
Wholesome Harvest Farm WV: Wholesome Harvest Farm online market is open!
We’re opening the market up for the week and we’ve got lots of tasty veggies waiting for you.
Orders need to be in by 10:00 AM on Tuesday, so make sure to order in time.
Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
Yalaha, FL: Testing out Summer Salad AND Preorder reminder for buy in products
I am taking Pre orders this week for the Buy In Stuff that I will be picking up Next Tuesday July 7th.
Milk is available, we pick up Wed so if you want some I need to know by Tuesday.
Summer time brings weather not conducive to growing lettuce, celery or kale. We still have a tiny bit of lettuce but it is about gone.
So I am trying out throwing together anything edible (including edible weeds) and salad like into a mix and calling it Wild Summer Mix – Cut Salad Mix
Basil Plants available. Lots of Basil available actually, it is a good time to make Pesto.
We have lots of Shoots and microgreens available this week.
If you want to place and order and pick up before the standard window, just let me know.
Standard Ordering window below.
Order now through 7 am Friday July 3rd for Sat July 4th Pickup, or tell me when you want to pick up, we usually have flexibility.
We Are Flexible, TELL ME if you want to make special arrangements for produce, I am open and willing especially now. I just need to know the day before so I can harvest anything that needs early morning handling and I like to know when to expect people to show up.
Remember to tell me when you want to pick up! (and if I don’t reply to confirm within a day, bump my e-mail or text me 407-342-8515. Though I have cleaned up my e-mail so hopefully I won’t Miss Anyone.)
Sign in to order. https://yalaha.locallygrown.net/market
You have to sign in to see the add to cart button. Then set the number and click the add to cart button on the items you want to buy (it is the little picture right next to the quantity box.) Remember you need to check out before your order will be placed.
Remember to let me know when you want to pick up on Sat or maybe even Friday late afternoon or on Sunday. (If I don’t send you an e-mail confirmation of your order and pick up time, please make sure you checked out and completed your order.)
Foothills Market: The Market is Open!
It’s starting to be hot, and June has been pretty dry, but our farmers on Foothills Market still have a bounty of fresh summer produce.
Browse our listings between now and Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., fill your cart and click the “Place your Order” button. We’ll have your order ready for pick-up on the east side of the Johnson County Courthouse square on Thursday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Be sure to also check back during the week, because our farmers may sometimes update their listings based on what is happening in their gardens.
Eat something fresh this week!
The Wednesday Market: Ordering Time is Here
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. See the website for this week’s product offerings. Here is the link: https://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market
My family and I had a busy week this week, so our humble little garden suffered. Joe and Charlie planted four tomato, two purple basil, two squash, and two cucumber plants in mid-April. Now we are being blessed with lots of veggies, and they need picking up almost every day. Well….this week happened. So when the guys went picking yesterday, they found some giant cucumbers. Huge. Now what? Yesterday I trolled the internet looking at recipes until I discovered one for relish that uses overgrown cukes. That’s our project for today. We’ll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, thank you for supporting Georgia Grown. I encourage you all to try your hand at “putting up” some of the bounty that the good earth offers. Have a happy Sunday, and we’ll see you at the Market!
Thanks,
Beverly
Magney Legacy Ridge Farm: CSA #18
Dear CSA-ers,
This week’s Preassembled Bag will contain Spring Mix, Red Mist Head Lettuce, Mixed Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Mixed Cucumbers, Beets, Cilantro and Chives. Orders may now be placed on the online market at: https://magneyfarm.locallygrown.net/market
CSA will be delivered as usual this week; however, the farm team will be taking July 4th off. Likewise, we will not be at the Murray, Paducah, or Grand Rivers’ Farmers’ Markets this coming Saturday (July 4). For those of you who visit us at markets, but have not placed an online order yet, this would be a good week to try out the service. We have worked really hard to build an online CSA with flexibility, value, and convenience. We do ask that you meet our $20 minimum order but invite you to compare what $24 of pizza delivery looks like versus $24 of Magney Legacy Ridge Farm Organic Vegetables. In our minds, it’s no contest!
This week was spent harvesting, training plants, and planning for Fall. Notably, we dug our garlic crop and stored it for the two week curing process it undergoes before coming to you. “Curing” is a method of drying just the right amount of moisture out of a vegetable so that it can be stored for longer periods of time at room temperature. If freshly harvested garlic is set on the kitchen counter without curing, it quickly goes bad. The bulbs are small this year but packed with flavor. Look for them on the CSA online market next week!
Our featured vegetable this week is the pepper! In the same family as tomatoes, peppers are an exclusively a summer season vegetable. It is still early in pepper production season so expect the peppers you receive this week to be green, crisp, and vegetal in flavor. Excluding a small planting of our pet favorite heirloom ‘Czech Black’ (a striking black-turning-red fang-like pepper with Jalapeno-like hotness) we grew only heatless sweet peppers this year. Those of you wary of heat can rest easy. All peppers eventually ripen to color and take on a different flavor. Expect colored peppers to appear later in the season, towards the end of July and August. Nevertheless, green sweet peppers still have excellent nutritional properties with high amounts of Vitamin C, fiber, and the electrolyte Potassium. We hope you enjoy them fresh on dipping trays, or in the myriad cooked dishes that feature them!
As always, we thank you for being a part of our CSA and extended farm team. By supporting our organic farm, you are supporting sustainable agriculture and the food security of Western Kentucky. We are ever grateful for this. Your patronage allows us to do what we love!
Sincerely,
The Magney Legacy Ridge Farm Team