To Contact Us

Athens Locally Grown
athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown

Recipes

Cantaloupe and Tomato Salad with Mint

This salad is best with sweet heirloom tomatoes or the low-acid yellow tomatoes, but any very ripe tomato will do. It’s a superb accompaniment to any backyard barbeque. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables

Serves 4

1/2 small cantaloupe, balled or cut in 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
2 small tomatoes, cut into thin wedges (about 1 cup)
1/2 cucumber, peeled, diced (about 1 cup)
1 large rib celery, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the cantaloupe, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery in a large salad bowl.
2. Whisk the yogurt, mint, sherry vinegar, honey, and lemon juice in a small bowl.
3. Pour the dressing over the melon salad and toss until will combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste; garnish with mint leaves.

Market News

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! The weather was perfect for being outdoors, enjoying one another’s company, and celebrating our food independence by cooking a locally grown feast. This is truly the peak of our growing season, and the harvests this year have been worth celebrating.

Another of my favorite items (I know… I have many favorites) makes an appearance this week, thanks to several farms. Heirloom watermelons, cantaloups, and other melon varieties are something special, and are things you’ll never find at any grocery store. Tasting a vine ripened heirloom melon next to a “regular” melon is much like tasting a vine-ripened heirloom tomato next to a “regular” grocery store tomato. The taste is incredible, complex and sweet, and much more intense than you may expect. But on the other hand, their vines are not nearly as productive, and their rinds tend to me thinner and more fragile. Again much like the modern tomato, the modern melon has been bred for prolific production and good shipping ability, and neither one is conducive to good flavor.

Some of the more rare and hard to grow melons can get a bit expensive, but once you try one it’ll be something you look forward to all year. This week I don’t see any of those expensive luxury melons, but trust me, I’m waiting to buy one when they do arrive. Even if that means my bagged lunches that week are a little plainer than usual.

I also wanted to point out a few “hidden features” of the website this week. I did build in a few things that can be handy sometimes, once you know they are there, but stay out of the way in the meantime.

First, on the “The Market” page, there are some options over on the left hand side, down below the categories. First, if you don’t ever use the “New Products” carousel and just want to get rid of it, you’ll see a link there to hide it. Below that is a link to show your order history. This will show your last ten orders in a section below the New Products and above the regular product listing. Having this section open is a great way to re-order things you liked from recent weeks. If the same items are available in the current week, you’ll see an “add to cart” link right next to them, so you can quickly re-order your favorites. Finally, the last thing on the left is a control to hide & show specific growers. If you’re a vegan and would rather not see the meat & dairy items, you can shut off those growers. If you have only a couple farms you want to order from and don’t want to see anything else, you can shut off all but your favorites.

Also, over on the “Your Account” page, there is some useful information. Of course you can change your account info there, such as your email address or phone number, but you can also see your full order history going back three years now, pull up PDF invoices from any week, and view any account balance adjustments we have made to your account, along with the reason why.

And speaking of account balance adjustments, if there is any reason at all why you may be dissatisfied with anything you receive from any grower at Athens Locally Grown, please let me know. I won’t hesitate to refund your account, and I’ll pass your report back to the grower. Also, if we’ve left anything off your order when we fill it on Thursday, let me know and I’ll refund that. Most everything at market has labels with your names on them, so we spot most problems by the end of the night (there are always a half dozen or so things that didn’t make it to the right person) and I’ll refund those, but some things like the dairy, meat, and bread usually don’t have labels, so when they’re still sitting there at 8pm, I don’t know who they were supposed to go to.

I think that’s enough for one night… time to open the market!

As always, thank you all for your continued support of our local growers and local food. We’ll see you on Thursday from 4:30 to 8pm at the old market on Broad Street!

Coming Events

Our third Farmer for a Day event is on Saturday, July 11th at Dancing Sprout Farm in Athens. Most of the slots have already been filled, but you can make reservations for some of the last openings for this event by adding them to your order. Look in the “Event Reservations” category.

The Athens Farmers Market is held every Saturday morning at Bishop Park from 8am to noon. It’s a totally separate entity from Athens Locally Grown, but you’ll find many of the same growers at both. And of course, you can learn more about that market on their website.

To Contact Us

Athens Locally Grown
http://athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown

Recipes

Sweet Zucchini Crumble

Silky smooth baked zucchini is the surprising filling in this sweet dessert. Like the best apple crumble, this dessert has a tender, lemony-sweet, spiced filling just waiting to be discovered beneath its irresistible, crunchy crust. Don’t count on having leftovers. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables

Serves 6 to 8

4 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
11/2 cups shortening, softened, or butter, cold
6–8 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 4 large zucchini)
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Stir the flour, 2 cups of the sugar, and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Add the shortening or butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse oatmeal.
3. Pour half of the mixture into a 9×13-inch cake pan. Using your fingers or a rubber spatula, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside.
4. Combine the zucchini and lemon juice in a large pot over high heat and cook until zucchini is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Simmer for 1 minute more. Stir in 1/2 cup of the reserved flour mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove the pot from the heat to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Pour the zucchini mixture over the baked crust and sprinkle with the remaining flour mixture. Return the pan to the oven and bake until it is lightly browned and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes.

Market News

One thing I get asked often (and typically in the middle of winter, of all times) is “where is all the fruit?” For everything, there is a season, and the season for fruit is… right about now. The last of the strawberries are on their way out, but the same heat that is doing in the strawberries has also been ripening the blueberries, blackberries, plums, and peaches. And we have all of them listed this week. This is the first time ever peaches have been offered through Athens Locally Grown, I believe. Peaches are very, very hard to grow organically here, thanks to many decades of monoculture growing creating the perfect conditions for pests and diseases. All conventionally grown peaches are sprayed, and the problem is bad enough that many Georgia peach orchards have been cut down (leaving relatively few peaches still being grown in the Peach State). Michael McMullan at McMullan Family Farm in Hartwell has stepped up to the challenge, and has 100 pounds listed this week.

I saw several news stories this past week proclaiming that Georgia’s blueberry crop has been all but wiped out this year, due to storm and other damage. That might be true for the big commercial orchards down south, but here in Athens it’s been a fantastic growing season for blueberries. Many of our growers have some, but perhaps none more than Jim McBride of Jim’s Farm on the east side of Athens. Only trouble is Jim’s health troubles are preventing him from making the most of the harvest, and he’d love some help. If you want to help with the blueberry harvest, especially if you like getting paid in berries, contact Jim at jimsfarm@windstream.net

Finally, local food gets a prime spot in the middle of the action at AthFest this year. Sunday at 5pm in a special outdoor kitchen on Washington Street, Criag Page (director of P.L.A.C.E.) and I will be competing head-to-head Iron Chef style cooking locally grown food purchased directly from growers at Athens Locally Grown and the Athens Farmers Market. We each have a budget to stock our pantries with veggies, herbs, and anything else we might need, and we’ll be shopping at the two markets. Then, at 5pm, a special secret ingredient will be unveiled, and we’ll each have to produce a number of dishes spotlighting that ingredient and using the pantry items we had previously purchased. We’ll be there a few hours ahead of time getting set up and doing some basic prep work if you want to come down early, or you can arrive by 5 to cheer us both on. Our dishes will be judged by farmer Jay Payne (of Cedar Grove Farm), District 1 Commissioner Doug Lowry (a staunch supporter of building a local food system), and a musical guest (I’ve forgotten who). I’m very nervous, but it ought to be a great time. It’s free to watch. There’s no need for a wristband or anything like that. We’d love to see you there!

As always, thank you all for your continued support of our local growers and local food. We’ll see you on Thursday from 4:30 to 8pm at the old market on Broad Street!

Coming Events

Our guest this week for Meet the Grower is Geoff & Lisa Lewis from Dancing Sprout Farm in Athens. The Lewis family is hosting our next Farmer For a Day event in July. If you can’t join us then, you’ll get a chance to meet them on Thursday.

The Athens Farmers Market is held every Saturday morning at Bishop Park from 8am to noon. It’s a totally separate entity from Athens Locally Grown, but you’ll find many of the same growers at both. And of course, you can learn more about that market on their website.

Our third Farmer for a Day event is on Saturday, July 11th at Dancing Sprout Farm in Athens. You can make reservations for this event by adding them to your order. Look in the “Event Reservations” category.

To Contact Us

Athens Locally Grown
athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown

Recipes

Colcannon

You’ll find this classic dish on the menu at any real Irish restaurant. It’s a recipe that takes two staples of the island, potatoes and kale (or sometimes cabbage), and transforms them into a dish truly worthy of the word classic. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables

Serves 6

1 1/2 pounds medium boiling potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)
2 teaspoons salt, divided, plus more to taste
1 1/2–2 pounds kale (15–20 large leaves)
1 cup chopped leeks or scallions
1 cup half-and-half or milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Put the whole potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to boil. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and boil until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash. Put in a heatproof dish and keep warm in a 200°F oven.
2. Meanwhile, put the kale in a pot, cover with water, and bring to boil. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and cook until the kale is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and finely chop the kale.
3. Place the leeks or scallions in a small pot, cover with the half-and-half, and cook over low heat until very soft, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Add the kale to the warm potatoes and mix well. Add the half-and-half with leeks or scallions. Add pepper; season with salt.
5. Spoon a little of the melted butter over each serving and serve hot.

Market News

With more people ordering, and order sizes growing, we’re starting to have a problem again with people not arriving to pick up their orders on Thursday. Please remember that for both legal and logistical reasons (the legal being the most important, of course), I can not hold your items beyond 8pm on Thursday. We start calling those who haven’t arrived by 7:30, but most of the time 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 my volunteers, and then we finish loading up the truck and leave. Since I had already paid the growers on your behalf earlier in the day, you are still responsible for paying for any items you order but do not come pick up. If this happens, I charge your account, and the total is added to your next order.

Here 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, 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.

Finally, there’s often 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 always seems there are several things sitting there that were in high demand that week.

I do wish that I could be more flexible and accommodating for those who missed the window, but one of the legal “loopholes” we have to operate under is that I never take possession of your orders. You are buying directly from the growers, who bring their items to our pickup location, and then you arrive to pick it all up. The volunteers and I are there to facilitate and orchestrate the process, but if we go beyond that then we fall under the category of food resellers and distributors, which means we’d need the same equipment you’d find at the grocery store: refrigerators with charting temperature recorders, hot and cold running water, freezers, stainless steel tables and fixtures, etc. In short… Athens Locally Grown would cease to exist.

Well, with that out of the way, I won’t delay the opening of market any further. There are just under 700 items for sale this week. The summer items are coming on strong, and I see heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, squash & zucchini, peppers, lots of beans, and more. A few things you won’t yet see but might be looking for: corn (the March snowstorm killed the first several plantings, but more is on the way), eggplant (they need a few more weeks of heat before they begin producing), and okra (they come even later, and really reach their peak in late summer).

One last thing: Catarina Passidomo is compiling recipes from local-food-lovers to put into a cookbook, and would love input from both the farmers and customers in the ALG network. Any recipe that highlights local ingredients (from any season) will be considered. In addition to the recipe, she invites that contributors provide a short story, memory, or description to accompany it. The cookbook will be available for sale at the Athens Farmers’ Market as soon as all recipes are compiled and the books published, and sales will benefit the farmers market. Anyone interested in contributing to this project can email her at cpassidomo@gmail.com.

As always, thank you all for your continued support of our local growers and local food. We’ll see you on Thursday from 4:30 to 8pm at the old market on Broad Street!

Coming Events

We currently don’t have anyone scheduled for our “Meet the Grower” table this week. Someone may volunteer before Thursday, however.

If you’ll be in town for AthFest, be sure to swing by the special outdoor kitchen on Washington Street on Sunday afternoon, June 28th, where Craig Page (director of P.L.A.C.E.) and I will be competing head-to-head Iron Chef style cooking locally grown food purchased directly from growers at Athens Locally Grown and the Athens Farmers Market. I’ll have more details next week, but we’ll have a locally grown “mystery ingredient”, nearly all of our pantry items will be from ALG and the AFM, we’ll have local dignitary judges, and a whole lot of fun.

The Athens Farmers Market has re-opened for the season, and is every Saturday morning at Bishop Park. It’s a totally separate entity from Athens Locally Grown, but you’ll find many of the same growers at both. And of course, you can learn more about that market on their website.

Our third Farmer for a Day event is on Saturday, July 11th at Dancing Sprout Farm in Athens. You can make reservations for this event by adding them to your order. Look in the “Event Reservations” category.

Contact Us

Athens Locally Grown
http://athens.locallygrown.net

Recipes

Leek and Mushroom Sauce with Thyme over Pasta

Mushrooms and leeks work very well together. Although this is superb with wild mushrooms like chanterelles and morels, any more common kind, such as shiitake, crimini or portabella, will do. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables

Serves 2 to 4

1/2 pound mushrooms
1/2 pound fresh linguine or other thin pasta
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Brush or briefly wash the mushrooms and cut them into thick slices, including the stems.
2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leeks, salt, and pepper; sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Cover; cook until the leeks are tender, about 5 more minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and wine; gently simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
5. Add the pasta and thyme to the mushroom mixture; toss well. Top with grated Parmesan.

Market News

It’s already getting late, so I’ll be brief. There are about 200 lbs of tomatoes listed this week, many varieties of summer squash and zucchini, a good number of potatoes, the first of the heirloom garlic heads, several types of beans, some peppers, and that’s not to even mention all of the spring greens, salad mixes, carrots, and other veggies that are still abundant. The growing season has been very, very good so far, and the variety reflects it. If you’ve been ordering only things you’re familiar and comfortable with, you’ve got a great opportunity to try a bag or two of something new. If you’re not sure what to do with it once you’ve got it in your hand, don’t be shy about asking us or the grower. We all like to experiment, and will be happy to share our tips.

About 18 of us had a great time at Greendale Farm on Saturday. We moved several portable pens of meat chickens to fresh pasture (they move them twice daily), their laying hens to fresh pasture (along with their large house, built on skids and pulled with a tractor), and moved the pigs to fresh pasture. We broke for a great lunch provided by Daily Grocery and Russ & Christel Green, then had a bit of a walk around the place and talked about the logistics and demands of starting up a brand new farm like theirs. We still have four more “Farmer for a Day” events scheduled throughout the summer and fall, and we’d love to see you there!

As always, thank you all for your continued support of our local growers and local food. We’ll see you on Thursday from 4:30 to 8pm at the old market on Broad Street!

Coming Events

We currently don’t have anyone scheduled for our “Meet the Grower” table this week.

If you’ll be in town for AthFest, be sure to swing by the special outdoor kitchen on Sunday afternoon, June 28th, where Craig Page (director of P.L.A.C.E.) and I will be competing head-to-head Iron Chef style cooking locally grown food purchased directly from growers at Athens Locally Grown and the Athens Farmers Market. I’ll have more details in the coming weeks, but it’s already shaping up to be a lot of fun.

The Athens Farmers Market has re-opened for the season, and is every Saturday morning at Bishop Park. It’s a totally separate entity from Athens Locally Grown, but you’ll find many of the same growers at both. And of course, you can learn more about that market on their website.

Our third Farmer for a Day event is on Saturday, July 11th at Dancing Sprout Farm in Athens. You can make reservations for this event by adding them to your order. Look in the “Event Reservations” category.

Contact Us

Athens Locally Grown
http://athens.locallygrown.net

Recipes

Young Turnip Salad with Apples and Lemon Dressing

Raw young turnips are sweet, with a tender-firm crunch. In this refreshing salad, lemon juice and tart, crispy apples accentuate both of these qualities. For a sweet treat, try tossing in some raisins, or top with chopped and freshly toasted pecans or walnuts. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables

Makes about 2 cups

1 cup peeled and grated raw young turnips (about 2 medium turnips)
1 cup peeled and grated tart apples (about 1 large apple)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Toss the turnips, apples, parsley, lemon juice, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Market News

Today was the hottest day of the year so far, and the summer veggies are starting to roll in. Even though we do have a few tomatoes and peppers, one thing that surprises new market shoppers every year is the lack of tomatoes when June arrives. The summer heat hits us so fast that it’s easy to forget that just a week and a half ago, we had lows in the 40s (and upper 30s out at my place). Tomatoes don’t really thrive until the nights are consistently in the 50s, and then it takes a few weeks before they start pumping out the fruit. So, we’ll have a few early season varieties over the next few weeks, and then the heirlooms and big slicers should start coming in by the end of June. Peppers have the same growth habit, so it’ll be a few weeks for them as well. Eggplant, however, come even later. And okra, later still.

In the meantime, we’ve got over 640 items for you to choose from. I mentioned my excitement over onions last week, and I’m equally happy to see some potatoes trickle in as well. I’ll have lots more to say about the wealth of potatoes we have later on.

Our next Farmer For a Day event is happening this coming Saturday, June 6, at Greendale Farm in Madison. You all have seen the industrial chicken houses that dot our countryside, making us the biggest chicken producing region of the country. Here’s your chance to see chickens raised in a humane and sustainable way. If you’d like to join us, add your reservations to your order.

As always, thank you all for your continued support of our local growers. We’ll see you on Thursday from 4:30 to 8pm at the old market on Broad Street!

Coming Events

Our guest this week for Meet the Grower is Melissa Powell from Oak Leaf Farm in Bostwick. Oak Leaf Farm is one of our egg producers, and their multi-colored eggs have been very popular since they’ve joined the market.

The Athens Farmers Market has re-opened for the season, and is every Saturday morning at Bishop Park. It’s a totally separate entity from Athens Locally Grown, but you’ll find many of the same growers at both. And of course, you can learn more about that market on their website.

Our second Farmer for a Day event is on Saturday, June 6th at Greendale Farm in Madison, where they pasture raise chickens for both eggs and meat. You can make reservations for this event by adding them to your order. Look in the “Event Reservations” category.