Locally Grown - Availability for June 11, 2014n

Hey Local Food Lovers,

It’s FINALLY arrived…. Locally Grown is officially adding a 3rd PICK UP site in Gainesville, GA! Hallelujah! We’ve been planning this expansion for over a year (seriously since February), and now after turning 4 years and 2 months old, Locally Grown is growing in a big way. We have a feeling this week may have a momentous impact just like our first day back in April 2010.

Now before I get excited describing all the delicious food offered this week, we should give a quick history for those who are brand new to Locally Grown.

Locally Grown is a website market which is a fairly new, innovative and efficient way to get lots of local food to lots of customers. It all started with Eric Wagoner in Athens, GA back in 2004. Eric was a software engineer and a farmer who recognized that a web based market could save farmers a lot of time. He started designing a website so growers could post all their products and availability each week to restaurants (eliminating a bunch of phone calls). This market was called Athens Locally Grown. With a website featuring photos, prices and descriptions, consolidating availability lists and orders from multiple farms, Eric realized, why not just have customers order off this site as well! He did, and then more and more customers started shopping, finding the convenience of choosing so many items from so many farms while in your pajamas, appealing. Customers were out-buying the restaurants and the market grew and grew. In 2006 Eric took the time to redesign the site so that anyone anywhere in the world could start their own Locally Grown market. He did a good job. Today there over 400 Locally Grown markets spread from the Virgin Islands to Europe (though most are in the US). You can get an idea of it’s impact with this impressive map of LGs

Proximity is an important thing in the spread of good ideas and it didn’t take long before some smart mountain farmers discovered Athens Locally Grown and thought it might be a good thing in Northeast Georgia as well. Given their experience selling to LG in Athens they could see that Locally Grown has lots of benefits to farmers. First, the ease of being able to package each customers order, afix a label, and drop it off at a pick up site allowed them to head back to the farm. Every once in a while it gave them an extra few minutes in the parking lot to trade ideas with other farmers too (which can be useful). In our case since we run a shuttle between pickup locations it allowed each farm’s products to reach customers that were slightly beyond their easy driving distance. So a farmer located way up a mountain can drive 20 minutes and drop off, then in just a few hours, customers an hour or more away can pick it up fresh. That little bit of collaboration with other farmers is a key, key part of Locally Grown.

Ah the shuttle run. It’s so simple and we’re looking forward to our first one to Gainesville on Wednesday. It all starts at 2pm when farmers drop off all their products in coolers designated for either Tiger, Clarkesville and now Gainesville. We try and be extra careful to put the right product in the right coolers (but an accident may occur once every blue moon). Then during this “behind the scenes” part of Locally Grown is when farmers are joking around politicking, gossiping. They are an ornery bunch. But they grow good food so we tolerate all this on account of the awesomeness they produce.Then coolers filled, gab shot, each farmer gets a check and goes home to lay on the couch. Meanwhile, their food all mingled together in freshly sealed bags with people’s names on them gets whisked via various wheeled vehicles across Northeast Georgia. And minutes later, at 5pm magically assembled is the food from as many as 20 farms or more all bundled together just for you.

So that’s basically how it works.

But before we talk food….let me add. Northeast Georgia Locally Grown has become a fun little community of people these last four years. Customers, farmers, kids, dogs, cats, all. We’re a pretty lively bunch if we don’t say so. That community is about to expand to our nearest neighbors Gainesville (like it’s literally happening right now), and if it’s anything like what we’ve experienced so far, it’s gonna be a lovely relationship. So get ready for our first great date!

Ok, now that you’re turned on! Holy cow we got artichokes in North Georgia this week. That’s hot! Just from memory I think we also got carrots, peas, strawberries, bread (some all organic, some gluten free), eggs, fennel, cabbage, of course lettuce, kale x10, ground pork sausage, squash, maybe asparagus, garlic, onions, radish, more. Nearly 400 items.

We got to visit Melon Head Farms on Friday which was what I would call “crazy fun.” Hard to believe it’s only 3 weeks away and you can visit them too. The Georgia Mountain Farm Tour 2014 is almost here (June 28 and 29). In fact this week and next week are the last weeks to buy a weekend pass for $30. The best way to order is through Locally Grown. Just add to your basket then write a separate check when you come to market to “GMFN” which stands for Georgia Mountains Farmers Network. It’s a whole nother thing we do (but lots of us same people). If you don’t know what the tour is check it out here

Ah, an idea!

Watch last year’s video of the FARM TOUR and we know you’ll want to come.
http://vimeo.com/69288616

And to make it even more interesting, the fellow who shot this video is now your new Gainesville Market Manager, Andrew Linker. Hey Andrew! Andrew met all our Clarkesville market customers two weeks ago when he did a guest spot at that market. They loved him, you’ll love him, and he’s a local Gainesvillian so he’ll be your main man when it comes to Locally Grown.

We also want to thank the Northeast Georgia History Center for being the absolute best place in Gainesville to serve as hosts for our little market. They were more than interested in the idea, they loved it and their enthusiasm has made us even more happy to be coming (that’s you Julie and Jeff)! We think it’s a match made in heaven.

That reminds me, new Gainesville Customers should park their cars in the parking lot next to the History Center (closer to Brenau) rather than drive under the portico. That we we can keep our markets pedestrian friendly and you’ll see how nice the portico and sidewalk is at the front of the Center. It’s the perfect place to collect your food. And without cars you’ll want to hang out for a minute. So no cars under the portico. Lot is around the bend and we’ll have parking signs soon (maybe very soon if you know anybody got any?). We envision folks hanging out checking out the progress at the Victory Garden you’ll walk by every week. Like we said, the place is perfect.

Ok, I’d better wrap it up. We try and write some sort of message each Sunday to kind of communicate what’s new. Sometimes long, sometimes short. I can tell already tell we’ll be writing with a new audience in mind so BIG WELCOME to all you new Gainesville customers and thank you for finding us. There’s roughly 25 of you, and last I checked at least 9 of you already ordered. There’s still time till Monday at 9PM. So tell a friend. Those of you who come Wednesday will be the very first ever! We hope you like it, if you do let us know, if you don’t let us know too. It’s local food, from all over the mountains and we hope it helps you….

EAT WELL,

Justin in Habersham
Chuck in Rabun
and
Teri and Andrew (assorted)