Weblog Entry

Hey Local Food Lovers,

This is a very interesting week at Locally Grown in every way I can imagine. For those of you who have been customers for awhile you are probably really, really excited to see Split Creek’s amazing goat cheeses and other goat dairy products listed this week. This is a rare treat that has been a part of our Locally Grown market almost from the beginning. Split Creek is a dairy in South Carolina located right between Clemson and Anderson on Hwy 85. Even though its just a bit far away, one of our market managers in Clarkesville Teri Parker offered to pick up orders from Split Creek on special occasions years ago and those of us who have enjoyed their products all this time have been incredibly thankful.

Thanks to the rapid rise in enthusiastic customers after last week’s Gainesville Times article (last week was our biggest sales week in Locally Grown history at almost $2,500) my wife, Ching-Yu thought this would be the perfect time to have a special offering of Split Creek cheeses, called them up, talked them through re-listing and offered to pick it up on Wednesday. This is the first time since last November we’ve done a Split Creek run. Ironically, Ching-Yu ended up popping out a baby at 3am Sunday morning and won’t be able to do the pick-up (the baby is fine and beautiful by the way). FORTUNATELY, to everyone’s good fortune Teri, who started our whole Split Creek thing in first place has offered to do the pickup for us insuring a very tasty week indeed.

One reason I give this backstory is to let folks know how grass rootsy this little market is. We’re not a business I assure you, we’re more like a community project run by some people very dedicated to good food, from good people, to good people. I also wanted to emphasize how GOOD Split Creek Dairy is and how special it is to get to try some of it. I had my first jar of feta in oil probably back in 2006 as a customer of the Athens Locally Grown, and I’ve had maybe 2 dozen jars since then. I’ve licked every jar clean, dipped my bread in the oil, made the best squash casserole of my life, placed the cheese on homemade toast with figs, basil and honey, and dozens of other ways that stand out as great, great memories. So, since this might be the last time for a good long while (or it might not, you just never know), order some Split Creek this week and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

Ok, now that I’ve oohed and ahhed. There’s just so much to ooh and ahh over. Mainly my first kid that’s napping a few feet away, but I won’t go into that (she’s not edible, but fortunately the hospital is located exactly two blocks from Two Dog Cafe in Gainesville, so I’ve been walking there for meals the last two days).

Sweet Corn! That’s an exciting new item this week. It’s sold out by the time I wrote this, but those who got it will love it I’m sure. O’hana Farms is back this week after a short break with lots of delicious and unique pork options. Sah-Ka-Na-Ga Gardens is offering some great herbal and oil remedies. My dog gets hotspots and I can’t wait to try their homemade remedy. It’s the kind of medicine my dog doesn’t mind getting because it soothes immediately and smells good to me. The Farm Boxes from Baird Farms and Wild Earth Gardens & Herbals have been beautiful. We love to see the creativity and the representative diversity of what’s growing that week on the farm in a beautiful display that is also quite a discount if you were to buy all these items individually. The Princess Feathers Flower six pack from Mountain Earth Farms is a bargain for those seeking to fill their gardens with beautiful and abundant flowers, not just this year but in future years. Give them a try. And potatoes, cucumbers, and squash are at their peak. Enjoy these treats while their at their freshest. Tomatoes are also super abundant. And Sweet potato leaves are awesome if you’d like to try something a bit different.

I love scanning the weekly list of fresh food. I love that there’s people willing to grow it. I love buying it, I love picking it up, and I love planning my meals around it. I love cutting it up and cooking it, and I love eating it and sharing it with family and friends. I also love learning more about all of it, from each individual who grows it, to the origins of what they grow and how it tastes best. It’s July 20, pretty much the height of summer. It’s a good time to love all these things. And this week of this year is a great time to enjoy local food! So enjoy! And…..

EAT WELL,

Justin in Gainesville this evening
and
Chuck in Rabun
and
Teri and Andrew

PS – Habersham Harvest restaurant in Clarkesville opened this weekend. It’s a farm to table restaurant and we absolutely loved it. The crimini mushrooms in a sage / wine / butter sauce blew my mind. If you’re up that way you’ve got to pay them a visit. When you do you’ll eat much of the food you find on this website, only prepared by a master chef. Go eat there if you enjoy the elegant delivery local food!