Locally Grown - Availability for Novemer 21st, 2012

Hey Local Food Lovers,

As you may have noticed there’s been no announcement about going to an every other week schedule as we have in past years. That’s because we have quite a few farmers with greenhouses now, and if all goes well we should have greens and other veggies 12 months a year from now on. That’s a big and noteworthy change to our local food system here in Northeast Georgia, and an exciting one as well. Thanks to two or three of participating farmers offering to help on Wednesdays with the pickups, we plan to try out staying on a weekly schedule a bit farther into the winter. Maybe even all winter if enough folks continue eating.

It’s also interesting to note that beginning around August a lot of our customer base kind of disappears until next spring. I don’t want to conjecture too much, but I think it has a lot to do with what we’re accustomed to eating. Everyone knows what to do with a tomato, okra, cucumbers, watermelon, and maybe even eggplants (though the numbers start dwindling with eggplant). But the cold season crops are just not commonly thought of as food for a whole lot of people. I know that sounds crazy but it’s true. I’d dare say the majority of people in north Georgia, and probably the nation rarely if at all eat kale, turnips, beets, collards, arugula, asian greens, radishes, etc. etc. And that’s totally o.k. The last thing I would ever want to do is make someone feel bad because they don’t know what a jerusalem artichoke is or how to eat it. That’s still fairly new knowledge to me frankly. But I do wonder how we can share these foods with more people and let folks know what seasonal eating is all about.

Yesterday my wife (Ching Yu) and I drove up to Stack Farms in Tiger to pick about 20 or so Asian Persimmons. I had never in my life had or heard of an Asian Persimmon until about 2 years ago. Now late October and early November is permanently associated with Asian Persimmon harvesting time. I think I like them better than apples. There’s several reasons for this. First persimmons are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow without the need of any pesticides whatsoever. I don’t know why this is, but since organic fruit trees are so rare, it makes Asian Persimmon a highly desirable fruit for organic growers. Second, persimmons have two stages, an early stage where they are hard and crisp like an apple, and then a juicy, almost gooey stage once they are fully ripe. This makes it almost seem like two different fruits in one. Third, if picked before ripe and refrigerated, they will keep for many weeks, so that means fruit well into the winter. Fourth, there is no core, you can eat the whole thing, skin and all. There’s just a small leafy stem at the top. Nothing to throw away! Fifth, they are from Asia. This may be of special interest to me since my wife is Taiwanese, but I love the multicultural world of food. Food has become one of the best ways to connect with people across extremely diverse cultures and geographies. The exchange of foods is what makes our modern times a spectacular age to live in.

So I probably should have picked a whole lot more of these now that I’ve said all this. I think for fun we’ll have a persimmon taste testing this week and if you like them we can always go back and get more. The Stacks trees were totally loaded up with them. We won’t pressure you, but if you have a taste and like them, take one home. It may take a few exposures before you’re hooked for life, but that’s o.k.

And that’s our goal for all these other sorta unusual foods on Locally Grown. Nothing makes us happier than someone trying kale for the first time.

Speaking of first time items. Sid Blalock is finally selling his WATERCRESS on Locally Grown. Not even I have tried this tasty treat before, so I can’t even describe it yet. But it’s already in my basket. If you’re curious too, give it a try, if you like it please write about your experience and send it to us, or post it to our FACEBOOK page. As you well know a well described food experience can get people’s mouths watering.

Until then….

EAT WELL,
Justin in Habersham
and
Chuck in Rabun