Locally Grown - Availability for November 5th, 2014 - NEW PICK UP HOURS

Hey Local Food Lovers,

Chilly weather has descended! That means we’ve probably seen the last of the peppers, tomatoes, squash and other such crops until next spring and summer. However, since Locally Grown is a year-round farmers market all that means is it’s time to start eating the crops that are abundantly available all fall and winter long. And learning to eat these seasonal crops is part of the joy of eating local. Here’s a quick list of crops you’ll likely find here most of the winter:

Arugula
Asian Greens
Beets (on occasion)
Carrots
Swiss Chard
Collards
Garlic
Jerusalem Artichokes (by far one of my favorites)
Kale
Lettuce
Mustard greens
Onions
Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
Spinach
Turnip Greens (gotta learn how to eat these)
Winter Squash

And this is just a quick list of what we have today. There are lots of other veggies that are available year-round. And that doesn’t include the delicious meats, breads, herbs, milled products, coffee, honey and other array of foods here all winter long.

One thing the cold weather brings (coupled with this weekend’s time change) is our WINTER PICK UP HOURS for LOCALLY GROWN. With the changing of the season we shorten our pickup window from 5PM to 6:30PM. We’ve done this every year since we started because our PICK-UP Locations are outside and it gets very dark and very cold after 6:30. Even though we’ll go ahead and start this new schedule THIS WEDNESDAY, we’ll be somewhat forgiving this week, but do plan to come before 6:30 in the weeks ahead. We’ll start calling folks around 6PM as a reminder.

We do appreciate everyone who is supporting the market! Sales are not quite, but almost, double what they were this time last year. That’s terrific and a real sign of what’s to come. The market has lots and lots of planning to do over the winter. I won’t get into all the details now, but everything from electronic checkout, to adding more growers, to doing some special events at market is on the horizon. 2015 is gonna be a great year!

Let’s finish up 2014 with a bang! This a great time of year to perfect a butternut squash soup, or a sweet potato casserole just in time for the Thanksgiving Holidays in a few weeks. Don’t forget to LIKE the Locally Grown FACEBOOK page as both market managers, farmers, and customers are getting better about posting yummy meals that can be cooked with current ingredients. It’s a great place to share your experience eating local.

FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/NGLGmarket

And the RECIPES section of the locally grown website also has some great suggestions for current in-season items.
NGLG RECIPES
http://northeastgeorgia.locallygrown.net/recipes

Enjoy and EAT WELL,
Justin, Chuck, Teri and Andrew