Locally Grown - Availability for March 25 , 2015

Hey Local Food Lovers,

Well it’s getting to be that time of year, where each week is a little more exciting than the week before due to new items coming back onto the market.

Before I get into some of the great products this week, I want to mention some of the new features to Locally Grown you’ll probably notice us rolling out over the coming months. Hopefully most or all of you received a new e-mail reminder on Friday letting you know that the market is open. You may have noticed that the e-mail design, as well as all the great photos of farmers, products, and links to calendar events like our Farm Tour all look REALLY GOOD! Big thanks to Andrew Linker, our Gainesville Market Manager for the incredible work he’s put in the last several months to improve some of our communication tools, our logo (we have a new logo!), and our FEATURED FARMER calendar. This last one we’re especially excited about as we really want to brag on the impressive farmers that we have here in our region. We’ve struggled with how to do that in the past, but each month this year NGLG will feature a farm or two to help you get to know the farms behind your food. We want you to know these good folks by name, recognize their faces, and have a story to tell about what makes them special.

The Lazy L Ranch up in Rabun County is run by Daphne & Bill Lisenby, one of the newer pastured egg producers in the area. I think you’ll all be struck by the beauty of the view these chickens rise to each morning. Just picture that each morning that you fry up these eggs and you’ll have a beautiful start to your day. Part of the goal of Featured Farmers is for you to get to meet and interact with them directly. This Wednesday, Daphne and Bill will be in Gainesville during the pickup to talk with folks about their farm, their practices, their favorite stories and recipes.

Andrew shot this great video of Lazy L Ranch this winter that really captures the unique feel of the season.
https://vimeo.com/120698431

Thanks to the Lisenby’s for their participation in NGLG and for being our first official Featured Farm in 2015!

In other egg news, Sylvan Falls Mills Chocolate Marshmellow Eggs are back! Many of you have heard me brag on these before. Probably my favorite holiday item on the entire market. It’s a reminder that Easter is almost here. And it’ll be gone before you know it. I highly encourage you to try these while you can.

We also have a few specials on eggs bought in bulk this week. So as you’re gearing up for EASTER eggs, think about getting several local dozen at once. And if anyone cooks up a really beautiful Frittatta anytime soon, send us a snapshot and your recipes.

Other items of note this week. Shade Creek Farms has brought back their gorgeous mixed baby carrots. Simply beautiful array of sweet, delicious carrots. They also have strawberry plants for those who would like to grow their own strawberries. And Hakurei Turnips! A favorite.

Veggie Patch has brought on one of my favorite odd vegetables. The kohlrabi. Looks like it’s from Mars, has all the nutrition of a cabbage, but can be substituted for potatoes in lots of dishes. Give it a try.

Leah Lake has Leeks! There’s also swiss Chard from Veggie Patch and Mountain Earth Farms.

Welcome back to Hollman who have a wide array of native plants for sale. Veggie Patch is also selling several dozen types of SEEDLING plants for your garden (don’t get confused these are plants to grow, not veggies to eat).

Then there’s spinach, spinach and more spinach! Don’t take it for granted. Once summer comes, spinach is gone. I always love a spinach salad with a sliced up hardboiled egg. Did anyone else’s mother always make spinach salad that way.

Well that should do it for this week. Put in your order (or an extra order if something we mentioned sounds good). Market is open until 9pm tonight. Help us achieve our highest March sales ever!

EAT WELL,

Justin, Chuck, Teri and Andrew