Northeast Georgia Locally Grown:  Locally Grown - Availability for August 13, 2014

Hey Local Food Lovers,

I’ll start tonight with the killer dinner my wife cooked. Very simple and very Locally Grown. Chanterelle mushrooms (from Mill Gap Farm) in a white wine cream sauce over pasta, corn on the cob (from Shade Creek Farm) and sauteed sweet potato greens (from Promised Land Farms). YUM!

We had some good rain this weekend which we needed. August is a transition month on many farms. Those first crops of squash and tomatoes and cucumbers are beginning to peter out and the second crops, more like early fall crops are beginning to come in. Things like eggplant, peppers, winter squash, sweet potatoes and okra will start coming in like crazy. There will also be the second plantings of tomatoes, squash, and cukes. Because I write this message 3/4 through the shopping period I always hate to mention items that have already sold out. But then again they are usually gone because everyone is excited about them, and if I talk them up maybe you can try and shop early to get them next week. That’s fun right! The early shopper gets the BABY CORN, the EGGPLANT, the EGGS (though Lazy L Ranch still has ‘em as of tonight). One item I’m real excited to see is Mill Gap’s PADRON PEPPERS. And there’s actually a few orders left. Read the description to learn how to cook them.

Andrew has put together another great video that may help many of you who are new to Locally Grown and still trying to master the website learn a few tips. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve actually learned some things from Andrew’s videos. The website is so well designed and has so many features I haven’t even taken the time to discover them all myself. There are some great navigation tips that can really speed up how you scan the market items each week.

Click here
or use this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye1V7zw4TA0&feature=youtu.be

I think that’s it for tonight!

We hope you enjoy this week’s offerings and don’t forget (that means you Julie) to…..

EAT WELL,

Justin, Chuck, Teri and Andrew

Green Fork Farmers Market:  Weekly Product List

Dear Green Fork Farmers Market Customers,

NEW this week! Figgieville has fig plants, Beyond Organics has pickling cucumbers, Plentygood Farms has elephant garlic, and Adams Acres has new pork offerings—Italian sausage, ground ham, chorizo roja (red), and chorizo verde (green). So delicious!

Also this week—zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, potatoes, Shiitake mushrooms, bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, jalapenos, serranos, herbs, eggs, chicken, beef, duck, lamb, pork, botanical bath and beauty products, olives, olive oil, cookies, lacto-fermented sauerkraut and jalapeno slices, dried Shiitakes and Shiitake powder, salsa, and pet food.

Place your order from now until Tuesday at noon for pickup at the market on Wednesday. If you aren’t able to place an order, we hope you will stop by the market to visit on Wednesday and shop at the market!

See you then,

Green Fork Farmers Market

Wednesdays 4-7 pm
Indoors, Year Round
In the Breezeway at Nightbird Books
205 W. Dickson St.
Fayetteville, AR

To place your order, click on the link below to enter the website. Sign in as a customer, then click on the icon next to each product you wish to order. Proceed to checkout, review the list to make sure it’s correct, then scroll to the bottom and click on Place This Order. Make sure you receive a confirmation email—if you don’t, your order was not processed. Payment is at the market pickup with cash, check, debit/credit card, EBT, and Senior FMNP coupons. Ask about our doubling program for EBT and SFMNP!

DeForest, WI:  Availability for week of August 10

The market is open!

Athens Locally Grown:  ALG Market Open for August 14

Atlanta Locally Grown:  Available for Saturday August 16.

The market is open. We will see all Saturday at your selected deliver location.
Remember to have your orders placed by 8 pm on Wednesday and share us with a friend.
Thank you,
Brady

Conyers Locally Grown:  Available for Friday august 15

The market is open. We will see you all Friday between 5-7 at copy central.
Remember to have your orders placed by & pm on Wednesday and share us with a friend.
Thank you,
Brady

Cedar Grove Farm:  CSA Availability for 8/13

Hi all,

We are open for business! You order, we pick, you eat. Simple.

Enjoy the offerings!

Cedar Grove Farm

Dawson Local Harvest:  August Update

August Update

Dawson Local Harvest

Still plenty of Produce for you this week. BRADLEY FARMS is adding Okra and Blue Lake Green Beans. LEILANI’S has plenty of big Tomatoes and recommend any pepper lovers try the wonderful Giant Marconi Pepper, a big delicious Italian grilling pepper, and GRACE ACRES FARMS is adding Fresh Eggs and still accepting deposits on their Free-range Chickens.
Take a look at what;s on the menu this week at The Market.

THE MARKET IS NOW OPEN! REMEMBER! You can order until Tuesday night at 8pm. Pick up your order at Leilani’s Gardens Friday afternoons from 4 to 7pm.

You’ll find the DAWSON LOCAL HARVEST at http://dawsonville.locallygrown.net

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible! We guarantee your satisfaction with all products in DAWSON LOCAL HARVEST.

Savannah, GA:  Biodynamic Farming

By Dr. Mercola

Industrial chemical-based agriculture, which produces the vast majority of US food crops, is actually destroying the soil that makes the growing of food possible in the first place.

This is not true in other countries. Worldwide, 70 percent of the food is grown in backyards or small farms. That number is likely well under two percent in the US. It is my goal to motivate, inspire, and encourage tens of millions of people to start growing their own food so we can radically change these numbers.

You likely know I have been active in supporting the labeling of GMOs and I think this is great, but even better would be to eliminate their market and one of the ways we can do this is by growing our own nutrient-dense food in our yards or community gardens.

The featured film, One Man, One Cow, One Planet, presents one inspiring alternative—"A blueprint for a post-industrial future, revealing what an environmentally friendly biodynamic food system capable of feeding everyone could actually look like."

However, I strongly believe that there are far simpler and less expensive ways that would allow most of you to effortlessly grow your own food. And in the coming years, I will seek to inform you on how to easily and inexpensively do that.

The Drawbacks of Chemical Agriculture Make It Unsustainable

One particularly destructive aspect of industrial agriculture, which for the most part is little more than 50 years old, is the proliferation of genetically engineered (GE) seeds—seeds that, in India, for example, cost farmers up to 400 percent more than conventional seeds, and produce 30 percent less yield…

One 2006 study found that 60 percent of Indian farmers using GE seeds could not recoup their investment, causing more than 250,000 farmers to commit suicide. Many can’t even feed their own families. And yet farmers are increasingly left with few options, as Monsanto and other chemical technology companies are buying up seed companies, effectively eliminating the competition.

Proponents of genetic engineering claim GE seeds is the most effective way to feed the world, by producing plants unnaturally equipped with internally-produced insecticides, or with genes making them resistant to chemical herbicides. Some are advertised as drought resistant, and/or higher yield producing. But, the truth turns out to be quite different.

GE plants produce foreign proteins making them highly allergenic, and more often than not, they actually require more water to thrive, and therefore end up producing less than conventional seeds. In the end, everything and everyone suffer more because of the “chemical marvels” of modern agriculture, and the corporate control of our food supply.

Additionally, the industrial farming practices that use GE seeds waste massive amounts of water and contribute to large losses of our precious topsoil. Simple inexpensive alternatives can virtually eliminate the need for irrigation and create, rather than decimate topsoil.

GE Crops Destroy Soil Fertility—Possibly Irreversibly

As GE plants increasingly take over the major food-producing areas of the world, including the US, China, India, Argentina, and Brazil, reduced soil fertility has a high probability of leading to worldwide famine on a scale never previously seen.

The mechanisms for this loss of soil fertility are just beginning to be understood, and what was recently only theory has inched closer to reality as science shines more light on the consequences of introducing genetically engineered organisms into the soil.

Special genetic elements (vector DNA) are present in all GE plants. This vector DNA enables unrelated microorganism species to mate, but can also be transferred to soil microorganisms.

Soil fertility depends on the presence of a diverse blend of microorganisms, all serving different roles in balancing and optimizing the soil. But when unrelated species mate, the soil ecosystem loses diversity, which is proven to damage fertility.

Until recently, the transfer of genes between GE plants and soil bacteria was only theoretical. However, this mechanism has now been demonstrated by science, and it’s our soil’s worst nightmare. It should be noted that this same process of gene transfer has also been shown to occur in your gastrointestinal tract when you eat GE foods—turning your intestines into a virtual pesticide factory…

Biodynamic Farming Benefits Earth and Man

The video features Peter Proctor and Sarvdaman Patel, two biodynamic farmers working in India. Over the past 15 years, Proctor has watched a slow but steady grassroots revolution occur, with biodynamic farms spreading across India’s countryside.

It’s important to realize that the entire food chain is connected, from soil, plant, and insect health, all the way up to animal and ultimately your health. That is why it is so important to pay attention to the details as supporting the diverse set of soil microbes at the bottom of the food chain ultimately supports your health.

Biodynamic farming is a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture that was initially developed by Dr. Rudolf Steiner1 (1861-1925). This approach can provide far superior harvests relative to conventional chemical based agriculture. It provides superior crops both in volume and increased density of nutrients, and biodynamic farms are completely self-sustaining.

Biological gardening has been one of my passions for the past few years, and I have read many books, every issue of ACRES USA for the past few years, and interviewed many experts in this area. So far, I’ve attempted to apply this by converting about 50 percent of the ornamental landscape around my home to an edible landscape.

Over these past few years, I have applied many different strategies to improve plant growth, such as vortexed compost tea, rock dust powders, magnetic structured water, ionized water, biochar, many types of foliar sprays, and ground covers like woodchips.

I really enjoy this challenge as to me it is like a puzzle, and if I solve it there are massive benefits to large numbers of people, not only myself. My three decades of studying health and treating tens of thousands of patients helped provide me with the basic science necessary to understand these systems, which has helped accelerate my solving this puzzle. I have learned that complex and expensive solutions are rarely the foundational answer. Just as in human health, the final answer is actually really simple… And although I haven’t carefully studied biodynamics and read Dr. Steiner’s voluminous work, I believe I’m familiar enough to form a few conclusions

Martin's Farmstand:  Where is the honey?

The online market is open for orders. We have a big planting of beans that is getting ready this week. We can fill lots of bulk orders as this planting has grown as nice as can be. It is also time to make your winters supply of pesto. Basil is abundant now. Later as the nights get cool the basil is not near as nice. Canning tomatoes should become abundant in the later part of August.
Dad had 9 hives of bees this spring of some very good Russian stock that is doing well in this climate. He has been aggressively dividing these bees so there is 4 times as many hives now as there was. This splitting weakens each hive and they will need most of there own honey for winter and to build up in the spring. If the fall honey flow is good there may be some honey for us also but Dad says not count on it. Daniel