2017 in Review

Traditionally all the year end tv specials that examine the year’s history takes place after Christmas and before New Years Day. Traditions though are subject to change. When you consider that we’ll see Easter decorations before the end of February and shake our heads yet again next August when Christmas decorations come out . . . you see where I’m going.

This has been quite a year for Market at Dothan. Your editor has been a part of this Market since a handful of farmers pitched tents every Friday morning in the employee parking lot at Dothan Nurseries. How many years has it been? I should know but I don’t! Somewhere in there the Market changed platforms to use the internet for online ordering which was pretty radical for the time. What I do know is that in 2015 our remaining founder was facing major life changes and in order for Market At Dothan to continue, management had to change hands. It was no small change and a rookie took over in January 2016.

Those of you who were with us then remember the shade tent on the other side of the property. We used coolers in the summer and the greenhouse in rain! Early January this year JD Boone mentioned in an email that he and the staff were looking at changing our pickup location. We had no idea what to expect and were thrilled late February when we moved into what is now “The Market Shed” (and yes, that’s our new location name!). Such a blessing! Maura fixed us up with cabinets and a fence and it’s still a lot of fun keeping it cute and inviting. We celebrated by adopting a logo of our very own.

Internal changes took place as well and on July 1 the Market began operating as an LLC. We really wanted to incorporate as a non-profit, but the time, resources and manpower needed to do that did not justify the benefits of going that route. Thankfully one of our customers (Thanks C!) is a super smart lawyer and set us up in a way that allows us to operate similar to a non profit.

The best changes have been our people. We’ve had the absolute BEST vendors and customer always and though growth has not been by leaps and bounds, it’s been steady and sustainable (there’s that word again!) as more committed growers and health conscious consumers have joined us. More growers has meant a wider variety of wholesome sustainable foods and we love the wide variety of wholesome meats, beautiful produce, etc. on our Market Page.

So yes, it’s been quite the year and we’ve loved every minute of it. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of it. YOU are the reason Market At Dothan exists and we love serving you.

MARKET CHITCHAT

Another Open House is in the history books now and a big Thank You to everyone came out. It was nice seeing old friends and making new friends. The hot cocoa with peppermint that Dothan Nurseries served wasn’t bad either!

If you didn’t see it above our team of volunteers has settled on a name. Our Dothan pickup location is now henceforth and forever more called “The Market Shed”. I’ve searched and searched my emails to see who sent it and . . . nothing. So it had to be verbal and I can’t remember for the life of me who suggested it. (APOLOGIES!) That’s why I like things in print. Please shoot me an email if it was you so I can get a $5 credit applied to your account.

Our Growers have been BUSY! Fresh, Local, Sustainable and YEAR ROUND food production means that something’s always happening on the farm. We hope our Grower Notes section is enjoyable and beneficial for you.

Weekly orders will resume on January 6, 2018

Wishing You

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.

AVALON FARMS: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ! No, I’m not politically correct.  Praying blessings on each and every household involved with this market.  Dream big.  Go for it.  There is no failure…only learning what not to do.

Sugar Snap Peas really took a hit in the freeze. Thankfully I remembered to pick them all.  This will be the last ones till spring. Buy lots! Ha Ha

Satsuma are hanging in there. Will be offering a larger size so you can have lots to share over the holidays. These are great for juicing.

Portuguese Kale is coming along. Hopefully I’ll have enough to offer in the market. A chef I  know says it’s delicious!

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hello market friends, We hope that you guys are enjoying the cool weather.  Here at Bain Home Gardens the cold means that there is less work in the garden.  However, that doesn’t mean that we are sitting idely! To the contrary, we have been quite busy! We are pleased to announce that we are currently filming and producing two new video series that will be featured on our Facebook page beginning in January.  One of these, Our Garden Adventures, will follow our family through the joys and pains of the modern home gardener.  In the other, From Our Garden to Your Table, we will explore new recipes and spice up some old ones with fresh produce from the garden.  If you haven’t already liked and followed our page, now would be a great time to do so & follow us as we bring quality produce from our family to yours!
Till next week!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD FARMS: Hello everyone! Our family had a great vacation this past week to Las Vegas. No….we’re not gamblers so we didn’t win any money or anything like that, but we actually went out to visit my oldest sister. I had not seen her in about 8 years since she visited us back in North Carolina so this visit was extremely special to me! I actually started writing this newsletter entry from the airplane, but missed the deadline. We were excited to get back home to Mr. Hawkins Homestead Farm. He had been holding down the fort for us. I’m very thankful for FaceTime which allowed me to check in on him and everything else.

So anyway in getting back to the topic of where all the eggs went. We talked before about molting so now we will talk about how shorter days after the bird’s laying cycle. Chickens require a lot of hours of daylight to be able to produce each egg. The figure is somewhere between 14-16 hours of sunlight. As you can imagine with the short days, eggs start to dwindle. Right now half of the birds are molting and the other half are being affected by colder temperatures and shorter days. For us this means ZERO eggs. We have had to buy eggs for the last couple of weeks. While we were in Las Vegas, I was told that there were 7 eggs laid, but when I came home they were nowhere to be found! Guess the egg monster must of eaten them or that was Mr. Hawkins Homestead Farm’s payment for doing all the work. Either way I was happy to hear that we got some eggs, but now all these hens are living rent free. They will have a lot to make up for as the days get longer. Some people use artificial lighting to keep their birds laying, but we believe in giving them a break and letting them go through their natural cycle.

In other news, we hatched 6 baby chicks this week out of the 8 eggs we set under our broody hen. We are always very excited to add new members to our flock. More chickens mean more eggs for everyone as they grow up and we all look forward to that.

HORTONS FARM One thing about honeybees is that they need minimal tending to during the cold winter months. As long as they were relatively robust going into the season and have ample food reserves, there’s very little reason to open the box, doing so in fact can harm or even kill a colony! We like to pick up the back of each hive every week or so to check the weight. This way we can tell when food reserves are getting low in which case we give them additional food so they don’t starve. I’m happy to say we seldom have to do this as one of our management principals is to leave the bees PLENTY of honey to see them through till spring.

MARY’S PEEPS: I just wanted to thank everyone who orders my products and have stuck with me thru my health problems. I’m still not 100% but I hope time and patience will help.  I appreciate all the prayers. I will be offering a few cakes for listing before Christmas so now is the time and first come first served. I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed  Christmas with your family and friends. That’s what I’ll be doing. Christmas on the Hill in Echo, Al. Our little bit of heaven. MARY,S PEEPS,AND MARY’S BEES. MARY DALE PEEPLES

FOOTNOTES

We would love to hear from you! If you have a favorite recipe, want to write a product review, have an idea or request for an article or information, let us know! You can reply to this newsletter or write marketatdothan@gmail.com.

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!