2018 MARKET CLASSES

Market at Dothan and Dothan Nurseries have been plotting for some time to offer classes once a month that are geared to help our community eat healthier and live better. The classes that were held during our Fall Farmer’s market were such a blessing to so many people that it seems both parties had the same thought . . . “why stop?”

So we’re happy to announce that our first monthly class of 2018 will be held on Saturday, January 20 at 10am. Classes will take place in the greenhouse at Dothan Nursery. Wendy Robbins of Avalon Farms will be teaching how to build your own diy seed warmer tray. We know many of you enjoy growing some of your own produce and starting from seed is a great way to enjoy vegetables and varieties not found in purchased seedlings.

Of course we understand that many of you don’t garden and that’s ok. We’ll be having plenty of food classes in the future. With this month being the month for garden planning, it seemed fitting to do this class while there’s time to actually use the information!

So thank you Wendy for your willingness to share from your wealth of knowledge and we look forward to learning more!

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hello market friends,
    So it warmed up some this week. I wonder if perhaps I’m the only one that runs to the garden as soon as it hits 60 degrees to play in the dirt?
  This week in our Embrace The Winter  series we are going to discuss yet another benefit of the winter temperatures.
    Benefit Two: Free Compost!!! Yes that’s right free composting materials are falling or have fallen from the sky and that my friends is very beneficial. Adding leaves to your compost is a nice way to increase the nitrogen content of your compost. This is vital since many of the crops we grow in the South are very dependant on nitrogen. We personally only have a few trees on our property but we have friends! So round up the kiddos, get your winter gear on and for goodness sake, go rake someone’s yard!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD FARM: How many ways can can we apologize for our orders yesterday? I’m sorry, we’re sorry, we apologize, please forgive us! You guys remember in our last post, I talked about how both hubby and I received some not so nice reports from the doctor, well unfortunately it caught up to me yesterday and I missed the Market completely. I call Roslyn as soon as I could and she was very forgiving and even said a prayer for me. (She is so sweet) We appreciate her and all of you for your understanding. We hope to be able to get through this process and get back to life, but if not then we will just keep praying and roll with it. Again we’re sorry we missed you and we ask that you please try us again!

January is a month of new beginnings. It is also a month where we realize that we have a BIG year ahead of us. There is so much to do! We have talked a lot about how the shorter days and cold have an affect on our animals, but it also affects us too! It’s like we know there’s work to be done. Feed, water, weed, and so on, but when the sun sets before 5 o’clock, it’s freezing cold, and sometimes wet outside you don’t even want to think about farm chores. With us being transplants here we keep asking each other….“This is Alabama right?” “What’s with this weather?” Honestly, all we really want to do is curl up on the couch, wrap in our blankets, eat, and tv binge……or maybe that’s just my family!
We know many of you live very busy lives and we want to stress to everyone that it’s ok to have those days when you just feel like doing nothing. It’s important to take time to breathe, de-stress, and relax. When you’re tired, take time to take care of you. We have had to learn this the hard way lately. So we want to tell you that it’s ok to direct instead of do!

The winter time can be beautiful for some and very upsetting for others. Many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder also known as SAD. This is when you feel moody, anxious, and your energy is nonexistent. The shorter days and lack of sunlight can lead to depression, a drop in serotonin levels and even cause sleep loss. So while a mild case of “I really don’t want to do anything today” is ok, anything above and beyond that could be serious. Look it up, research it, check on your friends/family if it seems like they have been hibernating. SAD can be dangerous and we don’t want anything to happen to any of you. So please hang in there and we will too. Before we know it, Spring will have Sprung!

MAYIM FARMS: Exciting news…Carole and I will be attending the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference (SSAWG) in Chattanooga Tn. this week. This conference provides a forum to learn about sustainable farming techniques and marketing strategies, community food systems, and promote sustainable agriculture. We are looking forward to learning much and putting it into action on our farm. Unfortunately we will be placing all of our products on “vacation mode” for this week. We’ll be back next week full of new ideas that we can implement to make Mayim Farm better for you. We are working hard and striving to make all our products the most nutrient dense and beneficial for you. “Let your food be your medicine!”

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!