SQUASH!!!

Many thanks to Avalon Farms who submitted the great Squash Cobbler recipe below that served as inspiration for this section. I tried to find a clever quote about eating squash to start this section with and all I found was a silly pun.

While it’s a bit early for the Butternut variety, there are plenty of varieties of delicious summer squash available right now.

MARKET CHITCHAT

Today was the day! We hope many of you came out to visit our growers at Dothan Nurseries, and for those of you not restricted by diet, that you met Holly Groover of Smore Dessert Company. She has rejoined us for the Saturday markets. Holly is an old friend of Market at Dothan and her desserts are most decadent. She does parties and events.

Many Thanks to Mr. Bob who has helped us in an ongoing project to install CURTAINS for the Market Shed. We thought this would be the week to get everything finished but Amazon failed to come through on the very large rings required to hang them. No doubt many of you remember the stationary cloth that kept the wind out during the winter months. We learned so much from using that and are looking forward to being able to control air flow and sunlight. Protecting the produce is probably the biggest consideration for the summer months.

Lastly, Market at Dothan will be taking a midsummer break the week of July 4. We’ll have regular ordering and pickup up to June 29, and our last Saturday Market at Dothan Nurseries on June 30. Online ordering will resume on July 7.

New & Relisted Products

• Rosemary Salt
• Citrus Salt
• Brine
• Garlic Salt
• Croutons

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

AVALON FARMS: As Ros mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we will be participating in Dothan’s Poplar Head Farmers Market. This does not mean we are thinking less of our MAD (Market at Dothan) customers. You will always come first in our hearts and in products. We are hoping to generate interest in MAD by telling people about its unique qualities; year-round, sustainable and synthetic free. Doesn’t get any better than that!

Being “allowed” back into Poplar Head has actually forced us into new product lines. They aren’t interested in most of our summer veggies and wanted herbs and the faccacia bread we used to make. (We were actually in that market it’s first 3 years.) So with just weeks before the market opened we regrouped and came up with a plan.

We are happy to introduce our Rosemary Salt, Citrus Salt, a Brine and possibly a Garlic Salt. Ooh, and Croutons. Who doesn’t love a little decadence by adding buttery-crunchy-garlicy croutons to all those summer salads.

If you come downtown to Poplar Head Farmers Market this Saturday be sure and mention that you are a MAD customer. Love to see you and we’ll make everyone else jealous of our wonderful  year-round market.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Good Afternoon Marketeers!
     Well summer came with a boom didn’t it. You could say, it knows how to make an entrance! Temperatures have been on the rises but that is just fine as we know how to “Garden Smarter Not Harder” this summer. You can too! We will be sharing some tips the  next couple of weeks on how to do so.

WATERING
Water wisely. The ground is damp, its 11 a.m. and your tomato plant looks droopy. To water or not? NOT. Best time to water is actually early in the morning, around 4 a.m. – 9 a.m.  Check your plants between these hours. O
If they appear droopy perhaps watering is needed in the morning. Otherwise, the summer heat literally evaporates the water you apply to the plants during  heat of the day.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that watering a lot is the trick either, because it isn’t! In fact, when water pools around the base of plants, many become susceptible to disease. Some plants will literally topple over due the loose, soggy soil. You have probably witnessed this with some of your plants this past week with the heavy rains.

Water evenly and regularly. Try to avoid wetting the foliage of plants like cucumbers & squash. For these, drip irrigation may be a more conservative method. We like to use a soaker hose for a deep watering about once a week. For our specialty plants, we prefer to hand water.  We have multiple rain collection tools that really come in handy.

Of course there is always more to learn! Tune in next week for more of our “Garden Smarter Not Harder” series! From our family to yours – take care.