A DAY OF REFLECTION

No doubt most of you remember where you were, who you were with, and what you were doing when the attacks of 9/11/2001 happened. Like the moon landing years before, the event was of such significance that people stayed glued to their radio and/or television for hours. Unlike the moon landing that brought us together in a triumph of achievement, the attacks of 9/ll brought us together in shock, dismay, & grief. The moon landing was over in a short time, but 9/11 went on and on day after day, week after week, stretching into years with search, rescue, funerals, cleanup, memorials – all still fresh in our memories. Our grandchildren will fill its ripples years from now just as we still experience the ripples of Pearl Harbor. Hopefully, prayerfully, by then the Middle East will be allies & friends, just as Japan is a friendly nation to us now.

And hopefully, prayerfully, it won’t take a nuclear incident to achieve that.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

NEW & RELISTED NEW – Keto Pear Cobbler from Grows in Rows NEW – Pasture Raised Chicken from Grows in Rows ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

WELCOME to our new customers and IT WAS GREAT TO SEE YOU to our regulars. Even with few vegetables available for a while longer it was a great morning to be in the fresh air and we hope each of you are taking advantage of the cooler temps every chance you get.

By way of ANNOUNCEMENT – Wendy of Avalon Farms will be managing Dothan Pickup next Friday as your regular manager will be at the state beekeepers Fall Conference that day.

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BACK IN THE SADDLE

Happy September! I can’t speak for everyone else but it’s GOOD to have August in the rear view mirror. Closing Market at Dothan for a whole month was a scary decision and we still believe it was the right thing to do given the circumstances. In retrospect the timing was impeccable with the spread of the Delta covid variant and going forward we will be observing social distancing, masks and curbside delivery as in the past for those who desire it. Details about that may be found on our Question & Answer Page.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

AVALON FARMS

Hello All!  Here’s the latest Avalon Farms news.
Growing now:
- We have one last round of summer squash coming; yellow, zucchini and zephyr will be available in a few weeks. (And cucumbers!)
- Green beans and sugar snap peas are on the horizon but farther out.
- Cabbage and broccoli transplants will be going out this week. (Well, that’s the plan anyway.)

Trying to grow:
- Rooting cuttings off tomatoes. Planning to grow in greenhouse.
- Started some radishes and salad turnips in aquaponics.

Big changes:
We are no longer chicken farmers. In an effort to streamline and simplify our operation, the decision was made to get out of the chicken business. There are still plenty of eggs available from our other lovely growers!

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HORTONS FARM: We took advantage of the extra time last month to get some much needed projects out of the way. Several rooms have been emptied, overhauled or otherwise tackled and one area reorganized for additional pantry space. It’s a blessing not to have any more boxes of canned pecans under the bed in the guest room! I was also able to develop a plan and start transforming a large area of our yard into an herb and medicinal garden. The big idea is to utilize and repurpose as much from the farm as we can. Several wild medicinals have already been successfully transplanted and we’re collecting more as time, space and resources allow.

Left: First year Echinacea about to bloom
Center: Gratuitous photo of Spot wooing Mopsi. A 30 second video of this encounter is available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUINsLYj90k
Right: “Stump Garden” in the center utilizing recycled horse protein tubs and makeshift hugleculture of wood pieces, pecan shells and rich soil. The plan is to put invasive plants (like the peppermint in front tub) in pots.

Rather than wait till Saturday’s regularly scheduled newsletter we decided to let you know early that after pickup for this week’s orders on Friday we will be closed till Saturday, September 4 when our next newsletter goes out and orders resume.

This summer has been hard on our farmers. It almost seems they’re having to unlist and delete more than they deliver because of ongoing damage from weather and problems (like mildew and bugs) brought on by the weather. Nobody fools mother nature, but we can’t fight it either. The plan is to give the growers a much needed break and hopefully start strong in September. We realize that schedule don’t allow for many fall crops to be ready for harvest, but hopefully what is available won’t be ruining daily in the fields by then. Falling prey to local weather conditions is one of the downsides of local sustainable agriculture.

Thank you for your kind understanding and being a part of our Market family! Please do not hesitate to contact us (marketatdothan@gmail.com) if you need anything during this break. We love our customers, we love serving you and want to be here for you.

Our Website: marketatdothan.locallygrown.net
Our Email: marketatdothan@gmail.com

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MarketatDothan
Join our Online Discussions! www.facebook.com/groups/MarketatDothanDiscussion
Be sure to use our hashtag! #marketatdothan

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!

SUMMER FINGER FOODS

Summertime and who wants to cook??? Thankfully the season’s bounty, and help from our Market vendors can ease the burden! The following is inspired by Dianne Herring, D’s Jellies, whose summer Charcuterie was recently featured in Dothan Living.

Top Left: Who doesn’t like a good deviled egg? Our favorite stuffing is mayo, stone ground mustard and dry ranch dressing mixed with egg yolk.

Top Center: Sweet Cherry Tomatoes from Restoration Gardens.

Top Right: Praline Pecans from Avalon Farms

Bottom Left: Pecan Pie Muffins from Richter Farms

Bottom Center: Figs from Avalon Farms

Bottom Right: Baked Jalapeno Poppers.

Be sure to chheck out D’s Jellies for Pepper Jelly, a year round treat, and Nana’s superb cookies. We have many other wonderful foods listed as well.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

D’S JELLIES: Congratulations to Dianne for another great food spread in Dothan Living magazine! This issue includes a Charcuterie using products from local businesses and Dianne has graciously mentioned Market at Dothan and our vendors in the accompanying article. THANK YOU!

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AVALON FARMS What do you consider an insect pest? Around here I usually consider anything eating or otherwise afflicting my plants a pest and it needs to go. 

It’s sort of like the old saying “anything growing in the wrong place is a weed.” You eat my plants, you die.

I discovered these very pretty caterpillars this week. They’ve been eating their way through my few celery plants, making them a pest. I started to pull them off for chicken treats but they reminded me of monarch caterpillars, so I did a little research. These bad boys (because they ate the celery) are black swallowtail caterpillars. I guess the chickens don’t need any treats today, LOL. We enjoy watching them flitting around the flowers near our porch.

Editor’s Note: Wendy isn’t the only one checking these caterpillars this week! If you find something interesting like this and want to know more Google Lens is a great smart phone app for identifying plant and animal life. Point the camera at what you wish to identify, click the button and Google will search it’s database and tell you what you’re looking at.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

We appreciate you and your continued support of our local farmers and sustainable food producers. We are keeping the newsletter short and (hopefully!) sweet this week. Thank you for being a part of our Market family!

“Rain, rain, go away!” We were sad to see several items deleted from orders last week and if you’re one of those affected it’s because of mildew and damage from too much rain.

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!

MORE SUMMER SALADS

In honor of a wedding anniversary we’re cheating this week and sharing a great re-run from July 2018. And who doesn’t like salad inspiration in these hot and humid summer days? Enjoy!

While many people automatically gravitate towards salads after the holidays, actually the hot days of summer may be the best time to take a break from grilling and take advantage of the season’s bounty. Salads are one of those versatile dishes that does not have to be dull or boring as there are many ways to make them interesting and satisfying.

Long gone are the days when main-course salads were pretty much limited to chicken or seafood concoctions involving mayonnaise or a virtuous (i.e., heavy and bland) effort composed of brown rice and not much else. These days, they’re far more likely to showcase interesting greens and other pristine seasonal produce, as well as staple ingredients from around the globe. Whether you favor a carefully curated classic like Salade Nicoise or a wonderful jumble of leftovers, main-course salads are an easy way to work healthy foods into your daily routine without being chained to the stove. Also, you get to channel your inner forager, whether you’re on the prowl at a farmers market or staring into your kitchen cupboard or refrigerator.

A word about beans: as far as beans go, we are all aware that legumes are an important (and inexpensive) source of dietary fiber and protein, and they also contain folate, iron, and potassium. In a perfect world, we’d all have a stash of cooked-from-scratch beans in the freezer, but if you don’t, it’s not an insurmountable hurdle. While some of us aspire to keep a stash of home canned beans in the pantry, there is no shame in using a store bought version. Canned beans, a genuine convenience food, will do; just remember to rinse them (to remove much of the sodium) and drain well before using. And for those who would bravely attempt to cook dried chickpeas, add a teaspoon of baking powder to help break down the protein chains and make them soft.

If you enjoy Mediterranean food, with most any combination of salad ingredients, if you add lots of flat-leaved parsley (which is sensibly treated as a vegetable in the Middle East), tomato, kalamata olives, red bell pepper, feta cheese, and lemony-garlicky vinaigrette you’ll have yourself dinner in no time flat.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

NEW & RELISTED NEW – Figs from Avalon Farms Relisted Early Next Week – Casablanca Beef NEW – Vanilla Bean & Grape Vine Lip Balms from Bella Eden Farms * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CASABLANCA RANCH: Sends word that they will be restocking and listing their Grass Fed Beef Monday and Tuesday of this order cycle. So you’re invited to make a 2nd order this week if you have been waiting for their return. Sherry and the family send their thanks for your understanding as they look forward to serving our Market family again.

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AVALON FARMS: You probably have noticed that many of my vegetable listings have very limited quantities or worse, have been removed altogether. It’s terrible, I know. The reason is the heavy rains we’ve been experiencing.  I should have a new planting of squash starting to produce, but I don’t. Due to the wet soil conditions I was not able to prepare the soil and plant. So when these old plants (the second planting of squash, actually) succumb to the mildew caused by heat and wet, I’m out of squash.

In desperation, I’m going to try some “creative” unorthodox planting methods to get more summer and a lot more winter squash going. I’m going to try planting seeds on the old broccoli/cabbage/greens rows. The plastic is still in place on those raised beds, I’ll just poke new holes and plant the seeds. Gotta try something.

It’s also time to start fall transplants. More broccoli, cabbage, kale etc that will be planted in the field late August, early September. These transplants will be started in the house where it is cool enough for the seeds to germinate well. Then I’m hoping I can move them out into the greenhouse to grow. Assuming I can keep the greenhouse cool enough. I gets complicated.

On the plus side, the figs are ripening and the trees are loaded. They will be listed this week.

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MORE WISDOM FROM ELIZABETH

The following is from an Introduction to Organic Farming written by Elizabeth Buttram from Columbus, GA whose work we’ve shared previously. The full article may be viewed by clicking HERE,

What’s Wrong With Chemically or Synthetically Derived Pesticides and Fertilizers?
Pesticide runoff always occurs either below the soil, damaging the very fiber of what makes up the unique network of life occurring under our shoes, or downhill into our streams and rivers creating a domino effect of ecological disaster. It kills insects and bugs occurring within the soil, as well as downhill/downstream. It isn’t just the insects that suffer though, it contaminates water sources, hurting an entire complex ecosystem of fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals.

So, pesticides poison the ecosystem while the fertilizers do quite the opposite, they promote unnatural blooms of plant species (Yes! Fertilizer runoff likewise happens). Certain plants will thrive, depending on the fertilizer, while others will suffer as the thriving plants out-compete them, and the ecosystem becomes unbalanced.

Often times, algae blooms occur due to fertilizer runoff. Algae bloom can be beneficial, but when unnaturally accelerated and given an unfair advantage due to fertilizer uptake, it smothers out its natural environment, uptaking vast amounts of oxygen from the water and making a favorable environment for wildlife species suddenly hostile and unsuitable. It leads to these species dying off as happens with pesticide runoff anyway. It’s a continual negative feedback loop. The ecological poisoning ensured with conventional farming using harsh pesticides and fertilizers isn’t the only negative side effect of this practice. It also makes it more difficult for organic farmers to do their work. Why?

To explain, I’ll give an example from an organic farm I worked on called Paradise Farms.

Paradise Farms did everything I listed above to be considered organic, and jumped through the many hoops and financial burdens of obtaining an organic certification (yet another thing making it difficult for organic farmers). Organic farmers are generally lower down on the financial scale because of previously covered reasons — the costs of obtaining an organic certification are ridiculous.
Paradise Farms was surrounded by other farms, and none of them were organic. This meant that all the pests that were deterred from the surrounding farms employing ecological warfare to keep them off their crops, came to our farm. Our ecological-based pesticides, while still an active deterrent, were heaven compared to the harsh chemicals they had adapted to. The negative consequences of this are obvious.

Why do it? Why organic farm?

Organic farming stems from a love for the environment and the natural world. Organic farmers’ ultimate mission emphasizes the use of our renewable resources in order to conserve our soils and waters for the bettered future of humanity and our entire world. Regardless of the challenges organic farmers face due to these practices, and the domino effect conventional farming operations have on organic farming, it’s worth it to know they’re simultaneously protecting the environment and providing for people.

The author hopes to resume her Peace Corps work within the next few months after her previous assignment was cut short due to Covid.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

D’S JELLIES: I have been waiting patiently for all of my peppers that go into D’s Hot Pepper Jelly to turn red. The red peppers are what gives my jelly it’s red color. This weekend I hope to begin production of my best seller, D’s Hot Pepper Jelly. I will begin listing the jelly soon. I have new Jelly Jars that were shipped to me from New York, so all of my Jellies will be in new jars with white lids. Thank you for your patience and for being a loyal customer. Dianne Herring 

M@D MIDSUMMER BREAK

Every year we take a short midsummer break and this week will be our last order cycle before we open for orders again on July 3. We apologize for any inconvenience the late announcement may cause.

Thank you for your understanding. This gives your vendors a much needed break, and if you urgently need something during our off week you are welcome to contact them directly.

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

NEW & RELISTED including items listed last week

NEW – Shelled & Unshelled Peas from Grier Acres NEW – Shelled & Black Eyed Peas from Grier Acres BLUEBERRIES from Avalon Farms Fresh DILL from Grier Acres Fresh CILANTRO from Grier Acres Yukon Gold POTATOES from Avalon Farms RELISTED – Asian Fairy Tale Eggplant from Restoration Gardens Spaghetti Squash – Avalon Farms Delicata Squash – Avalon Farms Japanese Eggplant – Avalon Farms Tomato Medley – Avalon Farms Tomato Slicers – Avalon Farms

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AVALON FARMS:

Cleaning garlic makes a mess, but it’s pleasant on the front porch.

Due to the storms today our Saturday farmers market venue was canceled. So we have an unexpected “day off”. The “day off” will give us the opportunity to work on cleaning and storing our onions and garlic. Then there are tomatoes to cook down. Jalapenos, cucumbers and squash to turn into pickles. “Day off” is a euphemism for “trying to do things you usually don’t have time for.”

Stay safe out there.

CULINARY CONFESSIONS

When it comes to food the room for creativity is endless. Julia Child changed the world by inviting cameras into her studio kitchen and sharing all kind of wonderful tips, techniques and new foods with the world. Many have followed with their own unique flavors and styles and these days cooking channels and YouTube have made it possible to find most anything you wish to learn in mere moments.

That’s the big picture. The small picture that follows is one of your Market Managers favorite YouTube channels. It speaks loudly to my farm girl/raised in the country on a dirt road side.

Meet Aziza. She and her family rise early to tend their garden, chickens, and cows, and gather fresh ingredients for their meals, and sometimes even build the oven needed to make a dish. Open-fire cooking is the cornerstone of Aziza and her family’s heritage. Traditional Azerbaijani cooking is done over wooden coals using an iron pan called a saj.

Last year Aziza’s son, a professional chef named Amiraslan, was working in a restaurant in their nation’s capital of Baku. When the restaurant was forced to close due to the pandemic Amiraslan saw it as an opportunity to share their region’s dishes and way of life with the world. He returned to his native village and began to create videos of his family at work preparing cozy and comforting dishes over an open flame. In a year, their YouTube Channel, Country Live Vlog has gathered over 450,000 subscribers with many of their videos reaching over one million views.

Don’t take my word for why these videos have spoken to millions. Find a dish you’d enjoy seeing prepared and see why many folks wish they were in Azerbaijani and Aziza was their mom!

If the (green) link above does not work for you, try pasting the following into your browser to see some of these lovely videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIix6MklfJFywa_36iDj8Sw

GROWER & MARKET NOTES

NEW & RELISTED Fresh DILL from Grier Acres Fresh CILANTRO from Grier Acres Yukon Gold POTATOES from Avalon Farms RELISTED – Asian Fairy Tale Eggplant from Restoration Gardens Spaghetti Squash – Avalon Farms Delicata Squash – Avalon Farms Japanese Eggplant – Avalon Farms Tomato Medley – Avalon Farms Tomato Slicers – Avalon Farms * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

AVALON FARMS:

I feel like you guys are my friends, can I vent a little bit? 

As you know, Market at Dothan is not the only place I market my produce. When possible I attend both Poplar Head and Ozark Farmers Markets.

My issue is WHY don’t people believe I actually grow all these vegetables and fruits? Do I have a dishonest face?! I am asked this several times at every market. After explaining that I only sell what I grow at my little place in Kinston, they then move to the next interesting, uncommon vegetable and say “You grew this?”  Why, yes.  Yes, I did. Is this really so hard to believe???

The kicker came last week when someone asked “Are these Slocomb tomatoes?” They were literally stunned when I replied (perhaps a bit stronger than necessary) “No, they are not. They are from my farm in Kinston.” 

Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support.