MARKET CHITCHAT

Many thanks to Viki for helping out with the Market on Friday!

On a different note, we are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve our service to you. This week we ran into an unanticipated situation where a customer’s unusual order had to be left with the Nursery staff. When a friend came to pick it up there was some confusion and they left without their products. Try as we may to keep everything straightforward, we can’t go around to every staff member with details about late pickups. So we’re asking that if you are ever in that situation that you be sure to use the words “MARKET ORDER” when you speak with a Nursery staff member. Thank you for your help and cooperation with this.

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: Marketeers!
What a nice day for a fall market!
Although Bain Home Gardens was not a vendor, we had to come and show our support and boy we are glad we did. It was my pleasure to hold the sweetest baby goat from Avalon Farms. One day we will have our own – until then petting will have to suffice!

We added to our Food Preservation education by attending the very informative class hosted by Mrs. Melody Forsythe-Jeschke! There are just some things you cannot learn on Google or YouTube. Tapping into the the years of knowledge and expertise of those around you is ALWAYS best.

This class is in line with others that we at Bain Home Gardens have recently been engaged in. Shortly we will have our Cottage Food Law Certificate which will enable us to expand our offerings to our Market Family.

This week we are happy to add our Bain Home Garden Green Mustards to the market. Funny thing is the cold weather hasn’t stopped our Oriental Yard Long Beans from being productive! So look for them again this week – from our family to yours!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello Market Friends! Guess what we’ve got?!?! Salad and lots of it! Are you as excited as we are about our organic salad blends coming back? Let’s all pause for a happy dance! That was so fun!

Our lettuce is growing well. We don’t have enough to put on the Market yet but we have a good start. We will let you know when it’s ready. Until next week…..

Now for a second dance….we finally have some wonderful soaps to offer you. Good and healthy plus made with the very best ingredients! We even have some unscented for all our folks with allergies! Happy dance pause again! We couldn’t be more excited! Oh and did we tell you that one of those is pumpkin spice?!?! Yes!! So grab them while you can! Until next week….

HORTONS FARM: Thank you for all the kind thoughts and prayers for us this last week. WE SURVIVED! There were some challenges for sure (like the well pump acting up) but managed to work through them and are thankfully back to our own crazy mixed up kind of normal. The Mr. and Koda’s time was up and they surprised me around lunch on Friday. The timing was perfect as it made it much easier to prepare for today’s Fall Farmer’s Market.

WHY THE NEWSLETTER IS LATE

Meet Koda. Koda lives with me. He’s pretty well known. At home he’s a beloved pet living the good life on the farm, but when he puts on his vest and bandana he’s a man on a mission and his mission is to love everybody, especially KIDS.

When I got home on Friday my Mr. met me with, “You’ll never believe who called me today.” And when he told me I was in shock.

The short story is, Koda is called to duty in Panama City. His job as a certified therapy dog is to do exactly what you see in the photo. We spent 24 hours+ preparing for Koda (and his handler) to be at ground zero by curfew on Saturday. This meant all kinds of preparations so we could manage both here and there for an unspecified length of time.

So that is why the newsletter is delayed. We hope you’ll pray for these guys and the other dog teams like them who are tasked with bringing some joy and comfort to families that are struggling to rebuild their lives.

MARKET CHITCHAT

Wasn’t Friday a most SPLENDID fall day? We celebrated everybody being back and resuming our kind of “normal” by decorating the Market Shed a bit. For anyone who didn’t come by Friday, the antique scales were rescued from my dad’s hunting/fishing shack before it burned down. They had belonged to my grandfather who had a little country store out in the middle of nowhere in Randolph Co., Alabama. I’m pretty sure Dad used them to weigh fish after Papa New graduated to the table scale I remember being in the store when I was a kid..

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: Marketeers,
    Like us, we hope you are thoroughly enjoying the nice fall breeze that appears more and more these days. It certainly makes the garden work more pleasant.
  Speaking of which, garden work has included much cleaning of late. Jarod finalized a BIG project, Thursday which opens the door for even more progress! We are so thankful to have such a hard worker dedicated to our cause!
   We have found many cool gifts while cleaning. These include volunteer Basil plants of many varieties, self-seeded Mizuna Mustards, and to top it all off – Jelly Melons!

Jelly Melon has many names: horned melon, kiwano, hedged gourd, melano, etc. It is primarily used as a snack or salad. The taste has been compared to a combination of banana and  passionfruit or a combination of banana, cucumber, and lime. Strange right?! Thus the appeal for us! There are several of these on the vine and currently we are unsure if they will make it to maturity with cooling night temperatures. You will be happy to know that IF they do, we will be making them available to our market family! Stay tuned.
    Bringing the a taste of the new & exotic – from our family to yours!

SMART DOC RESOURCES We are up and running again.  Six days without power or water!  Yikkees. Some of the hydroponic veggies and herbs survived but we had to redo much of our supply.However,  we should have our microgreens, lettuce and kale for the 27th! More pics and info later. We also hope to have a good supply of herbs (especially basil) and  now checking out the pecans and walnuts. WE WILL be marketing our CBD oil and products. All 20% off retail price. CBD oil is used for a variety of maladies including pain, anxiety and depression.and lots more.  As most of you all know, I am a DC, MD and a medical writer/researcher so you can check out the studies and info on my website ;http://smartdocresources.com and I welcome all questions. As in any supplement/herb – it is always good to be on the side of caution and do your research.  I have also checked out many of the products on the market, so you can feel safe assured I only suggest the best. Reviews can also been seen on the website. Hope everyone is back to normal. Blessings Doc V

AVALON FARMS:

That’s me, my daughter and son-in-law enjoying the view in Portland, Maine.

We really enjoyed our trip up the New England coast and into Canada. So much to see and history to learn. The leaves were turning and the waves were crashing on rocky coastlines. Even had our first poutine!  Definitely not South Alabama food or landscape. Now back to reality.

The farm came through the storm without any significant damage. I think the cover crop worked as a windbreak for the kale and broccoli plants. The Asian green seeds we started in the aquaponics look great. (That little experiment worked! Yay!) The spinach seeds apparently didn’t like the weather at all, so I’ll be re-planting those along with more radishes and turnips.

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello Market Friends,

Are you guys as excited as we are about the upcoming cool weather?!?! We are jumping for joy at the thought of cooler temps. With the cooler weather comes dry cracked skin. So take the time to nourish yours with our body butters and oils! Available on the Market now so get them while you can. See you next week!

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.

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

UPCOMING SATURDAY SCHEDULES

With both the Market and our Saturday Farmer’s Market closed this week, we’ve had to regroup and reorganize for the upcoming Saturday Markets. Here’s what the schedules look like now:

EMERGENCY PREPARDNESS AFTER THE FACT

If you didn’t see it on On Facebook: Facebook we thought you might appreciate some of the smart things our Market family did during and after the storm. (And you’ll understand why we want some of them to teach classes!) We hope this information translates into future blessings for someone, sometime, somewhere .

Mrs. Melody Forsythe -Jesche DONATED food she was going to lose rather than see it go to waste. She contacted her Tupperware lady (whose contact info was posted) who has connections to the Wiregrass Food Bank and organizations that are providing meals for emergency workers.

In her own words, “am so blessed. Rather than losing and throwing away/wasting my freezer food a friend helped me be able to donate much of it to local shelters feeding folks as well as feeding our EMS, first responders and linemen. In the process we discovered that much of it was still frozen rock hard. Will check it again tomorrow if I still dont have power and make another run at donating. I feel so lucky to be able to do this and help rather than seeing food go to waste. And please, keep praying, we have a ways to go down here.

Don’t you just love her beautiful heart?

Katharine Johnson made sure she would be able to provide hot meals for her man clan. Her “driveway soup” is shown below with details about how she pulled it off.

Katharine is using a small camp stove: “It’s not a propane stove like I went for…it’s a pocket sized thing that comes with square tablets you burn…each tab burns for 18 mins and you get 8. I had to use 2 for this big pot but it was $5 so, totally worth it, lol. Walmart camping section.”

“also…the man in Walmart said you can get a metal coffee can, drop a roll of TP in it, soak that with 90% rubbing alcohol. Lay metal tent stakes or coat hangers across the top for a grate and drop a match in it…you can use it and blow it out when you’re done and relight it later. . . ”

MARKET CHITCHAT

DALEVILLE & ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS – Woo-Hoo! Wendy is returning. Delivery to your locations resume this week.

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

Some of our Growers were hit hard by the storm and lost the entirity of their garden. Produce will probably be light for a while till they can get established again. It’s one of the misfortunes of going through a storm like this and they would appreciate your thoughts and prayers as they recover. Both the Market Facebook Pages (links below) and individual Farm pages have more detailed infomation.

HORTONS FARM: We’re glad to report that our bees made it through the storm fine. To see them out and about gathering water and what pollen and nectar they could find today you wouldn’t know they were ever in any danger. I was not able to secure my hives prior to this storm as I have done in the past (no thanks to a nasty cold) and had to trust that their own preparations (propolis – so many reasons to love the stuff!) and the Good Lord would keep them safe. Neither failed and we are so grateful! We heard of a few bee trees being toppled over and were sad we couldn’t rescue any of those bees (again, no thanks to said nasty cold).

So grateful for the amazing weather following the storm. I was able to drag some old decorations down from the attic yesterday. If you spot any of this in east Dale County you’ll know where you’re at. Stop for a cup of tea if you’re ok with overly friendly pooches.

Our barn actually fared better than the house and we’ve got our work cut out for us with damaged fences and roof issues. So thankful it was not worse and that our friends and neighbors are safe.

AVALON FARMS:We are SO thankful that this storm wasn’t a direct hit to our area. When we left on vacation Michael was barely a tropical depression. We had no idea it would be a fast moving hurricane in days. With my 77 year old father feeding the animals and keeping an eye on things, I was more worried about him overdoing it getting the farm ready for the storm than I was about the storm itself! (Dad and the 3 newborn baby goats are doing fine by all reports! ?)

We won’t be able to evaluate our crops until we arrive back home Sunday afternoon. If any of the vegetables survived (and, of course, there should be eggs available) they will all be listed Sunday afternoon. We don’t know the current state of the farm and critters,  other than that “it wasn’t too bad” in our neck of the woods. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts! We continue to keep you all in our prayers!!

Keep an eye out for a Sunday update on the Market Discussion Facebook page (link at bottom).

DANNY’S GREENS Michael’s winds did not blow low enough to affect the hand built mini hoop houses Danny builds to protect his greens. Thankfully his gourmet salad mix is available this week!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD FARM: Hello Market Friends. How are all of you? It’s been a challenging week, but I hope that everyone came through the hurricane ok and with very little to no damage. We have spent the last few days clearing and cleaning up on our farm and helping out others as well. There is a lot of damage and destruction, but there is also a spirit of kindness and giving. You can see how everyone is so willing to help each other and that is what should be done in times like these.

We lost a lot, but we know there is nothing we could of done to change Hurricane Michael. So we are choosing to view this as a restart. With that being said, we are sure that some of you need to put your money elsewhere in the next coming weeks and that’s ok! We have had to do the same and are currently trying to figure out what dinner will be since we are still without power here and from what I can tell from the power company, it may be a few more days.

We have very limited quantities to offer and only our organic sprouts as veggies, but if you need us, we’re here. If not, then we will be here when you’re ready. We ask all of you to please pray for those without homes, without all of their loved ones, those who have no jobs to go back to, everyone affected by the storm. We will do the same. Things will get better and setbacks happen. It’s how you deal with the setbacks that matters. Until next week….

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

MEET DR. SCHAFER

Dr. Schafer has provided us an overview of the workshop she is offering at noon next Saturday during the Fall Farmer’s Market.

Healing tips for Seasonal Change

Virginia Schafer  BSN, DC, MD    Virginia, a recent transplant to the Dothan area is an alternative healer that has been educated in both Eastern and Western medicine and will be talking briefly about what happens to our body when seasons change.  If you experience allergies, lethargy, muscle aches, sleepless nights, and other maladies….it may be just the change in seasons (and your body).  Virginia will talk about some studies that may link these changes to hormones and our endocrine system and give us some practical tips on how to survive and be healthy when mother earth starts to slow down. (and so do we!)    

MARKET CHITCHAT

Many thank you’s to Viki Richter for managing the Market again on Friday. This will conclude Ros’s travels for a while.

DALEVILLE & ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS – NO DELIVERY next week on October 12. Wendy will return and resume deliveries to your area on October 19.

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: Marketeers!
   Do you like Pepper Jelly? For the longest time I personally had an aversion to it.  When I was younger, I tasted some that made my tongue numb for days! Yep, that left a mark on my mind! However, last year I had the pleasure of trying D’s Jellies. I really enjoyed it! In fact our entire family did! It made me wonder if it was something I could make myself. Thus when planning out the garden this year, we were sure to include many pepper variations. Well after a beautiful gift of jalapenos (which we had no success with this year) from Mr. Bob Lee of Dothan Nurseries, we decided to go ahead and take a shot with our very own Pepper Jelly.

We are happy we did! We are all very pleased with the flavor! As the weather cools, our peppers will slow and eventually stop producing. Until then, we are harvesting and preparing for our next batch. We are are not listing this at this time but check out D’s Jellies, Hawkins Homestead Farm, & Mary’s Peeps. You won’t be disappointed!

Many well wishes – from our family to yours!

DANNY’S GREENS The cooler nights have been good to the lettuce so we’ve been able to increase the quantities offered.

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello Market Friends! Welcome to October! Hasn’t the year flown by? Yes!! Here on the farm, the chickens have been in a molt and are slowly coming out of it. Hopefully we will be able to catch up on egg orders soon. The one thing we can usually count on is eggs, but now even the chickens decided to take an early break. Even still their eggs are beautiful as always. The picture below is one of our worst days, but yet the eggs were just so pretty. The chickens need this time to shed and grow new feathers so we will just keep packing them up with proteins! See you guys next week!

HORTONS FARM: Thank you for your patience during our recent absences. Two weeks ago we were at the Alabama Beekeeper Association’s Fall Conference where Ros happily handed the baton for her seat on the state board these last 3 years to another fine beekeeper lady from the Mobile area. So happy to see more women involved in beekeeping at this level.

This photo was taken at Cedine Camp in Tennessee early Friday morning. It’s been four years too long since taking in this view.

We’ll be busy next week bottling honey and preparing for the Fall Farmer’s Market on Saturday, October 13. Hope to see you there!

MARKET CHITCHAT

Viki Richter will be managing the market next Friday.

DALEVILLE & ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS – NO DELIVERY on October 5 or October 12.

New & Relisted Products

• Bruchetta from Hawkins Homestead

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

AVALON FARMS: I know the timing is terrible as our greens have just started coming in, but Avalon Farms will be taking a hiatus for the next 2 weeks. We’ll be lazing around with family enjoying some fall foliage.

We’ll be back in the market on October 13th. If our products are not listed at the opening bell check back on Sunday.

Thank you all for your support!

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hey there Marketeers!

What an exciting week it has been! Why? RAIN & THUNDERSTORMS! I’m not crazy, I assure you. However, all of the new plantings have benefited tremendously from the weather this week. Seeds that have been laying dormant have decided to sprout! I love the circle of life! In addition, our peppers, snap beans, and okra are growing beautifully!

So yes, I’m loving these little showers though admittedly it makes it hard to get projects completed.

Did you know we grow to order? What that means is if you have a need for something we will do our best to grow it for you. Likely if it’s something you want, then others are also looking for it. Just let us know. This is how we came to grow Soybeans, which are nearly done for the season. If you haven’t gotten a chance to try them this maybe your last opportunity for a while. They will be available for table sales this upcoming Friday – from our family to yours!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello Market Friends. Thank you to everyone who took a few of these stewing hens off our hands last week. We appreciate it and you!

New this week we invite you to try our bruschetta. Made fresh with our organic basil and tomatoes grown on our farm, plus a few other ingredients (we can’t tell you everything). It goes great with some crusty bread also called a baguette…LOL! I just like saying crusty bread. Also our organic 5 part salad sprouts are back and we’re keeping the organic mung beans up this week as well.

Our lettuce is growing well. We don’t have enough to put on the Market yet but we have a good start. We will let you know when it’s ready. Until next week…..

HORTONS FARM: We are off Market this week for yes, another trip. As far as we know this will be the last for a while. For many years Ros made an annual pilgrimage to the mountains of Tennessee and this trip back is long overdue. Our products will be listed next week on October 6 and we’re seriously looking forward to our Fall Farmer’s Market starting October 13!

MORE ABOUT BASIL

by Virginia Schafer

I Love Basil!  And I am glad cause Basil has gone wild.  I arrived here late summer so I planted my basil in plant boxes and hydro-planted. I can say that they were quite happy!  Did you know that Basil is part of the Mint family? Basil is not only delicious in many recipes – including infused oils and  many other products. Many essential oils contain Ocimum sanctum L. or Ocimum tenuflorum L. ( Holy Basil). Yep there are over 35 varieties  of this plant.
Basil’s antioxidant rich essential oils are light and small enough to be airborne (thus fragrant). Because of this and their porous, anti water solubility – they are also great for healing. They are considered  a great herbal medicine for an immune booster, great antioxidant and anti inflammatory, great for stress reduction,, antipyretic (good for fevers), analgesic (pain reducer) and even good for sugar control (diabetes).  Italian basil is also high in magnesium and vitamins. So bring on the spaghetti in Marinara sauce and basil pesto , grandma!

Basil  Pesto recipe

1 jar (8oz) sundried tomatoes
2 cups loose basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup olive oil (virgin)
¼ cup pine nuts (I like to lightly toast them)
¼ cups of parmesan or pecorino cheese
Blend until the consistency that you like (I like mine a little chunky)

MARKET CHITCHAT

We’re glad to announce the addition of another person to our lineup of speakers during the Fall Farmer’s Market. “Smart Doc” Virginia Schafer will be doing a Healing Seminar at 12:00 pm in the Market Shed on October 13. This is a very recent development so that’s really all the info available now but we’ll tell you more very soon. SOOO EXCITING!! That’s four fabulous classes (so far)!

DALEVILLE & ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS – Don’t forget there will be no delivery on October 5 or October 12.

New & Relisted Products

• Banana Leaves from Bain Home Gardens

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

SMART DOC FARMS:What is Hydroponics?

Like the world of technology, the gardening sector is changing. Hydroponics makes sense to me. It’s a great way to control growing healthy, organic produce and quickly. For those with little space, these little water fed  plants(or if you are lucky enough to have a closed system – aquaponics which is usually fed by a fish pond) are easy, bug free, soil free and organic. I use organic nutrient additives, coconut based growth medium and special lights. For my herbs, lettuce and microgreens, I use the  deep water culture method which is simply seeds germinated and then the plants roots are suspended in a nutrient rich solution with continuous oxygen saturation via air stones. With this technique, I usually get sprouting within 24 hrs and nice micros within 10 days! Later we will be using a different technique for the tomatoes and peppers.  Look forward to seeing you soon!

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Good afternoon,
   It’s the first day of fall! Admittedly, I’m super excited to feel the Fall. Fall morning air quickly dissipates however we are hoping that will soon change.
    This week we have some adjustments to our listings. We are adding Banana leaves. If you follow us on Facebook, you saw our Fancy  Luau Dinner (what the Terry called it). It was a fun way to step outside the normal routine . We enjoyed it.

A second adjustment is we will be removing our Summer Salad Blend this week. As temps start to cool (though they haven’t yet) the Malabar Spinach will slow in producing new offshoots. Since we use the leaves & stems in smoothies, now is the time for us to store up for the winter. We have planted for Fall Salad blends but with Summer temps in the forecast it may be awhile before we are bringing our Kales, Chards, and Fall Salad blends back to the Market. In the meantime, Danny’s Greens has some beautiful lettuces already available of which we may snag a few ourselves and I’m told that Hawkins Homestead may have some available on a month or so.
  For those who haven’t already, be sure to follow our Facebook and/or Instagram pages. Those followers are the first to get updates as to what is growing, what’s available, and what’s new. Also for funny anecdotes you should also check out our website: https://bainhomegardens.wordpress.com
    You could shop anywhere but you come to the Market at Dothan. Please know we appreciate your support. You are the best! Sending a cool Fall breeze – from our family to yours.

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: It’s here! It’s here! My favorite season. Happy Fall! Oh wait….it’s still 90 degrees! Living in the South it sometimes seems as if we only have one season and that’s HOT! The good thing though is this means we have we can plant year round.

So we have radishes coming up soon, salad blends, and our kale is coming back. Oh and this week stewing hens are coming back! Remember to cook them low and slow! A crock pot is best!

Of course we still have our organic basil available! Plus basil pesto. Have you tried it? How about our lime basil pesto? Yum! Don’t miss out. Until next week…..

VIP DATES & REMINDERS

If you follow the newsletter you are aware of the upcoming Fall Farmer’s Market starting October 13. We are super excited about this, but what you don’t know is all the stuff going on BEFORE it starts . . . here goes!

Friday, September 21, 2018 – Viki Richter will be managing the Market in Ros’s absence.

Friday, October 5, 2018 – Viki Richter will be managing the Market in Ros’s absence again. Avalon Farms will also be out of town which means there will be no Daleville or Enterprise deliveries that day.

Friday, October 12, 2018 – Avalon Farms will still be out of town which means there will be no Daleville or Enterprise deliveries that day.

MARKET CHITCHAT

New & Relisted Products

• Basil Infused Olive Oil from Bain Home Gardens
• Marigold Blossoms from Bain Home Gardens
• Oriental Yard Long Beans from Bain Home Gardens

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

GRIER ACRES: Grier Acres was in Washington DC last week.  Harry attended his annual convention of Small business Development Centers while Jeannie played tourist.  However Harry did escape the confines of the hotel once or twice to roam around and see the sights. One of the places we visited was the United States Department of Agriculture!

The place is huge.  It covers an entire city block with all of the add ons that have taken place over the years.  One nice thing to see was a fairly good size garden on the corner of 12th & Jefferson. Each Friday they have a farmers market to sell their goods as well as local farmers.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Marketeers!
    First off, to those who have friends or family in the paths of the most recent storms we hope they are well. We sit with you on pins and needles as we have family & friends who are in a tough spot right now as well. This time of year is always difficult. Although no one wants to hear they are in the path of a hurricane, EVERYONE should be prepared.  Our family recently completed an ongoing project of packing individual go bags. What’s that? Well its defined by Google as, “a bag packed with essential items, kept ready for use in the event of an emergency evacuation of one’s home.” We hope we never have to use but should the need arise we will be prepared. If you would like to use some of our resources to create your own, let us know we would be happy to share!
    We are thrilled to cease the teasing and finally list our Oriental Yard Long Beans! We are happy to share and get your feedback on them. In addition, take advantage of our recently listed Basil Infused Olive Oil & Marigold Blossoms.

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello Market Friends! Most of you guys know that we lived in the Carolinas before moving here a few years ago. So as you can imagine we have many friends and family there. For us, it has been a week of constant checking and making sure everyone is ok. Thankfully, we can report that all is well. If you guys have loved ones that were affected by the storm, please know that we will be praying for them along with everyone else.

Bain Home Gardens mentioned something in their post that is so very important. Natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes just come with living in the South, so being prepared is of the utmost importance. For us we have to worry about ourselves and our animals. If we’re ever in the path of a storm, we have a plan to try and keep the chickens safe and the dogs along with Oscar (cat) go with us.

This week on our urban farm we are enjoying watching all the growth and the new life that has appeared on the farm. So many people are asking about produce and we like all of you are anxiously waiting for Fall harvests. We uncovered this volunteer organic arugula plant to give you a sneak peek. Until next week….

HORTONS FARM: A hearty THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for those in Florence’s path. I’m happy to report that our Raleigh family is safe and sound, though many roads in the area are closed due to flooding.

Our products will be on vacation mode as we are headed to the state beekeepers annual meeting this weekend. We’ll see you Sept. 28th!

WOO-HOO!

Some of you may remember that Jessica Kelton who is a Regional Agent specializing in Farm and Agribusiness Management for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System visited us a few weeks ago.

The article she wrote for the Auburn University Office of Sustainability was published on their website a few days ago. They graciously gave us early access to it. Your Market Manager thinks Jessica couldn’t have described both the business and the human side of Market at Dothan any better.

You may read the article

HERE

MARKET CHITCHAT

I think all of us have been taken back a little by last week’s heat after experiencing such an unusually mild August. My take is that it’s just Summer kicking up her heels in a bit of a hissy fit before being pushed aside. If you’ve not seen it here’s a good laugh to help get through these last weeks of summer.

New & Relisted Products

• Salmon Rub from Hortons Farm is Relisted

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

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

RICHTER FARMS: Hope everyone is well and adjusting to school schedules and such. Just wanted to let you know I will be out of town this week. I will miss all the sweet smiles and chit chats that we have on market day. Thank you all for your wonderful support and the feedback we receive. Our o are getting bare which is a good thing! We do have pork and goat at Beef, Pork and More located on Ross Clark Cir in Dothan. Love you all, see you soon.

AVALON FARMS: Recently several people asked if we offer a CSA. I  would love to provide you all a box (or share) of lovely, sustainable, organic vegetables every week. In a CSA (Community  Supported Agriculture) you join with your farmer by pre-purchasing a weekly share of what will be produced. Payment is made months before any expected harvest, giving the farmer a little working capital and guaranteeing you the best when it comes available. This also means that you share the risk with your farmer of crop failures. So, until I feel like I can guarantee a reasonable return on your investment of buying a CSA share I just can’t do it. But it’s a dream.

Here’s one of the risks I recently encountered. Garlic seed was ordered several months ago for delivery now. Last week I received an email saying their supply of garlic had tested positive for bad nematodes. I had scheduled to start planting garlic this past week, instead I spent several afternoons searching the internet for garlic seed. Thankfully I found some. Planting will be delayed some but still in the window. Then we wait….till May.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hey There Marketeers,
How are you? Have you noticed the days getting shorter? We have. It’s a sign that the seasons are changing. Fall is my second favorite time of the year. I must say that after dealing with the summer pests, I’m excited to start fresh with the fall garden plots; not to mention how beautiful it is to watch the leaves change. We had the privilege of visiting Tennessee during the fall months – BEAUTIFUL!

This week we are listing Basil Infused Olive Oil for the first time. We are thrilled to share as we’ve done this in the past and absolutely adore it! Use your Basil Infused Olive Oil for cooking, seasoning, or to make your own vinaigrette.

Well its back outside for us! Much planting to do over the next few days…starting with this planter box! What a mess!!! From our family to yours!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello Market Friends,

Last week we spoke to you guys about Fall. This week somebody turned up the heat!! It’s hot! The weather has been out of control this year. We have suffered losses to our crops and sadly even some of our birds.

Our planting schedule has been way off and although we have planned a lot, no matter how much planning is done, weather is always a factor. So if there is excessive rain, too much heat, or no rain at all, plans change and we just have to adapt. Good thing we have back up! We partner with our friends at Bain Home Gardens and as organic farmers we try to support each other. This is what community farming is all about! So I tell people all the time, if we don’t have it…..here’s is where you can get it. They are the closest growers to us in the Wiregrass area.

Both Bain Home Gardens and us here have a few tricks up our sleeve so please be on the lookout for great offerings from us and all our friends at the Market soon.

Coming up we have some stewing hens that will be listed. I’m not sure if it will be this week as Brandon and I have been invited to a summit in Georgia, but be on the lookout on our Facebook and the Market page for details. Until next week. Stay hydrated, be safe, and we thank you for your continued support.