The Weblog
Our goal is 100% Customer Satisfaction…comments, questions or concerns always welcome!
www.Facebook.com/MarketAtDothan
January 19, 2019 M@D Newsletter
This Week’s Newsletter:
Food for Thought
Delivery Update
Market Chitchat
Grower Notes
WEATHER, WARMING & HOPE
This week Avalon Farms sent a note that their broccoli and kale may be damaged by the hard freeze expected on Monday morning. The truth is, this holds true for all our growers and their products as we are all subject to the forces of nature. Even as I write the temperature is dropping and a tornado watch has been issued.
It’s no secret that weather affects farmers. It can show up as a late cold snap that destroys all the blooms destined to become fruit or a hard freeze like the one that took out all Mr. Danny’s lettuce beds last year. Hortons farm has experienced poor honey production some years because of too much or too little spring rain affecting nectar production and the bees ability to forage. No matter what a farmer is working to produce, there’s a “sweet spot” with perfect weather conditions always hoped for. Anything on either side of that can decrease production.
That’s the bad news and every farmer knows it. We all go into our work year with hopes and plans for the best knowing it might not work out. It’s the reason irrigation systems, greenhouses and tunnel houses are widespread because they reduce the odds of failure.
The issue is not all doom and gloom. Climate Collabrative reports that a return to organic methods of production may actually help reverse the damage done by big-agra methods in regards to greenhouse emissions claimed to affect weather.
“Agricultural activities responsible for greenhouse gas emissions include the use of nitrogen fertilizer, synthetic herbicides and insecticides, fossil fuel consumption associated with farm equipment, and the transportation of materials and products to and from the farm. The manufacture of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides also constitutes a major source of energy use in conventional agriculture.” That’s the bad news.
The good news is that there’s plenty of science to support organic farming as a solution for climate change. “Organic farmers do not rely on fossil-fuel intensive synthetic inputs to manage pests or increase soil fertility. Studies show that diverse crop rotation strategies and soil-building practices required by USDA’s National Organic Program reduce overall emissions per land area farmed, while simultaneously sequestering carbon in the soil. Every carbon molecule that is stored in the soil is one that is not contributing to climate change in our atmosphere.”
Even if organic methods of production don’t help the weather there’s no denying that they help the soil, the quality of food being produced and ultimatly our fellow man. We here at Market At Dothan are humbled and grateful to work in this manner and be part of the solution to what’s broken in our food system and our world.
FOR OUR DALEVILLE & ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS
“Good service requires adapting to find newer and better ways to serve.” That being said, our delivery schedule for Daleville and Enterprise pickup is being modified.
Daleville Order Pick Up – FRIDAYS, 11:00am – 11:30am behind Daleville Chamber of Commerce, 750 Daleville Ave., Daleville AL 36322.
Enterprise Order Pick Up – FRIDAYS, 12:00pm -12:30pm at Grocery Advantage, 1032 Boll Weevil Circle, Enterprise, AL 36330.
MARKET CHITCHAT
A hearty THANK YOU to you folks who have made donations to the Market. Your support helps make it possible for us to be available during the ups and downs of the Market year. Our goal is to always provide the best FRESH, LOCAL, SUSTAINABLE and YEAR ROUND foods in the Wiregrass.
THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES
We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.
SMART DOC RESOURCES:editor’s note – this message comes to us from Africa! You can find photos of this adventure on Virgina’s facebook page. Greetings from Smartdocs. We’re still a go these next couple of weeks even though I will be visiting Africa and look forward to studying with my friend the rootman(the original herbalogists) and hopefully will be back with some new ideas and products. In the meantime, Clifford will be hydro and gardening so he will be the contact for questions. Also I want to thank our fellow farmer friends from the Market (Greg and Carol) from Mayim farms for a great presentation at the Backyard Garden and Farmers’ Workshop. I look forward to more information and workshops and will pass info about these great free sessions on to you all. Greg is a wealth of information and we look forward to meeting with him. Happy gardening (& eating)
Blessings, Virginia And Clifford
PS Don’t forget our Hydroponics 101 workshop at the Dothan Nurseries on Feb 16th from 10-12!
BAIN HOME GARDENS: Good day! This week’s farm tidbits included finalizing our succession planting schedule through Spring. Last year, we did not do well with succession planting which lead to gaps in availability of produce. This year we are eliminating that problem with planning and STICKING TO SAID PLAN! Easier said than done!
Included in this planning is our “grow to order” produce. We have received some requests to grow specifics from some of you marketeers. If you have a request & haven’t had the opportunity to reach out yet, now is the time! You can message us via our Facebook page or over on our Webpage . Till next week – from our family to yours!
AVALON FARMS: The history of Avalon Farms, part 2. (See last week’s newsletter for part 1)
The story of those ladies homesteading here has always meant a lot to me. Being a woman who chose a male dominated profession back in the 80s, I’ve faced a few you-can’t-do-that scenarios, but I did. (It took me 4 years, 1 semester and 1.5 babies to complete my Bachelors Degree in Computer Science.) Sort of like some of the looks I get when I say I have a sustainable market garden that produces clean, nutrient dense food. “You do what?”
A year after we moved here in 2007, we found ourselves unemployed with 3 kids at home. I’d always helped my Dad with the garden when I was a kid so I was inspired to plant a BIG garden to help support the family. For 3 years, as Wendy’s Produce, we farmed and participated in 4 farmer’s markets, including the first 2 years of the Market at Dothan. From those years came our family motto: “it’s better than picking peas in July!”
When hubs was blessed with an engineering job at Ft Rucker we had to reevaluate the farm. With 2 kids away at college that only left me and the youngest. He and I did one more summer, then I was offered an engineering job. That was 6 years ago, and one very stressful office job later for me. I wish I had never hung up my farming hat. Sad how much time I lost.
Been doing farming now full time (by myself) for 3 years. Each year I learn a little more and do a little better. I’ve had a lot of “well that didn’t work” and “have to figure out a better way” moments. I won’t say that I “love” farming. It’s hard physical work. The endless to do list and summer temperatures are daunting, but I will say I love providing healthy, tasty food to our community. Hearing one of you say how good something tasted makes all the hard work worth while.
HORTONS FARM: Last week we shared a little about the sowthistle growing on our property. So far we’ve only found the one plant by the chicken coop, in which case we’ll need to let it bloom to reseed.
What we are seeing a lot more of is chickweed.
Many of you know that I had to fetch my mother from an upstate hospital last month following a pneumonia scare. While there with her I mentioned (after listening to her coughs) that I’d be making her some chickweed tea once we got home. So what does my sassy mom do but share that with a nurse! Thankfully this nurse had gone through an alternative medicine course and was delighted! I’m glad to report Mom took our advice and recovered much faster than she would have otherwise.
I must confess to feeling like the lone ranger encouraging the use of chickweed tea for respiratory ailments for many years. It was very satisfying to be supported by a medical professional. It was even more satisfying to see an article about chickweed in the current Mother Earth News! If you can get your hands on the Feb.March 2019 issue it’s got some great information.
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.
Order Saturday 5pm to Tuesday 5pm weekly for Pickup the following Friday
Dothan Pickup: Dothan Nurseries, 1300 Montgomery Highway, Dothan, AL 36303
Daleville Pickup:behind Daleville Chamber of Commerce Office
Enterprise Pickup:Grocery Advantage, 1032 Boll Weevil Circle, Enterprise, AL 36330
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!