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July 18, 2020 M@D Newsletter - Time to ORDER!
Cool Thoughts
Market Chitchat
Grower Notes: Danny’s Greens, Sandy Valley, Horton’s Farm
CHRISTMAS IN JULY
Christmas in July is an annual tradition that got it’s start in 1933 at a girls summer camp in Brevard, NC. It was the brainchild of a zany staff member named Fannie Holt. The first celebration included carolers, a Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, presents, and fake snow made of cotton. As the tradition evolved, campers would use laundry bags as makeshift stockings, which they placed outside their cabins to be filled with candy overnight. Eventually elves, reindeer, and Mrs. Claus joined the act, along with a camp-wide gift exchange, counselors included.
I think it’s safe to say the idea caught on.
Christmas in July takes place in many forms now. The Hallmark Channel devotes two weeks every July to Christmas movies. Retailers start putting out Christmas themed goods, having sales and encouraging people to avoid the rush by starting their holiday shopping right away. QVC takes full advantage of this!
If you’re interested in sustainable local products for your gift giving this year starting early really is the best way to make you you get what you want. No sales pitch here – just an idea to add one item every week to your order for your Christmas stash.
Lastly, if nothing else here in the deep south Christmas in July is a gentle reminder that our hot muggy dog days of summer won’t last forever . . . that cooler weather will come and if we’ve got the time or energy, yes, we can and should prepare! With covid looming over everyone like the monster from Stranger Things, choosing joy, choosing to celebrate life and to plan good for those we love is a way to fight back.
MARKET CHITCHAT
A big THANK YOU to all Friday’s customers who were swift to adapt to the more serious covid procedures we had to implement midweek because of the summer infection increase. It was a hard decision to return to essential service/lockdown mode and until further notice we’re going to stick with contactless curbside pickup.
And the new products just keep coming! Kudos to our growers and producers who continue to try new crops and innovate!
GROWER NOTES
DANNY’S GREENS: This week salad greens, green onions (scallions) and turnip roots are listed.
SANDY VALLEY: One of the characteristics of sustainable farming is that you don’t depend on chemicals to keep things going. And for that reason Scotty is taking a breather while his sweet potatoes continue to grow and he takes some action to save his okra. His other summer crops have all completed their growth cycles for the season so he is not listing anything for a few weeks.
HORTONS FARM: It’s pretty quiet up here. The summer honey flow is over and the bees are taking it easy in the heat. Our young chickens are all doing really well. The Cocoo Marans are almost adult size and the young ones (Light Buffs, Rhode Island Blues and Welsummers) are thriving in their new digs. Hopefully in a few months we’ll be adding some different colored eggs to the daily collection! They’re all a fun mix of chickens for sure and I’ve got to figure out what to do with the young Rhode Island Blue “pullet’ that’s growing a comb and bossing his peers around.
Talk about a fun mix, when my German Shepherd, Mopsi, was a very small puppy I started bringing her into the chicken coop with me and teaching her to respect the chickens while they were still larger than her. She is now a great help herding them when they’re outside and standing guard at the door when I don’t want them escaping.
Mopsi transferred that gentle acceptance of smaller animals to three kittys that showed up this year. We had been wanting barn cats to help with mice and God just dropped them off one day. The cats are now chicken helpers too, or at least they think so. They intermingle with Mopsi and the chickens and it’s not uncommon to see chickens, dog and cats eating table scraps from the same container! Every once in a while I catch Mops and the cats nibbling on chicken food too.
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: 10am – 12pm, Dothan Nurseries, 1300 Montgomery Highway, Dothan, AL 36303
Daleville Pickup: 11am – 11:30am, Parking area behind Daleville Chamber of Commerce
Enterprise Pickup: 12pm – 12:30pm, Grocery Advantage, 1032 Boll Weevil Circle, Enterprise
Our Email: marketatdothan@gmail.com
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COVID Pickup Protocol:
I. Order Payment:
1. Voluntarily prepay by 6 pm Thursday if possible using this PAYPAL link. This eliminates passing paper currency back and forth or handling debit/credit cards on site. Your invoice will be marked PAID and pickup is fast and easy. In the event of undelivered items you will be issued a Market credit that will apply to your next order.
2. Debit/Credit – One of us will briefly step close enough for you to put your card in the chip reader. We do our best to avoid touching your card or you touching the equipment which means we sign an “x” for your signature.
3. Cash and Checks – You may leave them in your truck or hand them to us. Exact change in a bag or envelopeis preferred if using cash to prevent a lot of passing back and forth.
II. Order Delivery: is Curbside Service until further notice. Please pull up next to the Market Shed. We will direct traffic a little bit if needed. Have your trunk/ hatchback open and we’ll load you up!`
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!