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August 15 M@D Newsletter - Time to Order!
Whats Not to Love . . .
Market Chitchat
Grower Notes: Avalon Farms, Grier Acres
. . .BESIDES THE HEAT?
August. Miserably hot August. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the heat and humidity dragging on and on and it’s especially discouraging this year with corona still looming over us, safe at home restrictions, ever depressing news stories and separation from loved ones. Today just seemed like a good time to dig up some positive tips, tricks and ideas to get us through the end of the month. Grab a shovel because we’re looking for hidden treasure!
1. Gardening If you’re up to battling the heat you can get a head start on your fall garden with transplants of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. You may also sow seeds of summer squash, snap beans, and cucumbers. While other parts of the country and even north Alabama recommend seeding things like collards, cabbage and broccoli, our soil is still to warm to germinate cool weather crops so don’t get too carried away.
2. Spider Maintenance Ok . . . that does NOT sound like something to embrace and love, but if you put some effort into spider prevention now, you’ll love not dealing with creepie crawlies in a few weeks when they attempt to cover the entire region, indoors and out with webs.
3. Enjoy something new. Whether it be a new recipe, new shoes, new hobby or a new friend, embrace it for all its worth.
4. Catch up with an old friend. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25 C.H. Surgeon said “This is a text for summertime rather than for a winter’s evening. It is only on one of our hottest summer days that we could fully appreciate the illustration here employed” While no doubt there’s a deep spiritual lesson here, it’s also highly practical to connect with those who bring joy to our lives when we’re feeling dragged down.
5. Go outside at night. The recent rains have made recent evenings actually pleasant as long as you’ve got good mosquito protection. The thing about night – the universe goes on as it has for centuries. In fact if you care to check it out there are some pretty cool things going on in the night sky. Tonight for example, Uranus will start standing still in the night sky till January. If you do spot it keep in mind that the longer it stands the cooler the days will become. It’s been keeping that promise for a long time.
MARKET CHITCHAT
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see your favorite vegetable or cut of meat on the Market page. Everything listed on our site is Fresh and Local which means things that are not in season are not available at that time. In the case of meat, most private butchers will only process one animal at at time and these days have waiting lists as more people turn to growing their own meat.
GROWER NOTES
AVALON FARMS:
More Delicata Squash are coming!!! More of the small round ones and some larger oblong ones. We so appreciate your purchasing of the first crop of Delicata Squash. Your feedback on how good they were was wonderful! This second planting should be ready later in September.
GRIER ACRES : Well Grier Acres has been blessed with the pears this year.
These two containers weighed in at 25 pounds! We have been selling and canning about as hard as we can. Still can’t keep up with the production. Heck I’ve even given up fighting the tree rats. Let them have their fair share. We’ve kept the price the same, but have increased the number from 7 to 10 for each purchase. We need these things moved. The ones that get soft spots are given to our goats and chickens. So nothing goes to waste!
Our peppers are coming along slowly. The Jalapenos are just now turning red, the Tabascos are yellow/orange, and the Habaneros are orange/red. We should be listing these on the market within the next week. The Ghost peppers are a big disappointment. No fruit or blooms. Just foliage.
Two weeks ago we were getting 40-50 pounds of okra a week. Last week we got less than 10 pounds. Hopefully it will kick in again soon. I guess the 95+ degree heat has something to do with it.
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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Our COVID protocol is still in place for everyone who wants curbside service.
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 within 6 feet 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 hand them to us. Exact change is preferred if using cash to prevent a lot of passing back and forth. If you choose curbside pickup you are welcome to put payment in your trunk/tailgate as that would eliminate the need to come near your window.
II. Order Delivery:
1. Curb Service: 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!
2. Walk Up Pickup: Please do not come inside. When we see you coming we’ll put your order near the entrance and step back for you to claim it. This system works really well for those of you wishing to get extra veggies that may be available.
3. Regardless of how you choose to accept your Market order please know that we make every effort to practice safe distancing and ask that you do the same.
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!