GROWER & MARKET NOTES

As promised we are re-opening M@D with this newsletter and are looking forward to serving both you and our growers this year. Our commitment to bring you FRESH, LOCAL, SUSTAINABLE, and YEAR ROUND food has not wavered and one of the reasons for this newsletter is to keep you informed about what’s going on with the Market, with our growers, and with healthy food info in general.

That being said, Market listings will probably be fewer for the next couple of months at least. Many of our growers, your Market Manager included, lost crops, trees, etc. because of the extreme cold snap that happened prior to Christmas.

For that reason we will be open bi-weekly starting today for the next couple of months. This will allow all our growers extra time to put into recovery in hopes of returning strong in the spring.

Here’s what the next couple of months look like:

Our growers have been notified that they are welcome to trade with you at the Market Shed on the weeks M@D is not open and we will notify you if/when any of them plan to take advantage of that.

To be brutally honest, we will just have to play it by ear beyond the end of February. With any luck we’ll know by the 24th when to expect the late winter and spring crops to start coming in and will schedule accordingly. One of the wonderful things about this region is that we can pretty much grow year-round. Freezes like we experienced last month only happen about once every ten years and while they can be difficult, even dangerous to deal with, they do bring some benefit to the environment. If JD of Dothan Nurseries is right we can expect many of our spring blooming fruit trees to bust out this year and . . . LESS BUGS!

AVALON FARMS: The stress and heartache of the last year has left me feeling old and tired. (Serious medical issues with several family members. One child’s rough divorce. Other assorted craziness I won’t go into.) Many of last year’s farm plans fell to the wayside as just too much to deal with. BUT, it is the start of a new year. Time to break out those abandoned plans from last year, dust ‘em off and update for this year. I’m moving forward. No sense in wallowing in past failure. 

Currently sitting at my work table surrounded by seed catalogs, lists of lists and empty coffee cups. (This farm definitely runs on coffee!) I love reading the seed catalogs. It’s like getting the old Sears Christmas Toy catalog. I have to see it all. Several times. With highlighter and pen in hand I actually read the descriptions. Marking good or bad points of different varieties. Eventually highlighting the specific ones I want to order. Sort of like planning a vacation, all the things you want to see and do. These are all the things I want to grow, harvest and share with you.

When this is sent out this evening, I’ll be on the front porch just sitting and watching the world. There may be another “panther” in the tree or not. But there will be beauty and peace. 

HORTONS’S FARM: I’ve thought for a long time that few things hold the cycle of life and death close like a farm. Whether it’s animals or plants, the work to create and sustain life inevitably ends in death in one form or another. The Christmas freeze was another reminder of this. One thing – a severe cold snap – destroyed in some cases, things that took years to grow. In our case citrus trees. All the lights and wrappings just weren’t enough. And yet, surprisingly, there’s still life!

I really thought Mr. Horton had got wrong intel when he told me that strawberry crowns were good down to 10 degrees and didn’t cover them, but as you can see, he was RIGHT! I guess the plants that product this sweet delectable fruit are pretty tough! Looking forward to listing them in the spring. This field has never had chemical fertilizer on it so they will be exempt from any “dirty dozen foods” list.

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!