The Weblog
This weblog contains LocallyGrown.net news and the weblog entries from all the markets currently using the system.
To visit the authoring market’s website, click on the market name located in the entry’s title.
Green Fork Farmers Market: Weekly product list
Dear Green Fork Farmers Market Customers,
It’s time to place your order for this Wednesday’s market!
Here’s what we have available:
Vegetables—Spinach, arugula, kale, carrots, swiss chard, collard greens, lettuce, tomatoes, garlic, and sweet potatoes.
Fruit—Apples
Nuts—Pecans
Herbs—Garlic, cilantro, and turmeric.
Honey—Local and delicious!
Meat—Pastured beef, lamb, and goat.
Olives and Olive Oil—Direct from the organic grower in California.
Fermented foods—Okra and jalapenos.
Salsa—Made with locally grown and organic ingredients.
Crafts—Natural, handmade soy candles scented with pure essential oils (no toxic chemicals!)
Place your order now, then pick up and pay on Wednesday from 4-7 pm at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville.
You can also check out a selection of locally grown and handmade goods at the market on Wednesday.
We look forward to seeing you!
Green Fork Farmers Market
Wednesdays 4-7 pm
Indoors, Year Round
Inside Nightbird Books
205 W. Dickson St.
Fayetteville, AR
To place your order, click on the link below to enter the website. Sign in as a customer, then click on the icon next to each product you wish to order. Proceed to checkout, review the list to make sure it’s correct, then scroll to the bottom and click on Place This Order. Make sure you receive a confirmation email—-if you don’t, your order was not processed. Payment is at the market pickup with cash, check, debit/credit card, EBT, and Senior FMNP coupons. Ask about our doubling program for EBT and SFMNP!
Heirloom Living Market Lilburn: PLEASE READ! COW Milk orders due NOW! Market closes at 8:00pm!
The Market closes at 8:00pm!
Please get your COW MILK orders in as soon as possible!
Goat Milk
Check Out Weekly Specials!
Greg Hutchins of Heritage Farm has listed some GREAT Meat Specials! Be sure and check them out! Good time to put some Lamb. Turkey Backs equal fabulous Bone Broth! Also be sure and check out Greg’s offerings over in the Veggie Section! Cabbage is available – great time to make some Sauerkraut! …and Apples are available this week!
Other Items to Check out this week….
Bill and Tammy of Burnell Farms have listed Arugula, Cabbage, CAULIFLOWER, Dwarf Blue Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Swiss Chard and Green Tomatoes! I spoke will Mr. Bill last week and he said the ‘Cheddar Cauliflower and the ’Purple Cauliflower’ will be available in the next couple of weeks! (They are slower growers) Although the ‘Snowball’ Cauliflower is very nutritious, the others are even more so! I will be sharing a delicious recipe for Cauliflower at Market this week! The recipe came from ‘She Who Cooks’ — also known as Mary Drisdell! You will NOT be disappointed!
My Daily Bread does have offerings this week! Everything from a (yummy) (really yummy!) Pumpkin Roll (gluten free option available!) to Sourdough Bread — Jams, Jellies and delicious Cheese Spreads and Dips! We MUST meet a minimum of $200 for both Markets. Currently the total is a little less than a fourth of that! Stock up!
We appreciate your support of our LOCAL Farmers and of the Market! Please SHARE the Market with friends, family, neighbors and co-workers!
All Saints Lutheran Church
Pickup Day and Time: Thursday 3:30pm – 6:30pm
Pickup Location:
722 Rockbridge Road SW
Lilburn, GA 30047
Click Here for Map
BUY LOCAL ~ Know your Farmer!
Heirloom Living Market Lawrenceville : PLEASE READ!! Cow Milk orders due NOW!! Market closes at 8:00pm!
The Market closes at 8:00pm!
Please get your COW MILK orders in as soon as possible!
Goat Milk
Check Out Weekly Specials!
Greg Hutchins of Heritage Farm has listed some GREAT Meat Specials! Be sure and check them out! Good time to put some Lamb. Turkey Backs equal fabulous Bone Broth! Also be sure and check out Greg’s offerings over in the Veggie Section! Cabbage is available – great time to make some Sauerkraut! …and Apples are available this week!
Other Items to Check out this week….
Bill and Tammy of Burnell Farms have listed Arugula, Cabbage, CAULIFLOWER, Dwarf Blue Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Swiss Chard and Green Tomatoes! I spoke will Mr. Bill last week and he said the ‘Cheddar Cauliflower and the ’Purple Cauliflower’ will be available in the next couple of weeks! (They are slower growers) Although the ‘Snowball’ Cauliflower is very nutritious, the others are even more so! I will be sharing a delicious recipe for Cauliflower at Market this week! The recipe came from ‘She Who Cooks’ — also known as Mary Drisdell! You will NOT be disappointed!
My Daily Bread does have offerings this week! Everything from a (yummy) (really yummy!) Pumpkin Roll (gluten free option available!) to Sourdough Bread — Jams, Jellies and delicious Cheese Spreads and Dips! We MUST meet a minimum of $200 for both Markets. Currently the total is a little less than a fourth of that! Stock up!
We appreciate your support of our LOCAL Farmers and of the Market! Please SHARE the Market with friends, family, neighbors and co-workers!
Take me to the Crossfit Market.
Market Opens for Ordering: Friday at 9:00am
Market Closes: Monday at 8:00pm
Market Pickup: Thursday
2:30pm – 5:30pm
Pickup Location: 1385 Winder Highway
Dacula, GA 30019
Click Here for Map
Market Closes: Monday at 8:00pm
Market Pickup: Thursday
2:30pm – 5:30pm
Pickup Location: 1385 Winder Highway
Dacula, GA 30019
Click Here for Map
Take me to the Crossfit Market.
Siloam Springs, AR: Online Market Inventory Updated
Brrrr!!! It’s been so cold. Our farmers to the south of us got a couple inches of snow! We just got the cold.
Produce may be slim this week and there is more cold weather coming this weekend. There is still a good variety of meats, plus eggs, baked goods, honey, and personal and home care products. Be sure to check out Melissas’s special this week: free bar soap with any Create4Good product purchase! Also, I noticed Shelly of Perennial Gardens has added some wonderful crocheted baby blankets, hats and headbands. Looks like she and her mom have been hard at work!
Have a great week and stay warm!
Conyers Locally Grown: Available for Friday January 13
I hope this finds you all doing well. The market is open and ready for orders. This week we have all of the wonderful products from Carrell Farms, so order up. We will see they again in February.
We also have plenty of fresh eggs, pork and seasonal produce.
We will see you on Friday between 5-7 at Copy Central.
Thank you for all your support,
Brady
Spa City Local Farm Market Co-op: Reminder fresh veggies
Just a reminder that today is the last day for ordering your fresh greens for this market. Have a great day and hope to see you Friday.
Princeton Farm Fresh: The Market is Open
Happy New Year!
Life just keeps trucking along around our farm. Things are getting done and I am finishing up my planning for the coming year. My anticipation for Spring is at an all time peak. I am ready to seed and get the tunnels and fields full of veggies.
This year- like no other before it- will be full for the Magney Farm. I have hired a full time helper for the farm, as my kiddos are going off and starting college and careers this year. I doubt I will be an empty nester, but it will be harder to get projects done on the farm without their help. We are again expanding the farm to produce more and varied veggies, and hope to put in more fruit options in the near future. Ray will be retiring from the military in October and I look forward to him being available more on the farm.
With all of these changes, comes sadness (as the kids are moving on) and great joy with new friendships, and the plans for our future right here in Princeton.
See you all on Thursday,
Angela
Champaign, OH: Egg Cartons
Calling all egg customers!!
Just a reminder that we do accept all egg cartons, after you have consumed the eggs that you purchased from our market!!
The egg vendors will love you for it!! And, the earth will love you for it!!
If at ALL possible…if you know remember which vendor you purchased the eggs from, could you divide them up, that way? Maybe tape a name to the stack you bring in, or just tell me the name of the vendor so I can designate them to the right storage area? Thank you, so much!!
Egg vendors…a new way to get your cartons…I will set up areas, with your names, under the cabinet where you always get your returned cartons from. Try to remember to check, each week, and take your stack. I will also try to get your stacks out, to give to you.
We go from either having no cartons, to having too many to deal with, OR, it’s a free for all on the cartons.
Just trying to simplify…
Thank you,
XOXO,
Cosmic Pam
Champaign, OH: Best Friend
People let me tell you ’bout my best friend…
(Best Friend-Harry Nilsson)
After my post, last night, I remembered that I left out a very important person in your lives…your furry friends. Don’t forget, this market offers nutritional dog treats for those friends!! Your pets are people, too, and some super yummy treats would help them through these dreary winter days…
And, jams/jellies, along with the zip of the mustards, and the sweet heat of the jalapeno offerings!!
We really do have it all!!
Athens Locally Grown: ALG Market Open for January 12
Athens Locally Grown
How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.
Market News
I’m devoting the newsletter these first few weeks of the year to documenting in detail just how ALG works. I’ll spend some time next week talking about how growers get allowed in the market, and what standards they have to meet. But this week, I’ll get into the details of how the market sustains itself financially. Many of you ask about that from time to time, and I’m happy to oblige.
First off, we’re legally a sole proprietorship, and the market is owned and operated by me. In years past, it was rolled into my farm, and reported on my Schedule F in addition to my regular tax forms. For now, while my gardens have dwindled, it’s an item on my Schedule A, like many other small home businesses. When the market started in 2002, it was named “Locally Grown Cooperative”, but it was never legally organized as a co-op. Dan & Kris Miller, the founders from Heirloom Organics farm in Watkinsville, were always sure to run things in a cooperative spirit, and since they handed the business to me in 2004 (I’ve sold as a grower since day one), I’ve tried to do the same thing. I’ve since renamed it to “Athens Locally Grown”, but you’ll still hear a number of people refer to us as “the co-op”.
We’re not a non-profit, either, but we’ve structured things so that over time the market can just barely cover its own expenses. Just like all of our member farms are sustainable growers, the market itself needs to be sustainable. So how do we cover its expenses? One small way is through the memberships you pay. The $25 a year you give to the market is enough to cover the costs of having customers: banking fees from depositing your checks, paper and ink for printing, web hosting fees, and that sort of thing. What’s left over goes to helping fund farm tours, food donations to like-minded area groups and events, etc. We currently have 261 paid members out of the 3694 active accounts on the website.
By far the bulk of our funding comes from the growers themselves. They generally pay a 10% commission on their sales through the site. This money covers the many coolers we use, the tables and shelves used to spread out and organize your orders, the truck we bought at the end of 2007, gasoline, the food allowance we offer our volunteers, rent and utilities at Ben’s Bikes, etc. During the slow parts of the year, the sales are usually not enough to cover our weekly costs, but in the busy times (late fall and early spring, for us) there is extra. If we plan things out well, it pretty much all evens out in the end.
Last year, the total sales and memberships combined through the market amounted to $186,433. This is a about the same as last year, and I’m ok with that. The continual rise of so many other markets in the area is the biggest reason for staying flat. We used to be the largest farmers market in this part of the state, but only because the others were so small. Now, not only are there several very large area farmers markets throughout the week, but there are many other locallygrown markets serving customers that used to drive to Athens. About 90% of those sales went straight to our growers, and the rest went to a food allowance for our volunteers ($200 a week), rent ($350/month), web hosting, and transportation. The “profit” gets counted as personal income or loss on my tax forms, and almost always comes out even.
The growers get paid out of the shared cashbox for their previous week’s sales when they drop off their items, during the hour before we open the market. Then, you arrive and pay into the cashbox for your order. We used to then rush to the bank to deposit the money to cover the checks we just wrote to the growers, but now the growers get paid the following week (money you pay via credit cards takes up to a week to reach our account). As explained elsewhere on the website, you are really ordering directly from and paying the growers yourself, but our shared cashbox system makes things convenient for you and them. (Imagine if you ordered from ten growers having to write ten checks when you picked up your items!) This shared cashbox system has so far satisfied the tax man, but it does mean that if you place an order and then never arrive to pick it up, we’re left holding the bag. For that reason, you are responsible for paying for orders not picked up, and that amount is automatically added on to your next order for your convenience. On the books right now (going back to 2007) is about $4219 of produce ordered but never picked up and so far never paid for at all (or picked up but paid for with bad checks). That might seem like a lot (and it is), but considering that the market’s sales total, that’s not so bad. In fact, it’s about a sixth of the US retail industry’s “shrinkage” rate, and almost all of it is owed by only ten people. Only $200 came from this last year. On the flip side, $3812 has been pre-paid into the cash box by people who pay online via credit card or who write large checks in person, and then draw down on that balance over time.
There were 5119 orders placed last year, so that averages to $36.42 spent per order. There are many people who asctually place several small orders each week that we combine when we fill them, so really the average is quite a bit higher than that. There are no good studies on this number, but I’ve seen a few surveys conducted by the USDA indicate that the average customer spends $25 per trip to a farmers market. We continue to far exceed that average, which I think says a lot about the advantages ALG offers over the traditional market. And to your dedication to supporting our growers.
So, in probably far too much detail, that’s how we operate financially. Our market might be more expensive to run than a traditional “booths and tables” farmers market, but that price buys a system that’s simple, time-saving, flexible, and in my opinion, just better. There’s no money in the bank, but the market is paying for itself and that’s my primary financial goal. If you’d like to talk with me in person about this or any other aspects of ALG, I’d love to do so. Just pull me aside when you come by to pick up your order.
Thank you so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!
Other Area Farmers Markets
The Athens Farmers Market has closed for the season. They’ll return in April, and you can catch the news on their website. The Comer Farmers’ Market is open on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. Check www.facebook.com/comerfm for more information. Washington, GA also has a lovely little Saturday market, running on winter hours from 1-4. You can learn all about them here: www.washingtonfarmersmkt.com. If you know of any other area markets operating, please let me know.
All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!
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!