Suwanee Whole Life Co-op:  Market is OPEN for orders!

ORDERING:
The market is now open for ordering!
suwanee.locallygrown.net

If you do NOT receive a confirmation email immediately after you placed your order, then your items are still in your cart and your order is not complete. All orders must be placed by 5pm on Sunday.

PICK UP:
Pick up is on Tuesday at 4942 Austin Park Avenue, Buford 30518 from 1pm to 6:45 pm.

PAYMENT:
We take checks, cash, credit card and Dwolla

If you are planning to pay using Dwolla please make sure your deposit includes the 25 cents fee. For example, if your order total is $22.50 make your deposit for $22.75.

Please make sure you understand our pick up policy before you order.

Champaign, OH:  Lost In My Mind

Momma once told me…
You’re already home where you feel love…
I am lost in my mind…
I get lost in my mind…
(The Head And The Heart – Lost In My Mind)

Do you feel the love? Do you feel like our little local market of love is like being home, going home, feeling at home?

I learned, a very long time ago, that home is wherever you feel the love. Family, friends, a place, a time…If it brings love to your heart, well, then you ARE home.

I get to see so much, on so many levels, at this market. I see my own work, I see the work of my hard working assistants, Mark and Charlene. The hard work of each vendor, in this market. The love and the care that they each put into their work, their products, their customer base. The dedicated hours that the YMCA gives us. And, the work of you, our customers, of this little local market of love. Without you, where would the love be?

Each week, I watch as friendships happen, as trust between vendors and customers, builds. As trust in this market continues to go, full steam ahead. I get to chat at the market, greet vendors and customers, share tidbits of conversation, answer questions, and hopefully bring a bit of sunshine and song to everyone I happen to come into contact with, each week.

Thank you, to each customer, vendor, assistant manager, YMCA staff, for making this market feel like home, each week.

Each of you is very important….I thank you, I love you, and I love that together, we build this little market that has become our home…

The song that I used, tonight, is so very beautiful…seek it out, listen to it…fill your heart…

The market is now open for the week. It was nice to see old customers, this week. It was nice to welcome new customers. It was amazing to share the love…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Suwanee Whole Life Co-op:  New Vendor - Cottage Garden Teas and more news

CSA Farmers Market:  New Growing Season Update January

NEW Growing Season Update January

Spinach is growing and waiting for good weather to be planted out into the hoop-houses. Planted greens are waiting for sunny longer days. Seeds are ordered and many seeds are back ordered. Heaters are being installed, buildings are being cleaned and organized so when we get busy we can find what we need when we need it. It is now time to look at the biological insects to see what we need. Two years ago we lost one long row of kale due to the cabbage loopers, the butterflies may be pretty but the caterpillars are ferociously hunger for kale. Last year we released some microscopic wasps that loved eating their eggs and the damage was minimum. I love those tiny insects. They are the size of pin head and have an huge appetite for eggs.

Until Next Time
Marian Listwak

Gwinnett Locally Grown:  The Market is open for ordering!

The Market is open Thursday at 9 – Monday at noon After that, ordering is disabled until Thursday morning. Pick up your order Tuesday from 4:00-7:00 p.m. only at Rancho Alegre Farm at 2225 Givens Road, Dacula, GA 30019. New to The Market? Learn about how it works here.

MARKET NEWS

I thought I would share with you the more “behind the scenes” details on how we operate Gwinnett Locally Grown since many people ask if we can do things not realizing why we may or may not be able to do that. So I’m sharing a little of our hosekeeping rules we follow. I’m going to talk about the many legal issues surrounding our market. Even though many people call our Market “the co-op”, GLG is legally a market managed by me and owned by Pilar and Rancho Alegre Farm, so we can have a place to sell items we occasionally offer from her own garden and the Farm. There’s no board of directors, no shield corporation, no pot of grant money. It’s just me managing the week to week and Pilar’s belief in offering the community a good source for healthy and nutrient dense foods and other chemical free products to make your lives healthier. While that keeps things very simple, it also exposes the Farm to a ton of potential liability. It’s never been an issue (except when the whole raw milk thing erupted a few years ago) but there are several things we do specifically to minimize that risk:

The growers list their own items and set their own prices. When you buy from them, it is from them, not from us, and not from Gwinnett Locally Grown specifically.
Gwinnett Locally Grown never takes ownership or possession of the food. The growers drop it off, and you pick it up.
Everything at the market has a customer’s name attached to it when it arrives unless it may be stocked on our shelf or you buy a Rancho Alegre product.
When you pay, you’re paying into a shared cash box for all of the growers. This lets you write a single check or swipe your card once for convenience, but you are really paying all of the growers directly and individually. Your money goes in, the software we use to keep track of the growers sales and what is owed them. At the close of Market, I write checks for each of the growers you buy from based on the software’s calculation of what is owed them. This is a labor of love for us, not a huge “money making” business. Just folks wanting to provide a good service to other folks!
The growers give a small percentage of their sales, generally 10%, back to the market to cover the many expenses of keeping the market going. We also pay a 3% weekly fee to the software person who developed our software program.
When a grower sells items that need licenses from either the state or the federal government, GLG verifies that the proper licenses have been obtained.
The ownership issue is key. It’s one of the reasons why we don’t offer delivery, and why we usually can’t hold items for you if you aren’t able to pick up your orders. Delivery might be a good business for someone (if they could figure out all the legal requirements), but it’s not at all what we personally want to be into right now. Many food co-ops and even some farmers markets aren’t as careful with keeping ownership straight as we try to be, and that has gotten other groups similar to us into serious legal trouble (deserved or not) over the years. There are so many grey areas in all this, and the written regulations still don’t even consider that something like Gwinnett Locally Grown might exist. We’re so firmly in the grey areas with most everything we do that it’s just too risky for us.
I hope that gives you an idea of how important this Market is to us and for you! We are very grateful for our customers and their support of Gwinnett Locally Grown!

*_If anyone is still interested in ordering from Green Pastures for Fermented Cod Liver Oil, please email me!

Thanks for a great Market last week!

*Please share with friends and family about us so that we can give more people the opportunity to buy and eat healthy! Local farmers need our support to keep providing us with all the fresh foods! If we don’t give them enough business, it’s hard for them to continue to deliver to us. Please let’s not let that happen! Tell your friends about us so we can keep the Growers supported as this is how they make their living. *

I hope that this year will be the best year in health for you and your family!

Browse through to see all the great Growers we have and maybe you will find something new!

We have Wilderness Family Naturals Coconut Sugar, Flour and Organic Popcorn in the Market for sale! When you come to pick up your order, check them out! They are also now online!

If there is something you’d like to see in the Market, please let me know! I would love your imput!

Remember…
The Market is extending their hours! The Market will now be open from 4:00 to 7:00pm!
Having said that, if you place an order with us, PLEASE remember to pick it up on Tuesday. As I am so grateful for your orders, I also have a family at home waiting on me too! We cannot hold orders, especially cold items due to limited refrigeration space, so please be courteous and come for your order.

CLICK HERE NOW to Shop Gwinnett Locally Grown!

Thanks for all your support!

Shop often and eat well!

Cheryl Gelatt
Market Manager
grow@ranchoalegrefarm.com

Fresh Wishes,
Pilar Quintero
Market Host
Rancho Alegre Farm

Please email grow@ranchoalegrefarm.com for questions pertaining to Market or Raw Milk. It is very difficult to return phone calls. Remember to interact with us on Facebook and follow us on Meetup to get notification on all our wonderful events and news.

Naples,FL:  Farm news Please read

Hello everyone,
This is to let you know that we will have a price increase that I will put in effect in March.
We had to increase prices in October and we refrained from passing them on until the 1 year mark of the opening of the co-op.
We hate to do this but with increased cost we had no other alternative.
The raise in the beef prices effected the price of dairy cows and they have doubled in their purchasing price and are increasingly hard to find.
The last ones we bought we had to go out of state to get them and when we got there instead of 8 they only had 5 so we are still short on cows.

The Cumming Harvest - Closed:  Newsletter - January 28, 2015

Champaign, OH:  Thank You!!

The market is now closed, once again, for the week!!

If you ordered, we thank you so very much!

If you missed out, we will catch you when we re-open on Thursday evening!

As always…we appreciate your business!!

Champaign, OH:  Time, Time, Time....

Look at the time! You have until 10pm, this evening, to get your orders in!!

Show the market a whole lot of love, and get your local groove on for the week…

I will see you all at 10pm…make me smile!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

ALFN Local Food Club:  Sunday! Sunday!! Sunday!!!

Whether you’re cheering for the one team or that other team, don’t forget that the best part of The Big Game is the food! Lucky for you, we have an abundance of treats just waiting to be ordered.

For many folks, tailgating (even if you do it in your living room) means meat! If you happen to be on of those people, check out the Meat section for a smorgasbord of carnivorous culinary options. You can’t go wrong with brats, hot dogs, or steaks, but if you have a little more prep time in your schedule, some slowly smoked ribs will definitely impress. Then again, there’s ground beef galore on The Market,
and meatballs and burgers are classic game day grub.

If 2015 feels like the year to start thinking outside the box for your sports related snacking needs, why not order some pastured eggs, animal welfare approved ham, and shiitake mushrooms so you can whip up a batch of mini quiches? And if you love deviled eggs but can’t peel a pretty egg, add a loaf of ciabatta to your order and give deviled egg toast a try. Leave off the ham and garnish with fresh jalapenos or jalapeno pickles for a little vegetarian-friendly kick. Speaking of veggie-friendly fare, you can’t go wrong with kale chips and sweet potato fries. Add a little extra cumin and cayenne, and omnivores and herbivores alike will love ’em.

Then again, you might have a lot of face painting to do, and those giant foam fingers make terrible oven mitts. Order an assortment of hummus (hummuses? hummi?) with bok choy and sweet colored peppers for dipping, and can have a tasty local snack spread without spending a minute in the kitchen.

Whatever you choose, be sure to order before The Market closes at noon tomorrow!

psst… Annual Sports Day isn’t the only holiday on the horizon. St. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner as well. Take a quick peek at the Gift Baskets & Sets section for some fantastic gift ideas.

-Rebecca Wild
Program Manager

Do you have questions or comments about this, or any, weblog? Thoughts on local food, goods, or events? Reply to this email and let us know what’s on your mind. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!