Newsletter! PLEASE READ!

Bits and Bites
Heirloom Living Market

The Market is Open and will close for ordering on tonight at 8:00pm

What’s Happening….

It seems the last few months have been a roller coaster ride for our Farmers! The drought continues and has certainly taken its toll! I ask that you keep all of our Farmers / Providers in your prayers.

New Meat Buying Option

How do you buy your meat items? Do you create meal plans for the week and purchase enough to create those specific meals? Do you scan through the meat offerings and choose what you think you will use, would like to have on hand or will plan meals around after you have it on hand? In the past, I purchased 1/4 animals (for beef and pork) and I had a choice and planned from there. It was a huge financial investment and took up a huge amount of freezer space! When that stopped being a viable option for economic reasons; I planned my meals and purchased accordingly…I am not sure when that changed! Now, I admit to scanning – not impulse buying exactly, but definitely purchasing what ‘looks’ or ‘sounds’ good to me when I am shopping the Market. I would like to get back to having options in the freezer and planning!

I was talking to our Meat Farmer, Greg Hutchins of Heritage Farm about various subjects this past week. The major subject of our discussion is the drought and how it is affecting, not just his family farm but all of our local producers. Greg has always been able to feed his cows on pasture through the winter with periodic times when he has had to purchase hay. (His animals are never fed grain) This year, again because of the drought in our state, good quality hay is in extremely short supply and expensive.

He can sell cows, he can find and pay extremely high prices for good quality hay, he can butcher more cows now rather than ‘over wintering’ them. Choice 1 would create a ‘shortage’ come Spring and would mean higher prices. Choice 2 will also result in higher prices for Greg’s bottom line and would necessitate increased prices for us.

While I certainly cannot pretend to know Greg’s best options, seeing the writing on the wall for us prompted me to think ‘outside the box’. Although Greg offers 2 Meat CSA Boxes (one large and one small) to his regular Farm customers, they have never been offered on the Market. I asked Greg if he would be willing to offer it to our Market Members and he said yes!

Here is how it works:
Choose the Box you would like to receive on a monthly basis
Place order
Pay for order
Receive 10lbs or 20lbs of meat once a month for the next 4 months. (December, January, February, March)

What’s in the Box?
To quote Greg:
‘Our meat CSA offers a monthly variety of prime, choice and premium meat cuts in a 10 pound (small) or 20 pound (large) monthly box. You will get a variety of cuts including ground beef, beef roast, stew beef, pork sausage, chops, steaks, bacon, chicken, soup bones, cased sausages, link sausages,duck,lamb and more for a GREAT price.’

Although it is a sacrifice up front, I will get a variety of meat each month – and will not have to utilize a huge amount of space to store it! The average price of purchasing individual products is reduced! If I see I need or want additional items, I can still purchase those on a weekly basis.

I do not know if this is a viable option for you and your family; however, I hope that you will give it some thought and consideration. While I have never been a great fan of Veggie CSA’s, I think that a Meat CSA is a wonderful idea and something that is definitely worth trying. Check out the Meat CSA Boxes on the first page of the Market offerings.

We will have a Special Treat available on the Farmer Sales Table this week at both Markets. Bethe Munn, one of the Coordinators for the Lawrenceville / Dacula Market is bringing back some Satsuma Mandarin Oranges! These have been lovingly grown by Bethe’s Mother for many years. Bethe brought some back last year and I adored them! Bethe said that sadly, many went to waste because there were just too many for her Mom to use and no one was interested in picking them. I suggested that she ‘bring them to Market’ this year! As I write this, Bethe is at her Mom’s plucking these outstanding gems from her Mom’s trees and you can taste their ‘creamsicle deliciousness’ this week. They will be selling for $4.00/lb. Of course they are free of all pesticides and fungicides!

Fry Farm has items listed on the Market this week.

Broccoli
Butternut Squash
North Georgia Candy Roaster Squash
Wild Garden Kale Mix
Lettuce ‘Wild Summer Mix’
French Breakfast Radishes
Hakurei Turnips (with or without greens)
Hinona Kabu Turnips

Be sure and check out all of the Veggie listings from Doug’s Garden and The Veggie Patch too!

My Daily Bread
The cooler Fall weather is a perfect time to order some of Dabrielle’s wonderful Spelt Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Roll or Pumpkin Spice Bread! Wonderful with a cup of Tea or Coffee! (or a nice big glass of cold and creamy milk!) Your pup might also appreciate a Pumpkin Treat! I am also partial to the Sourdough Bread! Again, I remind you that My Daily Bread sets aside time and resources to bake for us each and every week! Let’s support them and reach our minimum to ensure we can keep them in our offerings!

Eggs

As of this writing all Eggs are Sold Out! I have contacted our Farmers and have asked that extra be sent if they are available. This is ONE example of the result of inconsistent ordering! The amount of Eggs that we were ordering dropped dramatically. Chickens were still laying Eggs – Farmers need to sell those Eggs (or Milk or Meat or Veggies or Baked Goods) – if we cannot support them, someone else will!

Last week, we were able to get additional eggs and I believe that we WILL have eggs for Table Sales this week. When I send the reminder email on Thursday, I will let each Market know how many Eggs will be available on Table Sales! They will be sold on a First Come, First Served basis only!

Cow Milk and Goat Milk

For now, our Raw Milk orders are remaining constant – in fact, we have added a few 1/2 gallons thanks to new Members! Sam and I will continue to monitor the orders and I will inform you if delivery will change.

Goat Milk will NOT be available until December!

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

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BUY LOCAL ~ Know your Farmer!