Wired Wiki: How to Shop and Eat Locally

Handy tips for the locavore from Wired.

Farm Run Feedback

What a beautiful day it was to toodle around from farm to farm!  And what exciting things I discovered along the way!

• John Herron and Greg Hager of Landis Gourmet Mushrooms are starting to build their operation.  They are adding more growing rooms in the basement of the mill.  Soon they will get a larger sterilization drum in place to sterilize the cardboard on which they grow the mushrooms.  Lookout mushroom world!
• Lee Menius of Wild Turkey Farms is really growing gang-busters.  He has increased his chicken flock for eggs, is thinking about adding a small number of heritage turkeys, and might even get some rabbits!  He has also agreed to partner with the Local Food Club as a vegetable producer for the fall and winter.  We'll have an on-farm tour and fundraiser this summer to get some "seed money" for the coldframes and other things needed to raise vegetables year-round.  Woo-hoo!!!
• Pat Roberts of Bird Brain Ranch is gearing up for the new Davidson farmers' market as well as the upcoming on-farm event at their place.  Check the earlier post about the event...it takes place next Saturday.  Should be a great time for the whole family!!!
• Natalie Veres of Grateful Growers is really getting some good, and worthy, press.  For those of you who didn't see it, there's a great article in the Observer this week on a pork-tasting they held in Charlotte.  They've also announced a new product, which I'm looking forward to trying these Thinkfurters.   Hooray for locally and sustainably grown, hot dogs!!!
• Art Duckworth of Apple Orchard Farm has a new product as well.  Art is a beekeeper, and he is taking the wax left over after he extracts the honey and having it made into lip balm.  All natural ingredients...in many flavors: unflavored, cherry, orange, raspberry, apple, spearmint, and peppermint.

Order Info

Some notes about specific items in your order:  

• Art sold out of apple jelly, but he makes it once a month or so using apple juice, including some he froze from his orchard.  So keep trying!
• Lee's produce wasn't quite in full swing...and with the cold snap coming, he didn't want to harvest too much.  So the $10 shares became $2 shares consisting of arugula and some cilantro.  There wasn't quite enough cilantro to go around, so it will be first come, first serve.  Also, there was only enough to give one share per family that ordered, so if you were like me, thrilled about fresh produce and hoping for multiple shares, just wait 'til next time!!!
• For those of you who ordered eggs from WTF, Lee put in a surprise for you...one egg in each carton is a duck egg.  It's a lot larger than the others...use it as you would chicken eggs...share if you have other suggestions!
• Only John's brown phoenix came in strong, so if you ordered golden or blue, we substituted brown. 
• Chris's grandmother Evelyn, who shells the pecans for us, didn't have enough to fill this months orders, so unless we find another source, we're probably done with pecans 'til the fall.

 

 

 

 

Farm Route

For those of you who love maps, here's the route I will take this afternoon to pick up.

 

Point B: Landis Gourmet Mushrooms

Point C: Wild Turkey Farms

Point D: Hoffner Dairy

Point E: Bird Brain Ranch

Point F: Grateful Growers Farm

Point G: Apple Orchard Farm

 

Saturday Pickup Reminder!

A reminder for those of you who placed orders this week that pick-up is tomorrow morning (4/12) at the Bradford Store at 9:30 AM. 

 

If you ordered milk, it has already arrived and you can pick it up during normal Bradford Store hours.  Or you can just get it tomorrrow when you pick up the rest of your order.

 

We'll stick around until 11:00 if necessary, but it looks like a cold and rainy morning, so please come early so we can get out of the weather!