SOCIAL MEDIA & THE MARKET

No doubt some of you saw the lively discussion on our main facebook page last week. What started as a collage to raise awareness about the connection between nutrition and health took a strange turn with many people outside our Market family posting about vaccinations. That part of the collage was obviously offensive and they spoke up!

That being said, now seems like a good time to share the Market’s policy concerning social media. And seriously, if this bores you to tears feel free to skip it.

1. Social media is a TOOL. It’s a tool to communicate, to encourage, to inform and to share ideas and different viewpoints. Our main Facebook page works for announcements, reminders, articles and op-eds. Your market manager personally likes the format of our Discussion Page better.

2. We censor but we don’t censor. If a topic falls within our main focus of healthy foods and healthy lifestyle we allow posts even though something might not be your manager’s personal position. What we won’t put up with is abusive language. (And we did delete/hide a few of these for the record.)

3. Our market family is a diverse group of ADULTS. Adults can share thoughts, ideas, philosophies and information without having to agree on everything. It makes me smile inside to tell you that I’ve never seen any Market vendors or customers get in a tizzy or act in a juvenile manner over a differing opinion. Another reason I hold that our Market family is the BEST!

Finally, just to be very clear, Market at Dothan does not have a position about vaccinations. Just like dietary choices, some things are up to the individual to study, consider and decide for themselves.

MARKET CHITCHAT

THANK YOU to everyone who came out and visited us at Open House on Thursday. It was great to see you and we hope you enjoyed the festivities. On a personal note, my favorite moment of the afternoon was getting hugs the young entrepreneurs shown below.

New & Relisted Products

• 1 oz. Stinging Nettle Tincture
• Green Beans
• Baby Kinston Sweets
• Bread Free Bread from Hawkins Homestead
• Patty Pan Squash
• Zephyr Squash
• Yellow Squash
• New larger quantities of Sugar Snap Peas

Educational Opportunity: If anyone is interested in learning to make their own tinctures and extracts Ros will be teaching this at the Dothan Westgate Library on Tuesday, July 17. Email marketatdothan@gmail.com if you would like information to pre-register for this. Space is limited.

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.

AVALON FARMS:
Enjoyed seeing you all at the Open House! Welcome to all the NEW market members!! Looking forward to providing you with the freshest produce and eggs in the Wiregrass. Good Eats for everyone!

We are proud to be selected as a featured farm at Foster Farm to Fork next Thursday in Dothan! It’s an honor to be recognized as a small, local producer of quality produce. We will be providing chard, patty pan and zephyr squash, sugar snap peas, watermelon radishes and a selection of herbs.

We finally got our website updated. Please check it out at www.AvalonFarms.us. Would love to hear your thoughts, comments and requests.
*FREE bag of sugar snap peas to first finder of a typo on our website.*

Our green onions have grown into baby Kinston Sweets and the tops have died down. They are about golf ball size onions, and delicious!

Coming Soon…cucumbers, Kinston Sweet onions, a new Red Creole onion and blackberries that are just starting to turn.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hello Marketeers!
   With increasing temperatures, we must get into the garden early to get all tasks completed before its uncomfortably hot! Staying hydrated becomes extremely important too. Drinking glass after glass of water can get a bit – how should I say – redundant. We have found a way to revitalize our water – fresh cucumbers! Very few things are as refreshing as cucumber water on a hot day in the garden. Cucumber water helps fight dehydration, fatigue, high blood pressure, & weight gain – to name a few benefits.  
    Steep 2 sliced cucumbers, 2 sliced lemons, & about 10- 15 mint leaves in 48 ounces of water overnight for a refreshing detox. Drink 8 – 16 ounces every 4-6 hours. Warning – stay close to the restroom! Soon we will be able to use our very own cucumbers to refresh ourselves!

Since we are growing several types this year, we hope to have enough for relish, pickles, & salads! Guess what – we share!
    We have lots of radish greens still and have been exploring ways to use them. We have come across a Radish Leaf Pesto recipe that we will be experimenting with over the weekend. If it turns out well, it will be among our offerings this week. If not…back to the drawing board.
    Stay well hydrated in these 20 last days of spring – from our family to yours!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD: Hello friends! Happy Saturday. Just a quick note from us. Mulberries will not be available this week as we have to give our tree a rest. Between all of us, the birds, and the squirrels, the ripe ones that we can reach are about gone. We do have plenty of eggs and sprouts. Our zucchini had just started to make. Our youngest, Joshua and I made a video showing our first harvest of the season. He said we HAD to eat it! Lol. So as we make more, I will be sure to post it. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you guys next week.

We always have a few new farmers, waiting their turn to join our market and offer their wonderful products to all our customers. In order to add more farmers, we feel it would be best to grow our customer base a bit. We want to be able to offer you and your friends some new local farm products.

The farmers and market managers would really appreciate your efforts to help spread the word about our fantastic market. What a great local resource for fresh, local farm products. Please pick up a few business cards to hand out to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Advertising is very expensive, and we want to use our slim market funds in a responsible manner.

To Contact Us

Our Website: manchester.locallygrown.net
On Facebook: Manchester Locally Grown Online Farmers’ Market
By e-mail: tnmomof10@gmail.com
By phone: (931) 273-9708

Our pickup location is across the street from the Manchester City Schools administration building:

Good morning!

Welcome to this week’s offerings from your online farmers’ market. Everything you see on our website is the “cream of the crop” from local farmers, the best products picked and made with pride especially for YOU! When you place an order with our farms, you know you are supporting your friends and neighbors, most located within 30 miles of Manchester, Tennessee.

The market will remain open for your orders till Tuesday at 10 pm.

Please be sure to read the section of the page entitled “Important Ordering and Pickup Information.”

Farm News of the Week