Creasey Greens, MEM, Holiday Hours

Dear Market Customer,

Have you ever heard the herb/greens called Belle Isle? Leah Lake Farm is offering it under the category “herbs”. It is also known as Upland Cress and “Creasy Greens” – a cousin to watercress. It is a member of the mustard family and has a peppery taste, and is a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, iron and calcium. Being rather strong-tasting raw, a little can go a long way in a salad (finely chopped or diced might be a good way to add a little of it to a salad.) It can also be chopped in bite-size pieces and cooked like spinach or collards, which seems to make it more mild. Or try this recipe:

Creasy Greens and Sweet Potato Cakes

• 3 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 1 cup of cooked creasy greens, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons of milk (or more as needed)
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed, ground
• 1 egg, beaten
• 8 tablespoons panko crumbs
• 2 tablespoons oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Reserve the creasy greens. Blend all of the other ingredients together until you have a thick paste, season to taste prior to adding the egg. Use more or less milk as needed to get the desired consistency of a very thick pancake. Stir in creasy greens and blend well. Heat the oil in a frying pan over low heat. Shape several small patties with the sweet potato mixture and fry it in the pan until golden brown on both sides. A variation on this recipe calls for reserving the panko crumbs and using them to form a crust by patting them as a coating prior to frying. Recipe couresy of examiner.com.

Update For Ordering Chicken
As most of you know, you can order chicken by the piece if you do not wish to order in quantity through Mother Earth Meats (see Group Buys on the menu on the left of your Market screen). To make ordering easier, we will be transitioning to a flat rate price per piece, rather than per-pound when our current inventory runs out. This way, you will know exactly what you are paying, and will facilitate a smoother check-out process, rather than us manually adjusting your order when you arrive for pick-up!

Quick Reminder
If you placed a bulk order with Mother Earth Meats, it will be ready for pick-up the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Holiday News: We will be closed Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve falls on Tuesday this year. Gwinnett Locally Grown will be closed for those two weeks so that everyone can spend time with their families.

Turkey Ordering Reminder and Specialty Cheeses

Dear Market Customer,

Have you tried the cheese from Weckback Family Cheese? They have three offerings through the market, all made from cow’s milk and loosely inspired by Spanish and Argentinean Manchego style cheeses. As an extra bonus, the rinds are olive oil washed with Georgia Olive Growers’ olive oil!

The Fresco Cheese is a semi firm cheese with grassy, tangy notes and a creamy texture. The Black Pepper Cheese is a semi firm cheese with a black pepper kick. Last but not least is the Manchego-style cheese -aged for at least sixty days this cheese is piquant and buttery.

Don’t forget Mother Earth Meats (MEM)Turkeys for Thanksgiving!
Just a reminder that Tuesday (November 12) is the last day to order turkeys from Mother Earth Meats. They also produce other ethically-raised meats, including chicken, bison, beef and pork. Ordering is easy:

Immediate payment is required instead of you paying at pick-up for all MEM orders.
Here’s how to order:
1- Place your order of Mother Earth Meats on their website before November 12.
2- At checkout, fill out the Shipping Address with OUR address as follows: Rancho Alegre Farm, 2225 Givens Road, Dacula, GA 30019. Click on Buyer’s Club so you are not charged shipping! Pay online immediately as you order.
3- Forward us your order confirmation via email with subject line MEM ORDER* to grow@ranchoalegrefarm.com
4- Pick-up your order November 26 here at Rancho Alegre Farm.

Turkeys In Time For Thanksgiving!

Dear Market Customer,

Welcome to the Market! As we head into ever-cooling weather, make sure to browse through the market listings to take advantage of the fresh garden produce. Farmers work hard to co-ordinate their offerings with the weather, but have to plan several weeks ahead and hope the weather does what it is supposed to do. Eating seasonally keeps us in touch with the earth’s cycles, and thank goodness we have local farmers who can help us do that!

A few important reminders:

Cold Snap, Soap Making, Pumpkin Cheese Bread

The Market is open Thursday 9am – Monday 9am. After that, ordering is disabled. Pick-up your order Tuesday 4:30-6:30PM at Rancho Alegre Farm at 2225 Givens Road, Dacula, GA 30019. New to The Market? Learn about how it works here.

Dear Market Customer,

We hope everyone survived last week’s cold snap! We did a little digging around (no pun intended for the gardeners reading this!) last week, and found the record low seems to be 28 degrees. Thank goodness we did not reach it here, but in anticipation of predicted lows, we, as I’m sure many other gardeners with winter beds, covered our crops with floating row covers. One can read more about these season extenders here.

A few important reminders:

New Veggies & Recipes - Soap Making

Dear Market Customer,

The Market has two veggie offerings this week that may be totally new to some of you, so I thought I would profile them for you. One is Jerusalem Artichokes (also called Sunchokes). They are not from Jerusalem, nor are they artichokes! These small tubers are a perennial plant, and when they flower, they look like tiny sunflowers on a long stem. They can be cooked just about any way one would cook and serve small potatoes, with the added bonus of being easy to prepare because one does not need to peel them – simply scrub clean! They are offered this week from returning vendor Double B Farm.

RECIPE -Cheese & Jerusalem Artichoke Chowder

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 pound Jerusalem artichokes, sliced into water with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice added
• 8 ounces carrots, sliced
• 5 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1-1/4 cups milk
• 8 ounces (2 cups) Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Julienne Garnish:

• 1 Jerusalem artichoke
• 1 carrot
• 1 leek
• Chervil leaves

Preparation:

Follow Us on Facebook and post the picture of your own recipe or of your success with the ones given here.

Another vegetable many people may be unfamiliar with is Kohlrabi. I always admired the pictures of this plant, and because it kind of looks like a cabbage with stems sticking out of it, I thought it would be as big as a cabbage. They are not! This week’s offering, also from Double B, is purple, and they are smaller than a cabbage. Double B is leaving the stems on because they are good as braised greens, plus the “ball” of the plant can be used exactly like one would cabbage – kind of a two-for-one deal, and truly pretty. Definitely worth a try for the adventurous!

Lastly, we would like to remind you that Bo & Lisa’s Lil Patch is offering eggs in two different sizes: Large to Jumbo, and Small to Medium. The chickens are pastured and not fed soy or gmo grains (for those of you who are trying to eliminate soy from your diet). This is a very big deal. Soy is used a lot in animal feed because the high protein level helps animals grow faster and produce better. It can be difficult to source animal feed that does not contain it and we are glad BLLP can make this offering to us.

Reminder: Upcoming Workshop!

We Have Chicken!

We Have Chicken!

Dear Market Customer,

Don’t forget to place your order for the Market pick up on Tuesday! We have meat and veggie vendors who are Certified Organic, Certified Naturally Grown (the grass roots version of the government program), and pesticide- and herbicide-free. We also have fresh-baked goods, lots of local honey and kombucha, just to name a few cool things. Equally as cool is the cookbook put together by the Ladies Homestead Gathering of Statham, containing healthy, yummy recipes, and how to make everything from cheese to natural herbal remedies. If you’re not sure about ordering one sight unseen, we have them in stock for you to leaf through.

We also have chicken. Bring extra cash (or your credit/debit card) and we’ll pull them out of the freezer for you: whole chickens so you can make nutrient dense bone broth, yummy thighs and even boneless chicken breasts. Time to stock up, it’s getting cold outside and what’s better than homemade chicken soup? Yum!

 Also – don’t forget about Azure Standard. We need as many people  to participate as possible. It’s really easy – our drop number is 796633. Simply make your

order at Azure Standard’s website and put our drop number in the appropriate location. By joining them you will receive notifications of order deadlines and cut-off of delivery. We are so glad to be partnering with Azure Standard!

Reminder: Upcoming FREE Workshop!

Order Today, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Rolls!

Dear Market Customer,

Don’t forget to place your order for the Market pick up on Tuesday! Remember the CinaBOMBS, fresh herbs and other fatnastic organically grown and harvested products you can get from the Market. Take advantage today!

We are working on finishing our new Bridal Suite and the upgrades to our offices. We have been blessed to have a visist from the Craig Elementary Colts. I spoke with a few of our customers who wanted to if we will be an Azure Standard drop. The answer is YES! We just need as many of our customer’s to participate as possible. Our drop number is 796633. Simply make your order at Azure Standard’s website and put our drop number in the appropriate location. By joining them you will receive notifications of order deadlines and cut-off of delivery. I am so glad to be partnering with Azure Standard! Last minute find: join this free online week long nutrient dense real food videos: http://www.realfoodcon.com/freerealfoodsessions

Canning Workshop & New Market Items

Upcoming Events REMINDERS: Canning & Pampered Chef  

The Children’s Workshop on Columbus Day had an unprecedented turn out! The Digestive Class had fabulous participation. We appreciate your business and patronage.

Be sure to read this newsletter to stay on top of future events and avoid missing events that can improve you and your family’s health and/or spare you a trip to daycare!

FREE Workshop: Canning

Presented by the Gwinnett Canning Club and Ines Beltran, M.Ed of the Gwinnett Extension Service. This introductory class will offer a demonstration of how to safely can. All above age 16 are welcome. We will schedule food preservation and canning classes for kids later in the series of canning classes. Please R.S.V.P. on Meetup to reserve your spot! The class is FREE!

When: Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Where: Rancho Alegre Farm (2225 Givens Road, Dacula, GA 30019)

Time: 7:00-9:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

It’s a Pampered Chef event teaching how to use great kitchen tools to make nutrient dense foods. The demo will not use any microwaves and it will be gluten free baking. The event is free and you can bring guest, we just need a head count to make sure we have enough food.

When: Tuesday, October 27, 2013

Where: Rancho Alegre Farm (2225 Givens Road, Dacula, GA 30019)

Time: 7:00-9:00 PM

Cost: FREE!

Click here for more details and to register.

Next Newsletter? More on Soap Making!

Also…

>New at the market fresh cilantro ($3.50 for 2 oz bag), Polenta ($5.00 per cloth bag) and plant starters for collards, Chinese cabbage and spinach are all available!

We have CinaBOMBS! Cinnamon buns so delicious they are a flavor bomb in your mouth! Warm them up for a chilly morning!

We also have in-season vegetables, raw milk, cheese, eggs, chicken, herbs, pork and beef products, kombucha, and more!!

Don’t forget that, if you placed another order with Mother Earth Meats, pick-up your meat here at the farm October 22nd during market hours (4:30pm-6:30pm.)

Remember to follow us on Facebook and Meetup to get notification on all our wonderful events and news.

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Sunday Finals: Upcoming Events, Bagels & More!

Wonderful New Products, FREE Event on Tuesday & More!