Availability List/newsletter

Hello. You have been in a rainstorm; have you ever been in a “Brainstorm”? It happens when a group of people get together and start making lists of ideas about something without anyone saying “that’ll never work”, but just coming up with ideas, crazy or not. It can be quite refreshing and fun. Out of these sessions come some of the greatest ideas! (Especially after we enjoy some of that free-trade coffee to perk us up!)
Members and guests are all encouraged to come and enjoy the STORM!
Remember to attend our “Brainstorm” at Leopard Forest Coffee in Traveler’s Rest, next Sat afternoon @ 3pm. Bring your coffee cup and some ideas, a sharp pencil, and some enthusiasm. We will be brainstorming for about 15 minutes and then we will tackle these ideas to see what might be workable for us. Thank you Ildi, for inviting us to your place.
There will be some surprises, some treats for you, and some interesting guests! Get there early, to socialize and snack, as we will start promptly at 3. We will be done with the business by 4.

Please feel free to read Hugh Weather’s article on eating local, copied and pasted on the web log of our USSCLocallyGrown site.

Our offerings this week include a new, beautiful eggplant from Bioway Farm.
Hope you are thinking “Salsa”, because tomatoes are in their prime, with a large variety and all organically grown. No GMO’s. No packing still green in wax-lined boxes , nor gassing, nor shipping thousands of miles to warehouses. None of that. Our produce is picked to your order for you at the peak of freshness, ripe and ready to eat. All the picking is by hand. These veggies have been raised by folks who care about quality.. and who place their name on every order. You know exactly where your produce was grown; and how. Visit “our Growers” on the site to read about the methods used in raising your dinner. You will be pleased.
Even our meats have been raised here in the upstate by great, hard-working farmers who care about their animals and give them a fine life. The animals never see cages or feed lots. They are raised in fresh air and sunshine, with freedom to socialize, graze, root, or chew their cud in comfort. And no growth horomones nor antibiotics are used to speed growth. They just grow the old fashioned way, the way they were meant to. None of our farm animals live in crowded conditions. All are pasture raised. We believe that it is healthier that way; healthier for them, and healthier for you.
More than likely, this costs a little more, because we deal in small, well-tended flocks, herds,and gardens… and much of that tending is done one-on-one. We hand-pick your produce. We know the condition of each and every animal in our care… and that takes time. We see to it that they are fed and watered and provide humane living conditions….Because we care. We are small farms making a difference in the Upstate, “thousands of miles fresher”.

Look over the lists if you like, and then go to the website to shop and to order. You may choose to pick-up either on Thursday or Saturday.

We know that you want to keep the market in the black. Be sure that someone will pick up your order, because we have to charge you anyway, as we hav already paid the growers before you pick-up. Y(our) market operates on a very small percentage, and if your order isn’t paid for, it puts a strain on us to pay for the products and to run the market.
Remember to pool your resources; share pick-ups with friends, bring your egg cartons to refill so they won’t end up being rubbish in the landfill (the plastic ones were once 2 liter bottles and are dishwasher safe, and the cardboard ones are already recycled cardboard.)

Speaking of refilling rather than recycling, (which sometimes makes more greenhouse gasses than the first manufacture), you are invited to bring your vases of any kind for re-use, as well as your black plastic pots for plants. We will give them a second-or third life. Plastic pots, I read, will never go away for thousands of years. So, let’s re-use them until they fall apart!
Sometimes we forget those new ‘Green" shopping bags when we go to the store, and end up with plastic bags. If we re-use these, it will do much to clean up the planet, as it takes energy to melt and remake. So, just bring those along, too, and we will re-use those for all sorts of things…Besides for carrying things, these bags make great padding for fragile objects when wadded up and stuffed between things. I have also seen people crochet these things into purses, bags, coasters, and welcome mats, but I’m not all that crafty..Are you? :0)

Enjoy your shopping, remember to order early, esp. before Tuesday evening, and especially the bakery goods, which must be baked individually for you. A little fore-warning might help Jeff, the baker, and may even spread some good will.
Love to y’all!
Donna