What to expect this week on the table: Farm made Tinctures: Farm Made Chocolates Microgreen Pesto (frozen)- Riverview Farms (North GA.

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1 In this final installment of newsletter 2018, I want to start by saying a big thanks to all of the folks who have integrated our farm food into their weekly routine. With the vast variety and unrealistic price points of grocery stores and the convenience and selection of online ordering, we are acutely aware that the supporters who join our CSA and consistently shop at our market are voting with their time and their dollar. Our farm is not the easiest, cheapest, one stop shop in town, so when customers prioritize our food they are in effect saying yes to local, healthy, clean food, and saying yes to keeping rural land out of always encroaching development, and saying yes to the diminishing reality of young people making a comfortable living off a small piece of land. This time every year I am most grateful that enough people in this area care about food and place and soil that our days, and now our daughter s days, can be spent with feet on the earth under the sprawling sky collectively working towards tiny triumphs. Along with the year s fair share of challenges, we experienced a year rich in tiny triumphs : a new logo to go on a new delivery van, a brand new and improved wash station, 2500 of structurally sound 8 high deer fencing, a start on a 3 rd high tunnel, the well-received introduction of chocolate making, and the realization that, though incredibly invasive of quality working hours, we can indeed manage both farm and infant. We are actually still holding our breath on the last one. Farm and baby are two living organisms that will cheerfully take all one has to give. This marriage has been made much more accommodating thanks to our friend Shannon and Jenny s parents who will entertain and teach Tulsi for hours while we focus on farm duties. As this year of child rearing, capital investments, labor struggles, precipitation overload, and tight margins comes to an end, we are looking forward to time in the winter to slow down, breathe, meditate on our failures and fortunes, and make mindful movement in the long journey of approaching the ever elusive, enchantingly slippery, work/life balance. I also want to say a quick word of appreciation for two farm friends and avid customers who passed away this year, Dr. Werner Linz and Gary Gintzig. Werner reminded me of an old European farmer; tough, sun-tinted skin, quick wit, and a dapper, forever in style wardrobe of wool, leather, and denim. Werner was a man of few words, at least in my encounters, but whenever he had an anecdote or wanted to recite one of his thousands of original limericks, we all stopped and listened because what was spoken was always something enduring. Shortly after his death, Catherine gifted me two of Werner s finely aged coats which will adorn my body with his story and style for many years to come. Gary, and his wife Laura, have been coming to our market for years and have been constant and encouraging forces in our life through both word and deed. Each week at the on-farm market when it came time to pay for his groceries, Gary always refused to accept his change and it was always several dollars. When he decided to upgrade to the Iphone 10, he freely passed on his gently used, super nice, I phone 5 to Jenny and when he wanted a new car he sold us our Volkswagen Jetta for thousands below market value. Gary was a generous man, and his short stint in our lives will be largely remembered by his casual, copious acts of love and kindness. In this season of celebration, may we remain open to all the goodness that beats in this world, and may the fond memory of those like Werner and Gary uplift our spirits and merrily infuse this season of joy.

2 Winter Market Schedule Monday, December 31 st (New Year s Eve): 9-12 Monday, January 14 th (MLK Day): 9-12 Monday, February 18 th (President s Day): 9-12 Wednesday On-Farm Market (Last Wed. Market of the year!) What to expect this week on the table: Baby Turmeric and Ginger, Cabbage, Napa Cabbage, Watermelon Radish, Butternut Squash, Beets, Carrots, Rainbow Chard, Kale, Collards, Sweet Asian Turnips, Sweet Potatoes, Lettuce, Arugula, Microgreens, Dill, Cilantro. Also, Asian Persimmon from Randle Farms in Auburn. Farm made Tinctures: Ginger, Turmeric and Elderberry. Farm Made Chocolates- made with Raw Cacao, Cocoa Butter, Local Raw Honey, Sea Salt and farm grown ingredients like ginger,mint, and blueberry. Very dark chocolate, very good! Microgreen Pesto (frozen)- made with our microgreens, garlic and organic pecans from Koinonia. Riverview Farms (North GA.): Stone-Ground Grits & Corn Meal Koinonia Farms (Americus)- Organic, Biodynamic Pecans Turntime Farm (Ellerslie): Pastured Eggs, Ground Beef, Chuck Roasts, Link & Ground sausage, Pork Butts, Pork Chops, Soup bones, Whole Chicken. Bacon sold out for now. Randle Farms (Auburn): Ground Lamb Amazing Grace Farm (Pine Mountain Valley): Raw Honey Pecan Point Farm: Yogurt (maple, plain, and turmeric/ginger) and granola. Bulger Creek Farm: Goat Cheese (veggie, pecan, plain, and dessert) & Soap. Plant Magic Medicine Shop (Columbus) : Golden Paste (turmeric, black pepper, ghee); a concentrate to make the delicious Golden Milk by adding this paste to milk. Also can be mixed into coffee or smoothies. Oliver Farms (South GA): Sunflower, Pecan and Pumpkin Seed Oil and Gluten Free Flours Emerald Acres: Fig jam, Blueberry Jam Baked Goods: Sue B s granola bars, Amazing Grace Farm Southern Sourdough bread, and Emerald Acres baked goods (pumpkin pecan breads, fig cakes).

3 Pictures Of The Week Our 2 fully covered hoop houses keep us in veggies through the winter allowing us to both harvest for ourselves and stock a few holiday on farm markets. Wendi is harvesting lettuce for the final week of CSA and market.

4 Our young, charismatic leader came down from her wheeled perch to offer a few much needed suggestions on how to better build high tunnel bows. My friend Brandon (who worked with us in 2015 and 2016) spent a week here helping me begin construction on our 3 rd covered tunnel. Because this tunnel is older and been sitting unused for a long time, the rusted pieces were not joining quickly and smoothly like new tunnels. The progress was slow and frustrating but we re moving in the right direction.

5 Tulsi in the warm greenhouse playing with rocks and tasting her basil namesake that volunteered from some spilled seed. Our produce may be found at: On Farm Market Wednesday Mornings from 9-12 (through December) North Highland Farmer s Market 1 st and 3 rd Wednesday afternoons, 4-6 pm We have a 100 member CSA with drop-off locations in Lagrange, Columbus, Auburn, and On-farm. You can also find our produce on the menus of Food Blossoms Catering out of Hamilton. Take good care, Chris and Jenny