Visit The Market any time between now and 7:00pm Tuesday evening to place your order.

Pick up is every Thursday, 3:00pm – 7:00pm, at Sandra’s home in Roswell.

CO-OP NEWS

Thank you to everyone that was able to come to the co-op meeting on Thursday. We had some great conversations about ways to improve the co-op and make it possible to offer more variety. Because of all the new things I have to share with you, this email is a little long. Please read to the end so you don’t miss anything.

I love being able to provide good food to local families but I was reminded on Thursday that this co-op is about more than just food. It’s supposed to be a community. In order to open up communication between members of the co-op we now have a Facebook page. We will use this page to share information about upcoming orders, ask each other questions, and discuss current events. I will also post the details for workshops and farm tours in the events section. I know some of you are not on Facebook or don’t check it regularly so I will still continue to send out this weekly email with the most important information.

FRESH & LOCAL

Moss Hill Farm
www.MossHillFarm.net

The Moss Hill Farm vegetable CSA starts the second week of April. The first season is 6 weeks long and costs $235. We are still working out the details for the Thursday delivery but I am hoping for a similar arrangement to last year – pick up at my home in Roswell on Thursday afternoons. The other option is for you to pick up at the farm in Milton on Wednesday afternoons or Saturday mornings.

If you are not familiar with how a CSA works you can read more about it here. In short, you pay a membership fee to the farmer at the beginning of the season and in return you get a “share” of whatever he harvests each week throughout the season. This year Floyd has plans to harvest at least 10-12 different varieties of vegetables and/or fruits each week. The specific varieties will change week to week as we go through the growing season. Here are a couple of pictures of the shares last year:

Several of us took part in the CSA last year and in 2011 and we have always been very pleased with the quality and selection. These are the freshest, most nutrient-dense vegetables that you will find anywhere. You can read more about how Floyd grows such amazing food at his website www.mosshillfarm.net

Last spring the co-op took a group tour of the farm and I am hoping to be able to arrange that again. I will let you know as soon as I have the details worked out.

GROUP BUYS

Wilderness Family Naturals
www.WildernessFamilyNaturals.com

I am very excited to be able to offer Wilderness Family Naturals products again. I know several of you have been asking when we would order again. Well, you’re in luck, we will hopefully be placing a group order this week. We have to reach a minimum of $300 to get free shipping. If we don’t meet that minimum this week I will keep their items in the market through next week to give more of you a chance to order.

Wilderness Family Naturals provides a wide variety of high quality pantry staples including nuts, seeds, grains, oils, salt, and more. I have already added many of their items to The Market under the category GROUP BUYS. You can also go to their website to see all they have to offer. I am hoping to eventually have everything listed in the market but I am only about half way there. If you see something on their website you want that is not in the market yet, just let me know and I will add it for you. Our co-op price is the same as the prices listed on their website. The advantage of ordering as a group is we get free shipping.

Raw, Organic Almonds (from California) Many of you have asked about ordering raw, organic almonds. Most everything Wilderness Family Naturals sells comes in a variety of sizes from 1 lb up to larger, bulk quantities. One exception is their raw nuts. Raw nuts are sold in 25 lb packages. My family goes through a lot of almonds but even 25 lbs is too much for me. If anyone would like to split them with me I have listed a few different sizes of raw, organic almonds in The Market under GROUP BUYS > Wilderness Family Naturals > Almonds. When our order arrives we will divide the almonds up into zip-lock bags. Available sizes are: 1 lb – $10 2 lb – $18 5 lb – $40 10 lb – $78 If you are concerned about the almonds coming from California and therefore not being truly raw I can tell you from experience these almonds do sprout when soaked. Here is the official statement from Wilderness Family Naturals: “The almonds we sell come from California and they are unbelievably sweet and delicious. As has been mandated by the USDA, these almonds have seen a slight bit of heat after they are shelled, however, these almonds, according to the grower, still sprout. Though we could still purchase unpasteurized almonds from Europe, the quality of California Almonds is so superior to European almonds that we finally made the decision to switch over and the customer response was overwhelming. Everybody loves these almonds and we agree. They are absolutely the best almonds you will ever taste.”

Green Pasture
www.GreenPasture.org

Just about everyone has gotten their cod liver oil and butter oil from our previous group order. There are still two things we are waiting on – Plain Butter Oil and Cod Liver Oil Capsules. They are back in stock on the website and should be here by the end of this week so I will let you know as soon as they arrive.

At the co-op meeting on Thursday we decided to place another order for some of us that are getting low. We did not quite meet the 12 bottle minimum so I went ahead and ordered a few extra of the most popular flavors. I have them listed in The Market under GROUP BUYS > Green Pasture. They are available first come, first served so hurry on over there before they are gone.

Here is what’s available: 2 – High Vitamin Butter Oil, unflavored 1 – Fermented Cod Liver Oil, unflavored 1 – Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Cinnamon Tingle 2 – Skin Care – Calm Balm

WORKSHOPS & EVENTS

Up to this point workshops and events have been listed in The Market. I have found that it is hard to keep up with the RSVPs that way so I want to try something different. I created an events section on the new Melody Lane Co-op Facebook page. Please go there to RSVP for events. If you do not have a Facebook account just send me an email letting me know you are coming.

Our next demonstration, Rendering Animal Fats, is this Thursday, March 7th
Animal fats have been used in traditional cooking and soap making for thousands of years. Two of the most common are pork fat (lard) and beef fat (tallow). The process of rendering raw animal fat into a usable ingredient is easy and does not require any special equipment but it does take several hours. This Thursday I will be rendering several pounds of lard and tallow in my kitchen. You are welcome to stop by any time during normal co-op hours (3:00pm – 7:00pm) to see a mini-demonstration of the process and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. There is no charge for this event. In two weeks we will use some of that tallow to make soaps and lotions.

Here is a great video by the Weston A. Price Foundation with more information about traditional fats.


Other upcoming events include:

March 9, 2:00pm – Workshop at East West Farm – Biodynamic Composting

March 14, 7:00pm – Demonstration – Making Homemade Raw Milk Yogurt

March 16, all day – Atlanta area Weston A. Price Conference

March 21, 1:00pm – Workshop – Making Soap & Lotion with tallow

March 23, 1:00pm – East West Farm Spring Fling and Farm Tour

April 4, 7:00pm – Workshop – Making Fermented Vegetables

April 6, 1:00pm – East West Farm Chicken Processing Class

CONTACT INFO

Sandra Walker
Melody Lane Co-op Coordinator
melodylanecoop@yahoo.com
770-841-3437

And now on Facebook!

www.MelodyLane.LocallyGrown.net