Planet Garden Hoorah for the Pumpkin Pie!

Hoorah for the Pumpkin Pie!
　
Bluebird Market is a local venue to encourage you to start your own business. Have you ever heard the story of Sister Schubert? In 1989, Patricia Barnes, called Sister as a child, baked 20 pans of rolls for a fundraiser in Troy, Al. Using her grandmother’s recipe she dipped a Parker House syle yeast roll in butter and sold out. Two years later she turned one of the Sunday School rooms into a dough rising proof with a space heater and by 1993 she was using her father’s furniture warehouse for a cottage bakery. She is quoted saying, “I tried to be a Truett Cathy kind of employer” and has written a book entitled “Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters.” Eleven years after she started selling yeast rolls at the local Episcopal Church, she sold her busines to T. Marzetti for more than $40 million dollars.
 
If you would like to earn extra holiday dollars, please consider joining us as a Cottage Industry Baker. Bring your baked goods and your friends for the Cottage Baked Goods Holiday Sale at Bluebird Market.
We are so fortunate to have over 50 local vendors having participated at our neighborhood Farmer’s Market and many of them are Cottage Bakers like Sabrina Hay, Constance Potts, Donna James, Frieda Litchfield, Bess Mayo, Cathy Pollard, Lisa Fox, Margie Adams, Rose Clift, and many more. Their Cottage Kitchens are filled with the aromas of baking Cinnamon Buns, Carrot Cake, Butter Pecan Banana Nut Bread, Fried Apple Pies, Georgia Pecan Pralines, Lemon Cookies, Pumpkin Pies and so much more.
 
With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, I invite you to think about your favorite baked goods. Saturday, Nov. 21st, from 8 am until noon…just in time for your Thanksgiving and to place Christmas orders… there will be a Cottage Baked Goods Holiday Sale at Bluebird Market. Hoorah for the Pumpkin Pie!…and Pecan Pie, Orchard Apple Pie, Wheat Bread with Local Honey, cookies, cakes, fried pies, artisan breads and all of those homebaked goods you will want to serve to your guests over the holidays.
You will find all of your favorites and while you are at the market, I encourage you to also invest in a Bluebird Directory for only five dollars. In it you will find the contact info for top area local Cottage Bakers and other local growers and artisans. When you need a pie or Birthday Cake, or just want a delicious loaf of Whole Wheat Bread with local honey you can special order from these talented local bakers by giving them a call.
There will be a fun Cake Walk you may participate in for only one dollar to take a chance at winning some delicious cottage baked goods for your Thanksgiving family and friends.
Pie Baskets will be available for holiday local delivery orders or take along for Thanksgiving.  Hoorah for the Pumpkin Pie!
　
Enrich your life on Saturday at Bluebird Market, 215 Barnesville St., Thomaston. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.BluebirdMarket.com. Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com..

Planet Garden Heirloom Apple Farm

Heirloom Apple Farm
A friend came into the Bluebird Farmers Market last Saturday morning and said it smelled so good. We were baking apples in a crisp for the free farmers market lunch after the Kitchen Show. She peaked in the oven and said that is exactly what she had served last night except she added cranberries. I told her these came from a local apple farm and we both laughed when we realized it was her favorite heirloom variety of apple too– with a taste that is exquisite. This apple has a cherry cinnamon sweetness that is unique and it is said that the ones with the darkest red skin have the most cherry-like flavor. Called Arkansas Black, these heirloom apples have a not-so-attractive dark red to almost black color skin but are considered one of the crispiest with the very best flavor when cooked. The grower of these delicious, nutritious apples is local farmer, Mr. Holland, owner of Holland’s Apple Farm.
Visit this local apple orchard on Jeff Davis Road for there are over 200 apple trees filled with fruit. Mr. Holland raises several varieties including Fuji, another one of my favorite apples. There are many heirloom apple trees in this Johnny Appleseed’s orchard and an abundance of these late ripening fruits through December. Molly’s Delicious Apples grown on this Apple Farm reportedly have the highest sugar content of any apple in the United States. Mr. Holland also grows juicy Yates apples which are a smaller size but packed with flavor for baking and nutrients. Apples have a low GI (Glycaemic Index) to make a perfect sustaining mid-meal snack and are packed with antioxidants and Vitamin C with 2/3 of the dietary fiber of apples found in the skin.
I have invited Mr. Holland to appear on the Farmers Market Kitchen Show and tell us about his Apple Farm and show us how to make some Apple Farm recipes. We all are hoping this local Upson farmer can find time during the busy season to take a break and come out to share with us. We enjoyed our visit to Holland’s Apple Farm and Mr. Holland was very kind to give us apple samples and his recipe for a favorite Thanksgiving Dish– Apple Salad.
Holland’s Apple Farm Salad
6 Arkansas Black Heirloom Apples
1 cup raisins
1 cup regular Mayonnaise
1 cup Georgia pecans, toasted
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated (optional)
Peel and cube the apples. Place in a mixing bowl and toss with 1 cup regular mayonnaise. Add 1 cup of raisins and 1 cup of toasted Georgia pecans. Toss well. Optional: Add 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese.
These apples will be abundant at Mr. Holland’s farm on Jeff Davis Road along with his Leyland Cypress Christmas Trees and hay through December.
My advice is to serve Upson grown apples to your family and friends on your Thanksgiving and Christmas table from Holland’s Apple Farm. Considered a fruit of antiquity, these local apples are delicious and nutritious and your entire house will have a holiday aroma with you bake them in your oven with cinnamon and cranberries.
　
Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.BluebirdMarket.com.

Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com.

 

Planet Garden Ag Lifestyle

Farmer Bob James shows us how to make pumpkin, acorn, butternut and yellow squash dishes fresh for our families at Bluebird Market

Farmers are my some of my favorite people. We are so fortunate to offer a neighborhood local and organic Farmers’ Market as a venue for our farmers to bring us their harvest. If you have ever spent time on a working farm you know the lifestyle is grounded and real. There is always something to do and it can bring us a healthy lifestyle.
Although farming is now reportedly overwhelmingly in vogue, many of our local farmers are struggling to operate in the black and seek day employment and creative means to continue to grow. When we buy at our farmers’ market we insure that the farming lifestyle in Middle Georgia is strong and growing and has a bright future. I am totally supportive of the ag programs in Upson like 4-H and FFA and more. Bluebird Market is also a strong advocate for Farm-to-School. We want fresh and local apples and veggies served daily to our local children. We are working now to continue to boost local farmers each and every day.
There are several ways you can get involved in the farm lifestyle. Adopt-a-Row in the community garden. There is no charge and it is planted now with leeks, brussel sprouts, sweet edible peapods, purple top turnips, collards and much more for fall. Another way you can get into farming is online. There is a game that over 60 million people are  playing called FarmVille.   It’s  the fastest growing social game of all time and the most popular game on Facebook. When you play, you can get an idea of what farmers are doing every day when they buy seeds, cultivate and harvest crops, tend farm animals and win ribbons for helping out neighboring farmers.
My advice is get into the ag lifestyle in whatever way is best for you.  My choice is to open the Bluebird farmers market each and every week and say to our local farmers..Welcome! We are here to serve and assist your efforts.  We encourage our local people to come out and taste your harvest. Our Thanksgiving Day will be abundant with Georgia grown organic and local fruits and veggies!
Find a way to benefit from a lifestyle of sunshine and live green foods. Get to know your local farmers. You are invited to join the audience on Saturday mornings at Bluebird Market Kitchen Show. Farmer Bob James is a delightful cook who shares his farm fresh ingredients and how to prepare them. The show is $3. for Adults and after the show there is a free Farmers Market lunch. Saturdays 11 am at Bluebird Market, 215 Barnesville Street, Thomaston.  If everyone playing FarmVille planted a garden or shopped at their local farmers market what an amazing boost (over 60 million people) it would be to the Ag Lifestyle and our bright futures.
　
Enrich your life on Saturdays at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.BluebirdMarket.com. Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com..

Planet Garden Local Bluebird Market Holiday Calendar

Bluebird Christmas Market …Local Calendar of Events (clip & save)

Thank you to everyone who buys locally on Saturdays 8 am until noon from hometown people bringing arts and harvest. Indoor/Outdoor Venue. 215 Barnesville St. in Thomaston. FREE Earlybird Community Breakfast 8-9 am.  Vendors welcome. 11 am Kitchen Show (Adults $3) with a FREE Farmers Market Lunch after the show.

 

At your neighborhood farmers market, receive joyful breaths of frosty air with the aromas of soft gingerbread, living Christmas trees, fresh oranges, cottage baked cakes and cookies, homemade Christmas fudges, fruitcakes with Georgia pecans, and mulled cider. 

 

November 14th….Holiday Gift Basket Day

 

You get first choice on Holiday Gift Basket Day of all the best of Bluebird! Bluebird Market Baskets…a delicious way of saying hello…are a diverse selection chosen from over 50 local growers, artisans and bakers who have come together bringing you their Blue-Ribbon winning and local products.  Choose your favorites like the Bluebird Coffee & Desserts Basket… FREE delivery locally for Thanksgiving or Christmas as a delightful family gift.  (Last day to order for FREE local delivery is Nov.14th.)

November 21st…Hurrah for the Pumpkin Pie!  Cottage-Industry Holiday Baked Goods Day 

Order a Bluebird Easy-as-Pie Basket for Thanksgiving deliveries locally.  Enter the Thanksgiving Cake Walk and win Thanksgiving pies, cakes and more.  Cottage Industry Holiday Baked Goods Day at Bluebird Market will have the finest baked goods from local bakers and artisans. All local cottage bakers are welcome as vendors! Also find local farmers’ and their harvests along with firewood, living Christmas trees, fresh apples and more for an All-American harvest Thanksgiving celebration.

November 28th…Ambrosia Day

Want Ambrosia-Worthy Oranges?  Fresh picked from the Orange Groves find the finest, Ambrosia-Worthy-Oranges of the holiday season. Choose Bluebird Fresh-Fruit Baskets as lovely gifts for friends and family.  Learn how to prepare refreshingly delicious Ambrosia for a delicious and nutritious season of wellness and taste second to none. Ambrosia is one of Paula Dean’s Top 5 Holiday Dishes.  Attend the Ambrosia Cooking Lesson at the Kitchen Show (Adult tickets $3.) and stay for the FREE Farmers Market lunch after the show.  Everyone welcome!

December 5th…Handmade Holiday Arts Market

Everyone is excited about seeing local creativity at its peak…the very best Etsy, Indie and Folk artisan works for a patchwork of handmade meaningful holiday giving.  Shop the First Annual Bluebird Holiday Arts Market for a handmade Christmas of pottery, Art Photography, Restoration Jewels, needlework, quilting, handsewn baby clothes, handmade purses, jewelry, toys, clocks, furnishings, decorations, soaps, milk baths, fleece footies and hats, artworks from our local Bluebird Arties! This is a Forward Bluebird Arts event.

December 12th…A Christmas Story…gingerbread cottages, local storytelling and Noahs Ark animals

Hosted as an Open House by MOMS Club of Griffin Thomaston Area from 10-2, this will be a local Christmas highlight for all ages.  Bring your children for the wonderland of stories told in a theatrical fun day of our favorite local talent.  Make a stuffed animal with MOMS Club.  Delight in the Kitchen Show at 11:00, when you will make your very own Gingerbread Cottage!  RSVP required for these custom made cottages as they are prebaked just for you!  Cost of the Kitchen Show is $3.00 with a FREE Farmers Market Lunch after the show. Be sure to take home a  Bluebird Story Time Basket.

December 19th–Breakfast with St. Nicholas Day & his bag of Handmade Toys  

You will want to see what’s in St. Nick’s bag on Bluebird Breakfast with St. Nicholas Day.  Local Toy Town workshops will bring us their most creative heirloom toys like handpegged rocking horses, doll babybeds, red wagons and much more!  This delightful Toy Town Breakfast with St. Nick arrives at Bluebird Market just in time for a fun morning that promises to be your child’s most favorite new Christmas tradition.  Breakfast is at 9 am. Christmas Stories at 10. Meet Father Christmas with a selection of old-fashioned hand crafted Toy Town toys available at the North Pole and Bluebird Market!  Receive a free portrait sitting with your child.  Enjoy this special heartwarming moment in time to cherish the spirit of Christmas in our hometown. Reserve Breakfast with St. Nicholas seats (Adults $5., 12 and under FREE) at bluebirdmarket@gmail.com

December 26th–Spa Day at Bluebird Market

After the holidays come and relax with handmade soaps and scrubs.  Enjoy soothing teas and a lemongrass hand treatment.  Add Bluebird handmade soaps and teas to your Christmas list for a Bluebird Ultimate Spa Basket. You deserve a rejuvenating experience to ring in the new.  Find your favorite fresh farmers market products for a New Year dedicated to your health and happiness!

 

Need extra holiday funds?  Bring your Georgia made Georgia grown products and tell your friends to shop with you at Bluebird Market.  There is no cost to set up!  AFTER you sell $20.00, there is only a $5.00 fee for the entire morning.

 

Choose from diverse farmers market gift baskets, handmade toys, Blue-Ribbon winning preserves and jellies, Indie arts, folk arts, locally illustrated children’s books and Art Photography.

 

Fun family-friendly events including Breakfast with Santa, Holiday Arts Market,  gingerbread cottage workshop and more. 

 

Everyone is Welcome.  Saturdays 8 am until noon, 215 Barnesville St. on the corner of Cotton Ave., Thomaston. RSVP for Breakfast with Santa 9 am. and Gingerbread Cottages 11 am. Email:  bluebirdmarket@gmail.com, Learn more at www.bluebirdmarket.com

 

Planet Garden Divinely Sweet Ambrosia

 My good friend and Bluebird Market vendor, Bob Baskin, was just in and we are so excited about his fresh-from-the-field oranges that will be at Bluebird Market the week before Thanksgiving through the holiday season. Paula Dean lists Ambrosia as a Top 5 Christmas Dish along with Japanese Fruitcake, Standing Rib Roast and Coconut Cake. Oranges and orange blossoms are the symbol of love and in the spring the aroma of the orange blossoms is in the air from the groves of orange trees. This fall these oranges are being harvested from the groves and brought fresh by Mr. Baskin to your neighborhood farmers market. How fortunate to be able to offer these and more fall items here locally in Thomaston at Bluebird Market open for the holiday season. They are healthy and a delightful gift for friends, seniors and employees and the Bluebird Market Baskets of fruit will also include Orchard Georgia apples and Georgia pecans. These oranges make a delicious holiday southern favorite that is very healthy and divinely flavored– Ambrosia. The name originates as a food in ancient Greek mythology along with the drink nectar. Because the juice is so delicious and sweet it is often confused as nectar and Greek legends tell stories about ambrosia being brought in by doves. Both nectar and ambrosia are fragrant, amber colored and delicious. Ambrosia is spoken of in many Greek writings like the Odyssey. I have invited Mr. Baskin to teach us how he makes Ambrosia on the Bluebird Market Kitchen Show and to serve Ambrosia at the Farmers Market lunch after the show. Bob states he uses only his farm fresh sweet oranges, the juice of the oranges, cherries, cherry juice and frozen coconut. We have several variations and more delicious and nutritious recipes for these sweet oranges at http://www.bluebirdmarket.com. These farm fresh oranges available at Bluebird Market are filled with potassium, Vitamin C, fiber, beta carotene, calcium, B6, and magnesium. It would be difficult to list all of the healing properties of the flavonoids and nutrients but oranges are reported to give our complexion a healthy glow and slow the aging process. Rich in pectin, oranges also assist in weight reduction and proper eyesight. The benefits to us are many, so serve this delicious and nutritious holiday Ambrosia often to bring vitality, strength and endurance to your family and friends. Divinely Sweet Ambrosia 10 fresh oranges with juice 2 bags frozen coconut 1 4 oz jar of maraschino cherries with juice Defrost the coconut and peel the oranges. Section the oranges and remove any membrane. Place oranges in a large glass serving bowl and gently fold in the coconut, cherries and juices. Chill for 1 hour prior to serving. Optional variations: Toasted sliced almonds, pecans or walnuts Crystallized ginger Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com. Email bluebirdmarket@gmail.com

Planet Garden Working Together for Garden and Arts Gift Baskets

When I owned and operated an Atlanta Wine and Cheese shop our number one best seller over the holidays was our Georgia Gift Baskets. Each one was filled with everyone’s favorite Vidalia Onion Relish, peach preserves and much more. Area business leaders and realtors would bring in their list for gratitude gifts during the holidays and we would make up the baskets according to their budget and deliver them over the holiday season. Other favorites were the coffee basket, the cookie basket and the children’s basket.
Because we have all of those great products locally at the Bluebird Market, this was a great way to offer local products to those in Thomaston who believe in our community and our local people. I am so impressed at the cooperative spirit of these people to come together and bring us their best products for the holiday season. Over 50 growers, bakers and artisans were invited to participate and have brought a delicious and beautiful assortment of fresh pies, breads, preserves, relishes, handmade soaps, Georgia Roasted coffee, handmade jewelry and Framable Art cards. Together they make up what I believe is the most delightful Christmas gift of the season. Nothing store bought compares to the arts and harvest of our local people! Handmade and farm grown items from people right here in our area are my favorite holiday gifts.
If you own or operate a local business and want to thank your customers for a year of patronage, email bluebirdmarket@gmail.com or come by your local Bluebird Farmers’ Market on Saturdays from 8 am until noon. Meet the people that are bringing you produce directly from their farm or local garden. We are so fortunate to have these beautiful people each week and now that it is the holiday season, it is my aim to boost their efforts for another year here in Thomaston by encouraging everyone to buy local.
It is vital, I believe, to our health and wellness as a community to support our local people above all. If you do the math, you will see the value of buying local for our community. Locally owned and operated businesses would be thriving if everyone would simple redirect a small portion of their buying power to keep community money where it belongs… in our community.
We have about 10,000 households and if everyone redirected a small portion of their holiday dollars to our local people, we would not need soup kitchens and stimulus packages. We have bountiful means to provide for our hometown and community but it takes cooperation and a Do-It-Yourself way of thinking. We are half way there because these people have the products. Now it is up to our hometown to make a difference that counts locally by supporting their efforts! While we all love the efficiency and selections of the chain stores, it is vital for our hometown to remember our local business owners who provide wonderful products at affordable prices.
The best way I know to insure your local growers and ag people are receiving the dollars is to forget telling them to apply for government loans and funds. Although grants and loans are tremendous boosts, the best way I have learned is Do-It-Yourself and for local people to put the dollars directly into the hands of those local people who are doing the work all year, growing the products, bringing them to market for us on a weekly basis.
Please email bluebirdmarket@gmail.com to direct your dollars back into our area growers, bakers and artisans who are striving to be self reliant and small business entrepreneurs. Thank your patrons this week by ordering a holiday gift basket filled with local Blue Ribbon award winning products that are delightful for anyone to receive and a wonderful experience overall. Working together can make a hometown thrive during the holiday season. Give an affordable basket assortment of garden and arts products from our community to keep your holiday dollars rebuilding our community.
　
Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.bluebirdmarket.com and http://www.planetgarden.wordpress.com.

Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com.

 

Planet Garden Farmers Market Lunch

After the Bluebird Market Kitchen Show each week, we have been enjoying delicious and nutritious farm fresh fruits and veggies. Everyone enjoyed James Family Farm sandwiches of “Kicked Up Pimento Cheese” using locally grown Georgia pimentos on farmhouse baked Whole Wheat Bread made with local honey. Also we enjoyed how to make and then tasting a bowl of steaming yellow squash fresh from the garden with Vidalia onions and garden potatoes. Another Farmers Market Kitchen Show and dish was a bowl of W. African Pumpkin Soup prepared by Bess Mayo in the manner of her native people. This soup had large chunks of tender pumpkin, farm fresh tomatoes, carrots, celery and was hot and warming last Saturday morning. Everyone loved Pumpkin Soup and the recipe is online at http://www.bluebirdmarket.com. On Girl Scout day, Alice Versemann showed us how to make Muesli and homemade Girl Scout Granola. After the Kitchen Show, I took this healthy dish out to The Rock Ranch for Growing Up Green and our volunteers from MOMS Club enjoyed the pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, craisins, Georgia pecans, local honey, and apples in the Muesli.
Because these wonderful meals after the show have been just the right lunch on a Saturday morning for people who love organic veggies and fruits, you are now invited to the Kitchen Show and Farmers Market Lunch after the show. This lunch will be in the manner we are accustomed to of a Wednesday night supper so reservations are asked for and there will be a $3.00 charge to attend the Kitchen Show. The Farmers Market Lunch is free after the show.
I have mentioned how much we loved the Atlanta Farmers Market and several people have not been there so if you haven’t been it is worth the trip especially for Thanksgiving, located just south of Atlanta. When we would visit Atlanta with my grandparents, on the way home, because the Farmers Market was located just south of town, it was an ideal location to stop and have a farm fresh lunch of fresh veggies, salads and fruits..like a slice of Georgia watermelon. Frank Mason and I were there visiting SP Recycling one week last summer and stopped in the Atlanta Farmers Market for lunch. We had a salad and the lettuces and veggies were very delicious. We always were happy to enjoy Farmers Market Georgia harvested veggies for Thanksgiving and this year we are fortunate to have them right here in Thomaston at Bluebird Market.
When we had a fall garden on our farm, our favorite Thanksgiving dish was fresh garden collard greens. Now we have them growing in the organic community garden along with organic purple top turnips, kale, Giant parat German radishes, basil, stevia, lemongrass, sweet and edible peapods, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and more. We are so appreciative of all of the assistance in the community garden by local people like C. W. Enterprises and B & B Feed and Seed. Both of these top locally owned farm suppliers have provided seeds that produce bountifully and we are especially pleased with having assistance from people who are knowledgable about Georgia growing conditions. Everyone is welcome at no charge to Adopt-a-Row in the community garden and we will be working over the winter learning more about greenhouse gardening. MOMS Club has a long row of kale planted now in the fall garden to better feed their families here in Thomaston. Moms in Thomaston are invited to join the new MOMS Club–to read more online visit http://www.momsclubofgtarea.com.
If you would like to audition for the Bluebird Market Kitchen Show, please email bluebirdmarket@gmail.com. It’s fun and easy and we are so happy to offer this venue so people can come out and share their favorite delicious and nutritious recipes. Now after the show the audience can enjoy a light and healthy Farmers Market Lunch on Saturdays. Children are welcome and can play and read in the reading room during the show and then join you for a Saturday morning lunch of fresh and local healthy Farmers Market fruits and veggies…the finest foods in Thomaston! The Bluebird Market Kitchen Show begins Saturday mornings at 11:00 am so please let us know to reserve seats for you and your friends and family at bluebirdmarket@gmail.com, Tickets to the Kitchen Show are $3.00 and you will want to stay for the best part after the show—the free Farmers Market Lunch. Bluebird Market is located in Thomaston at 215 Barnesville Street on the corner of Cotton Avenue in the former RC Cola Building.
　
Enrich your life on Saturdays at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.planetgarden.wordpress.com and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com. Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com

Planet Garden Hot Pepper Jelly

This is a story of one local farming family with an entrepreneurial spirit that I adore and believe you will too. Bob James with James Family Farm has been dependable as rain this summer coming out every Saturday in Thomaston for our local people. He brings his beautiful farm fresh produce each week to us priced affordably. Now that it is the fall season, he has grown acres of greens that he is already bringing to market and they are absolutely delicious and nutritious cooked in rice, soups or traditionally. Of all the things I like about James Family Farm, what I like most is their entrepreneurial spirit. This week we were fortunate that Donna James, Bob’s Mother, visited us at Bluebird Market. She has been busy all summer at the Griffin Farmer’s Market, but now that the Griffin market is coming to a close she had a moment to share with us.
Donna James made the simple gesture to bring some Philly cream cheese and crackers and sampled their new product line of Hot Pepper Jellies from their certified kitchen. I have tried their delicious Blue Ribbon winning Apple Butter but their new Hot Pepper Jellies are, I believe, even better! We had so much fun when Donna brought in 4 jars of Hot Pepper Jellies that were bright colors of clear golden, red and green with pretty flecks of red and green peppers in the jellies. She opened them up and placed them on the counter at Bluebird Market on Saturday. Shoppers immediately stated they could smell the delicious aromas. The flavors of these Hot Pepper Jellies are Red Bell Pepper, Jalapeno, Habanero and Cayenne. All are balanced and not too hot and Bob James stated the secret is a little bouquet garni of pepper seeds. He places pepper seeds in a little teabag and dips them to extract only the amount of hotness that is pleasant for a delicious flavor.
The reason these Hot Pepper Jellies are so impressive to me is that James Family Farm has an over abundance of flourishing pepper plants that are still producing. They had so many peppers Bob stated they were throwing them away after making jars of pepper sauce. Then Bob James had the idea to investigate Hot Pepper Jelly. In their certified kitchen, Bob stated he tested cooking the Habanero peppers and nobody could come in the room because even breathing the steam was too hot from the peppers cooking. It was a great adventure to get just the right recipe for a delicious and balanced flavor Hot Pepper Jelly. From a local Georgia product that was being thrown away because of over-abundance this entrepreneurial-spirited family now has developed a fantastic upcycled Hot Pepper Jelly Product Line.
This I like! This is the spirit of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) that Bluebird Market is striving for. Soup kitchens are not good enough for our local people. We all deserve better! Bluebird Market is the venue to encourage our people to find a way to make things better. This family is one example of how it can be done. I urge you to buy a set of Hot Pepper Jelly for all of your friends and pass along the story as an inspirational and priceless gift from you. Tell your friends the story of how we can all get better if we just re-focus on the potential value of what we have right before us at the moment.
Don’t throw away peppers…recycle like James Family Farm and find new purpose and value for unwanted items!
More than a flavorful culinary herb, peppers have valuable health benefits. Peppers get their heat (Scoville Heat Unit-SHU) from phytochemicals that produce Capsaicin (cap-SAY-sin). They are an excellent source of vitamin C. Red peppers have 357% more Vitamin C than oranges–so more than 3 times the vitamin C as citrus fruit! Peppers also have folate, B6 and vitamin A. Hot chili peppers may have some beneficial properties as an anticoagulant which may prevent heart attack or stroke. Cayenne Pepper is thought to be excellent for circulation. Peppers also have properties believed to clear congestion. They are naturally very high in potassium, magnesium and iron. These are just some of the numerous beneficial healing properties believed present in the pepper family.
We had a popular Wine and Cheese Shop in Atlanta and we studied many products over Georgia and at nationwide trade shows for top-of-the-line gourmet holiday baskets. My new favorite product line for this season is James Family Farm Hot Pepper Jelly. One idea is to serve these fine local jellies to your holiday guests on Carr’s Tablewaters with Goat Cheese. Each jelly has a terrific flavor — however, my particular favorite of the 4 is the Jalapeno. Local Hot Pepper Jelly is available at Bluebird Market in a Gift Box Set of 4 jars for $16.95. You may place your order now by emailing:  bluebirdmarket@gmail.com.

Planet Garden Advocates Caring for Children as Top Priority

Top Priority by Patti Robinson
　
“If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much,” was Jackie Kennedy’s philosophy to encourage putting children first in the lives of parents. I totally validate caring for our children as top priority because what could be more important than the life of a child?
For Middle Georgia Moms of any age who would like to check out a group that offers real support for you in your efforts at being a mother, MOMS Club is a great choice.
MOMS Club of Griffin Thomaston Area is open to mothers in Spalding, Lamar, Upson and Pike counties and offers a set of nationwide principles that puts mothers with children as a top priority. The first open house in our area was held on Tuesday, Oct. 27th at Bluebird Market and was a great boost for our local moms. They enjoyed lemongrass hand massages with a delightful aroma and hot apple cider.
The next MOMS Club Open House event, if you missed the Thomaston Open House, will be at Life Springs Methodist Church in Meansville. You can find details about time and place online at http://www.momsclubofgtarea.com.
It has been a pleasure to meet and get to know the enthusiastic Phyllis Bryan, MOMS Club of Griffin Thomaston Area Founder and President, while working on the MOMS Club Open House Bluebird Market event. I’m so impressed at her willingness to serve our community and tireless energetic support of our local mothers. It is also encouraging for me to see young mothers who are involved in our community efforts to encourage curbside recycling. MOMS Club came out as volunteers to The Rock Ranch and spent the day painting tomatoes and cucumbers of Bob and Larry of Veggie Tales on children’s faces. They also gave out red and green Bob and Larry balloons and the line was long for all of this fun and energy given to children learning about “Growing Up Green.”
We are so fortunate to have this group for our moms who are striving to cope in a hurried world of fast food and lifestyles. MOMS Club Open House gave us a quiet moment to reflect while we were treated with a lemongrass hand therapy. It is so nice to sit down and just have a cup of cider in a cozy room with mothers who are all there to support each other in an abundant and flourishing manner.
Prevention states that those who live to be 100 have several things in common and one of the most important is a strong network of friends. MOMS Club is the place to make friends for our local mothers. My advice is find out more and be a part. Of all the busy things in our lives, being a mother and being supported in those efforts is just about one of the most valuable.  Your efforts as a mom are life-changing each day for you and your family, and it’s beneficial to have a support team. Supporting Moms is the top priority for MOMS Club.
Enrich your life on Saturdays at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.momsclubofgtarea.com
 and http:// www.bluebirdmarket.com

Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com.

 

 

 

MOMS Club of Griffin Thomaston Area was founded by Phyllis Bryan, right, shown here serving pumpkin pie at MOMS Club Bluebird Market Open House

 

Planet Garden Encourages Youth Businesses

While many young people are directed toward seeking employment in the fast food industry, one young teenager has a brighter idea. Angelica Clayton will be launching her new custom greeting card line at Bluebird Market this Saturday, October 31st at 10:30 am. “We will have a fun morning learning about the “coolest” greeting cards,” Angelica states. As an Entrepreneur-Friendly organic market, Bluebird Market encourages all ages to launch/hatch a business. Invite your friends to check out your business endeavor or merchandise at Bluebird Market. Which of the 50 states is at the very top in our country for entrepreneurs? The State of Georgia leads the nation in 2009 Ranking #1 nationwide for Entrepreneurship! As young people, like Angelica Clayton, reach out to try new ideas aiming to hatch their own business, they are an inspiration for others to think “outside the fast food box.” We are excited to have this young entrepreneur invite her friends and Middle Georgia business and community leaders over to Bluebird Market this Saturday, October 31st at 10:30 for “Coffee, Chocolates and Cards”– an event which promises to be fun and informative! I’m especially delighted about creative ideas that offer ways for our local business owners to affordably say thank you to their best customers. Besides being a great way to say hello, greeting cards are fun to send during the holiday tradition of giving and celebrating. Another reason I want to attend is because we participated with several other local businesses in “Growing Up Green.” I have been seeking a meaningful way to thank everyone at The Rock Ranch for hosting the event and to express my appreciation to special volunteers. I will be listening this Saturday to Angelica give affordable solutions for a nice way of saying…I like the way you are building our community. This is a free program and everyone is welcome for “Coffee, Chocolate and Cards.” Bluebird Market is located in the former RC Cola building at 215 Barnesville Street in Thomaston. RSVP online at: http://bit.ly/4B5W2S and enrich your life on Saturday at Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.bluebirdmarket.com or contact: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com

Planet Garden Kitchen Show Auditions

Does your family say you have a talent for cooking delicious and nutritious foods?  If you like to share how home-prepared foods are nutritious for families and how homegrown veggies make delicious soups and dinners, you might like to be on the new local cooking series– Bluebird Market Kitchen Show.  We are scheduling auditions for weekly guest cooks. 

 

If you have ever watched The Victory Garden on PBS, you might have seen Victory Garden South which was filmed at Callaway Gardens. If you have seen this show you probably have seen the cooking segment and garden recipes.  This is the part of the show where veggies are prepared in healthy meals to show how to use garden vegetables and fruits.  The Bluebird Market aim is similar to this show as a best practices model– with a focus on healthy cooking with Farmers’ Market fruits, vegetables, herbs and farm fresh eggs. 

 

Bluebird Market has community weekly cooking demonstrations that are fun and informative lessons such as “How to Can” by Alice Versemann and “How to Use Veggies for Focaccia” by Cathy Kreismanis.  Last week Bob James, from James Family Farm, gave a fun lesson on how to use Farmers’ Market Peppers in Homemade “Kicked Up” Pimento Cheese.  This Saturday, local Girl Scouts will attend this community cooking class to earn their cooking school badge.  They will learn how to prepare a warm breakfast of Apple Muesli and Granola using Farmers’ Market apples.

 

The Bluebird Market Kitchen Show is recorded with a live audience who is invited to participate and enjoys tastings after the show.  It is simple and fun and we are lining up auditions now for anyone who would like to be a guest cook on the show.  Email:  bluebirdmarket@gmail.com

 

All ages are welcome to attend the show Saturdays, 11:00 am at 215 Barnesville Street in Thomaston.  We are excited to offer residents a fun opportunity in our community to be a part of a Farmers’ Market Kitchen Show.  We invite you to audition.

 

Enrich your life on Saturdays at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/ and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.

Planet Garden Invites Moms to MOMS Club Open House

“Welcome Home” to MOMS Club, MOMS offering Moms Support is the greeting for this international non-profit group that is coming to Thomaston. Open to local mothers of all ages, this club is a fun group of moms in Spalding, Lamar, Upson and Pike counties getting together once a month and for special events that support Middle Georgia mothers.  There is a fun online forum called MomsLikeMe.com for Middle Georgia MOMS Club members to talk online about events, needs, and any type of support they are seeking.

 

Phyllis Bryan is the Founder/Organizer of the local chapter of the nationwide MOMS Club.  We are so fortunate to have this new group for our local mothers and I am very impressed with the opportunities it is bringing for moms to get involved with others who value and support their meaningful contribution to our community.

 

If you are a mother or know a mother in our local area, I encourage you to visit the Bluebird Market on Tuesday, October 27^th between 10 am and 2 pm. for the MOMS Club Open House.  The location is 215 Barnesville Street in Thomaston and there will be lots of fun.  Phyllis has a lovely lemongrass hand treatment expert that will give all mothers a  soothing spa treatment for their hands. 

 

Children are welcome at all MOMS events and there will be story time and roll in the hay games at the Open House.  Also there will be a Tree-for-the-Birds activity with raisin bagels, peanut butter and bird seeds.  Make a scarecrow fun and an opportunity to better feed your family with MOMS Club by Adopting a row in the community garden –open to all in attendance at no charge.

 

This Harvest Fun Day will offer hot cider, gingersnaps and pumpkin pie as refreshments and, because it is an open house, all moms, dads, kids, grandkids and local business owners are all welcome!

 

We went for a walk today in the Bluebird community garden to show Phyllis and her MOMS friends the pepper plants in container gardens for door prizes at the open house.  We enjoyed the fresh lemongrass from the herb garden and saw the rich soil where the row had already been prepared for MOMS to plant fall garden seeds.  You are invited to join the fun of MOMS Club –now open to our Thomaston mothers of all ages.

 

Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at www.momsclubofgtarea.com and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.

 

 

 

 

Planet Garden Encourages “Growing Up Green”

This weekend will be very informative and fun at The Rock Ranch with “Growing Up Green” and Veggie Tales’ Bob and Larry.  With over 1,000 Girls Scouts to attend on Girl Scout Day, along with about 2,000 more area residents, there will be many who learn how to Grow Up Green.  Our local Scouts, with devoted leader, Cindy Friar, will first stop by Bluebird Market for an Earlybird Breakfast and attend the Bluebird Market Kitchen Show in order to earn a cooking school badge.

 

After the show and tastings, the girls will go over to The Rock Ranch to join other Scouts in a day of merriment that is actually my very favorite…how to go green.  Recycle Man will be there along with Tommy Krenshaw, the life-size cutout figure from the State of Georgia Recycling Hub in Griffin.

 

We had so much fun at FallFest with people getting their picture taken with the funny Tommy…an avid non-recycler…who sadly believes after we trash this planet, he will just move to another one.  This is all part of the fun campaign from the State of Georgia to bring recycling awareness to Georgia towns and boost curbside recycling programs in our state.  We are fortunate in Thomaston to have concerned leaders who want to insure our beautiful hometown is in the best possible shape which includes effective curbside recycling service.

 

It is my advice to check out the “Growing Up Green” event this Saturday to learn how you really do make a difference when you go green.  We are very excited to have great volunteers to assist at “Growing Up Green” like Quad Graphics and the new MOMS Club of Griffin/Thomaston area. If you haven’t heard about MOMS Club coming to Thomaston on Tuesday, October 27^th for a Welcome Home Open House to be held at 215 Barnesville Street, you can find more about it online by visiting www.momsclubofgtarea.com

 

We are so excited to have MOMS Adopt-a-Row in the community garden as well as make a scarecrow for the garden.  They will enjoy cider and gingersnaps while children, always welcome at MOMS Club functions, have fun playing in the hay.  I spoke with a friend who makes wonderful handmade soaps and she said her daughter who lives in another state and visits her would love to join so she will have friends locally when she visits.  Please share  with your family and friends about “MOMS Club of Griffin/Thomaston Area” Open House in Thomaston  this Tuesday and “Growing Up Green” as both of these efforts are so absolutely beneficial to everyone in our community.

 

Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.

Planet Garden Boutique Living

Shopping feels good when it’s convenient and supported by a style of living some call Boutique. In a busy world of big and corporately run chainstores, if you choose a small, pretty and natural manner to shop, dine and play you will relate to others who redirect their energies and income from afar. Local boutique owners have redefined service. We are rebuilding a community where value is placed on knowing the people who own and establish business policies to enrich and authentically benefit how our hometown people live, work and play. Boutique living is the ultimate gracious living with the highest standards in convenience and quality brought by those who aim to offer kind products and service. So those who can afford this healthy luxury often choose it. And how can one determine if Boutique living is affordable for their family? This experience of choosing quality locally owned and operated boutique markets is more affordable in the long run for everyone! Savings are found in service and products that provide exactly what you need and request –customized for you as the consumer. Boutique owners are consumer-driven and motivated first and above all with an aim for custom service to their patrons. In comparison, chain supermarkets are product-driven. They provide products with marketing goals aimed to convince there is a need/desire so to increase sales. Our hometown is a boutique in itself. The services here strive to be dedicated to considering the needs of residents and local business owners. We play a vibrant role in how this unfolds and our voice counts. We take joy in our community by knowing our neighbors and having friends that we see daily about town. That is such an appeal to families who like neighborhoods that have sidewalks that can be enjoyed morning and evening and a peacefulness that is uplifting to us all. Those who appreciate the value in hometown USA living already understand why Boutique Living is sought after by those who seek convenience, and consumer-oriented rather than product-oriented efforts. We have many charming boutiques in our community and my favorite is our little neighborhood family-friendly Bluebird Market. Besides being a pleasant place to find living green organic foods, Bluebird Market is everkind. There are weekly demonstrations and fun events to boost skills for those who aim to do-it-themselves with home canning, growing and celebrating the simple manner of living that meets our every need in a way that is healthy and sustainable. Redirect your paths to find boutiques that authentically define what it takes to be happy and healthy from within. Be a boutique patron and express what you need and want to the local owners and vendors that are available to meet your needs and are at your service. 　 Enrich your life on Saturdays at Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.BluebirdMarket.com. Email EE questions to: bluebirdmarket@gmail.com..

Planet Garden Cinderella Pumpkins

Cinderella Pumpkins by Patti Robinson
Have you ever had a pumpkin so fairy-tale beautiful it could be an enchanted carriage? Now you can and the name of these vibrant orange pumpkins that have a custard like texture is appropriately “Cinderella” –grown locally in Lizella by Elliott Farms.  This local area Georgia grower opens to the public on October 2nd for sunflowers, pumpkins and an amazing Corn Maze which Russ Elliott put in by satellite.
Last week we took a little visit to this top local grower and could not believe the wonder of You-Pick zinnias, sunflowers, pumpkins, and a corn maze ready for holiday fun. We went into the pumpkin field and harvested these beautiful pumpkins and brought them back to Bluebird Market for sale on Saturday mornings. I have not seen them anywhere locally…most of the pumpkins, even those we checked at Whole Foods in Atlanta are shipped from Michigan, some from Tennessee. They are grown for sturdiness, packing houses, long road trips and they are hard with tough skins. Cinderella pumpkins are grown locally by Elliott Farms for nutrition and taste and when you make a pumpkin pie with this custard-like textured pumpkin your family will enjoy a slice of heaven! Why is pumpkin delicious and also so nutritious that it is among the 14 “superfoods?” Pumpkin is rich in nutrients like C and E Vitamins and is loaded with fiber, potassium, magnesium and carotenoids. It is perhaps the most underused superfood but very simple to bake in your oven when you choose pumpkins with softer skins like Cinderella and use a pumpkin carving utensil that will cut a pumpkin like butter.
You will be delighted you made the short ride to Lizella to visit Elliott Farms, a top area grower, as you find out why everyone loves to play in the corn maze and the corn box. The corn box is like a sand box except with corn. Your family will have fun and you will enjoy fresh cut pumpkins with a bright green stem that are so pretty they would make a perfect ride to the ball to meet Prince Charming.
The corn maze is a popular tradition at Elliott Farms. Russ Elliott is a modern grower using techniques like black plastic in the pumpkin field and when I spoke with him about the corn maze I was amazed! He stated, “I used a satellite for the corn maze design.”
Because of this local family owned and operated small farming operation and their hard work and dedication to growing, we now have the opportunity to reap the rewards of local, vine-ripe, fairy-tale inspired produce and fun! The trip to Elliott Farms will be a highlight of your fall season and you will find directions and more about all the fun at www.elliottfarmsga.com. For memorable family fun, the Elliott Farms gates open on October 31st at 4 pm and there will be candy, prizes and a movie at the barn in addition to the corn maze fun which the Elliotts call the “Field of Screams” because of creatures from all planets that visit you there.
Slice of Heaven Cinderella Pumpkin Pie
2 cups of Cinderella Pumpkin pulp puree’
1 and 1/2 c. heavy cream
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 eggs
2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. each of nutmeg, ginger, cloves and lemon zest
1 deep dish butter crust
Cinderella Pumpkin Puree’ Directions: Start with a Cinderella pumpkin, cut out the stem and scrape out the insides and discard. Save the seeds for planting or toasting. Cut into sections and steam in a saucepan with a couple inches of water at the bottom until soft. Scoop out the custard like pulp from the skin. Alternate: Bake whole or halved in a 350 degree oven until fork tender.
Pie Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix sugar, salt, spices, lemon zest in large bowl. Beat eggs and add. Stir in Cinderella pumpkin puree’. Stir in cream, whisk together and pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Be sure to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours to set. Serve Cinderella Pumpkin Pie with Bluebird Blend Coffee for a slice of heaven that is fairy tale inspired.
Enrich your life on Saturdays at the Bluebird Market, 215 Barnesville Street, Thomaston. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at www.yougottabekidding.org and www.bluebirdmarket.com.

Locally grown by Elliott Farms, Cinderella would love a ride in these pumpkins.

Planet Garden Preserving Sweetness

Where will you find in the Peach State of Georgia the essence of sweetness? When the world thinks of Georgia, we say, think of our sweet peaches, and for Georgia’s sweetest peaches, Dickey Farms is the essence of our brand. Through dedication and service, Dickey Farms continues to bring us sun ripened peach goodness second to none preserved in their products. For over a century, this sustainable Georgia grower and peach packing company has held dear the Georgia Peach, an ancient Asian fruit favorably cultivated in the red clay of Georgia. Dickey Farms is patronized by Upson County residents who aim to do our part to keep this Georgia grower thriving. Drift back a moment in time to the happiest and sweetest days of laughter and fun with friends and family. If you are like me, to remember the sweetest times somehow always brings summer days of Georgia on My Mind. When we experience the Georgia Grown harvest season, the air is filled with aromas coming from perpetual peach orchards, abundant with the sweetest peaches on the planet. A short drive from Thomaston along Musella’s main street, is our state’s oldest continuously operated peach packing house, Dickey Farms, since 1897, the heart of bountiful Georgia Grown Peaches. We enjoyed Dickey Farms Peach Ice Cream on the popular packing house porch filled with white rocking chairs last summer along with many of our Upson friends and neighbors. Now it is delightful to find locally available an assortment of Peach Products including Jellies with Mayhaw and Jalepeno. You will also enjoy Dickey Farms Old Fashioned Peach Butter, and, of course, the one fruit every family wants served with holiday dinners is Pickled Peaches with whole cloves and cinnamon sticks in each jar. Dickey Farms has preserved the sweetness of the harvest in their Peach Syrup with a long cinnamon stick in every bottle. It is delicious over yogurts and ice creams and is a best seller for Peach Iced Teas. Juicy, sweet peaches are preserved in an array of farm fresh products to enjoy throughout the fall and into the holidays. From the sweetest summer peaches comes the most refreshing fall Peach Ciders. Delight again in the summer days of Georgia by opening a jar of Dickey Farms Old Fashion Peach Preserves. For award winning recipes, I invite you to visit GaPeaches.com, where you will find delicious and nutritious menu items using the Peach Salsas, Vinaigrettes, Hot Sauce, BBQ Sauce and Preserves. Add the sauces or preserves to Ginger and Peach Chicken or enjoy grilling this fall with Grilled Chicken Salad with Peach Salsa and Peach Vinaigrette. Grilled Chicken Salad with Peach Salsa, courtesy of Dickey Farms, GaPeaches.com 2 T. lime juice 2 T. honey 1 T. soy sauce 1 T seeded, finely minced jalapeno pepper 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast halves 8 cups mixed fresh salad greens 1/4 cup Cilantro Peach Vinaigrette 1 t. prepared horseradish 1-1/3 c. Peach Salsa 3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted To make marinade, in a small bowl, combine lime juice, honey, soy sauce and jalapeno pepper. Place chicken in a shallow container or zip-top plastic bag and cover with marinade. Marinate at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove chicken from marinade, discard marinade. Preheat grill and cook chicken until done, (about 5 minutes on each side over medium hot coals). Let chicken stand for 5 minutes, then cut into thin strips. Meanwhile, toss salad greens in Vinaigrette and arrange on a large serving platter or on 4 individual serving plates. Top evenly with chicken, Peach Salsa and pecans. Yield: 4 servings Serve your family dinner with sweetness preserved the way Dickey Peaches does best. Enjoy these preserved Georgia Grown products and find them now locally at Bluebird Market or online at GaPeaches.com. You may also find Dickey Farms Peach Products at their booth at the Georgia National Fair coming in October. Dickey Peach Products make an ideal gratitude gift for the holiday season. How lovely it is, as a resident of the Peach State, to be a fortunate patron in the delicious art of preserving the sweetness of Dickey Farms Peaches. 　 Enrich your life on Saturdays at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com. Follow Middle Georgia Who’s Who http://www.twitter.com/peachiest.

Planet Garden Million Dollar Wreath Project

The Million Dollar Wreath Project aims to redirect a million dollars of holiday buying power into our community where it belongs with our local people.

 

We have a little project going called a pro bono project which means it’s an everybody project where we all benefit…for the good of all.  I call it the Million Dollar Wreath Project.  That is a manner of expression for people who believe in Do-It-Yourself, take what you are given and make something fabulous of great value.  The reason I use the wreath as a symbol is because I found gorgeous fresh Eucalyptus where a homeowner had trimmed their tree and stated I could have all I wanted because the tree needed pruning.

 

After collecting a truck load of this prized anti-viral plant and bringing it to Bluebird Market, we offer it in our Handmade Christmas Countdown as one of the workshops.  We add some pretty ribbons, put a little tender care in the shape and behold, a fabulous wreath with a comparable value of a hundred dollars at the Merchandise Mart, is being created by talented Do-It-Yourself Bluebird Fans.

 

So here is how we want to create great value in our Pro Bono project.

For the next month during October we will be taking orders from everyone who wants to redirect their holiday spending to local people.  During November and December we will be delivering/shipping the most beautiful gift baskets you will ever see filled to the brim with local products from our Middle Georgia people.

 

For businesses, when gifts are sent over the holidays to clients and friends, my request is redirect your buying power to our hometown people.  It is no longer prestigious to buy from Atlanta malls or chain super stores with out-of-town boardrooms.  The most prestigious gift of this holiday season is a local assortment that makes the priceless statement, “Our business thinks globally but acts locally.  We buy local!”

 

During the month of October, bring your holiday gift list to Bluebird Market and be a part of the Million Dollar Wreath project to redirect one million holiday buying-power dollars into our community rather than to far away board rooms. When we redirect locally it is pro bono, for the good of all.

 

Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.

Planet Garden Sow in Tears, Reap in Joy

When John Wesley gave his sermon at Christ Church on St. Simon’s Island at one of our country’s early Thanksgivings, it was centered on the verse in the King James edition, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Psalm 126:5.  I have a little blue book offered by this church, where I worshiped on my honeymoon, that shares this priceless message.

 

We have had a long hot summer at Bluebird Market and I am very amazed and impressed with our local vendors that were there for us steady as rain.  The respect for the steadfastness of these local growers, bakers and artisans is high during the test of hot summer days in Middle Georgia.

 

Now fall is here and the weather is cooler and the leaves are falling and it is time to reap together the rewards for our local people that have been working and believing that the day will come when we are better.

 

I continue to hear the comment about our hometown, there is nothing here. 

 

Words have power and my response to depleted, emptiness thinking rather than abundance and overflow is this, I am here, you are here, we are here.  This is our hometown and we can choose any place on the planet to live.  We have chosen Thomaston.  We like it here.  We are going to stay here.  Let’s bring about the abundance and love in our community that we are meant to have.  We haven’t got time for the pain.

 

It is fall.  The wheat is in the field. We have done the work, paid the price, sowed in tears.

Now we are going to come together and reap in joy.  Let’s don’t even give power to bygone painful experiences that are part of being alive. Look around and see what we have right here. Beautiful people and a lovely village in a great country.  We don’t have time to give pain and loss any power in our life.  Take care of ourselves, live in a healthy manner.  Focus on wellness and use whatever strength and energy we have to work together to make it better for all. Assist each other bringing about our best from this moment forward. Everyone has something to give.

 

We have sowed in tears.  Now we will reap in joy.

 

Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.

Planet Garden El.evate

Last year a ladies Bible Study that I was fortunate to participate in taught us about the names of God and what they mean which was a learning experience for me that I still find valuable.  This week I learned about a new local youth group that has coined a name for their group called El.evate.

As part of the Bible message about God, El.evate is modeled after His names like El..Shaddai, El Elyon and others.  In our community, El.evate means raise up our God, lives, neighbors and community.  In the dictionary it means lift up, make higher, raise in status, improve morally, intellectually, or culturally and raise the spirits of people.

 

It is so fortunate for our community over the summer to have worked together in elevating a neighborhood Farmers and Artisan Market. This effort certainly has raised the spirits of people who have participated on some level. It is such a meaningful project because I know it could not have been accomplished by any one person or group.  It came about by a community spirit second to none.  The market is a place where we can come together to focus on ways we are alike.  We want a happy family, nutritious foods and a loving, hope filled, safe hometown for our children.

 

As we continue to El.evate and raise each other up, I want to say thank you to everyone who did their part to build a little Farmers’ Market for our hometown.  Especially, I like the way Mego and Gaye Haralu believed in this project from Day One in the middle of last winter when I spoke to them about my hope to develop a community garden.  Gaye is certainly the Girl Next Door in Thomaston with a love of Southern Culture and a fondness of her family foundation locally. Her little edible Montessori schoolyard brings to focus the issue that our children deserve farm fresh foods like apples and salads during their school day. And Gaye’s husband, Mego, has a bright mind and loving spirit that I adore. 

 

My personal life experience when Mr. Woodruff chose Mr. Robert Goizueta to lead a top American company is one to draw on.  The culture in this company was initially stunned but gradually accepted him and eventually absolutely revered Mr. Goizueta who led the company to a high point.  I am not a prophet but personally it is my belief that when we are open to loving, sound thinking it can be a powerful awakening to a better day.

 

So as we garden and sell our vegetables in the little neighborhood Farmers’ Market, I continue to be thankful every day for everyone who has been pulling for community efforts to take root and Grow Peace and love and a higher place for our local people.  Let’s continue to El.evate each other and sustainable living initiatives.

 

Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.

Planet Garden Self-Taught Art

Everyone who loves the self taught artist will love the Fall Folk Art Show and Sale this Saturday at our neighborhood Bluebird Farmers’ Market. I simply adore the individual who paints, sculpts, or creates pottery from the heart and soul. If you know of a creative local person that works in any type of self-taught arts, please invite them to the Show and Sale this Saturday at Bluebird Market from 8 am until noon. There will be a free community Earlybird Breakfast of Harvest Apple Wheat Pancakes with Cider Syrup. New vendors are welcome. I find the study of how communities unfold in self expression a fascinating measure of development. The imagination is mysterious and because Folk Art is for those outside of the schooled arts, these self-taught artisans bring pure interpretations that are cherished and welcome at Bluebird Market. We learn from many fine techniques and practices that are taught in the world of art. When I was younger I studied at the High Museum and was a Children’s Guide through the museum. We were taught amazing ways to really see art that I still practice and am so fortunate to have studied and acquired. The lessons were also part of learning how to give tours at the Swan House to better understand the arts, fabrics, furnishings and art history of the home. I completely appreciate fine arts and the schools of art. However, some of my very favorite art, is much beloved Southern Folk Art. Folk Art sells in ranges from $5.00 to $50,000 for museum quality collectibles. The pieces that are considered Folk Art are not country crafts. Examples of Folk Art are religious inspired pieces, cutouts that are made from tin, carvings of wood-relief and environmental sculpture gardens created from found objects. Folk art is the artisans way of recycling or upcycling to repurpose refuse and unwanted items into creations that touch the soul. The raw expressions of the folk artisan are not conformed and bring us genuine creative passion, and that is becoming more cherished. Because of the urban influence and computers and chainstores, it is rare, and of great value, to find an untouched rural culture with Folk Artisans that create from an authentic local experience. That is why I so adore venues that now bring our local people into the light. We have many undiscovered artists in Thomaston and I have seen garden pottery that belongs in a museum sold at Bluebird Market. Folk Artists don’t seek the art world, the art world finds them. We are still undiscovered. So I am excited to bring everyone together at Bluebird who creates with the freedom of expression that is so pure having not been schooled in the arts. It is refreshing and the finds are amazing. I invite you to take a look at the art pieces like paintings, metal arts, pottery and more to discover what life experiences are present and how they speak to you this Saturday at the Bluebird Market Fall Folk Artisan Show and Sale. It is my belief many of these self-taught individuals have created folk art pieces that belong in a museum. 　 Enrich your life on Saturday at the Bluebird Market. Explore with us each week to discover simple ways we can affordably contribute to sustainable and renewable eco-friendly living. Find resources online at http://www.yougottabekidding.org and http://www.bluebirdmarket.com.