Hey y’all!

  So, the new seeds we were going to announce aren’t quite ready to go yet, so we’ll catch ya next week with that, but we do have something that we are excited about that we’d like to share with you.

  A big part of our mission in life is to try and do good things in our community and to surround ourselves with people who work towards that same end.  To be in the presence of people whose inner light shines outward with goodwill towards others is so uplifting and energizing and I can’t think of two better examples of this approach to life than Mike and Shyretha Sheats of The Plate Sale.

  We first met them and their adorable daughter Luna when we asked them to cook for our annual Plant Sale a few years back.  We then began working with them on their family land helping to get their soil back to health in preparation to grow crops for their upcoming restaurant.   As we spent more time with them, it became impossible to ignore how wonderful they are as people and together with Comer Coffee (and some of you), we all put together a free meal for the underserved folks of Madison County for Thanksgiving.  Mike and Shyretha cooked amazing food for 120 strangers and I was fortunate enough to get a plate myself, because it was some of the best food I can recall eating in a long time.  

  We’ve also had the pleasure of eating their food and drinking their cocktails at Out Standing in The Field, at Hendershots, and Puma Yu’s and it is always phenomenal.  I’ve been dying for them to get their own spot, so we can bring our friends and family there every chance we get.

  They’ve both worked at some of the best restaurants in the Southeast and are looking to bring their collective skills to a new restaurant in Athens. When it comes to excellent food, delicious beverages, and top notch hospitality, Mike and Shyretha are the full package!

  To raise money for this effort they are selling various items, one of them being hot sauce made here on our farm from all sorts of delicious peppers that we grew for this very fund raiser.

You can get a bottle or other cool items here!

  If you aren’t into hot sauce, but would like to contribute to their efforts, please hit up that link.  As we have seen with our neighbor, a little help from a lot of people can go a long way to changing lives.

  And please share the link, especially if you are in the Atlanta/Athens area.  

  As for on-farm news, there’s a general sense that the proverbial water is gathering and building and will soon swell into the undeniable wave of spring.  It’s all coming soon and we are just paddling our little hearts out trying to be in the right spot to catch the wave and ride it out till it breaks in summer. We’ve got some wonderful new hires that we are very excited about!  We’ll introduce you soon.  

  Valentines day…..we don’t know yet.  December’s deep frost killed some things and stunted some others, so we are still waiting to see if we’ll have enough materials to make any arrangements.  Poppies and anemones are trickling in and the drip is getting a little faster.  7 bundles of flowers went out this week.  Just 2 went out the week before.  Within a couple of weeks, we should be seeing a decent amount of poppies.  Stems are popping up everywhere!

  The team is currently potting up tons of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and more for our spring plant sale!  I’m working on a presentation for the Georgia Organics conference where I’ll be sharing tips on how other farmers can very affordably install solar, so if you’re a southern farmer…..join us!

  I’ve gotta run out and build an automated soil sifter so we can create the perfect soil for all those little plants.  Mandy has a special recipe for seedlings that is quite laborious and involved, but makes the best baby plants ever, so I’m trying to reduce some of the effort for her and Rachel.

  That’s it for today.  We hope you have a fantastic weekend!

-Steve