We want to thank all the farmers, sponsors, volunteers, and visitors for making the 4th Annual Farm Tour the best one yet!  Please visit our Facebook and Photo Bucket pages to post your own photos/videos or share your experiences.  We were amazed by the turnouts on both days.  Thank You!

Here’s what we have in this week’s box. Be sure to tell your friends about the CSA and the Farm Stand. Remember, you can see your box contents by logging into your account and clicking on the “What’s in the box” link.

Items in small share:

Items also in the large share:

* Certified organic.
** Raised without pesticides, organic or otherwise.
RO – Refrigerate Open
RB – Refrigerate in bag/closed container/crisper

The 4th Annual Charlotte Area Know Your Farms Tour is this weekend on Sept. 15-16 from 1pm – 6pm.  There are 45 local farms participating.  Help us spread the word by telling your friends about this great opportunity to support local farmers.

We’re back!  Here’s what we have in this week’s box. Be sure to tell your friends about the CSA and the Farm Stand. Remember, you can see your box contents by logging into your account and clicking on the “What’s in the box” link.

Items in small share:

Items also in the large share:

* Certified organic.
** Raised without pesticides, organic or otherwise.
RO – Refrigerate Open
RB – Refrigerate in bag/closed container/crisper

2012 Farm Tour tickets are available at Renfrow’s Hardware in Matthews, The Milky Way in Dilworth, Common Market in South End, Common Market in Plaza-midwood, Eco-licious in Plaza-midwood, Birdsong Brewery in NoDA, The Bradford Store in Huntersville, and the Farm Stand in 7th Street Public Market.  Get the discounted price until Friday evening at any of these locations.

Did you know that you can pick up your farm tour tickets at several locations around town starting this weekend?  The following locations will have tickets and brochures available at the pre-tour pricing.

Farm Stand @ 7th Street Public Market

Atherton Mills Market

Common Market – Plaza-midwood

Common Market – South End

Eco-licious – Plaza-midwood

The Milky Way – Dilworth

The Bradford Store – Huntersville

Don’t see your business here and want to become a ticket outlet?  Email us:  tour@knowyourfarms.com.

Here’s what we have in this week’s box. Be sure to tell your friends about the CSA and the Farm Stand. Remember, you can see your box contents by logging into your account and clicking on the “What’s in the box” link.

Items in small share:

Items also in the large share:

* Certified organic.
** Raised without pesticides, organic or otherwise.
RO – Refrigerate Open
RB – Refrigerate in bag/closed container/crisper

We are really excited about our fourth annual Charlotte Area Farm Tour.  So far, 40 farms have signed on this year to represent a diverse and thriving agricultural community in and around Charlotte.  This year, our tour partners have really stepped up and are playing an integral part in our preparations.  We’d like to thank Carolina Farm Stewardship Assocation (CFSA), NC 10% Campaign, and Piedmont Grown.  Thanks also to Renfrow Hardware & General Merchandise, Farm Bureau Insurance, and Carolina’s Natural Health Center for sponsoring a large part of the tour.

Remember to save the date for the tour on September 15-16, 2012!  Visit the Farm Tour website http://knowyourfarmstour.com to volunteer or purchase advance tickets.

Interested in local food? CSAs? farmer advocacy?  Well, we are looking for an enthusiastic, hard-working, person to help us staff the new Know Your Farms – Farm Stand at the 7th Street Public Market for up to three days a week.  The ideal person would have excellent customer service skills, good computer proficiency, merchandising experience, retail experience, interest in local food or farming, and a positive, friendly personality.  The days we are offering are Tuesday – Wednesday 10:30am – 7:30 pm and Friday or Saturday.  The total hours would be 18-25 hours per week. 

This position would be responsible for stocking retail items at the Farm Stand, helping with wholesale orders of bulk food items, assisting KYF staff with CSA pickups at the Farm Stand, performing cashier duties as needed, interacting in a positive manner with customers and visitors to the market, and performing other tasks as needed.  We are looking for someone who can start right away. 

Please contact mike.walsh@knowyourfarms.com and attach/include information about relevant work experience.  It would be great if you also include whether you have any experience with local food systems, farming, or CSAs. 

We want you to Know Your Farms.                 We can help.

• Join our CSA program to get fresh produce, meats, dairy, eggs, and much more.
• Visit the Farm Stand at 7th Street Public Market and get local food all week long.
• Go on a farm tour.  We host a Fall and Spring tour each year.
• Work on a farm.  Join us for an on-farm work project.  They are lots of fun!

Here’s what we have in this week’s box. Follow us on our Facebook site!

Items in small share:

Items also in the large share:

* Certified organic.
** Raised without pesticides, organic or otherwise.
RO – Refrigerate Open
RB – Refrigerate in bag/closed container/crisper

Mike and I have seen a lot of positive things happen in this area around local food from last summer.  There seems to be a growing interest in seeking out healthy, high-quality foods grown locally by our neighbors in Charlotte and surrounding areas.  This makes us happy!  We are excited to be a part of Charlotte’s local food system and to help so many people navigate the sometimes murky waters of the local food options in town. 

Know Your Farms Farm Stand

We want to share with you some exciting news about Know Your Farms and how we are in a position to make an even greater impact on the local food system here.  In addition to offering the only year-round CSA in Charlotte, we are excited to announce that we will now be operating our very own Farm Stand inside the 7th Street Public Market (224 E. 7th St Charlotte, NC 28202).  This is a great opportunity for us to bring our local focus to the retail market in this great new public market with some of Charlotte’s best new food companies:

• The number one rated coffee shop in town on About.com, Not Just Coffee. 
• The soon-to-be number one rated pizza place in town, Pure Pizza. 
• The fresh meat and seafood services of the Meat & Fish Company
• Fran’s Filling Station offering sandwiches and salads
• Viva Raw juice company

This is just a small list of the diverse small businesses offering their high-quality products and services within this Market.  We are honored to be a part of it and humbly ask for your support as the Market continues to grow.  Charlotte has not had anything like this before and it is definitely a must-see destination. So please come visit the Farm Stand Monday – Saturday each week and continue to help us support local farmers. 

Our Farm Stand will be offering local staples year-round such as produce, dairy, eggs (chicken, duck, and sometimes quail), poultry, pork, beef, lamb, artisanal breads, prepared meals, grains, butter, ice cream, cheeses, honey, flowers, jams, salsas, chips, and many other NC products. 

We have also applied for SNAP/EBT capability at this Farm Stand to help make local food more accessible to a larger part of the Charlotte community.  We look forward to future partnerships with organizations, both public and private, who are promoting healthier eating habits and increased awareness around fresh foods.

Know Your Farms Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program

Thank you to all of the members who supported us this past Spring and showed our local farmers that we do care and we can make a difference.  We had a blast delivering food to you all and appreciate your patience and understanding with any hiccups along the way.  We hope to see you all in future signups.

Mike and I have been working hard to make some significant improvements for current and future members.  First, we have upgraded our CSA service for members so that you have much more control over your account.  You can now pay online for subscriptions and add-ons, modify your pickup location, place holds on your deliveries (great for vacations), and select either 4, 8, or 12 week subscription time periods.  The CSA is now year-round with no limits on when you can sign up.  Please visit http://knowyourfarms.csaware.com to sign up for a share. 

The Know Your Farms CSA will also now be offered in the uptown area at the Farm Stand each week.  You can pickup your share inside the 7th Street Public Market on Thursday from 11-6pm starting out.  

Know Your Farms Semi-Annual Farm Tours

We are really excited to announce the 4th Annual Charlotte area Farm Tour will be on September 15-16, 2012.  We are already surpassing our farms from last year and are near 40 farms on this year’s tour.  Equally exciting to us, is that we will be hosting a Spring tour each year starting in 2013.  In fact, we already have the date!  The first annual Spring Farm Tour will be May 11-12, 2013.  The Farm Tours are a great opportunity to visit the farms and talk to them about why and how they do what they do.  It’s a lot of fun and we suggest you try to come out to at least one, if not both tours. 

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you at our new location inside the 7th Street Public Market or in the CSA program.

Sincerely,

Mike Walsh and Wesley Shi