3rd Annual Bluebird Awards, National Farmers Market Week 2011

Best Overall Area Grower –James Family Farm

Best Spalding County Grower –Randall Fuller

Best Middle Georgia Strawberry Growers– Elliott Farms

Best Middle Georgia Raw Honey — Hidden Springs Honey Farm

Best Georgia Peach Ice Cream– Dickey Farms

Best Winter Vegetables – McCrary Farms

Best Heirloom Tomatoes- Down the Lane Creatives

Best Organic Artisan Lettuces — D & A Farms

Best Herb Growers –Dromgoole Herbs

Best Pure Spring Water — Callaway Blue

Best Jersey Cow Cheeses — Sweet Grass Dairy

Best Grass Fed Angus Beef –White Oak Pastures

Best U-Pick Berry Farm – Weaver Berryland Farms

Best Wild Georgia Shrimp –Dubberly’s Seafood

Best Heirloom Apples –Holland Apple Farms

Best Carrots – Hayden Grove Farms

Best Farm Stand — The Rock Ranch

Best Georgia Pecans -  Ellis Brothers

Best Georgia Peanut Products - Plain Peanuts

Best Farm Making an Impact- Koinonia Farm, Birthplace of Habitat for Humanity

Best Daily Summer Harvest – Gardner Farms

Most Affordable Strawberry U-Pick – The Strawberry Patch

Best Georgia Coffee Roaster – Safehouse Coffee and Tea

Best Sustainable Restaurant – Sustainable Seafood

Best Farm to Table Eatery – Concord Cafe

Best Farm to Table Restaurant – Farm Burger

Cottage Industry

Best Marinara Sauce – Parisa’s Marinara

Best Georgia Tearoom Scones and Biscotti - The Jewell Box

Best Organic Granola – Pure Bliss

Best Desserts – Eileen’s – Desserts to Your Door

Best Juices & Smoothies – Arden’s Garden

Best Fruit Ciders – Hillside Orchards

Best Raw Foods Cookie – Sam & Mary’s Raw Karma

Best Organic Grits – Riverview Farms

Best Preserved Foods - Lauri Jo’s Southern Style Canning

Best Southern Cakes – Baking a Difference

Artisans

Best Pottery – Clayshapers

Best Artisan Graphic Design – Armchair Studios

Best Photography Blog -  The Barefood Photographer

Best Soapmaker – Hartley Soaps

Best Bath and Body Products – Crafters Cottage

Best Handmade Lotions and Gels - Cinder & Bloom

Best Natural Body Products – Willow Soap

Best Candle Making - Buggy Town Candles

Best Recycle Jewelry – Restoration Jewels

Best Artistic Jewelry - My Soul Can Dance

Best Flower Art Photography – MagMoments

Best Folk Art Mosaics – Laurie Sweat

Best Folk Art Paintings – Sam Granger Folk Arts

Best Children’s Illustrator – Linda Hayward 

Best Theatre Props Artist – Fawne DeRosia

Best Restoration Furniture – Barnchasers

Best Photography Studio – PhylmWorks

Sunlit Living Awards

Best Georgia Producers Solutions – Georgia Made Georgia Grown

Best Farm-to-School Program –The Rock Ranch

Best Tourism Guide in Georgia – Brown’s Guide to Georgia

Best Local Arts Council – Thomaston Upson Arts Council

Best Recipes Promoting Healthy Eating – Lizzie Marie Cuisine

Best Organic Distributors - Destiny Organics

Best Produce Public Relations – Vidalia Onion Committee

Best Festival Promoting Local Producers – Doc’tober Days

Best CSA Employee Wellness Program -Liberty Technology 

Best Community Supported Agriculture Advocate – Kitchen Drawer Magazine

Best Local News Supporting Agriculture – The Grip

Best Horticulturist – Mary Pond

Best Greenhouse Facility – Griffin Area Resource Center

Best CSA Employee Benefits – Georgia EPD

People’s Choice Award Votes

Best Georgia Peaches – Dickey Farms

Best Farm to Table Restaurant - Farm Burger

Best U-Pick Strawberries - The Strawberry Patch, Pike Co.

Winners of Bluebird CSA Facebook Poll   What’s your favorite Farm or Georgia Producer and what do they produce?

Gardner Farms

Hogwaller Blueberry BBQ Sauce

Dickey Peaches

Sweet Grass Dairy Cheeses

Visit us Online:  http://bluebirdcsa.com

National Farmers Market Week (August 7-13, 2011) Award Winning Farmers and Producers receive blue ribbons!   We appreciate your dedication and vision!

And, to make it fun in the kitchen with Mom or Dad, Chef Lizzie of Lizzie Marie Cuisine, is sharing a weekly recipe with How-To Videos which encourage children to eat fresh and healthy!  KidsBox Goes beyond Farm to School with farm fresh veggies just for kids!!

Bluebird KidsBox with

Chef Lizzie’s Recipe #1  Fruit Coolers 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cup Strawberries, remove green, rinse and cut in half
• 3 scoops Watermelon, use an ice cream scoop
• 1 tablespoon Local honey or organic sugar
• 2 cups Crushed ice
• 1/4 cup sparkling water (I like Pellegrino brand)
• Splash of sparkling water
• Optional: if you have fresh mint, rinse a few leaves clean with water and use as a garnish in your glass

Place first 5 ingredients into blender, blend until smooth. If the ingredients are blending easily, add a little extra sparkling water. Pour into glasses and top with a splash of sparkling water which adds a great fizz to the drink. Add a mint leaf to your glass for a fun garnish.  Yields 2 servings.  I added a few blueberries to the batch in the photo which was tasty too.

Watch Chef Lizzie’s How To Video here.

Thank you Chef Lizzie for this healthy recipe using farm fresh berries and melon!

 This summer Bluebird CSA is offering a KidsBox filled with farm fresh goodness like blueberries, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes and peas!  Lizzie Marie of Lizzie Marie Cuisine is adding a weekly healthy recipe for kids plus How-To Video and Sammy Hatcher is sharing a read along story about local farms!!  Here is Chapter One from Sammy’s tale!!

Bluebird’s Farm Adventure by Sammy Hatcher

Chapter One 

A   T-A-L-K-I-N-G   Bird!!!

I would like to start, first of all, by introducing myself to you all because my mother told me a long time ago that I should not talk to strangers, so I never do to this day! My name is Sammy. I’m an intern at Bluebird CSA and this morning the most remarkable thing happened to me. I met a TALKING bird. That’s what I said alright–a T-A-L-K-I-N-G bird. The poor little guy can’t even remember his name. Oh! But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the very, very beginning.

Earlier this morning…

I was wandering around Bluebird Greenhouse aimlessly. I was hot and tired and thinking about taking a nap, as it was so late in the morning. (It was 10 o’clock after all and Winnie the Pooh would have been on his third nap by then!) I looked all around to make sure no one saw me leaning against a tree before slowly sliding down until I was in a good napping position. I pulled a hankie from my pocket to cover my face. It was then I noticed all the plants and sunlight peeking underneath the hankie starting to look warm and fuzzy. My eyes began to flutter closed and, as they did, I could see fuzzy bees and fuzzy grass and to my left I could see a fuzzy little bird in a fuzzy little strawberry patch. How nice. As I started to peacefully snooze, I thought about the lovely bird eating his delicious strawberries–but wait–then I realized something. There was no strawberry patch at the Bluebird Greenhouse! I jumped up as quickly as I could, ripping the hankie away as I did. Sure enough, there it was. As sure as I’m sitting here today telling you this story, there was a strawberry patch in a spot where just minutes before there hadn’t been one!

“You’re not asleep.” Said the bird.

A talking bird, too?? What was going on here?

“Did you just talk to me, bird?” I replied.

“I did. I said you aren’t asleep. And, I have a name; we’re not all just named bird, you know.” The bird’s feelings were obviously hurt, I hadn’t meant to be rude.

“Oh, I’m sorry. What is it?”

The bird thought for a moment and then he started to look even more sad than before. “I don’t know what my name is. I don’t know where I came from. I can remember all my favorite fruits and vegetables..”

“Fruits and vegetables?” I chimed in. “But I thought birds mostly ate bugs?”

“Yuck! No way! I don’t eat bugs, I only eat fresh fruits and vegetables; I remember that much. But,I can’t remember who I am.” At that the little blue bird with the soft brown belly hung his head in heartbreak.

“I’m really very sorry, Mr. Bird. I didn’t mean to make you sad. If you want, I could try to help you remember who you are.”

The bird’s head perked up just a little “Oh, really? You would do that for me? But we’ve only just met.”

I shrugged. “You’re sitting in a strawberry patch that came out of thin air and brought you with it, I’m sort of going with the flow at this point.”

The bird jumped up in triumph. “Hooray!” He shouted. “Well, can I go home with you?”

I thought for a moment. “How about you live here at the greenhouse? You can watch over the plants, you’ll be their keeper.”

The bird stuck his chest out regally, like he’d been given a great honor. “I shall do you proud, my lady.” He did a quick bow before asking, “Well, how are we going to find my memory?”

I scratched my chin, “We can go to different places where they grow your favorite foods and maybe you’ll remember a time you were eating them at home and your memory will come back!”

The bird sighed. “I don’t know, that doesn’t sound like a very good plan…”

“Of course it is! You’re an out-of-nowhere talking bird sitting in a magical strawberry patch, crazier things have worked!”

Mr. Bird then jumped up in a fit of hope, excited to try my idea. I told him I would come home and share our story, but before I left I had to ask my friend what his new name should be. He told me he didn’t know, but would just love more than anything for our reader’s to decide. So, to any of you who would like to think of a new name for Mr. Bird, e-mail your answer (or have Mom or Dad help you) to BluebirdandSammy@gmail.com. My bird friend says he’ll be so happy to get a new name that he’d like to send a gift to whoever’s name is picked, just to show his gratitude!

Bluebird will award Seed Packets to Encourage Locally Grown efforts for Ag Day 2011.

Miss Bluebird Princess has fun at The Rock Ranch with Veggie Tales.

will work with The Rock Ranch to provide fresh and locally grown Georgia veggies and berries to CSA members in multiple locations.  The blueberry bushes are about 100 years old and are grown using organic practices to produce sweet and delicious blueberries.  These choice berries, sweet corn and 5-6 products will be offered over the 2011 spring and summer growing seasons through Bluebird CSA.  

Visit The Rock Ranch and enjoy their NEW  U-Pick Strawberry Patch— and if you would like those juicy strawberries delivered to you… straight from The Rock Ranch in a weekly share box, sign up for Bluebird CSA here! 

Rachael Ray will air more about the ‘Kindness Challenge’ on Friday, February 18, 2011!! 

Tune in Monday, January 17th, to Rachael Ray Show to see the launch of the USA Today and Do Something.org ‘Kindness Challenge.’ Lizzie Marie Cuisine will bring all the fun of her healthy eating challenge to Bluebird CSA members and farmers in the coming weeks!!

Kindness Challenge Halftime Update–see what Lizzie Marie has been doing to meet her goal!

Rachael Ray comments about the Kindness Challenge!

Watch videos from the Kindness Challenge!

Read more reviews.

Green Celebrity says Kindness Challenge is good news.

Stay tuned at http://www.facebook.com/bluebirdcsa

Become a Bluebird CSA member at http://www.bluebirdcsa.com

Bluebird CSA Farm to Table share boxes

As a Multiple Farm CSA local harvest program, we deliver to your convenient pickup location year round…why wait for spring? Sign Up Today here.  

Here’s what’s growing right now on Georgia farms…
Broccoli
Artisan lettuces
Swiss Chard
Rainbow Carrots
Turnip Greens
Collards
Kale
Baby Spinach
Cauliflower
Beets
Sweet Potatoes
Vidalia Green Onions
Brussels Sprouts
Radishes
Cabbages – Savoy, green, red
Arugula
Bok Choy
Pecans
Rosemary
and more heirloom and organic varieties of season winter veggies!

Visit Bluebird Market on Culinate.

Links to favorite Farm to Table Recipes:

~~Bluebird CSA…delicious ways to use your box of CSA veggies!

~~500 Sustainable Cookbook Favorites…check out this link for our favorite recipes from 500 sustainable cookbooks. 

~~Bluebird Farm to School…favorite tried and true healthy recipes children and students love! 

~~Bluebird Recipes..looking for a special category for farm to table soup or main dish…this collection is organized into recipe categories for easy searching.

~~Bluebird Christmas…All of your holiday favorites from gingerbread to pumpkin pie!