100 Miles of Local Farms and Friendly Faces in Athens, GA

Just down the road, about 40 miles from rockstar farms, lies the quaint yet progressive small town of Athens, GA.  In recent years, Athens has quickly become known for its abundance of small local farms; farms that produce everything from fresh milled grains to grassfed beef, wild turkeys and just about every vegetable imaginable. A few short weeks ago a group of bicycling foodies got a unique oppportunity to visit, learn about and enjoy the fruits of labor from these farms – CNN was along for the ride.

On April 30th, 30 cyclists parked their cars at the UGA Poultry Center and tuned up their bikes for a 3-day, 100-mile ride to 7 farms.  The first day saw us at Woodlands Gardens where Celia showed us around their pristine intensively managed operation.  Next, we headed to Mills Farm for lunch and an introduction with Luke the mule, who plows the field and grinds the grits that Mills Farm is so famous for.  We ended Friday at Sundance Farm, greeted by the smiling faces of the Janosik family.  With approximately 35 miles under everyone’s belt, we were treated to a delicious meal prepared by Peter Dale of the National using produce harvested just feet from were it was served.  Everyone set up their tents and settled in for the night with roosters for alarm clocks. 

Read the entire article on the P.L.A.C.E. website

Read about our friends Ed and Kim Janosik at Sundance Farms (featured in the CNN video above)

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Onion Planting with Sunshine & Farmer Phatty

Rule number one in gardening….JUST DO IT!  If you’ve ever been too timid to put a particular vegetable in the ground, don’t be. There is a ton of information out there on the internet and plenty of seasoned gardeners and farmers who are more than willing to pass on valuable information…like us, here at Rock Star Farms. 

It wasn’t too long ago that I was just plain scared of planting something like an onion because I had no idea how to do it – what type to choose, where to plant them, how to care for them…the excuses just went on and on.  I’m thrilled to say, thanks to my experience here on the farm and priceless guidance from a variety of seasoned farmers, these fears are slowing being erased.

We’re planting onions!!  

Back in late January we selected several varieties (yellow granex, first edition, candy, red candy apple and copra). All in all about 1,000 little seedlings went into the bed. Unfortunately we had some pretty severe weather that wiped out a little under half of what we planted, but we still have over 500 onion plants growing strong that will be ready for harvest in the next couple of months!

So, no matter what you want to start planting this spring, don’t let fear of the unknown stop you and always plant more than what you want because there inevitably will be casualties. 

If you want some quick tips on growing onions, click here. 

And as always, thanks for checking us out and HAPPY FARMING!

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