Dear Farm Community -

There’s been a lot of buzz around the farm lately!!!! We had our first Grant Park Farmers Market yesterday (see above pic!) and despite some slightly gloomy weather it was great to be a part of a new market community and share our veggies and flowers with a different slice of Atlanta! The BIG BUZZ though is the new tenants on the farm! Last week our pals at Katie Bee Honey Co brought some bees over to both of our properties. Because Katie Bee Honey Co produces Certified Naturally Grown honey, it’s essential that their bees buzz around on properties that share the same certification - which we proudly do! Despite a few stings last week as the bees settle into their new home (they get “first day at the new job” jitters too) we’ve already noticed them becoming calmer and beginning to explore all the crops we have planted out right now. This particular type of bee is renowned for being ultra-gentle, so once they’ve settled in completely we expect peaceful treaties between bees and farmers to be fully upheld. While it’ll take a little bit for Katie Bee’s “Diamond Hill” bees to begin honey production, all of the honey they sell is produced from their local hives and soooooo delicious! We encourage you to pick up some of this amazing honey when you grab your CSA’s on Thursday at Athentic, or catch them at the Athens Farmers Market! Eventually it will come full circle and you’ll be able to enjoy honey made from the pollen of the fruits and veggies you’re bringing home in your CSA - fancy that!

Check out a few of the new hives:

Y’all get to look forward to FENNEL in your CSA shares this week! Lucky you! Our first spring harvest of this crop, these beautiful bulbs with magnificent fronds are packed with flavor and so versatile in the kitchen. This quick-to-assemble shaved fennel salad is so delicious, pairing the licorice-y flavor of the fennel with salty parmesan cheese and a lemony dressing. If you want to keep it simple with a little side dish, check out this recipe for roasted fennel with garlic - about as basic as you can get but it still packs some incredible flavor. If you want to GO BIG on a special recipe, consider Alison Roman’s Lemon Chicken Soup with Fennel and Dill! Hopefully these recipes get you dreaming of all the possibilities hiding in those fronds.

Speaking of - while fennel recipes usually call for just the bulb, don’t toss those beautiful fronds into the compost just yet! Tops can be used as a fancy lil garnish, blended into pestos for a more complex flavor, or used (fresh OR dried) to make tea. You can also employ a flavorful kitchen hack and use them as an herbaceous bed on which to roast your fish or chicken in the oven - an easy upgrade on whatever you’re roasting! The awesome website Forager Chef also has a recipe for Fennel Frond Green Cakes you should check out for bonus points ;)

Stay golden, honeys!
Diamond Hill Farmers

find out what the buzz is about anyways
(is that enough bee puns yet?)

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