If you like to eat, thank a farmer. . .
We’ve all heard that advice, but have we ever stopped to think about what it really means? Farm-to-table eating is all the rage right now, but do most of us even acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the original environmentalists — yes, its farmers who learned how to preserve and protect the precious resource of the land so that they could continue to make a living?
Comments from the Peanut Gallery is just that — a way to make us all think about where our food comes from and how we can use the bounty provided to us from the people who work the land and raise the crops and animals that feed us every day.
These are my inaugural comments and are primarily an introduction to what you can expect to find on this blog. To that end, let me introduce the whole Peanut Gallery concept and myself.
The Peanut Gallery is a privately-owned independent retail operation with a primary mission of promoting Georgia Agritourism by highlighting the products grown and produced in Georgia as well as the people producing them. To accomplish this goal, there are two complementary tracks. First is this blog: Comments from The Peanut Gallery. The Comments from the Peanut Gallery blog will feature products and producers unique to Georgia, primarily those participating in the Georgia Grown® program[1]. The Georgia Grown® Trails will be a path of discovery for the highlighted products and producers.
Because food is often the defining aspect of any community, Comments from the Peanut Gallery will feature recipes developed by me which highlight the various food products discovered. These recipes will be designed to showcase the products, but still be approachable by the average cook. I was also able to obtain my Cottage Kitchen license so my own homemade baked goods will be available.
The second track of this concept is its physical location – i.e. the home base – known as The Peanut Gallery. This location in Rochelle, Wilcox County, Georgia, is in a century-old store front in the center of a small rural city. This building has seen many businesses come and go but its latest life will be as a retail space showcasing items from Georgia farmers as well as those from local artists and artisans. Down the road, it is intended that items offered for sale at The Peanut Gallery home base will additionally be available through on-line sales via The Peanut Gallery’s website. The Peanut Gallery home base is still under construction, physically and legally as I work through the various licenses – as is this website as I work through this new world of online technology. As of right now — subject to rehab, licensing and delivery schedules — we’re anticipating our physical location will be open for business around the first of March, 2024. Keep an eye out for further developments as to our official grand opening.
I am Cheri Nichols and am the Owner/Operator of The Peanut Gallery and primary commentator for Comments from the Peanut Gallery. I am married to Curt Nichols and we are the parents of two Wilcox County High School graduates. One of our children just graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, with two agricultural degrees. Our younger child is currently still in college pursuing a degree in architecture. Our family has resided in Wilcox County for 25 years with my husband’s roots dating back in the County to 1908. I have been an attorney for 35 years and am a recently-retired Prosecutor. This retirement has allowed me to pursue the life-long passion I have had for agritourism in this next chapter of my life.
I grew up in dairy-country but have fallen in love with Georgia agriculture. We are so uniquely blessed with the pecans, peanuts, watermelons, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples and other fantastic consumable products grown right here – not to mention the natural resources in our rivers, streams, woods and coastal waters. It is a never-ending fascination to me to drive down a country road and watch beef cattle grazing in green pastures even as fields are prepared and planted, and row crops sprout, mature and are harvested. I am continuously awed by the seasonal progress. Additionally, I have had a life-long love of cooking, baking and in feeding people – a trait inherited from my Grandmother. The Peanut Gallery is the fulfillment of a dream to combine my admiration for Georgia agriculture with a means to promote it while pursuing an avenue I love and assisting in the revitalization of what is now my home. I consider this to be a win, win, win – and expect it will be a lot of fun.
I hope you will join me on this my newest adventure.
In the meantime, happy and safe travels. — Cheri.
p.s. I’d love to hear from you with any suggestions as to your favorite Georgia Grown producers for me to visit or recipes you’d like to see. You can contact me at: thepeanutgallery@thepeanutgalleryonline.com.