Table of Contents 1. In Your Box this Week 2. Farm News

• Wear Your Food
• Log in to your Account
• Live Action Potato Planting!
• We Still Need Your Help
• Our Quest for Water
• New Volunteers
• Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Infrastructure
• H.E.B.'s New TV Commercial
• The Local Wild Life

3. Events

• Help Me Change America

4. Recipes 5. Vegetable Storage Tips 6. Johnson's Backyard Garden Contact Information Please send newsletter feedback, suggestions and contributions to farm@jbgorganic.com. We're on MySpace, be our friend! 1) In Your Box this Week Beet Greens Collard Greens Tatsoi Cabbage- Green or Red Winterbor or Redbor Kale Kohlrabi- Purple or White or Bok Choy Pea Tendrils Parsley Cheddar, Snow Crown or Panther Cauliflower Blue Wind Broccoli Florettes Oranges – G&S Growers Grapefruits – G&S Growers This list is subject to change depending on availability and quality of crops on harvest day. You'll find the most accurate packing list on the homepage of our website. 2) Farm News

• Wear Your Food: We have new t-shirts for sale. Proudly sporting your Johnson's Backyard Garden apparel let's everyone know you support local organic farming and enjoy eating the best fresh produce around. Just log on to our website to choose your logo option, t-shirt style, and color all in organic cotton. We'll send you a comfy natural t-shirt. All your friends will want one, too.
• Log into your account and check details regarding pickup, renewal, and changing your orders. It's a good idea to help us save time and improve accuracy of all our subscriptions.
• Live Action Potato Planting: See our crew planting potatoes this morning!

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• We Still Need Your Help: We had a great group of strawberry weeders this week, thank you for your time and effort. However, we still have a little finishing up to do, so we are looking for folks to help us out again this Saturday. January 17th from 8- 12:30 in the morning. Just a few patches of strawberries to go! If you can't make it Saturday morning but are available another time please drop us an email at farm@jbgorganic.com and we will work around your schedule.
• Our Quest for Water has expanded around the farm. In order to locate water... in total we've dug about 12 test wells to see where water is available. The good news is water has been located at the front of the farm and again at the mid section of the back fields.Since our first new well next to the greenhouse is only currently producing about 50 gallons per minute (only about ¼ of the water that we would like to have)... this week we have dug two more wells near the middle of the farm. The greenhouse well's production was disappointing because we have electric power available nearby and each new well can cost from 10 to 40 thousand dollars each to drill and hookup to the irrigation system including test wells, electrical wiring, pump installation and piping.The wells located mid-field look promising. The first well located mid-farm was test pumped at 80 gallons a minute and the next one the drillers are drilling today. We are hoping that it will also produce at least 80 gallons per minute.Getting the wells located mid-field into production is a costly project. It means trenching and expanding the electrical system nearly 1500 feet mid-farm and adding a second filtration system. This will push the cost of securing water for the farm well over $75,000! We feel this is money well spent. If we do not have water we cannot grow vegetables. - Brenton
• New Volunteers are living at the farm. Lauren and Deb have been traveling the country in their Airstream Camper visiting and working on organic farms with the hopes of someday having their own farm. All they required were electrical and water hook-ups. In return Lauren and Deb are helping around the farm, gaining the farming experience that they hope to put to the test later on.

• Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure: We are also plugging away at updating the greenhouse. This week Chalon added a fancy new side entrance door and a huge 30' swamp cooler along the rear wall. Next week we are planning on installing the ventilation fans and interior circulation fans, the heater, and environmental controls....then all that remains is hooking up the electric and propane tank to the heater! He is also making room at the back of the farm for the additional greenhouses and for the eventual move of our intern housing to that location.

• H.E.B.'s New TV Commercial is going to be filmed at the farm during the last week of January. Watch for the spot in the coming months.
• The Local Wild Life has made its presence known in the fields. Deer-- I hear there is a beautiful buck eating midnight snacks out there-- have been more than sampling the red lettuce with just a quick graze into the green lettuce and dandelions.

3) Events

• Help Me Change America, sent in from Elaine DiRico: I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a movement of citizens inspired by the presidential campaign who are now submitting ideas for how they think the Obama Administration should change America. It's called "Ideas for Change in America."One idea is titled: Victory Gardens 2.0. I thought you might be interested in getting involved and recommend you check it out. You can read more and vote for the idea by clicking the following link:www.change.org/ideas/view/green_the_white_houseThe top 10 ideas are going to be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day and will be supported by a national lobbying campaign run by Change.org, MySpace, and more than a dozen leading nonprofits after the Inauguration. So each idea has a real chance at becoming policy.

Quotable food thoughts: If organic farming is the natural way, shouldn't organic produce just be called "produce" and make the pesticide-laden stuff take the burden of an adjective? ~ Ymber Delecto 4) Recipes

Winter Cabbage Soup, from basicrecipes.com

3/4 pound of cored cabbage, chopped fine

3 slices of bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled

2 cups of chicken broth

1 carrot, chopped

2 tablespoons of dry white wine

1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds

1 cup of half-and-half

1 tablespoon of dried dillweed

Hot pepper sauce

Salt

Pepper

In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Add onion and the diced potato; cook and stir until the onion softens. Add chicken broth, the cabbage, carrot, wine, sugar and caraway seeds. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered, until vegetables are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. If you like a smoother soup, put half the batch in a blend; return all to Dutch oven. Stir in half-and-half and simmer soup, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Stir in dill, hot sauce, salt and pepper, to taste.

Pea Tendrils with Coconut, from Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

This is a mallum (sometimes transcribed mallung), a traditional dish from Sri Lanka that is often made with wild greens. The variety of greens used to make mallums in Sri Lanka is staggering, a testimony to the tropical lushness of the island.

This recipe, using fresh pea tendrils, or pea shoots, is a favorite. Notice that everything is simply put into a pot and cooked together. There’s no oil for frying, no water for boiling other than the water clinging to the washed greens. Just follow the recipe and see what happens.

1/2 pound pea tendrils (about 8 cups chopped, loosely packed)

1/2 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut

2 green cayenne chiles, finely chopped

1/3 to 1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Wash the pea tendrils and drain. Gather them into a tight bundle and finely slice crosswise.

Combine with all the other ingredients in a medium heavy pot and mix well.

Place over high heat and cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute. Then cover tightly and cook for about 3 minutes, until the pea tendrils have wilted and the shallots are tender. Serve on a flat plate. Note: This makes an easy and welcome green vegetable side with a meal of roast or grilled chicken, curry, and rice.

5) Vegetable Storage Tips We aim to grow and package our vegetables to maintain the highest taste and nutritional quality possible. However, once they've left the farm it's up to you to keep them fresh and nutritious. There's no refrigeration at the CSA drop points so it's best to pick up your box as early as possible. Here are some additional tips on how to store this week's share: Spinach, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Salad Greens, Bok Choy, Braising Mix and Cooking Greens will stay fresh in the crisper for 4-7 days and should be kept in plastic bags. Any bunch greens can be freshened by cutting an inch of the bottom stalks and soaking the entire bunch in cold water for 10 minutes. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few hours to revive. Parsley should be kept in the refrigerator in a perforated plastic bag. Wash it first as it could be earthy, sandy or very damp. If it is wilted, sprinkle it lightly with water before refrigerating it; or if you have washed it, avoid drying it completely. Although parsley freezes well (without blanching), it loses its crispness; use it unthawed. Store dried parsley in an airtight container kept in a cool, dry, dark place. Cabbage and Celery have a fridge life of up to two weeks. Wrap celery in plastic. Broccoli will last 4-7 days in plastic bags in the crisper. Mint leaves can be harvested at any time. They can be dried for storage by lying out on paper towels for a few days or just frozen fresh. Oranges and Grapefruit are best kept at room temperature of 60-70 degrees and used within two weeks. Do not store in plastic bags. Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your guide for how to can, freeze, dry, pickle or ferment just about anything. We would love to share your recipes too! Please email your favorites to bess@jbgorganic.com. 6) Johnson's Backyard Garden Contact Information Johnson's Backyard Garden 9515 Hergotz Lane, Box E Austin, Texas 78742 Office phone: (512) 386-5273 Office Hours: M-F, 8am - 12pm e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com website: www.jbgorganic.com