Sunflowers abound at JBG. Photo by Scott David Gordon

As those of you who live here know, this has been an unusual start to summer. The season officially began last Sunday, June 21st, and, so far, we have been graced by unusually cool weather (when I say, "cool", I mean the low 90's - after so many summers in Austin, my standards for cool have changed a bit). The good news is that our tomato plants have set fruit, and, given the weather we are having, we may see this season stretch well into August. Now, that would be unusual! Currently, though, we are at the peak, and it truly is the best time to savor this seasonal fruit. I encourage any and all of you tomato lovers to participate in our bulk tomato sale while we are in the prime of the harvest by clicking here.

With all of that rain, the Spring was atypical, too. As a whole, we were very lucky as a farm because a good portion of our crops weren't badly damaged by the storms. However, we did experience some crop loss and are now feeling the effects of this. As a CSA member or farmers market customer, my hope is that you haven't noticed this at all. Since you are our priority, we make sure we have all the produce we need for the CSA shares first and then we make sure we have what we need for the farmers markets. What gets the short end of the stick are wholesale orders, and we have had significantly fewer of them this season because our harvests have been smaller. We simply haven't had enough produce to fill the number of wholesale orders we normally do, and this has made things a little bit more difficult financially.

Given that we are a farm, we expect to experience ups and downs due to the weather. This season has been harder than anticipated, though, and because of this, I am reaching out to all of you. There are a few things that you can do right now that would really help us get over this temporary financial hurdle. If you are able, these extra actions would be greatly appreciated. However, I also want you to know how truly thankful I am for the support that you already give us in the CSA and at the farmers markets. Please keep it up and know that you are doing your part to support local agriculture.

For those of you who want and are able to do more, here are a few things that would help.

1. Order Bulk Tomatoes! You know you want to anyway....   Who doesn't love fresh tomatoes, and right now, we have an abundance of varieties - large homegrown tomatoes, San Marzano sauce tomatoes, green tomatoes, plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and yellow tomatoes. Your order can be picked up at any of our farmers’ markets, as an add-on to your existing CSA home delivery, or picked up at our Hergotz Farm located just east of town near ABIA. The deadline for ordering tomatoes is 2:30 PM the day prior to delivery (Mon-Sat) for Austin and Friday 2:30 PM for Sunday pickups.  The deadline for a Dallas pickup at Earthwise orders is Wednesday 2:30 PM.  Click here to order.

2. Sign Up for a Long-Term Subscription. If you know you love our CSA and have the financial capacity to pay for a year (52 weeks at 10% discount) or a half-year subscription (26 weeks at a 7.5% discount) in advance, it would really help a lot.  Call the farm at 512-386-5273 or e-mail us at farm@jbgorganic.com if you'd like to become a long-term member.  

3. Get your friends to sign up for our CSA. We are always looking to grow this amazing community, so please help us get the word out! Tell your friends why you support the CSA and model and get them on board to strengthen local agriculture!  To sign up, click here.

Again, my thanks to all of you who are CSA members and farmers market customers. Your support means the world to me, and it truly keeps the farm going!

Thank you, CSA members & farmers market customers! You keep us going! Photo by Scott David Gordon