Brussels sprouts are here! Photo by Scott David Gordon

It's hard to believe that we're approaching the new year once again. That we are about to reset our calendars back to Week 1 and start the farm calendar over once again. Over the next few weeks, there will be quite a bit of reflecting on 2015 - on what it means to be your farmers, the hard work that we do and our commitment to a healthy farm, a healthy community, and some darn tasty food! I hope that over the last year, we have been able to provide your family with a nourishing and satisfying variety of organic vegetables, and we look forward to continuing to build this relationship with you as we move into our 12th year of growing. For this week, though, the bustle of farm work continues.

We've got a wonderful new crop of veggies headed your way for markets this weekend! If you've been looking for some new variety to change up your meals we hope you'll head to one of our farmers markets this weekend - we'll be bringing only the best to make sure your holiday tables are bountiful. Look out for the first harvest of Brussels Sprouts - because what holiday meal is complete without some roasted Brussels? Rutabaga, the sweeter, Swedish cousin of the turnip, will be making an appearance as well. Finally, Napa Cabbage is back after some wild weather left us with a bolted crop last year, and I know the staff is particularly excited about this one. The market tables will have plenty of the usual favorites as well - kale, beets, herbs, greens aplenty!

Carrot field ready to harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

This week on the farm, our bulk carrot harvest is in full swing. JBG has grown quite the reputation around town for having some of the sweetest carrots around and we made sure to grow a ton for you and your family this year! Large harvests of root crops like this also allow us to ensure that CSA boxes continue to be bountiful during the low season, the cold month from mid-January to mid-February in Texas that is sometimes known as a "hungry gap" (though we promise, you won't go hungry!). During this season, greens and herbs are in season but growing very slowly, so having loads of sweet carrots, beets and other roots really give some girth to your shares and make for some delicious cold-weather meals. It's looking like a really great crop, so start pulling out your favorite carrot recipes now!

Thanks for stopping in, Johannes!

We had a surprise visitor at the farm this week! Some of you may have heard me talk about Roxbury Farm in New York at one point or another. Jean-Paul, the man who started Roxbury, a biodynamic and organic farm, has always been one of my farmer heroes. He has published so many open-sourced documents to help farmers start up their CSA programs. When I was first starting in the backyard garden, and then scaling up to first Hergotz, then Garfield, Roxbury Farm's resources were such a huge help and inspiration. So imagine my surprise when Johannes Courtens, son of Jean-Paul, came to JBG's Garfield Farm to volunteer this week! He is traveling with his partner across the country, and they traded a morning in the greenhouse for a box of our veggies. I wish them good luck on their great road-trip adventure - we'll be following your travels online. Thanks for coming by!

The shade structure is getting closer to completion - we'll be ready for Spring transplants in no time! Photo by Scott David Gordon

The field crew is finishing off the week transplanting leeks, finishing our shade structure, and harvesting more carrots for the weekend. We're finishing up plans for the holiday schedule (CSA members: check your email or click here to look at your schedule for next week). If you are going out of town over the next week or two, please let us know if you would like to donate your share to The Settlement Home by emailing the farm directly. Finally, tonight at 9pm is the latest time to guarantee that we can have your farm-fresh gifts delivered by Christmas. Hope to see you at market this weekend - tag us on social media with photos of those yummy holiday meals!

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