CSA Box Contents Week of June 1st

CSA Box Contents Week of June 1st

Medium Box
Bean, Green
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Red
Carrot, Orange
Celeriac Tops
Cucumber, Slicing
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Onion, Red
Potato, Red

By Megan Winfrey

Hey ya'll!

I am really excited about this week's recipe - and let me tell you all the reasons why.

1. You can add, subtract, or substitute practically any vegetable imaginable.

2. It is as easy to make for one person as it is for a crowd.

3. It is bright, super flavorful, simple, healthy, and filling (what more could you want in a meal?!)

4. It utilizes CSA box and pantry staples.

5. It makes great leftovers.

6. It was a total experiment that yielded a new family favorite. SCORE.

So, now that I've got you on the edge of your seat...

Roasted Veggies over Wild Rice with a Twist 

Carrots, cut into bite sizes and peeled if desired

Parsnips, cored, peeled, and cut into bite sizes

Fennel root, cut into bite sizes

Onion, cut into bite sizes

Garlic, a few cloves

1/4 c. Mint, cut into ribbons

1/4 c. Basil, cut into ribbons

2 tbs. Capers

Juice of half a lemon

Wild or brown rice

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper



Heat the oven to 375º. Place the prepared carrots, parsnips, fennel root, onion and garlic on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-35 minutes or until tender.

Prepare rice according to package directions.

Once the veggies are done, transfer them to a medium sized bowl. Add the mint, basil and capers. Add the lemon juice and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice and Enjoy!

Slow Food Austin 2015 Tomato Dinner

Presented by Springdale Center for Urban Agriculture and Slow Food Austin

When: Tuesday, June 9, 6:30 PM

Where: Springdale Farm, 755 Springdale Rd, Austin, Texas 78702

Tickets: Purchase by clicking here

Celebrate the flavors of vine-ripened tomatoes at the height of the season with a feast on the farm. The Tomato Dinner will begin with a seasonal cocktail and appetizers, followed by entree courses and a plated dessert, all with a focus on Springdale Farm tomatoes. Participating chefs and artisans include Antonelli's Cheese Shop, Sam Addison from Pogue Mahone Pickles, Stephanie McClenny from Confituras, Sonya Cote from Eden East Austin, Ned Elliot from Foreign & Domestic, Brandon Fuller from Juliet, Sarah McIntosh from épicerie, Josh Jones from Salt & Time Butcher Shop and Salumeria, and Janina O'Leary from la V.

Yamileth, Haley, & Veronica plant sweet potatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Here comes the sun!  We - and our plants - have been soaking up the rays and getting lots done.  This includes catching up on the planting that was delayed by the rain while continuing with the daily harvest.

John, Yamileh, Haley, Veronica, & Josefina plant sweet potatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Sweet potato slip goes on the wheel of the transplanter prior to going into the ground. Photo by Scott David Gordon

John makes sure that the sweet potato slips are planted properly in the ground. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Tomatoes! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Tomato rows. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We have lots of tomatoes on the way! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Check out those colors - our flowers are loving the sun! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cucumber growing in the field. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Eggplant! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Look for okra in your CSA share this week! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Montana, Marcus, Adrienne, & Eric plant away in the sunshine. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Marcus transplanting. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Getting lots done under blue skies. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We are planting away under the blue skies of June! Photo by Scott David Gordon

It's hard to believe that it's June already.  This means we are almost halfway through the year - and what a crazy one it has been so far in terms of the rain.  We've also had cooler-than-normal temperatures up until now, and this has had an effect on our tomato plants.  Specifically, it has taken much longer for them to bear fruit.  We planted our first round of this crop early this year, and so we anticipated having tomatoes by no later than mid-May.  Well, it is now June, and I am happy to say that the tomatoes are finally coming in - CSA members can look forward to some in their boxes this week.

Tomatoes ripening on the vine. Photo by Scott David Gordon

The unprecedented rains have also rendered our squash and zucchini crops pretty much non-existent so far this season.   My apologies to our CSA members for this  delay- I had hoped you would have more of this constant of summer in your shares by now.  We have planted more, so don't worry, we will have these summer staples before too long.  The weather is beyond our control, but please know that we are doing everything we can to ensure your shares are full of our fresh organic produce.  I said this last week but will say it again - your support is now more important than ever during this difficult time as we readjust our planting schedules to be in-line with what the weather has wrought.  I truly mean it when I say that the CSA is at the heart of our farm - you keep us going even through the rough parts.  We may end up with overall smaller yields of some vegetables this year, but my hope is that a CSA member, you won't even notice it.  The smaller yields may affect what we can offer wholesale clients and what we bring to market, but the CSA shares will always be filled first.

And for those of you who haven't already, I encourage you to sign up for the Ceres Vegetables Society - believe me, it's a lot of fun!  So far, we've hosted pop-up events at Contigo and ABGA - two fantastic local businesses - and we have lots more planned.  I started the Ceres Vegetable Society because I wanted to share my love of vegetables with like-minded folks - people who love to cook and love to gather together.

Inglorious Vegetables!

The overall mission of the Ceres Vegetable Society is super ambitious - to protect, preserve, and establish land for plant and animal habitat all over the world in perpetuity - but at its heart, it's really about community.  The way it works is you sign up to be a member (it's free to join), and then we email you when we are going to have a pop-up event.  In this way, it's kind of like a secret society - those who sign up get the details first!  You can come hang out, hear good music, and talk to folks who also love to cook.  You can also order a "mystery" vegetable box ahead of time that's full of our fresh organic produce for only $25!

At these pop-up events, we also set up a farmers market stand full of "inglorious vegetables"at 30%-50% less than our normal prices.  What are inglorious vegetables, you may ask.  Well, inglorious vegetables are beautiful in their own right - they just aren't perfect.   They might not be on the cover of Vogue (or the vegetable world equivalent), but they still pack the nutritious and tasty punch of just harvested organic vegetables.  If you go to most supermarkets, you will see vegetables that have nary a blemish (supermarkets are notorious in terms of wasting good vegetables that lack a perfect veneer).  To me, that's crazy - I care more about how a vegetable is grown than living up to an unrealistic standard of beauty.  Believe me, none of our vegetables are perfect - that's an ideal that is close to impossible to come by for those growing organically.  It is also an ideal that comes with at a cost to health through the use of pesticides and also leads to unnecessary waste.

Part of the reason that I started the Ceres Vegetable Society is that I hated seeing any good vegetables going to waste just because of how they looked.  So, while we know that none of our vegetables are perfect, we also know that some are a little bit further from perfect than the rest.  We've lovingly labeled these "inglorious."  I believe there is beauty in these inglorious vegetables, and I hope you will, too.   Even if you aren't charmed by their looks, hopefully their incredible taste will win you over.  You know what they say about a book and its cover...

Photo by Scott David Gordon

CSA Box Contents Week of June 8th

CSA Box Contents Week of June 8th

Medium Box
Bean, Green
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Red
Carrot, Orange
Celeriac Tops
Cucumber, Slicing
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Onion, Yellow
Potato, Red

Use your beets to make borscht! Photo by Scott David Gordon

By Megan Winfrey

Hey ya'll!

This week, I proudly checked a dish off of "my list" - you know, the list we all keep of dishes that we eventually want to make ourselves. When I saw the beautiful red cabbage and beets in last week's CSA box, it felt like fate screaming out "BORSCHT, BORSCHT!" So I went for it. And it was delicious.

I modified a classic recipe to accommodate what I had in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Russian Borscht 

3 beets

3 red potatoes, sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 carrots, grated

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small head of cabbage, shredded

2 bay leaves

4 tbs. ketchup

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Juice of one lemon

Fresh ground pepper

Salt

Olive Oil

Greek Yogurt



Fill a large pot with 10 cups of water. Boil the beets until tender, around 45 minutes to an hour. Once they are finished, set aside to cool. KEEP THE BEET WATER.

Add the sliced potatoes to the same water and boil until tender, about 15 minutes.

When the potatoes are half done boiling, add the shredded cabbage.

Keep the pot on a low boil from now until you serve.

Add some olive oil to a skillet and sauté the shredded carrots, onion, and garlic until soft. Stir in the ketchup when they are almost done.

Once the beets are cool, peel and slice into matchsticks. Add them back into the pot.

Add in the stock, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Add the carrot, onion and garlic mixture.

Cook another 5-10 minutes so everything can meld together.

Serve hot or cold with a dollop of greek yogurt and crusty bread.

Morning harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

It's finally feeling like summer out there.   That means that the best time to be in the field is in the early morning.  Thank you to our wonderful photographer, Scott David Gordon, for capturing these images of the morning harvest.

Tilling the fields in the morning. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Enrique, Marcus, & Eric bring out transplants from the greenhouse for planting. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Enrique & Marcus plant butternut squash. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Just planted rows of butternut squash. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Squash is on it's way! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Flowers soak up the morning sun. Photo by Scott David Gordon

And, this week, we delivered all of the carrots that the Dave Matthews Band, along with REVERB, purchased from JBG to give to the Capital Area Food Bank.  Here's how this donation program works - when concert goers buy a custom Dave Matthews Band Naglene bottle for a $10, that $10 is used to buy vegetables from a local farmer.  Then, these vegetables are given to an area food bank.  Our thanks goes out to the Dave Matthews Band for making this large delivery (almost 2,000 pounds!) of organic carrots to the Capital Area Food Bank possible.

JBG crew member, Andrew, watches as Cedric from the Capital Area Food Bank works on unloading almost 2,000 lbs of carrots! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Andrew poses with Capital Area Food Bank staff members Bethany & Cedric along with the huge carrot delivery! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

We're rockin' it - with tomatoes that is!  Seriously, the tomato harvests coming in look amazing - so much so that I want to celebrate!  So, that's exactly what we are going to do this, Friday, June 12th,  from 6pm to 8pm as part of our Ceres Vegetable Society. And can you guess where the party will be?  Well, Rockin' Tomato, of course, at 3003 S. Lamar! I hope you can join me there from 6pm to 8pm - we'll have a pop-up market, live blue grass music, and lots of tomatoes.  All of you tomato lovers can also pre-order our organically grown tomatoes in bulk to pickup at the event. Just make sure you do it fast - the cut off time for ordering tomatoes is 2pm the day of the event, Friday, June 12th).  Click here to order large homegrown tomatoes, San Marzano sauce tomatoes, green tomatoes, plum tomatoes, mixed cherry tomatoes, mixed yellow tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, and Saladette tomatoes. 

Currently, we are at the peak of our tomato season, but before long, it will be too hot in Central Texas for these plants to set fruit. Now is the time to pick up some of our locally grown, certified organic tomatoes for canning, making salsa and sauces, or just plain enjoying on their own or in sandwiches. Come join the fun and go home with the tomatoes of your choice. And, for those of you who like a surprise, you can order the special Farmer's Choice Mystery Box - this one will be filled with tomatoes hand-selected by none other than yours truly! Believe me, these mystery boxes are going to be great. And for salsa makers, we have another debut in store for tomorrow - JBG's Famous Salsa Kit featuring some of our inglorious tomatoes, onions, and serrano or jalapeno peppers, ripe and ready to be roasted.  Click here to order the Farmer's Choice Mystery Box or JBG's Famous Salsa Kit.

If you love tomatoes, I hope you will join us this Friday, June 12th, from 6pm to 8pm, at Rockin' Tomato.   And, remember, if you want to order tomatoes in bulk to pickup at the event, you need to do it now - the cut-of for ordering is Friday, June 12th at 2pm.  Just click here to pre-order, and we'll select some beautiful tomatoes for you!

It's tomato time. Photo by Carrie Kenny

CSA Box Contents Week of June 15th

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Do you have a favorite tomato recipe you'd like to share?  Maybe a tomato-based dish or a homemade sauce or salsa recipe?  With the season at its peak, we are looking for some great recipes featuring this summer fruit.  And, we thought, who better to ask than you?   There are some amazing cooks in this community!  So, if you have one you're willing to share, email it to us at farm@jbgorganic.com.  Until then, we'll leave you with some ideas from the New York Times for summer tomatoes - just click here. And, then, remember to send us one of your own!  Thanks so much, and we hope you are enjoying tomato season as much as we are.

Patty pan squash! Photo by Scott David Gordon

This week has been a mixture of sun, clouds, and rain.  We've been farming through it all, making sure the harvest comes in and new crops are planted.  Thanks again to our incredible crew for continuing to work in these ever-changing weather conditions.

Patty pan squash harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Squash blossom closeup. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Zucchini. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Montana brings transplants out to the field for planting. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Planting continues during a break in the rain. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Francisco harvests cucumbers. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cucumber closeup. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Harvesting in the rain. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Peppers in the field get some rain. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Pepper harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Heading home with lots of fresh organic tomatoes & vegetables! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Thanks to everyone who joined us in celebrating the tomato at Rockin' Tomato last Friday.  We had a blast - hope you did, too!  Want to be the first to know about other JBG pop-up events coming up around town?  Sign up for the Ceres Vegetable Society by clicking here, and we will add you to our email list!

JBG Bulk Tomato Sale

And, for all of you tomato lovers who want more tomatoes now (and who doesn't?), we are in the middle of our Bulk Tomato Sale!  Just click here to order.  Tomato season is Texas is a short and sweet one – we are currently in our peak tomato harvest, but soon enough the heat is going to really kick in and it will be too hot for our Texas tomatoes to set fruit.   Order any of the following varieties while you still can - Heirloom tomatoes, 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 San Antonio, and Friday 2:30 PM for Sunday pickups. The deadline for Dallas orders is Wednesday 2:30 PM.  Click here to order.

Note: Because tomatoes are a perishable crop, no refunds will be issued for orders not picked up.

The sign says it all out in front of Rockin' Tomato. Photo by Scott David Gordon

The JBG truck pulls into the parking lot at Rockin' Tomato. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Folks gather for tomatoes and tunes at Rockin' Tomato. Photo by Scott David Gordon

CSA Box Contents Week of June 15th

Medium Box
Beet, Red
Carrot, Orange
Celeriac Tops
Cucumber, Pickling
Herb, Basil
Onion, Yellow
Pepper Bell, Green
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Tomato, Red Slicer

Photo by Scott David Gordon

CSA Members - We Need Your Input!

As many of you know, I am someone who is constantly coming up with new ways to improve the farm.  I have written about how things on the farm are always changing as we try new methods for growing that will increase our sustainability and efficiency.  Some of these methods end up working, while others we take back to the drawing board.  What stays constant is our drive to grow the highest quality organic produce that we can.

This drive to improve doesn't end in the field, though.  As your farmer, I want to make the CSA experience the best it can be, and while I may have lots of ideas on my own about how to do this, what I really need is to hear from you!  As a CSA member, you know more than anyone what is working well for you and what needs improvement.  Soon, we will be emailing you a survey about the CSA.  Please keep an eye out for this and complete it if you can.   With your input, this CSA will only get better and better!

Matt packs up CSA shares. Photo by Scott David Gordon

New CSA Pickup and Market Stand at The ABGB!

I'm excited to announce that we now have a new Sunday CSA pickup and market stand site at The ABGB located at 1305 West Oltorf!  The farm stand at the ABGB will be open to all on Sundays from 12pm-3pm, and CSA members can elect to pick up their shares at this time, too.  And since we will have a market stand there,  CSA members can swap out any vegetables their box for ones in our booth.

My hope is that CSA members - and vegetable lovers in general - will enjoy hanging out at The ABGB on Sundays.  Believe me, the beer garden is a super welcoming space - and their pizza is really good.  It's kid friendly for all you fellow parents out there, and if you have dogs, they're welcome there, too.  And, as if all of that weren't enough, The ABGB has live music on Sundays starting at 4pm.   Who could ask for more?   Hope to see you there one Sunday!

CSA Box Contents Week of June 22nd

CSA Box Contents Week of June 22nd

Medium Box
Beet, Red
Carrot, Rainbow
Cucumber, Pickling
Eggplant , Regular / Black
Herb, Basil
Okra
Onion, Yellow
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Tomato, Red Slicer

Photo by Scott David Gordon

We here at JBG hope you will join us as we head down to San Antonio to celebrate the vegetables of summer with the folks at Jason Dady's Two Bros. BBQ Market on Thursday, July 2nd, from 6pm to 8pm!

In addition to JBG’s diverse array of over fifty different tomato varieties, we'll also have radiant sunflowers, succulent hill country peaches, wild honey, organic eggs, fragrant coffee, and Leaven Bread’s delectable loaves.  And, Chef Elizabeth Johnson will be on site offering an organic, ayurvedic menu of local seasonal products, and spreading the word on the healing properties of food.

Plus, we will also be offering "Mystery Boxes" full of our delicious produce, and all sales of these boxes will benefit the Ceres Vegetable Society, an international conservation nonprofit whose mission it is to promote environmental awareness and preserve land for plant and animal habitat.

Here's How it works:

Click here and follow the instructions to reserve a mystery box. A mystery box is full of the freshest seasonal produce from JBG .Once you reserve a mystery box, you are eligible to purchase an assortment of items from the aforementioned artisanal producers. JBG will also be offering their beloved inglorious vegetables, the just-as-delicious but less-photogenic produce, at a reduced rate.

See you on July 2nd at Two Bros. BBQ!

Our flowers are thriving! Photo by Scott David Gordon

This Sunday, July 28th, starting at 6pm, the folks at Gardner are hosting a Guest Chef Dinner with Steven Satterfield!  Steven is from Miller Union in Atlanta, GA (James Beard Finalist 2012 - 2015), and he will join Chef Andrew Wiseheart in the Gardner kitchen for a six course collaborative dinner.  The meal will be inspired by Steven's recently released book, Root to Leaf.

Click here to reserve your spot and to find out more information.

Cucumber harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Thank you, Scott David Gordon, for heading out to the fields to capture this week's harvest.  Look - we've even got okra coming in this week!

Okra growing in the field. Photo by Scott David Gordon

The okra plants are getting tall! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Okra harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cucumber. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Ripening tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Eggplant. Photo by Scott David Gordon

More beautiful sunflowers lining our roads. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Sunflower closeup. Photo by Scott David Gordon

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

 

CSA Box Contents Week of June 29th

CSA Box Contents Week of June 29th

Medium Box
Beet, Red
Carrot, Orange
Cucumber, Pickling
Eggplant , Striped / Graffiti
Herb, Peppermint
Onion, Yellow
Pepper, Sweet Medley
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Tomato, Red Slicer