CSA Box Contents Week of May 1st

CSA Box Contents Week of May 1st

Medium Box
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Chard, Rainbow
Greens, Kale, Dino
Herb, Fennel
Herb, Spearmint
Lettuce, Romaine
Onion, White
Potato, Red
Radish, Red
Squash, Yellow

By Megan Winfrey

Roasting hearty vegetables is a tale as old as time. But hey, it's 2017 and we're all about taking traditional methods, changing them up slightly, and throwing a new name on it! Over the last few seasons, vegans and vegetarians have taken back the 'steak' via cabbage steaks, cauliflower steaks, and pineapple steaks - so it totally makes sense to throw broccoli steaks into the mix! This recipe even calls for a traditional BBQ rub, bringing it even closer to the real deal.

BBQ Broccoli Steaks with Aioli

• 4 broccoli heads, sliced in half down the middle
• 2 tbs. brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika (regular is also fine)
• 1 tbs. chili powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1 tsp. coarse salt
• 1 tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbs. mayonnaise
• Fresh grated parmesan cheese, for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Oil a large baking sheet, and place broccoli steaks cut side down.

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, cayenne and salt.

Drizzle the stalk and tops of the broccoli with olive oil, then sprinkle on the rub. Rub it in a bit with your fingertips, making sure to get the seasoning into the crevices.

Roast for 20 minutes, until the leaves are crispy and the bottom is deep brown. While the steaks cook, prepare the aioli by stirring the mayo and the vinegar together in a small bowl.

Remove the steaks from the oven, grate parmesan cheese right over the top, then drizzle with aioli.

Before we get to our Partner Spotlight, we want to remind you about our Bulk Tomato Pre-Sale which ends on Tuesday! Pre-order 25 lbs. of our mouth-watering beef steak slicing tomatoes for a discounted $50, and we'll deliver them to a farmers' market of your choice during the peak of our tomato season. Projected delivery dates are between June 1-June 30. We will contact you to schedule your pickup day. Order here.

This week, we had the immense privilege of meeting with one of our lively, local partners, Leanne Valenti, owner of Bento Picnic. She passionately incorporates our farm-fresh seasonal produce into their Japanese homestyle cooking inspired bento boxes creatively and beautifully week after week. "Every meal is designed with five colors, five tastes, and five elements to deliver a full-sensory experience with every bite." Like so many of our partners in town, we are inspired by Bento Picnic and can get behind their ultimate mission, keeping Austin nourished and healthy. Meet Leanne!

Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

You've had a long history with JBG - tell us about that!

I moved to Austin in 2005, and was working at an after school program. I was always looking for ways for me and my kids to get involved with the community. I was looking through Craigslist for U-Pick type stuff specifically… picking peaches or something in the area. Brenton was just getting started with the 20 acres off Hergotz, and posted an ad about looking for volunteers on the weekend. He was still working full-time at the Department of Agriculture at the time. Interestingly, the entire reason I got into Japanese home-style cooking and bento is an interwoven story with volunteering at JBG because I went out there and volunteered with my good friend, Naoko, who is from rural Japan. We would both get veggie CSA boxes (mind you, I grew up in the suburbs of Houston in the '80s and '90s where macaroni and cheese counts as a vegetable), but I didn’t know what to do with them! Thankfully, really good cooking with veggies at the center of the plate was her upbringing and just part of her lifestyle. That is how I gained a huge appreciation and love of delicious, healthy Japanese homestyle cooking. I really wanted to make it accessible to people here. That’s how the concept of Bento Picnic got started... because of that relationship and my personal journey in figuring out what to do with the veggies.

What’s cool about bento cooking is whenever we would cook up a feast and eat it for dinner, instead of separating all the different dishes and packaging them in different containers, Naoko would package them as bentos instead. You would make a little lunch with a combination of all the different things as you were putting away your leftovers. It’s that meal prep that makes your week even easier.

When you were volunteering regularly for the farm, what are some good memories that you have?

My funniest story about Brenton is one time the volunteers were loading up the CSA boxes, and he had wandered into the packing shed. He had this bizarre look on his face, and was just standing there for a while maintaining this odd look. I asked him if he was okay, and he said, “I think that I have ants in my pants” and walked off. (Leanne starts laughing)

It’s been amazing to see the progress of the farm over ten years. Even seeing the changes over the course of a week (when I was volunteering regularly) and then now visiting for movie screenings, etc. when months have passed. It’s been incredible to see the pace at which the farm has grown and how Brenton's vision for the farm's future has been actualized.

Can you talk a bit about the principles governing bento boxes?

The key principle that we follow is using 5 colors, 5 tastes, and 5 elements in every meal. With that amount of variety, you get a lot of nutrition, flavor, and texture. The 5 colors are red, yellow, green, black, and white. Kubocha squash or spaghetti squash could be your yellow. Green is your bright spinaches, kale, arugula, and cucumbers. Reds can be tomatoes. White can be parsnips and egg whites. Black can be anything with a darker hue: eggplant or black fermented garlic, for example.

Making a bento composition. Photo by Scott David Gordon

The 5 tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent/spicy. Sweet, sour, and salty are pretty self explanatory, but the bitter and pungent takes a little bit more exploration. Bitter is something that dries your tongue and balances sweetness - all your herbs. Some root veggies are going to have bitter edge to them, too, think radishes. They can be pungent AND bitter. All these things can be interpreted lightly and with a lot of liberty and grace. It’s just supposed to be a framework for the creative process of constructing a box and general recipe development. I’ve been able to create amazing meals based off of that structure, and expand my cooking creativity greatly, instead of just mindlessly following recipes. I think about adding colors, rounding out the composition, and expanding the tastes.

Finally, the 5 elements are water, fire, earth, metal, and tree which all relate to cooking methods. Water is steaming, poaching, or boiling; fire is something on the grill or to saute; metal is the oven; earth is fermented or pickled; and tree is raw.



People exert their creativity in different ways, whether it be painting, drawing, or music. For me, cooking is my creative outlet. Instead of just arriving at a blank page, when you have a framework to work within, things can move further faster. It’s been super empowering for me to come up with new variations. It has been very affirming to receive all the positive feedback… the people who eat the bento compositions and love vegetables all of a sudden. I attribute that newfound love to just paying attention to the flavor profiles during the different seasons of all the ingredients and rounding the meal out.

How can folks incorporate this into their home-cooking?

For example, if they are putting a salad together... how can you get all five colors into that salad? Even if you can’t get all five, how can you get at least three? From there, you are going to start to see how you can get more use out of all the things in your CSA box.

Composing the greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Another way to incorporate bento into home-cooking/meal planning is to not just packing away all the things that you have prepared in their own individual containers. Try packing them away together as composed, complete meals. Most people have really busy weeks, and if their meals are already set up, they are ready to go for the week ahead.

What attracted you to this type of cuisine?

It hits all the points… it’s healthy, delicious, and convenient. When I was volunteering at JBG, I was working full-time for Americorps (which felt like more than a regular full-time job), and completing my Masters. I was so busy, but I care about myself and my body and the people I cook for, so I needed something nourishing and energizing. Ideally, I spent one day cooking and then had all my meals lined up for the week. That’s the level of convenience that attracted me to the bento lifestyle. Using the 5 colors, tastes, and elements always ensures that it is satisfying and delicious, too.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

How does fresh produce fit into bento box principles?

You can’t check off a color if it’s food coloring. You have to use foods that naturally fit in the color framework. In order to fit the 5 colors, you have to bring in produce to do it. In order to do the 5 elements, you can’t just make all fried food. You have to incorporate things that are pickled, raw, sauteed, poached… you start to balance out healthier methods and healthier ingredients with the less healthy ones that just please your palate. I think that that’s the key, this method elicits so much balance.

Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Do you have any tips for CSA Members who are stumped with certain vegetables?

Find a friend who is Japanese, and get them to search for the vegetable IN Japanese. There are so many recipes out there, that even if you look for them in English, you won’t find them. There are a lot of Asian veggies that come off of the farm, too. Don’t search for recipes in English, get someone to search for them in any Asian language, and you are going to find so many different recipes that are not in your current culinary arsenal.

I ask Naoko, still, to help me search for certain ingredients. Especially when I’m tired of using it in a certain way and want something new. She is always using cookpad, a really centralized site where almost every home-cook in Japan will post very thorough recipes, pictures, and feedback of anything that they’ve cooked. There’s an English version of it, but it is nowhere near as dense and robust as the Japanese version. I wish I could learn Japanese, but it’s not in the cards.

What's the veggie that stumps you the most?

Black Spanish radish… it’s too pungent for me. I need to find a good way to tame that back.

Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to incorporate more local and seasonal vegetables into their cooking?

The best way is going to the farmers markets, just making a habit of seeing what’s out there, picking something up, and using that as your springboard. Grab some tomatoes and make a point to use them in your dinner. I always do a couple of Google searches around what vegetables I have and will build a meal around that. It’s the same thing that Tom Colicchio says in his book Think Like A Chef, the proteins are not the star. You can get meats pretty much all year round, it’s the vegetables that you can only get at certain times.

Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

How can folks look to bento boxes/Bento Picnic for inspiration?

Bentos are artwork for sure. You can get to all levels of effort with them. You can keep them simple, which is beautiful and uncluttered, or you can do the character style bentos, where people will make Pokemon type characters out of vegetables. It’s a thing that Japanese moms do to get their kids to enjoy veggies. It is smart, and gets kids excited to eat a variety of different things by making it look cool and pretty. Lots of people have cookie cutters in their kitchens, you can use those on vegetables, too, instead of just doing regular square or round cuts… and that just adds so much to the presentation right off the bat.

Do you have a favorite seasonal recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing with our readers?

Pepita Parsley Pesto

Yields about 1 pint

• 2/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 bunch parsley (~100 g)
• 3/4 cup pepita seeds, toasted
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 1/2 Tbsp safflower oil
• 1/2 cup water

Hydrate sunflower seeds by covering with water and bringing to a boil. Strain. Layer ingredients in food processor, putting the parsley at the bottom. Add water gradually and puree to desired consistency, adding more as desired. Adjust salt & garlic to taste.

What’s your favorite thing about working with local farmers?

How fresh we can get something. It’s going to have so much more of a shelf life if we are packing up with local veggies. The same just can’t be said for things that come from a purveyor who is trucking things in from across the country or the world because they’ve already been on the shelf for a couple of weeks. Same thing goes for the flavor, the veggies are just that much more delicious… I’ve had folks get excited about carrots when they have always hated them, and I think it’s because they have probably never had fresh vegetables before!

I’ve been running the business for a couple years now, and in the first couple of months, I was catering a school field trip to Boggy Creek Farm. There were 7th grade boys that were raising their hands and standing up so that I would call on them… “How did you make these carrots!? These are so good!” Seeing kids react to the food is something that drives me and is super rewarding because kids don’t lie. If a kid is excited, you know you passed the test.

Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Do you have a favorite JBG vegetable?

Watermelon radish… I had never tasted them before Brenton started growing them. They're so mild and the color just pops.

Where can people learn more/taste one of these boxes?

We’re at 2600 Cesar Chavez, we have a little shaded picnic area where you can sit down and enjoy them, or grab a box to-go! We have a website where you can place orders in advance, and will be ready when you arrive… here. We also have a kiosk format, more of a grab-and-go, at Austin Bouldering Project. We stock it daily and have quite the variety of rice bowls, bentos, snacks, and sweets. A lot of folks will work and climb at ABP and work up an appetite, so it serves them very well; however, you don’t have to climb there to grab a bento box. You can just walk in and grab your bento to go! We have a menu at Irie Bean on S. Lamar if you are looking for something south. We also cater, and you can find us at the Lakeline Farmers Market on Saturdays or the Mueller Farmers Market on Sundays!

On Cesar Chavez. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

If you were a vegetable what would you be and why?

Kubocha squash because it’s going to give you energy to make it all the way through the day. My days are 14-16 hour days… I have a steady flow of energy that I use on whatever I’m doing. Whenever I get into it, I have a really strong ability to focus. They are also sweet and tasty, but definitely carry you through the long-haul.

Bento goodness. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

A huge thanks to Leanne Valenti with Bento Picnic for making time for us! Grab one of her boxes at the farmers market or around town, you won't regret it! 'Til next time!

Want to meet your farmers? We have an upcoming Meet Your Farmer Happy Hour at ABGB on 5/18 from 6-8 PM! Come have a beer and a bite, we can't wait to meet you.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Week 18 has been all about staking, caging, and prepping the quickly growing tomatoes. Not only are these summer sweeties headed to market soon, but squash is, too! Summer is almost in full swing, yeehaw! In case you didn't catch it, our bulk tomato pre-sale is underway until Tuesday, check it out here.

We are having a tomato volunteer day this Saturday if you are interested in getting outside and getting dirty (email volunteer@jbgorganic.com if you want to join the fun). Otherwise, see you at the markets!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

The arrival of a new month means another marvelous edition of our First Friday Staff Picks! We think that our staff is the best in the business (okay, okay, we are a little biased), but the JBG family hails from all over the place and covers the gamut in talents and interests. We love sharing events, adventures, and side projects that inspire and excite our JBG-ers (food-related or not) with the community. Check out the staff-curated list of favorites below!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Casey (Customer Service Extraordinare) - I had the best dinner at Sway the other night! The tom yum is da bomb even though the spice can knock you out if you’re not careful. My boyfriend and I also tried their jelly beer which is pretty much a super cold beer slushy. The beer is stored in salt water (27 degrees) in a cooler with a small motor that rocks it back and forth to keep it from freezing. Then when you open it, the change in temperature and pressure causes it to magically transform into a slush. It's pretty cooool.

I’m also really pumped, as I’m sure so many people are, for the new Fast and the Furious movie, The Fate of the Furious! This is their 8th one and they just keep getting better. I’m in the process of making a cross stitch tribute for my boyfriend who is actually the real fan of the movies in a non-ironic way. It’s a work in progress, but who doesn't love Vin Diesel and Paul Walker (RIP) in cross stitch form.



Matt Pelkey (CSA Manager) - The city paying for chicken coops? Yes, please.

Travis (Wholesale Manager) - I'm super excited for my annual pilgrimage to Marfa this month. Not to sound like every other hipster that has lived in Austin for 15 minutes, but Marfa is the perfect place to get outta the city, throw your phone away, and scrub your brain clean. You can find me at the Lost Horse Saloon.

A post shared by Lost Horse Saloon (@lost_horse_saloon_marfa) on Apr 24, 2016 at 8:44pm PDT

Other than that, Ty Segall is playing at Stubb's on the 27th. He always puts on a solid show and tickets are surprisingly cheap, so get on that!

Becky (Farm Administrator) - Farmgrass, May 12-13. Super chill festival benefiting farmers? I'm there!!! I went last year and it was absolutely lovely. My favorite part was falling on Friday night, being gently serenaded by fiddles in the campsite with the wind in the trees. High Plains Jamboree will be playing this year which features my absolute favorite local artist, Brennan Leigh. Her tunes are intelligent and witty, bringing a refreshing modern twist to classic country sounds. Plus their music is totally two-steppable!

Becky two-steppin'.

The O'Henry Pun Off on May 13th. SO GOOD! In my family puns are the highest form of humor. The O'Henry Pun Off is a competition where the best of the worst dad-humor has a place to shine. Grab a blanket and chill on the lawn of Brush Square downtown for an afternoon that is guaranteed to keep you simultaneously amazed at the skills of the punsters and rolling in laughter.

Brenton (Head Farmer) - Licha's Cantina - I love this place! Last night I had a fish dish with tuna. It was awesome!

Surprise surprise, I've got a new project on the docket! I'm going to re-purpose our milk coolers into smokers to smoke some veggies. Going to be awesome!

I've been reliving my childhood going to my son Jimmy's Northwest Little League Baseball games. Jimmy is a rockstar... he's already got six hits! A little known fact about me is I used to play baseball... mostly catcher.

Ada (Marketing and CSA Manager) - The impending tomato season has me giddy with excitement. I can't wait to pickle and preserve my way through the summer.

Recently went camping at Pace Bend for a friend's birthday. Love this place as a last-minute camping spot outside of Austin, where you can almost always snag a place to set-up tent, without worrying about it being full.

A post shared by Missoula Broussard (@chermissoula) on May 1, 2017 at 6:27am PDT

Lots of birds migrating through Texas right now, and I have happily added 10+ new species to my "Life List" this Spring... most recently, the Orchard Oriole which I spotted atop a dead tree at Pace Bend. About a year ago, I got the National Geographic bird app ($10 i think) on which you can track and list all of the birds you've seen, as well as see their range and hear their calls... the app has upped my birding fervor considerably. #birdnerd

Taylor (Barn Crew) - Trees. I really like trees. I've been really into trees lately, native Texas trees specifically. Andrew told me he's really into vintage Furbies these days. My staff pick is also Ryan. What are staff picks?

Tracy (Inventory Manager) - Went to the Austin Rodeo a few weeks ago, and had a blast. I'd love to volunteer here one year. Beautiful horses, and this amazing little girl who couldn't have been more than 6, she was one mutton busting. It was cool to learn that it's a non-profit, and that proceeds go to the kids that are participating. At the end, they had this really amazing display of horses, unsaddled, and unbridled. It was beautiful.



Andrew (CSA Packing Crew) - My favorite band, All Them Witches, a blues-y psych group from Nashville, are returning to Austin and playing Antone's on 5/18. If you like riffs and good vibes through amplifiers, it's a must.

Missoula (Farm Dog 1) - Mike Mo's weekly brisket. That human can COOK!

A post shared by Missoula Broussard (@chermissoula) on Mar 14, 2017 at 7:29pm PDT

Chucha (Farm Dog 2) - Chasing cars, what else? And belly rubs.

Roxy (Farm Dog 3) - Leftover Burritos. Hitchin' rides.

Roxy and Chuca catchin' a ride. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Heydon (Farm Blogger) - Two dear friends of mine simultaneously sent me a video of one of the most stunning and unique gardens I have ever seen. It sent me into a rabbit hole that unveiled a reservoir of inspiring videos of jaw-dropping gardens. One that almost had me in tears (I know, I know, I’m a total garden nerd) was an intimate look into Piet Oudolf and his wife’s garden. Known as an immensely influential Dutch garden designer, this peek into his garden seems like a walk through an ethereal wonderland with a close and dear uncle. Give it a peek, and then peruse the entire Nowness “Great Garden” series. It’s worth a moment of your day.

Also, the Simonite brothers killin' on their first collaboration for Whitney's new music video. The music is awesome, the S. brothers have such vision together, and West Texas forever. So stunning all around - check it here.

@simonites for @whitneyband

A post shared by SIMONITES (@simonites) on Apr 1, 2017 at 10:45pm PDT

Montana (Direct Seed Lead) - Tomatoes, tomatoes, beets, carrots, potatoes, greens, tomatoes, and future thoughts of Kerrville Folk Fest, Solstice Fest (w/ Built to Spill this year!), and the 4th of July Grateful Ball featuring the Travelin' McCourys and the Jeff Austin Band at Empire Control Room, and tomatoes round out my first Friday picks. Cucumbers rock, too. We should start harvesting those this week.

Farm, in general - To second Becky, we're all excited about Farmgrass Fest coming up on May 12-13th. Some of our favorite local musicians will be gracing the stage like High Plains Jamboree, Shiny Ribs, and Whiskey Shivers. Speaking of Whiskey Shivers - checkout this video that KUTX filmed of Whiskey Shivers in our back field a couple years ago. This was perhaps the coolest work-break our barn crew ever got.

We really appreciate SFC's write-up of the current Texas Legislature and all the bills that affect our food system. As farmers, sometimes we find it difficult to make the time to learn about the bills that affect us most. Luckily, Austin has SFC to keep us up to date. To learn more, click here.

By Mackenzie Smith

Caprese salads are as good as the quality of the tomatoes you are using. During peak season, try foregoing balsamic vinegar to let the tomatoes shine. Torn basil leaves, flaky sea salt and fresh cracked pepper make for tri-color confetti worthy of a celebration.

• The ripest, juiciest tomatoes you can find
• Fresh mozzarella
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Basil leaves, torn
• Flaky sea salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Photo by Mackenzie Smith.

Slice tomatoes perpendicular to the stem, as thick or as thin as you like. Layer alternating slices of mozzarella and tomato until you can’t anymore. Drizzle with olive oil and top with basil, salt and pepper.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 8th

CSA Box Contents Week of May 8th

Medium Box
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Turnip, Purple Top

Zinnia harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Green beans, okra, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes are about to make their seasonal debut! We've been busy with lots of massive structural remodels in preparation for these summertime crops. We will be building a large open air shed on our loading dock to turn into a packing station for tomatoes, as well as relocating two semis from our Hergotz location to Garfield to give us more cooler space for tomato season!

We are so grateful for all the volunteers who've been getting their hands dirty out on the farm as of late. They have been immensely integral in getting potatoes harvested and tomatoes weeded and trellised. We extend a HUGE thank you to them, we couldn't do it without you. Interested in volunteering? Email volunteer@jbgorganic.com!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommas out there!

**farm info from Becky Hume

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Black Spanish Radish. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Okra field. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Armful of fennel. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Farm meeting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Transplant work. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Flower beauties. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Grape progress. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Zinnias. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Squash is here! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

CSA crew workin' hard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Green beans! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Fried Green Tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Happy Friday, farm friends! Brenton here. Maybe it’s the impending influx of summertime crops or just missing Alabama; regardless, my desire for Southern cuisine has been insatiable as of late. Growing up in Enterprise, AL, there was no shortage of rich Southern food... think: collard greens, corn pone, grits, country ham, fried chicken, biscuits, and red-eye gravy. My grandmother and matriarch of the family, Mama Nell, has always been the keeper of the best recipes. Thus, when I moved away from South Alabama and had a hankering for a taste of the Deep South, I would always give her a holler for recipes. Her breadth of cooking knowledge is unparalleled, and her cookbook collection does not disappoint (I got her a cookbook from 1870 England for Christmas to augment her already prodigious collection). My extensive collection is a shell in comparison as my love for recipes is a reflection of hers. All that rambling aside, nothing says home quite like fried green tomatoes, and I think Mama Nell would agree. I used to eat them like candy as a kid. This recipe is so simple, and the results never disappoint. It's ripe time to make these battered treats, as you’ll see green tomatoes in your CSA box this week!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

I had the pleasure of hosting some of the farm crew at my house this week to enjoy some fried green tomatoes using the recipe below (with some minor alterations). Check it out!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

**Recipe by Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby-Cakes.com**

INGREDIENTS

• 3 fresh green tomatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• ½ cup yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup panko crumbs
• ⅛-1/4 teaspoon paprika (optional- go up to ¼ teaspoon if you like spicy foods)
• Oil for frying
• Freshly ground chili pequins (an alteration of the original recipe!)

INSTRUCTIONS

Liberally season green tomato slices with salt and pepper on both sides (and chili pequins!).

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Add flour and eggs to two separate small bowls.

Combine cornmeal, panko crumbs and paprika (and chili pequins!) into another small bowl and whisk together.

Begin by dipping each seasoned tomato slice into flour coating on both sides.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Next add floured tomato slice to eggs coating on both sides.

Lastly dip into cornmeal and crumb mixture and set aside finished slice on baking sheet.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Repeat dredging process, starting with flour, until all slices are coated.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Fry tomato slices on both sides until golden brown and drain on paper towels.

Serve warm. Enjoy!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Yum! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

A very happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! We are sending our best batch yet of zinnias yet for you at the markets this weekend!

Always wanted to know who cultivates and harvests your weekly veggies? Come on down to the ABGB on Thursday, May 18 from 6-8 PM for a Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour! Grab a beer, a slice, and hunker down for some farm-tastic conversation with some down home Austin farm friends. 

Want to work at the farm? Check out our current job openings here.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 15th

CSA Box Contents Week of May 15th

Medium Box
Bean, Green
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Cucumber, Pickling
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Onion, White
Potato, Red
Squash. Summer Medley

By Megan Winfrey

When cooking a meal or meal prepping, I like to see how far I can spread my ingredients. The more dishes I can create with what I have in front of me, the more badass I feel - and this recipe is a perfect example of that feeling of accomplishment. Leftovers from a big batch of potato salad, the pan-scraped bits from a bunch of roasted cauliflower, and a bed of arugula is all you need for a scrumptious and low key lunch. This same equation can be applied to a plethora of leftovers - think chilled roasted squash and feta cheese or leftover orzo and fresh sliced tomatoes.

Potato Salad Salad

To make the potato salad, I used this recipe. It was the perfect contribution to my family's Easter potluck - SO tasty and light! And after another few days marinating in the fridge, it was even more flavorful - packing enough vinegar-y punch to eliminate the need for salad dressing in this recipe.

Also that week, I roasted a bunch of cauliflower for dinner one night. Instead of scraping the crispy little bits onto my plate as per usual, I had a sudden vision of topping a salad with them. So into the fridge they went for the next day's lunch.

All it took was a pile of arugula on my plate with a squeeze of lemon, a few heaping spoons of potato salad, and a mountain of roasted cauliflower bits on top to make the perfect lunch!

It’s that time of the year when summertime crops are trickling in and springtime crops are coming to an end. A magical time where we are graced with the opportunity to have a brief yet scrumptious taste of two seasons at once. This year has been an amazingly productive year yielding produce of the utmost quality (knock on wood that Mother Nature holds onto that mild temperament). Which brings us great relief with the past two years as a harsh juxtaposition. Our tomato harvest is so massive that the farm crew is daunted by the seemingly endless fields! They’re wondering who’s planning all this ‘mater craziness!? It is hands down the best harvest yet, so get to planning your favorite tomato dishes, we are in for a succulent summer season.

What’s coming to markets soon? Want updates on our market staples? Here’s a quick rundown:

Potatoes. This crop has been outstanding this year.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Squash. Heirloom varieties, yellow squash, zucchini. Everyone get ready! In the next week or two, spaghetti squash and acorn squash will be available as soon as we cure it. Our first butternut squash of the season will coincide with the watermelon harvest, too! CSA members - let us know if you want squash blossoms, we could offer these vibrant delicacies as swap items.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cucumbers! Pickling cukes and slicing cukes will be flourishing oh so soon.

Eggplant. This crop should be at market in a couple of weeks!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Peppers! They are just starting to get ripe, so they should be ready in a couple of weeks. Limited supply now, but if you CSA folks are interested in them as a swap item, email us and we can harvest them for you!

Okra. We picked some of our first of the season recently... look for it in CSA boxes.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Melons! We have quite the array this year. We will have three types of watermelon: Yellow doll, Tiger baby, and Pata Negra. The melon menu for 2017 is: traditional cantaloupe, mini cantaloupe, Galia (an Israeli melon with a tropical taste and green flesh… it is the earliest harvested melon), Korean melon (yellow striped look), honeydew, canary melon (bright yellow), French Chantenay melon (heirloom melon that is so fragrant and small, it’s like eating dessert). Talk about sweet summertime!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes! This is the best tomato crop that we have ever had. The tomato menu for this year is: red slicer tomatoes (perfect for the everyday tomato sandwich, pizza, and/or salsa), three different kinds of Roma (San Marzano, traditional red Roma, and mini yellow Roma. FYI, these mini yellow Romas best eaten fresh, they are so tasty!), 10 different varieties of cherry tomatoes (some heirloom varieties), and plum tomatoes. Although you have probably seen some green tomatoes already in CSA boxes or at the market stands, starting next week, the tomato harvest will really start to arrive. Expect red tomatoes in your CSA box in the coming weeks!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Green beans! Loads of green beans coming in to market.

Fennel and tons of it!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Root crops. A very strong harvest of black Spanish radishes, scarlet turnips, purple top turnips, and daikon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Mint! Tons of it right now.

Celeriac. It’s looking awesome!

Cabbage. A monster harvest of green and red cabbage is headed to markets this weekend!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Onions. We are harvesting and curing them currently. We planted late, so not looking as big as we would like, but this crop is coming!

Beets. They are mammoth! We have your red beets, heirloom Chioggia, and sweet goldens.

Mixed carrot bunch. Our mixed carrot bunch is usually orange, yellow, and white. This year, we tried out a new variety and new colors!

Rainbow carrots are on the way!

A post shared by Brenton Johnson (@farmerbrenton) on May 16, 2017 at 9:58am PDT

Grapes! They are looking amazing. We cannot wait for this harvest.

Sweet potatoes. They are planted, and we are awaiting patiently for the first harvest! We will have the greens before we have the roots.

Zinnias and sunflowers. Adorn your home with summer blooms. You will see them populating and beautifying market stands to a larger degree very soon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What crops are at the end of their season? Here are the crops that are unfortunately leaving us for summer respite:

Curly kale. Surprisingly, we still have awesome curly kale. This trend will continue for another couple weeks. If you’re an kale aficionado, get this delectable green at market before it’s gone.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cilantro and parsley. They are almost done for the season… unfortunately, in this central Texas climate it’s really difficult to maintain tomatoes and cilantro in the same season. We hypothesize that they’ll be around for another week or two.

Broccoli. This quick spring crop is almost done for the season! Such a bittersweet goodbye!

Collard greens. These puppies are at the end of their seasons. They’ll be around for maybe two more weeks.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

CSA Members! We are trying to keep an eye for hot weather greens that people like… We will have malabar spinach and amaranth. Any greens that you know and would like to have access to at markets? Let us know!

Looking for seasonal and part-time work? Getting out of college and need a job? Check out our jobs page for more information!

PS - We have tons of exciting events coming up in June! Think: workshops galore and the long anticipated return of the Tomato U-Pick at the farm! Check out our events page for more info. 

Tomato work. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Your summer tomato supply is sure to be sizable! We've got a fields and fields of quickly ripening 'maters and preparing for this crop's arrival is consuming most of our time! Over the next couple of weeks, you are going to see a deluge of these succulent summertime fruits.

We’ve been in the process of moving our facilities to River Road for some time now. With slow but steady progress, we've finally finished construction on a loading dock, giant cooler, and recently finished a tomato sorting/packing station (see images below!). With the mammoth harvest, the coolers are so full that we had to move two more semis for extra cooler space, can you believe it?!

Check out our weekly blog post for a list of what's hitting markets soon!

Staking tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Rainbow chard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Chard harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunflower growth. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato cages. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Red potatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Red potato harvesting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato fields forever. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes in progress. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cabbage. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Zinnias. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Two semis for extra harvest storage. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato sorting and packing area with the cooler in the background. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 22nd

CSA Box Contents Week of May 22nd

Medium Box
Bean, Green
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Cucumber
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Basil
Leek
Okra
Potato, Red
Squash, Summer
Tomato, Red Slicer

Here at the farm, we equate summer with a limitless abundance of tomatoes, and kids running free from their usual weekday scholarly obligations. We got to thinkin’ about our community’s kiddos, especially as one of our wholesale managers, Mike Mosley, recently participated in Baranoff Elementary Health and Wellness Day. While he taught the second graders about farming, diet, farmer’s markets, and unfamiliar veggies, we wondered... so many kids rely on their school lunch regimen for steady and reliable nourishment, but what happens during the summer?

Baranoff Elementary. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

A student with his veggie loot. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Not surprisingly, when we looked into this summer lunch conundrum, two food champions in town, Austin Independent School District (AISD) and Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) have the situation covered. AISD is truly revolutionizing the way people think and feel about cafeteria fare, and we can speak from experience, these lunches are truly delectable. They not only source vegetables for salad bars from local farms, but they also showcase produce from Austin farms in their Farm Fresh Fridays series. They really have students ruminating on how and where their food is grown. Through their federally funded Summer Food Service Program, they will serve breakfast and lunch to local youth, age 18 and younger, regardless of if they attend an AISD school during the school year or their economic situation. The program will start in early June and take place at more than 50 of the AISD schools. Pretty cool, eh? Kids just show up and enjoy a nutritious meal without any sort of registration or identification prerequisites. Find the specific locations and times here.

Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) is also participating in the Summer Food Service Program. CTFB will be using our produce to provide for 18 and under youth in our community at these participating sites. We love our partners, and thoroughly enjoy working with them throughout the year. Whether AISD is trucking out the noms for our Spring Potluck in their Nacho Average Food Truck or sourcing ingredients from us for the most recent Chopped competition atop the downtown Whole Foods, we cherish these integral food players in our fair city and are filled with gratitude to have passionate folks like them changing the Austin food-scape for the better.

Courtesy of the Texas Department of Agriculture website.

CTFB side note: In 2016 we donated 26,100 pounds of fresh vegetables to the Central Texas Food Bank, which provided 31,320 meals. Yeehaw! That’s a lot of meals!

CTFB certificate. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Speaking of kids roaming free and wild in the summer, have you heard about our upcoming U-Pick event? We are planning on having two weekends of tomato pickin’ fun in June complete with a tomato canning workshop with the inimitable Kate Payne! Come out and stock up for those salsas, sauces, and plain ole tomato sandwiches that scream summertime. We can’t wait! Check out our comprehensive events page here.

Tomato U-Pick. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our Meet the Farmer(s) Happy Hour at the ABGB this past week was quite the success. We loved letting loose with our fellow coworkers, but also having quality time with our beloved CSA community. If you missed it, we are planning another one soon! Stay tuned.

Sweet summertime crops are finally here! We headed to the Sunset Valley Farmers' Market on Mother's Day, caught some great folks, and enjoyed a beautiful day to boot. We will be chockfull of produce this weekend, so get to the markets to stock up on your tomatoes, squash, and cukes!

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet Your Farmer(s) Happy Hour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunset Valley Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunset Valley Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunset Valley Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunset Valley Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunset Valley Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunflower galore. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Montana working hard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Last of the collards. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Farm tour with Becky. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Squash harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Grapes! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Grapes! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Vineyard! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

CSA Box Contents Week of May 29th

CSA Box Contents Week of May 29th

Medium Box
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Cucumber
Greens, Collards
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Onion, Red
Potato, Yukon Gold
Squash, Zucchini
Tomato