Every year we look through the photos of the past twelve months and reflect on the seasons. It's winter now, and our days are filled with freezing hands and rubber boots, but it seems like only yesterday we were hand-picking thousands of pounds of yellow, orange, red and green tomatoes, sweating under the summer blaze, and praying for even a whisper of a breeze. Some seasons are marked by record harvests, or new tractors, or improved coolers. This year? A global pandemic. We look forward to the new perspective that the flip of a calendar will bring, but we also can't help but look back on 2020 with a bit of wonder and pride, and mostly with an incredible since of admiration for our community who have supported us and staff who have sustained us.

When the Covid-19 pandemic became a reality, we quickly realized that our work as farmers was essential - a fact that we've intellectually known, but one that became incredibly clear when we had to print out waivers for our staff to keep in their car when the rest of the city was locked down. The size of our CSA nearly doubled in two weeks, our website crashed, and we had to temporarily close signups to our CSA program for the first time in our farm's 16 year history. Many of our beloved restaurant partners had to slow orders from the farm, and farmers' markets worked tirelessly to adapt their operation and maintain their status as an important food access point. We purchased two new delivery vehicles, and tended to the bountiful crops in the ground. That was the spring.

Summer came, and like always, so did the tomatoes. By June, all of the food safety protocols in place at the farm, as well as the new delivery routes, felt like normal. Suddenly we've found ourselves deep in Texas winter, surrounded by dark leafy greens and vibrant root crops... the same vegetables that were in season when the pandemic first started. If you measure your year in carrots, we've come just about full circle.

The farm is always a busy place, but this year, we were required to answer to even more variables than the ones mother nature usually throws our way. There were chaotic and stressful days, to be sure, but overall we were able to meet the demands with cool heads and creative problem solving. Here at the farm, we have 76 full-time employees who work to plant, tend, harvest, wash, pack, and deliver our vegetables. We have 22 part time employees who enter the scene early on Saturday and Sunday mornings and haul our harvests to market. Together, these 98 employees make up Johnson's Backyard Garden, and we couldn't have met the demands of this year without this talented and strong group of men and women. Truly - farming nearly 200 acres of vegetables and distributing it to our community isn't a job for one, or even 20. It takes thoughtful crop planning, carful training, and a wondrously devoted group of farmers and farm staff. And, of course, a receptive (and hungry) community, too. If you're reading this, chances are there are some JBG veggies in your fridge. Thank you from the bottom of our tired, happy hearts.

Scroll below to see what 2020 was like for our farm! As always, thank you for reading and happy holidays!

January started out cold. The greenhouses are empty at this time of year, and pallets of pallets of cover crop seed are dutifully awaiting a dry, warm day for planting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

This beautiful macro photo of greens and oranges is also a photo of one of our biggest pests- thrips. These tiny bugs like to hide in the onion greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

People often ask if we farm year-round. Yes! Compared to other parts of the country, Texas winters are mild and our killing freezes minimal. The other main task farm task in January? Finalizing our crop plan for the busy spring ahead, which is what Jack is doing in this photo. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In January, dark leafy greens like kale abound. This past winter, recipe developer Mackenzie Smith Kelley gave us this incredible kale and parsley pesto recipe, and our winters haven't been the same since. Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley.

 

Romanesco cauliflower is piled on the arms of one of our harvest trailers. This mesmerizing crop was a CSA staple in January of 2020. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Bright bok choy is harvested with a sharp knife. Check the homepage for a delicious bok choy salad recipe which you should definitely work into your 2021 dinner plans. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

FEBRUARY

The trimmed pieces of rainbow chard are left in the mud. Eventually, these bits will be tilled back into the soil, adding organic matter and nutrients. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

February of 2020 was wet. A harbinger of things to come, perhaps. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In 2020, our recipe archive was populated with simple, easy recipes, like this beautiful radish salad. Eating seasonally from your CSA box has never been easier. Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley.

MARCH

Early in March, when the spread of Covid-19 became a real concern in Austin, we had completely revamp our farmers' market operations. In addition to strict table, hand, and equipment cleaning protocols, customers were no longer allowed in our booths, and only one designated JBG staff member would "touch" the produce. Here, our downtown manager, Dusty, is blazing the way for this new and initially-cumbersome system. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

You can see the progression of the pandemic through our farmers' market response. This photo was taken on the first weekend of March, very early in the pandemic before before the benefits of masks were comprehensively understood. Within the next couple of weeks, our entire staff would be required to wear masks, as well as every farmers' market attendee. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Despite the chaos emerging on the distribution-side of our operation, things on the production-side were business as usual - peace, love, and dandelion greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In early March, our friends from Club Home Made hosted a gardening workshop at the farm to go along with our transplant sale. Little did we know, this would be the last time we'd invite guests to the farm for the rest of the year. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

As rumors of a potential lockdown in our community started to surface, people came out to our transplant sale in truly astonishing numbers. We know for certain that Austin had some amazing quarantine gardens! Fingers crossed this was not a fleeting fad. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

CSA Box Contents Week of Mar 16th

APRIL

Tender lettuces thrive in early April temperatures. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Beets were a tricky crop for us this year. Hogs and bugs wiped out huge parts of our harvests, and the availability was far less than usual. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our tiny tomato transplants usually get planted in late March, and the staking happens in April. Here, you can see rows upon rows of cherry tomatoes. The next step is weaving tomato-twine in between these stakes which will support the heavy plants to come. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Grassy-green carrots. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In April, the size of our CSA was bigger than it had ever been. We had to hire additional delivery drivers and more staff to meet the increased demand for safe, local, and fresh food. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

MAY

By May, masks were as essential of a farm tool as gloves, sun protection, and a sharp (sanitized) knife. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Local photographer Annie Ray (@annieraydotnet) captured this shot of our Mueller Farmers' Market Staff - all masked and gloved and ready to serve you.

Bright orange roots feed these leafy green rows. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our CSA Manager, Andrew, has to get creative with packing space when the orders pick up. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

A new farm sign, but no guests to see it. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Is there anything more spring-like than leeks and onions? Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Dill flowers, left for the bees. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

JUNE

Red jalapeños, perfect for firey hot salsas. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Summer harvests at their best. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Over the summer, Mackenzie made a tomato shrub, or drinking vinegar. Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley.

Remember our record-breaking transplant sale that happened in February? My June, we were getting photos like this from community members all over Austin. Backyard gardens everywhere were exploding with produce grown from JBG transplants!

By late June, two-inch tomato transplants are suddenly huge walls of towering tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our green bean harvest was particularly successful this year! Instead of a few large plantings of green beans, we planted smaller, more frequent successions of beans. Because of this, CSA Members and market customers were offered green beans for more weeks than usual! Here the green-bean picker is doing it's thing. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

JULY

Lemongrass harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Glossy Italian eggplant is a summer staple for the farm. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Even though they're considered a "winter squash", heavy butternut squash is ready for harvest in July. Even though this looks like a lot of squash in this photo, our butternut harvest was on the smaller side in 2002. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Farmer Brenton spent more time on a tractor in 2020 than in other recent years. Thanks, Brenton! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Mandatory watermelon taste tests help farmers pass the 100 degree days. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tracy and Krishna having a parking lot meeting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tracy, our barn manager, going over numbers for the week. Our whiteboard got a facelift in 2020 - a small, but meaningful improvement for our packing operation! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

AUGUST

In August, we repaired our shade cloth to prepare a space for thousands of winter transplants soon to be planted. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In the heat of summer, bright squash blossoms abound. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

August is one of the busiest times at the farm for our planting crew. Here, rows of direct-seeded beets germinate in the hot summer sun. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In August, we say goodbye to the tomatoes and carry-out the labor-intensive task of taking down stakes and cages. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

SEPTEMBER

A bit of September fan mail we received. Don't worry Rylan, we're not stopping anytime soon!

In September, we were proud to be featured in Central Market as a part of their local-produce week. Checkout this beautiful JBG display!

A delivery driver meeting. In 2020, our delivery drivers clocked more miles than ever and vegetables were on doorsteps from Georgetown to Manchaca. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

It's easy to social distance when you work on a farm. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Summer is peppers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

This summer, we adapted some of our harvest techniques and were able to offer bok choy in the hottest parts of our summer - a feat we're proud of! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

OCTOBER

In October, Héctor developed a sweet potato "meat" ball recipe for us and we are forever grateful. Photo by Héctor Gonzáles

Collards made their fall debut in September - a welcome change from peppers and okra! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our tiny, but mighty, Case tractor. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In October of 2020, we were at war with the bugs. Here's we're mowing down the tops of beets to rid the caterpillars of their favorite hiding spot. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

October came and went, and so did this plate of Mackenzie's beet hummus. Find the recipe in the JBG Recipe Archive. Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley.

It took several months, but we finally got around to painting those new delivery vans we bought in the spring! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In October, we followed our farmers' market crew from sun up to sun down to see just what it takes to run a famers' market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

October is a special time for Central Texas produce - we may have on winter clothes, but we're still harvesting summer crops, like eggplant. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

NOVEMBER

Adam, our office manager at Garfield, poses for a pic. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

This past November, we started work on a very exciting construction project that we hope to be completed by the end of 2021. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our greenhouse manager, Giana, works to get leek and onion transplants ready for the field. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Things are certainly getting colder, the chard a bit sweeter. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Fall if our carrots favorite time to shine, and there are no shortage of carrots to pick. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

DECEMBER

Did we mention there are exciting things to come? Details coming soon to the blog :) Photo by Scott David Gordon.

In December, we had several freezes which damaged the leaves of root crops like radishes. The solution? Just sell them in bulk for a few weeks until the leaves can recover. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

CSA Box Contents Week of Dec 14th

Goodbye 2020.

 

The last great cabbage harvest of 2020, plus many more stunning farm photos.

CSA Box Contents Week of Dec 21st

Individual: Cauliflower, Broccoli, Orange Carrot, Multiplying Onion, Collard Greens

Small: Cauliflower, Broccoli, Orange Carrot, Sweet Potato, Multiplying Onion, Collard Greens, Farmer's Choice Greens

Medium: Cauliflower, Broccoli, Orange Carrot, Sweet Potato, Multiplying Onion, Collard Greens, Farmer's Choice Greens, Farmer's Choice Herb, Rutabaga, Spinach

Large: Cauliflower, Broccoli, Orange Carrot, Sweet Potato, Multiplying Onion, Cabbage, Farmer's Choice Greens, Farmer's Choice Herb, Rutabaga, Radish, Kale, Spinach

Greetings Wonderful JBG Readers! This week we have two quick announcements:

1.The farm is closed on Friday December, 25th, and Friday, January 1st.

 

These are both paid-holidays for our hard-working farm staff who we hope will spend the day surrounded by family with their feet kicked up. Goodness knows our crew deserves it! In addition to these two days, many of the weekend markets are closed on the weekend following Christmas. For these reasons, the CSA Delivery schedules for the next two weeks are altered! If you normally receive your delivery on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday or are located in the DFW area, please note the changes in your delivery schedule below. All other deliveries will take place on their normally scheduled day. Please email A with any questions - farm@jbgorganic.com.

2. Citrus! Our bulk citrus sale is here!

We pride ourselves on only selling produce that we grow here at our farm just east of town. Seriously! We plant, care for, harvest, and wash everything you see in our CSA boxes and market stalls! However! We happily make one exception every winter season for Texas Citrus. There is just nothing like it! For many years now, we’ve worked with David Strohmeyer, a citrus farmer in McAllen, Texas who owns and operates G&S Groves. Each week, David drops off Ruby Red grapefruit and juicy navel oranges, all certified organic, which you can order for pickup at select markets or to accompany a CSA delivery. CSA Members, to add some Vitamin C to your next CSA delivery, just login to your account, click on “My Deliveries” and then choose the delivery you’d like to add citrus to. Not a CSA Member? Order your citrus here.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley. All Rights Reserved

Photos and Recipes by Mackenzie Smith Kelley. 

I am always stoked to find a few heads of baby boy choy in our CSA. The leaves are tender and the stalk is mild and crisp, a solid foundation for an easy winter salad. One of my favorite ways to prepare these verdant, cool weather gems that originate from the Yangtze River Delta area in China, is to serve them raw and chopped, sort of like you might do with celery, tossed in a sweet and sour dressing. This results in a spoonable salad great for topping hearty stews that could use a crisp zing, or served on the side of a meaty dish (beef short ribs, maybe?) that needs some acid to cut the fat.

The sweet in this recipe comes from Nuoc cham ga, or sweet chili sauce, a very tasty Thai condiment/marinade studded with vaguely spicy red chiles and garlic. The sour comes from rice vinegar, and a dash of sesame oil for good measure. I made the batch pictured with scallions, but if I had mint and cilantro on hand, a handful of each would have been added to the mix.

• 2 heads of baby bok choy, washed and chopped into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (could sub lime or lemon juice, or another type of vinegar)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon salt, more to taste
• 2 scallions, chopped
• Mint and cilantro (bonus!)

On Washing Bok Choy

Place bok choy in a large bowl and fill with water. Agitate the water with your hands, then let sit for 10-15 minutes so the water can loosen up any dirt on the veg. Most of the dirt will sink to the bottom of the bowl. When you remove the bok choy from the water, do so by picking it up and placing it in a colander to give it one more rinse. When you see the the dirt at the bottom of the water bowl, pause for a moment to thank the farmers that pull our food from the ground. Water houseplants with what's left in the bowl-- they don’t mind the dirt.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley. All Rights Reserved

Roughly chop bok choy into a size that would make the pieces easily spoonable. Chop scallions and herbs if you have them.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine sweet chili sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and salt. Add bok choy and scallions (and herbs if you have them.) Taste, and add salt if needed.

Sweet chili sauce is available at most asian grocery stores in Austin -- I buy mine at 99 Ranch Market on Airport and Lamar, and I have occasionally seen it for sale at various HEBs. You could also make your own.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley. All Rights Reserved

The farm will be closed on Friday, December 25th and Friday, January 1st. For this reason, our CSA Delivery schedule is altered for these two weeks. If you usually receive your CSA share on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or are located in DFW or Harker Heights, please refer to the graphic below to see when your scheduled delivery is for the week of 12/21 and 12/28. As always, shoot us an email if you have any questions, and happy holidays! farm@jbgorganic.com

 

It has been a chilly couple of weeks at the farm! And by chilly, we mean COLD! We have had several freezes that have damaged tender winter offerings like lettuces and mustard greens. You may notice that your bunches of kale for the next couple of weeks have a slightly yellow tint to them - this is caused by the cold temps, too. When tender leaves get too cold, we call this a "burn", and the leaves of many of our root crops were burned to a crisp. Luckily, there is a simple solution - just remove the tops! While the burned leaves are completely edible, we know that they can be a little unsightly, which is why we opt to simply remove them. Ever wonder where those tops go? Straight to the hog trailer! We're very proud of the fact that our Hergotz packing shed operation refrains from putting any vegetables into the landfill. The majority of our "inglorious" produce gets donated to the Central Texas Food Bank (upwards of 100,000 lbs. a year!) and what isn't suitable for humans, gets donated to a local hog farmer who uses the nutrient-dense veggies to feed his happy hogs.

Carrot tops covered in frost. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Orange roots, covered in dirt... because that's where they grow! These will be sprayed and soaked at our Hergotz packing shed to reveal bright orange carrots. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Dress like an onion - in layers! Mornings start out very cold at the farm, but by the afternoon, it's time to shed some layers! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

We're all happily donning a mask during the cold and windy mornings. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What to do with the radish greens have freeze damage? Remove them! The radishes themselves are damage free because they remained insulated in the ground. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

An under the truck, behind the scenes, perspective. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

All the hip-belt necessities: truck keys, knives, radio, and rubber bands. Farmers are always prepared. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

We spy farmer Brenton's truck beyond the green sea. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Hearty spinach, still looking fine despite the freezes. Popeye would be proud! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

While some are welcoming a blanket of snow, we're tending a carpet of green. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

These are the rows farmers' dreams are made of. Straight, green, and near-perfect germination. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Dreamy rows, at a diagonal. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Exciting things happening at our Garfield farm... stay tuned to the blog for the full story coming out in 2021. We can't wait to tell ya! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Onions, in the ground! These tiny babies will be overwintered and harvested int he spring, once a large bulb has formed. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

A treeline framing the dino kale, slightly burnt by the freezing temps, but delicious and nutritious nonetheless. Photo by Scott David Gordon.