Johnson’s Backyard Garden (JBG) is seeking an experienced candidate to join our team of delivery drivers. This position will include a wide variety of deliveries including CSA Home Delivery, CSA Pickup, and Restaurant Deliveries and will include deliveries in the Austin and Houston areas. This driver will work closely with our CSA Managers as well as Wholesale Managers to ensure that all deliveries are made in a timely manner. The Saturday driver shift will be comprised of either a restaurant delivery shift or a farmers' market shift.

JBG offers the opportunity for community members to be provided with the best quality, locally grown, organic vegetables possible. In just 10 years, the farm went from a 30 x 50 ft garden in an urban backyard in East Austin to a now 205-acre organic vegetable farm based on a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. Our CSA has now grown to more than 1,700 members in four major metropolises and we provide fresh, year-round, organic produce to CSA members, multiple farmers markets, local restaurants, and grocery retailers, including major chains like Whole Foods and HEB/Central Market.

This position is a full time Tuesday-Friday, occasional Saturday job.

Responsibilities

• Depending on route, delivers vegetables to CSA members' homes, community pickup locations, or local restaurants
• Safely operates JBG box truck or cargo van and delivers produce in a timely manner
• Follows all company policies to ensure food safety and quality of produce
• Shows up for shift on time, sometimes beginning as early as 5:30 am
• Checks all invoices to ensure order is complete before delivering
• Comfortable driving locally in Austin, as well as out of town shift to Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio
• Occasionally helps pack late orders for customers and delivers
• Communicates any delivery or vehicle issues to office staff in timely manner

Qualifications

• Valid TX driver’s license with a clean driving record (required)
• Ability and experience driving a variety of vehicles including box trucks and cargo vans
• Experience operating very large trucks (including manual or automatic transmission) is not required but preferred
• All drivers must have a working cell phone and are expected to carry it with them during shifts
• Experience using a forklift and a pallet jack is not required but preferred
• Self-directed and independent worker
• Strong work ethic
• An interest in agriculture and promotion of local and organic farming is preferred

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift 60 pounds and mobility to ascend and descend the rear end of a box truck.
• Ability to load trucks in a timely manner to ensure earliest delivery possible
• Ability to work outdoors in a variety of weather conditions

Compensation and Benefits

Pay starts at $13/hour. All full-time JBG employees are eligible for our group health insurance policy.  Employees also receive a weekly share of vegetables and eggs bi-weekly.

To apply, please send a resume and letter of interest to jobs@jbgorganic.com with “Delivery Driver” in the subject line.

Johnson’s Backyard Garden’s provides equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sex, age, national origin, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation. The duties listed above are general and not an exhaustive list of tasks performed on the farm. We are committed to training, developing, and promoting from within the company based on performance.

This smashed eggplant dip is as versatile as it is delicious. Photo by Runnan Li.

Smashed Eggplants with Chiles Photos and Recipe by: Runnan Li Serves 2-4 people.

This is one of my favorite dishes on my summer table. It originated in Hunan, China, which is hot and humid in summer and people loves spicy food that makes them sweat and release the heat. It’s more like an appetizer but so versatile that it almost goes with anything. I’ve tried it on rice, on a fried egg, as a spread in my sandwich, in a grilled cheese …. the list goes on. In this recipe I presented it as a dip for chips.

INGREDIENTS:

•  Two mid-sized eggplants
•  Three jalapeno peppers
•  Two serrano peppers
•  Three cloves of garlic
•  ½ tablespoon of sesame oil
•  ½ tablespoon of soy sauce
•  ½ teaspoon of Chinese extra aged vinegar (optional)
•  Salt and pepper to taste

 

Roasted eggplants and peppers, ready to be smashed. Photos by Runnan Li.

 

DIRECTIONS:

Roast the peppers your own way until the skin is blackened and blistered. Immediately cover the peppers with aluminum foil or plastic wrap to help them steam. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stem and seed the peppers and rub off the loose skin of the peppers as much as possible. Cut off stem of the eggplants and slice in half. Roast in 400 F for 20 minutes or until soft that a fork can easily go through. Similar to the peppers, wrap, let sit and scrap the eggplant meat off from the skin. In a mortar and pestle set, smash together the garlic, pepper and eggplant. Mix in the seasonings.

If a mortar and pestle set is not available, simply chop up the garlics and smash everything in a sturdy large bowl with a large wood spoon or potato masher.

Side note: a must have in the authentic recipe is thousand-year egg. Thousand-year eggs are typically preserved duck eggs with dark brown insides, somehow stinky smell and unique flavors. You will either love it or hate it! If you’re feeling adventurous, I strongly recommend trying to add one in this dish. Prepare to be surprised! They are available in most Asian grocery stores.

CSA Box Contents Week of Aug 17th

This week's blog post was written by one of our CSA Members, Delaney Marie, and first appeared on her blog - Joyful Balance.  Thank you Delaney for sharing your experience joining the CSA, and for being such a friendly face at the farmers market every weekend.

Delaney is excited about an extra-large tomato she found in her CSA box. Photo from Delaney's blog.

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite topics – VEGETABLES.

If you follow me on social media, you may know by now that my husband and I joined a CSA a few months ago. If you aren’t familiar with what a CSA is, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. A lot of small farms have CSA programs, and basically, if you join you are paying to get a regular share of produce. It’s kind of like getting a subscription box to your local farm!

There are various ways that each farm may structure their CSA programs – each program may differ on how often you get your box of produce, different sizes of boxes, and different methods of getting your box to you. For example, some may drop your box straight on your doorstep, while others may require you to pick it up from a specific place at a specific time.

Our CSA is through Johnson’s Backyard Garden in Austin. They are local and organic, which we love! This particular program has a few different CSA options, but we signed up for a weekly “small” box that we pick up from the farmers market, which is just across the street from us! The small box is perfect for our house since it’s just me and my husband.

Every Saturday morning, my husband and I grab a reusable grocery bag and walk across the street to the farmers market. It’s always a fun way to start off the weekend! We grab our box of veggies, and sometimes if we need any specific produce that week that isn’t in our box, we will wander the market and find a booth that sells whatever we are looking for. Typically we get plenty in our box, but being a food blogger means that I sometimes have plans that require specific things ?

Overall, I couldn’t be happier with our decision to join the CSA. So today I want to share with you why you should consider looking into local CSA programs in your area!

5 Reasons You Should Join a CSA

1. You don’t have to go grocery shopping as often

I used to go to the grocery store weekly. However, now that we get our fresh produce from the CSA, I really only have to go to the grocery store when I need to stock up on pantry staples – which is really only once every 3 weeks or so! Whenever I do go to the store I stock up on pantry staples to last me a while (such as whole grains, beans, flours, and spices), and that’s really my only main focus at the store!

There are a few veggies or fruits that I still rely on the store for, but not many. Things that we don’t get from our local farm, like bananas, I still get at the store. However, for the most part, I can rely on our weekly box and a couple other occasional purchases at the farmers market for all of my produce needs!

2. You get to eat organic foods (in most cases)

Most farms that offer CSAs are often organic, though this isn’t always the case so be sure to ask if this is important to you! When I used to buy everything at the store I didn’t buy everything organic, but I did try my best! Sometimes it’s hard to find organic options at the store though, so I love knowing that we always get organic in our weekly box.

In the idea of being transparent, I do know that there is some debate out there as to how many health benefits organic options actually bring us – but my personal belief is that it definitely can’t hurt! Some potential benefits of organic foods include more nutrients and significantly less pesticide residue. Plus, organic means that fewer harmful chemicals are used, so it’s also a great choice for the earth!

Even if your local farm isn’t organic, I would argue that this is still a kind contribution to the earth. Your veggies don’t have to be transported nearly as far, so less resources are used to get them to your table. AND your veggies are likely not individually packaged by the farm, so you’re using less plastic and packaging as well. Yay earth!

3. Farm fresh food just tastes better

Look, if you haven’t experienced many farm fresh veggies, you probably think I’m a little crazy. But I kid you not, farm-fresh food JUST TASTES BETTER. Over the last few months, my husband and I have noticed that the dishes I make with our CSA veggies are more flavorful and delicious than ever before. I theorize that this is partially because they are organic. However, another factor is that you’re actually eating what is in season, so it’s at its peak yumminess! In addition, the veggies don’t have to be transported over long distances to get to you – so they are as fresh as possible!

Ever notice that you can buy most veggies at the grocery store year-round? There are a few exceptions to this rule, but for the most part the grocery stores are able to get their hands on fruits and veggies any time they want by transporting them from all over – which means that your veggies aren’t as fresh and may not be as tasty!

4. You’re supporting local

By joining a CSA with a local farm you are basically voting with your dollars on something you believe in. You’re basically saying “THIS. THIS IS A GOOD THING FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND WE WANT MORE THINGS LIKE THIS”.

You are supporting your local economy and contributing to your very own community. You are investing in your future by supporting a local farm today so that it can continue to exist tomorrow (cue the inspirational music). CSAs let you support your local farmer while they, in turn, support your family with fresh produce – it’s really a win-win!

5. You will start experimenting with your food (and make fun new discoveries!)

One thing that is a little odd about a CSA when you first start is the idea that you aren’t sure what you’ll get each week. It’s a wild card! Our CSA has a helpful link on their website to give us a general idea of what may be in our box each week, but sometimes it gets switched up a bit just depending on what they have. The good thing about the wild card concept though is that you get to experiment with new things!

Whenever I get a fruit or veggie that I haven’t had before, I usually do some online research to find recipe inspiration – I always figure something out and I haven’t been disappointed yet! Here are some of the fun things I have discovered in my experiments –

• Beets: I never used to eat beets, but now I love them! I’ve learned that they make great soups and I can also turn them into veggie burger patties!
• Fennel: I’ve learned that the large bulb part of the fennel can be thrown into a stir fry and the green fronds make delicious iced tea.
• Okra: I didn’t have any strong opinions or previous experiences with okra before getting it in our box, but now I love making air fried okra! Cucumbers: I like cucumbers, but we’ve been getting a lot of them – so I’ve recently started making pickles! It’s fun to have homemade pickles in our fridge to top sandwiches or veggie burgers with. A jar of homemade pickles is also a fun little gift for a friend or loved one!
• Shishito peppers: These ones are a little spicy for my personal taste (though I should say that I’m a baby when it comes to spice), but I’ve learned how to roast them up easily and my husband enjoys them on things like tacos and fajitas.
• Eggplant: Okay, I’ve always loved eggplant. But we’ve been getting so much of it that I needed to expand my eggplant horizons so I didn’t make the same eggplant lasagna recipe every single week! I have discovered that eggplant works great in stovetop curry, and I plan on experimenting with babaganoush as well next time we get some. Korean Melon: I had NEVER heard of this before our CSA – but it’s delicious! This one I just peel, chop up, and eat as a tasty snack!

So… are there any cons?

If having little to no control over the contents of your box every week isn’t something that floats your boat, maybe a CSA isn’t for you. HOWEVER, I will say that at first I was worried about this – and I very quickly adapted! I realized early on that I was able to find creative ways to use our produce every week and that it was totally worth it. I still plan out our meals for the week the way I always have, but I plan them out after I get our box for the week – that way I can create that week’s plan based on the contents!

I know I haven’t addressed price yet, so I guess I should! I do think that overall we may be spending a little bit more on our veggies than we used to at the store – but to be completely honest, it’s so worth it. I’m a big believer in the idea that if I’m going to splurge on something, it should be something that is good for my physical and mental wellbeing – and this definitely is! I know that I am eating fresh, organic, nutritious produce every week, which definitely contributes to my physical health. It also contributes to my mental health because it brings me joy – I love knowing that I’m supporting local, I love our weekly dates to the farmers market, I love experimenting with our produce each week, and I love eating yummy food!

As far as the price goes, I will say that there is also a cheaper “personal” sized box option through our CSA, so if we ever feel that we need to save a little more we could switch to that option, pay less, and still get a good amount of veggies! But for now, we are happy “splurging” on our small box ? Some farms may also strike up a deal with you if you are willing to volunteer with them – so if you want some cheaper veg I would definitely recommend asking if you could volunteer once a week in exchange for some produce!

If you are interested to see what types of produce I get from my CSA, be sure to follow me on Instagram – I often post “farmers market hauls” on my stories after getting our weekly box!

I hope this was a good summary of the many perks to joining a local CSA! If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, I encourage you to do some research and see if there is a CSA program in your area! And be sure to check out Johnson’s Backyard Garden if you are in the Austin area!

Until next time, stay well!

-Delaney

Spicy Watermelon Cucumber Salad Serves 1 Author: The Migoni Kitchen

As a new mom, I can really appreciate meals that don’t really require measuring or recipes at all. Not to mention no cooking! The quantities in this recipe are all suggestions. You can add extra/less of any item and still enjoy this deliciously refreshing summer salad. It really feels like Texas summer in a bowl!

Note - if you cannot find tajin seasoning, they sell a similar product at Trader Joes that is labeled as “Chili Lime Seasoning Blend”.

Ingredients: 1-2 cups watermelon, cubed 1 small cucumber, sliced 2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled ½ jalapeno, sliced thinly 1 small handful fresh mint, chopped 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon Tajin or chili lime seasoning Salt to taste

Toss watermelon, cucumber, jalapeno, mint and feta into a large salad bowl. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the salad and season with Tajin and salt to taste.

CSA Box Contents Week of Aug 10th

In case it hasn't been on your radar, this post featuring our staff's favorite things has been a regular slot in the blog schedule for quite some time. Ever wonder what your local farmers do off the fields? Cue: 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!

FAITH:

Austin Film Society is hosting virtual screenings, and proceeds from ticket sales will help support efforts to open AFS Cinemas.

MARY, NED, & GIANNA (OUR GREENHOUSE CREW!):

Lather on some sunscreen, grab the ol' hound dog, and hit up a park! Mayfield, Walnut Creek, and Emma long are some favorites.  Be sure to check if you need to make reservations beforehand!

Checkout Loro's takeout menu for a new take on central Texas cuisine.

Escape town for a day and drive through the hill country to Fredericksburg or Enchanted Rock (where you do, in fact, need a reservation).

MACKENZIE:

I am so excited to be participating in #sharethemicnowtx, an initiative to share space on well-developed platforms to shine a light on Black women in Texas.

LUCAS:

ADA:

I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking and reading about the sheer complexity of our country's food system, my minuscule role in this machine, and all of the ways we, as a community, can create a more equitable and just food system. I was so happy when I found a catalog of articles written by  Chris Newman, a Black farmer in Virginia who runs Sylvanaqua Farms that I've followed on Instagram for a while. In addition to working as a full-time farmer (how are there any more hours left in the day!?), Chris writes a lot about what a sustainable future can and can't look like. Chris's writing and views are unapologetic and honest, and he's often addressing the elephant in the room of many conversations about local food: how to scale, the limitations of small farming, and the inequitable systems we're working within. Here is a catalog of articles Chris has written here with titles like "I Lost an Argument with a Vegan" and "Clean Food: If You Want to Save the World, Get Over Yourself". I especially love the photos he chooses to go along with his articles. Checkout the writing here, and follow the farming here.

Photo courtesy of Sylvanaqua Farms Instagram.

 

Also! My friend Monica is selling TONS of original art and illustrations via her Instagram right now (check out the story highlight titled "Available Art"). Many of these illustrations are small pen and ink pieces... intimate drawings that just about anyone should be able to find a space for in their home. She's purging some of her collection, and all of the pieces are very affordable. I bought one pen and ink drawing of a cobblestone street for myself, and another small flower study for a friend... but my favorite thing that came in the mail with Monica's order might just be this llama and road runner sticker. Now what to stick them on!?

Monica threw these stickers into my order. But what she didn't know is that I recently came upon a llama that now lives at my house... among the roadrunners.

LUKE:

Hop on a bike! Discover some of the awesome bike routes that wind their way through Austin.

MICHELLE:

Making a sweet potato stew with chicken thights, a recipe inspired by Liberian rubbed greens. I'm trying to social isatne an dstay safe, so I've been waking up early to spend time on walks with my dog and staying cool during the hot times of the day. I'm working on a robert Crumb jigsaw puzzle which I got from Half Priced Books. Lots of melon and jalapeno margarits, as well. Watermelon and basil salads, too. Tonights menu is a hash made of bacon, eggs, and zucchini.

LAUREN ELIZABETH:

HEYDON:

MIKE MO: