Red Star Potatoes
Table of Contents:
1) In Your Box this Week
2) Farm News:
- Volunteers Needed
- Outstanding in the Field at JBG
- Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online
- Too Busy to Write
- Environment, Health and Food Safety
- Spring Speaker Series
- Austin Organic Gardeners
- Travis County Master Gardeners Association
4) Quotable Food
5) Recipes
6 Vegetable Storage Tips
7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Information
Please send newsletter feedback, suggestions and contributions to farm@jbgorganic.com
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Our newly built potato storage.
1) In Your Box this Week:
We will see what will fit in the wax boxes this week! They are worn out but we are expecting to have our new plastic bins the second week in May!
Radish
Lettuce
Chard
Parsley
Kohlrabi
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Collards or Kale
Carrots
Beets
Summer Squash
Onions
Cabbage
Swiss Chard
Green Garlic
Arugula
This list is subject to change depending on availability and quality of crops on harvest day. You’ll find the most accurate packing list on the homepage of our website.
- Will uses the potato digger to loosen the potatoes from the soil for harvesting.
2) Farm News:
- Volunteers Needed
The first of the potatoes (10,000 pounds) were harvested on Saturday…only 30,000 more to go! Thanks to the over 20 volunteers who came out to help, there is no way we could have done it without you.
We’ll be working more on the potatoes for the next couple weeks. Come help us harvest potatoes this Wednesday, May 6th, this Saturday, May 9th, or Wednesday, May 13th from 8am to 1pm! In exchange for your help, you’ll receive a share of our farm’s freshly harvested organic vegetables. So if you’d like to volunteer and see the potato digger in action please drop Carrie an email.
- Outstanding in the Field
Keep your fall calendar open for this event! Outstanding in the Field will be hosting an elegant meal at JBG’’s on September 29 at 3pm in the pecan orchard. There are several seats left and will likely sell out. Local chef Jesse Griffiths will be preparing a farm-style five course meal. Get registered for this event before it’s too late!
- Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online
Saturday volunteers help gather the potato crop.
- Too Busy to Write
We are swamped this week and I’ve had little time to write, so all you get is a short and sweet note from the farm (plus all those veggies).
Work is overwhelming at the farm right now. Will, Evelyn and Adam are planting and harvesting eight hours a day, every day. I have been seeding trays of plant starts that will be ready to move to the field in a few weeks. We are seeding 248 trays this week (each with 50 plants in them!).
Evelyn shows off the beautiful crop of spuds.
- Environment, Health and Food Safety
May 7, 7pm, Center for Community Engagement (1009 E. 11th Street)
Explore the impacts of the conventional food system on the environment, health, and food safety.
* Curt Ellis, filmmaker, “King Corn”
* Charlotte Herzele, University of Texas at Austin
* More speakers TBA
Sponsors: American Friends Service Committee, Fair Food Austin, MonkeyWrench Books, Oxfam-UT, PODER, Sustainable Food Center, Texas Fair Trade Coalition, Center for Community Engagement (UT-Austin), Urban Roots, Workers Defense Project
For more information, visit
http://fairfoodaustin.blogspot.com
http://monkeywrenchbooks.org
- Spring Speaker Series
Varying times on select days through May 30. Check Web site for schedule. 10 a.m. today: Mixing It Up With Dave: Container Patio Gardening at its Best!’With Dave Mix, Pacific Home and Garden. Free. The Great Outdoors Garden Center Nursery, 2730 S. Congress Avenue. www.gonursery.com
- Austin Organic Gardeners
The Austin Organic Gardeners meet the second Monday of every month at Zilker Botanical Garden. www.austinorganicgardeners.org
Meetings start at 7 p.m.
- Travis County Master Gardeners Association
The Travis County Master Gardeners Association holds it’s monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month. www.tcmastergardeners.org Meetings starts at 7 p.m.
We have several varieties of excellent lettuces.
4) Quotable Food:
5) Recipes:
6) Produce Storage Tips:
We aim to grow and package our vegetables to maintain the highest taste and nutritional quality possible. However, once they’ve left the farm it’s up to you to keep them fresh and nutritious. There’s no refrigeration at the CSA drop points so it’s best to pick up your box as early as possible. Here are some additional tips on how to store this week’s share:
Spinach, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Salad Greens, Pak Choi, Braising Mix and Cooking Greens will stay fresh in the crisper for 4-7 days and should be kept in plastic bags. Any bunch greens can be freshened by cutting an inch of the bottom stalks and soaking the entire bunch in cold water for 10 minutes. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few hours to revive. Also, when you receive lettuces and other delicate greens like arugula, you will notice that we bag them wet. This helps keep them fresh until members can pickup and refrigerate them. The lettuce heads, lettuce mixes, and arugula should not be refrigerated wet, though. Once you bring these vegetables home, you should wash and dry them before bagging and refrigerating. If you follow these steps, you lettuce should stay fresh.
Carrots, Radishes, Turnips, Beets, and Parsnips should be stored in plastic bags. They’ll last two weeks in the fridge. Take tops off carrots before storing, leave greens on radishes, turnips and beets, with both roots and tops in the bag.
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Scallions, and Summer Squash will last 4-7 days in plastic bags in the crisper.
It is best to store the Onions at 40 to 45 degrees F. Don’t whole store onions in the refrigerator because the moisture is bad for them. Don’t store potatoes near onions. The onions will absorb moisture from the potatoes.
To store Kohlrabi for several weeks, remove the leaf stems and place, unwashed, in sealed plastic bags in the refrigerator.
Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your guide for how to can, freeze, dry, pickle or ferment just about anything.
Sally and Lila
7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info:
Johnson’s Backyard Garden
9515 Hergotz Lane, Box E
Austin, TX 78742
Office Phone: 512.386.5273
Office Hours: M-F 8am to 12:30pm