Beth's chickens help us rid the okra of bugs.
Contents:
1) In Your Box this Week
2) Farm News
- New Pickup Site for Tarrytown beginning September 2
- New Seed Varieties coming Our Way
- Donut Army Blog
3) Events
- Outstanding in the Field
- Cheese making with Slow Food Austin
- Plein Air Austin Painting Group Celebrates Local Farms this Fall
- For Love of Water: F.L.O.W. of appreciation, awareness, action for a sustainable future
- Pamela Walker’s New Book ‘Growing Good Things to Eat in Texas’
4) Quotable Food
5) Recipes
- Okra: How to get the Slime Out
- Fried Okra with Potatoes and Onions, Hot Peppers optional
- Okra with Tomatoes and Onions, with Basil optional
- Steamed Okra with Caps on Trick
6) Produce Storage Tips
7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info
Left to right: Bess, Angel, Temo, Keith, Brenton, and Jessica fill in basil plantings near the barn.
1) In Your Box This Week
Okra
Watermelon
Basil
Winter Squash
White or Red Onions
Potatoes
Sweet Peppers
Pablano and Anaheim Mild Peppers
Jalapeno and Serrano Hot Peppers
Black, purple, green, white and Rosa Bianca Eggplant
Yellow, Zephyr and Zucchini
2) Farm News
- New Pickup Site for Tarrytown beginning September 2
Lilo Pomerleau has graciously offered to serve as our new Tarrytown host. Starting on Wednesday, September 2nd, Tarrytown members will now pickup their vegetables in the carport of Lilo’s home at 3402 Bonnie, Austin, TX 78703. Click here to see a Google Maps image of the site. Many thanks to outgoing Tarrytown host Allision Phillips – we appreciate her efforts and wish her luck in her move.
- New Seed Varieties coming Our Way
This week has been full of seed ordering for Aaron. Approximately $3,000 worth of seeds from carrots to bare root garlic will soon be arriving at our door. This will be enough seed to get us through the end of the year, Aaron hopes anyway. Jessica has been busy planting seeds to flats in the greenhouse. Her most recent experiment has failed, however. About a dozen flats of lettuce were seeded and placed in a dark temperature controlled storage space to germinate. We have not seen any progress on the lettuce sprouting though and fear we will have to reseed. There is always trial and error on a farm, it’s just part of the process.
Our cucumbers are not producing as heavily as we’d like this season. Aphids have once again infested the cucumber beds and slowed production to a virtual standstill. They seem to have a discriminating palate though, as gorgeous summer squash are growing like gangbusters in the very next row. Today we also harvested and stored the rest of the butternut squash for this round of planting (we do have more winter squash in production for later in the season).
After harvesting this morning, Keith spent the rest of his day weeding the basil and running the rototiller through the beds close to the barn. Temo fixed yet another farm vehicle that has been out of commission all week. It seems essential to have a few skilled mechanics around any farm, luckily we have two. Oh yes, Temo also handled snake duties this afternoon. We try to keep the vegetation away from the water risers just so we are not reaching into a mess of tall grass when trying to get the irrigation going. While trimming near the risers today, Temo caught sight of a Copperhead and had to deal with ‘removing’ said snake. Not a fun job but it does have to be done.
We completed the task of installing tomato cages for the fall determinate tomatoes late last week. And Angel finished placing stakes among the new plantings of indeterminate tomatoes today. This idea of growing fall tomatoes is new to me as a northerner. I have to admit that I’m very excited to see tomatoes fruiting well into the next season.
We’ve had some amazing workshare turnouts this week, twenty-two people helped us out on Saturday. With extra hands around the farm we are able to catch up on weeding the beds, getting boxes packed early and doing some extra cleaning around the barn. Thank you to all who take time out of your busy schedules to help us meet our weekly deadlines. You are a big part of the community in Community Supported Agriculture.
- Donut Army Blog
Cathy Brigham, one of our valued CSA suscribers, has started a new blog, Donut Army, that focuses on what she cooks from her bi-weekly CSA box. Cathy claims she’s new at this blog thing but her site is interesting and may offer you some suggestions for your own kitchen experience with our organic produce. Thank you Cathy!
Temo drives while the rest of us drop basil transplants into the wheel planter,
3) Events
- Outstanding in the Field
Get your tickets while you still can for the Outstanding in the Field (OITF) dinner here on the farm on September 29th. OITF’s mission is to, ” is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.” To read more about Outstanding in the Field, please visit their website at http://www.outstandinginthefield.com. We hope you can join us for this wonderful event in September here at JBG.
- Cheese making with Slow Food Austin
Slow Food Austin’s September 3rd Slow Session introduces you to making great cheese at home. Led by cheese-maker and teacher Scott Evans of Austin Homebrew Supply, this session will cover the basics of home cheese-making, offer a bit of cheese history, and discuss sourcing ingredients such as raw milk. Scott will bring some of his cheeses to sample and participants will leave with their own starter that can be finished at home. The Session goes from 7-9 p.m. We provide light refreshments; feel free to bring a beverage or snack to share. All Slow Food Austin Slow Sessions are free. Habitat Suites is at 500 E Highland Mall Blvd in Austin; just ask the front desk to direct you to the Slow Session.
- Plein Air Austin Painting Group Celebrates Local Farms this Fall
The artist members of the Plein Air Austin group will be celebrating local farms this fall by gathering to paint at several organic Austin-area farms over several weekends. Each “paint out” will begin at 9 a.m. and wrap up by noon. Each event will feature plein air artists working in oil, pastels or watercolor and capturing lively scenes of farm stands and shoppers as well as beautiful old barns, funky tractors or whatever else catches our creative attention.
Artists of all kinds are invited to join us on these paint-outs and need not be members of Plein Air Austin to participate. Or, if you’re an art lover and collector, drop by a paint-out and meet the artists – who knows, you may end up the lucky buyer of a painting as freshly created as your farm stand produce. To let us know you’ll be participating, please visit www.pleinairaustin.org and click on “Calendar”. The artists are excited to celebrate local farms and promote the health, environmental and community benefits of eating locally. Bountiful places and beautiful art go hand in hand!
First stop for “Celebrating Local Farms” will be Boggy Creek Farm on September 12 at 3414 Lyons Road, Austin.
On Sept 19, we will visit Green Gate Farms at 8310 Canoga Avenue, Austin.
September 24, we will paint at Johnson’s Backyard Garden, 9515 Hergotz Lane, Austin.
October 10, artists will paint at Juniper Hills Farm outside Dripping Springs.
About Plein Air Austin: Plein Air Austin promotes painting directly from life through paint-outs, exhibitions, and fellowship benefitting artists as well as the community. It is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization with more than 80 artist members. Learn more at www.pleinairaustin.org.
- For Love of Water: F.L.O.W. of appreciation, awareness, action for a sustainable future
September 11 – 13, 2009Wimberley, Texas
With water making headlines as “liquid gold” and “the new oil,” a debate is heating up over whether or not we need to have meters on private wells and over how much authority we need to give regulating bodies as our creeks dry up and our wells go dry and new developments of thirsty families keep on moving in. We feel the time is right to invite consumers of water, recreationists relying on water, land managers, and public policymakers to gather for an event centered on appreciation, awareness and actions we can take to ensure a sustainable future for this precious resource.
Friday evening, 6 – 9pm, art show, reception, film
Saturday, 9 – 4pm, conference, classes, trade show
Sunday morning ceremony
Spread the word – hosted by Holistic Management Texas. Info/registration at hmitexas.org or call Peggy Cole at 512-847-3822
- Pamela Walker’s New Book ‘Growing Good Things to Eat in Texas’
Friday, September 11, 7 p.m. at BookPeople, Austin.
BookPeople and Edible Austin present author Pamela Walker for a reading, audience discussion and local food event with author Pamela Walker. Enjoy tasty treats and meet special guests featured in her new book, Growing Good Things to Eat in Texas. Appearing with Pamela will be Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler (Boggy Creek Farm), Betsy Ross (Ross Farm), Katie Kraemer (Tecolote Farm), Amelia Sweethardt (Pure Luck Farm and Dairy), Mike Sams (Full Quiver Farm and Dairy), Brad Stufflebeam (Home Sweet Farm) and Dennis Holbrook (South Tex Organics). Edible Austin will present a local food tasting at the event featuring dishes made with seasonal products from these celebrated growers and producers, including artisan cheese tastings and Eastside Café’s famous Betsy Ross Chili. Drinks will include local beer courtesy of Saint Arnold Brewery, artisan-blended tea from Zhi Tea and new sodas from Maine Root.
Read excerpts from Walker’s book in the Fall issue of Edible Austin and online at edibleaustin.com and listen to an interview with Pamela on the Edible Communities Show on Heritage Radio Network with host Marla Camp, airing September 7 and archived on heritageradionetwork.com
Angel at work in the basil.
4) Quotable Food
A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule. Michael Pollan
5) Recepies
- Okra: How to get the Slime Out, sent to us by Susan Randal
A tried and true way to really remove the slime from okra: Cut off stem ends and soak in a bowl of 2/3 water and 1/3 vinegar for awhile. Drain off the slimy liquid residue and rinse before cooking. It really works!
- Fried Okra with Potatoes and Onions, Hot Peppers optional, sent to us by Dorinda and Marshal (Treadwell host neighbors)
On a good sized cutting board cut and season each ingredient separately, so they can be added individually during cooking. Cut up size of each ingredient should be in comparison to cooking time for that ingredient.
Onions (yellow, white, or red) – chunky chopped or cut-up so they don’t cook too fast – no seasoning on this pile, remember they cook down some.
Hot peppers (to taste) (optional ingredient) – seed to reduce heat, chopped medium to small, but not tiny – no seasoning on this pile (we usually use jalapenos, red or green)
Potatoes – cut up or cubed in 1/4 to 3/8 inch size pieces (amount to be about equal to okra, but fine to be less too; will look less on cutting board) – seasoning: salt and pepper to taste, then dust lightly with flour and jumble around with fingers to very lightly dust coat (old southern black lady, Lilly Pearl, taught my gransmother this trick to keep potatoes from soaking up grease when frying while not changing the flavor or texture)
Okra – cut in 1/2 to 5/8 inch pieces and lay flat (cut side up) on cutting board for seasoning: salt and pepper to taste, I also sprinkled on some dill, then drizzle corn meal all over (no need to jumble or stir as the excess corn meal between the pieces will mix in when adding to pan)
Two cooking options: You can add all ingredients at same time (potatoes work best starting out on the bottom)and fry and stir or you can add in layers so some parts are less cooked/fried. Both ways are good, but produce different textures, with the second preserving more okra flavor and texture without the slime. I use olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the skillet, less than 1/8 inch deep, as you don’t want to have oil left over after cooking but you need enough to fry with. Heat oil pretty hot (sizzles a water drop), add potatoes first and spread over bottom of pan, let fry a 3-4 minutes, stir and respread over bottom of pan. Let fry another 1-2 minutes and then add the hot peppers and onions sprinkled over top of potatoes, with the okra added and spread over that, including the excess corn meal. Let cook a little more before stirring the mixture together. The potatoes, this way, will have a little crispier outside. Then stir every minute until everything is done to your liking. The okra will continue to cook some being in with everything hot, so you can actually turn off just before the okra is where you want it. The longest part is preparing the ingredients.
- Okra with Tomatoes and Onions, with Basil optional, sent to us by Dorinda and Marshal (Treadwell host neighbors)
Onions (I usually use yellow, but others fine) – slice in wedges that creates long strips 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide
Tomatoes – depending upon size and type of tomato, slice in wedges 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide or cut in chunks
Basil (fresh works best, but dry is fine, optional) – fresh, several leaves (use whole or torn up just a bit); dry, 1 tsp to maybe 1 tbl, depending upon size of dish being cooked
Okra – pods can be left whole with caps or cut in 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces (I cut okra for this dish, but use whole with caps for just steaming okra by itself)
Can be cooked with or without a lid, but is faster with the lid and also steams while simmering. Olive oil to cover bottom of skillet, enough to simmer dish and cook into dish. Add onions, then tomatoes, add a pinch of sugar (cuts the acid of the tomatoes, but not enough to flavor dish), sauté/simmer till onion starts softening and turning translucent, add basil (optional), stir again, add okra and stir every minute or so until okra starts to soften, turn off heat. If using lid, leave lid in place a 3-5 minutes, if not, stir a couple times over 3-5 minutes to finish the okra.
- Steamed Okra with Caps on Trick, sent to us by Dorinda and Marshal (Treadwell host neighbors)
If okra is not overcooked, it will not be slimy. Also, whole okra steamed (do not boil) with caps on (is part of the trick) tends not to be slimy. Marshall says get a pan with a steamer basket boiling, put in whole okra, steam for 5 minutes, turn off, leaving okra not limp but with some texture (the rest of the trick). The okra will turn a little darker when done, but don’t overcook. You can serve whole and cut it on the plate or hold the cap handle to eat it; it should have enough firmness to do so.
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:
Tomatoes should be kept uncovered at room temp, but can be refrigerated if very ripe. All other fresh vegetables belong in the refrigerator.
Peppers and Cucumbers should be stored in the crisper, and washed before use.
Basil can be stored upright in a jar of water at room temperature, or in an open bag on the counter. These three all do well frozen also (they will loose texture but not taste).
Eggplants, Potatoes, Onions are best kept moderately cool, no lower than 50 degrees. A cool, dry dark place is best- on the counter, in a cupboard or basket. 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.
Summer Squash will last 4-7 days in plastic bags in the crisper.
Melons should be ripened before refrigeration, stored in plastic bags when ripe. Melons should be used as soon as possible after ripening.
Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions.
Saturday volunteers share some melon at the end of the work day.
7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Information
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
e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com