The sun goes down at the Fall Open House and Potluck at JBG

Contents:

1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News

• David Becker works at JBG during his 40 Days of Funemployment
  
• Introducing new intern Krystin Bowcutt
• Preserving the World’s Oceans – From a Land- to a Sea to an Earth-Ethic
• Our Weekday-Only Pickup Schedule begins Tuesday November 3
  
• New Workshare Schedule: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8am to 1pm
• JBG Returns to the Farmer’s Market on this Saturday, October 31

3) Events

• Slow Food Austin shows you how to make your own Bacon
• A conversation with Jill Richardson author of “Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken &What We Can Do to Fix It”
• Texas Book Festival: Woody Tasch talks about his new book ‘Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered’ this Sunday, November 1 at 3:30pm
  

4) Quotable Food

5) Recipes

• Fish with Green Bean and Tomato Stew
• Spicy Parmesan Green Beans and Kale
• Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Syrup Cinnamon Brown Butter
  

6) Produce Storage Tips

7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info

Brenton talks to visitors at the Fall Potluck and Open House

1) In Your Box this week:

Radishes
Kale
Green Beans
Tomatoes (green now, but let stay in paper bag on counter until red)
Sweet Potatoes
Bok Choy or Kohlrabi
Arugula
Basil
Butternut Squash
Sweet and Hot Peppers
Black Beauty and Dancer Eggplant
Okra (limited)

2) Farm News

David harvests broccoli

David Becker, who is about to start work at a big international law firm, decided to creatively use his free time prior to  full-time employment as a lawyer.
He describes the 40-day challenge he set for himself : ” I have forty days to do all the things I won’t have a chance to do when I start my upcoming job. I am challenging myself to do something new, something interesting, something I’ve always wanted to do, or something completely ridiculous every day for the next forty days.”

Here’s a link to an article in the Austin American Statesman about David’s 40-day challenge: http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/2009/10/06/1006becker.html

On day 29 of his 40 days of “funemployment”, David came to JBG to participate as a Workshare volunteer.   He writes,  “… these forty days are all about pushing myself to engage in new experiences, so I got ready to literally get my hands dirty and signed up as a workshare volunteer for Johnson’s Backyard Garden, who, according to a friend of a friend, will ‘work your ass off, if that’s what you want.’ ”

To read more about David’s experience at JBG, click on the following link: http://thefortydays.com/2009/10/15/day-29-home-grown/

Brenton and David relax after harvesting

Hello to all! My name is Krystin, and I’m the new intern on the farm. I began on Monday this week and am quickly adjusting to the schedule and the work load. Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be able to tag along as Matt delivered the boxes to the drop off points. At our second stop, one member called out “hey, you’re the green bean girl!” Slightly confused, as I didn’t believe I had been on the farm long enough to have earned a reputation known to the members in Cedar Park, I responded with a question mark expression. That is, until he held up his hands beside his face imitating the picture from the last newsletter. I am indeed the very excited lady with the freshly picked green beans in the first photo!

"Green Bean Girl"

I have been a resident of New Hampshire for most of my life and moved to Austin about a month and half ago. I spent the last year waitressing at a glorious restaurant in Boston. While there, I learned a great deal about food and wine, and, as I watched local cheese makers bring their cheese to the kitchen and farmers drop of their produce, it became clear that I was on the wrong end of the path that food travels from ground to consumer. I no longer wanted to be serving the food, I wanted to be creating it, bringing it to life. And I wanted to be in a place where the food can be harvested all year long. How wonderful to not worry about three feet of snow over your crops! While I missed the apple picking and the foliage of the northeast this fall, I certainly am not going to miss the bitter cold that this winter is destined to bring. I look forward to a winter in this lovely city on this beautiful farm.

While I was already quite happy being here and truly believed that this opportunity will provide me with exactly the kind of experience I have been looking for, my day on Wednesday confirmed both of these notions. First, I participated  in the assembly line as all of the volunteers gathered together to make your boxes a reality. It was a group of people solidified by a common interest in organic farming and a curiosity about the connection between earth and food. Second, I saw the expressions of each member as they picked up their boxes, particularly the new members who happily sifted through their goody boxes, announcing the vegetables as they pulled them out. These two experiences strengthened my desire to be a part of this community and participate in the process of providing Austinites with beautiful vegetables!

Grit Ramuschkat

I came across a very philosophical essay about ocean conservation and seafood and found its nicely phrased thoughts worthwhile sharing. The essay was written by Carl Safina, a prominent ecologist and marine conservationist, nature writer and president of the Blue Ocean Institute, an organization that uses science, art and literature to inspire a closer relationship with the sea. The source of the essay was the book Hungry Planet – What the World Eats by Peter Menzel & Faith d’Aluisio.

About 1/3 of humanity lives within 50 miles of a coast. However, when it comes to the topic of conservation, most of us don’t give the sea much thought. Even for many nature lovers, the ocean is the beach, not the realm that spreads in three dimensions for thousands of miles beyond the breaking surf. The ocean seems distant and vague. Why is this?, Sarafina ponders. Maybe this is because we are such visual creatures, generally oriented outwards to our environment. However, if we redirect our senses inward for a moment, a very intimate relationship with the ocean surfaces. Most of the oxygen we breathe is made by ocean plankton. All life arouse from the sea and when animals left the sea, they took saltwater with them, in their bodies – an internal environment crucial for cellular survival. We are, in a sense, soft vessels of seawater. We are reminded of this by the taste of our tears or our sweat after a long work day at the farm. Seventy percent of our bodies is water, the same percentage that covers the earth’s surface. We are wrapped around an ocean within.

The collective weight of humanity may rest on land, but we levy heavy pressure on the sea. Gravity takes the by-products of human enterprise to the water’s edge and beyond. Even air quality effects water quality, because what goes up alights elsewhere, as shown by the mercury from power plants, which comes back to your plate in your salmon. One distinct attribute of the ocean is fluidity. The same fluidity that generates so many beautiful metaphors about life and time also closes the ocean’s skin instantly behind our contaminants and trash leaving no scars where there should be open gashes.

In 1949, Aldo Leopold, a visionary forester and writer, advocated a “Land-Ethic” where he called for an extension of our sense of community beyond humanity to the whole living landscape. Leopold however, as Safina argues, made the mistake of land locking his vision by the choice of his title. In order to embrace all life on earth in our concept of community, we need to complement the Land-Ethic with a Sea-Ethic, Safina writes. Instead of maintaining two ethics side by side though, I say, we might as well create an all inclusive term, the Earth-Ethic.

To preserve oceanic life or what’s left of it – according to Sarafina, 90% of the population of big fish are already gone -  the Blue Ocean Institute as well as other marine life institutions have put together seafood pocket guides listing endangered and still abundant, hence okay to eat fish. They have one for Sushi, too. You can download the guides by following the links below.

Links:
http://www.blueocean.org/seafood/seafood-guide
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx

Also, here’s an excellent article by Micheal Pollan from the NYT Magazine, August 2009 on why cooking keeps you thin and what the food network has made of us.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=out%20of%20the%20kitchen,%20onto%20the%20couch&st=cse

• Our Weekday-only Pickup Schedule Begins Tuesday November 3

After this Saturday, October 31, we will have successfully made the transition to week-day only pickups.  Thanks to everyone for their patience as we have made this change.  For the finalized schedule, please see the chart below.  If you have any questions about your specific pickup schedule, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com or call Carrie in the office at 512-386-5273 from 7:30am to 3:30pm, Monday-Thursday and until 12:30pm on Friday.

New Schedule:

Please note that the Brodie/Slaughter location will remain on Fridays from 3:30pm-7:00pm

Workshare volunteers and staff

• Workshare Opportunities on Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8am to 1pm

With our new weekday-only pickup schedule, we will have Workshare opportunities on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8am to 1pm.  Saturday Workshare will be temporarily cancelled as we adjust to the new schedule. We are going to start attending the Austin Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and need to figure out the timing and employee coverage on this before we can start up the Saturday Workshare hours again.  As soon as we can, we will make Saturday Workshare available again.

All workshare volunteers get a share of freshly harvested vegetables in exchange for their help.  If you are interested in participating on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com or call Carrie in the office at 512-386-5273.

• JBG Returns to the Austin Farmer’s Market this Saturday, October 31

Come visit us at the Austin Farmer’s Market this Saturday at Republic Square Park at 4h and Guadalupe from 9am to 1pm.  Interns Keith and Krystin will be there selling JBG produce.  They’ll be in costume for Halloween so come by and see them.

The Johnson Familys first visit to the Farmers Market in June of 2005

3) Events

• Austin Food Co-op presents a conversation with Jill Richardson

We are so excited to host Ms Richardson while she is here promoting her book!

Mark your calendars for Sunday November 8th at Cafe Caffeine (www.cafe-caffeine. com)
909 West Mary Street, Austin, Texas 78704
5:00 – 7:00pm

Here is the Amazon book description:  America’s food system is dominated by agribusiness and corporate farms, whose destructive practices pollute the environment, are cruel to animals, and offer us unhealthy food choices. Despite this dire situation, most people have little idea how to eat differently, or healthier.

In Recipe for America, food activist Jill Richardson shows how sustainable agriculture—where local farms raise food that is healthy for consumers and animals and does not damage the environment—offers the only solution to America’s food crisis. In addition to highlighting the harmful conditions at
factory farms, this timely and necessary book details the rising grassroots food movement, which is creating an agricultural system that allows people to eat sustainably, locally, and seasonally.

A call to action for those who are concerned about what they eat and the health of the planet, Recipe for America shows how sustainable eating nourishes our bodies, our economy, and our environment, and how it is the best hope for the future of food in America.

Jill Richardson blogs about food issues at Daily Kos and at her own blog, La Vida Locavore (www.lavidalocavore .org). She is also a member of the advisory board of the Organic Consumers Association.

• Slow Food Austin shows you how to make your own Bacon

The smell evokes morning kitchens, sheer indulgence, someone who cares like Mom. Bacon. BACON. There’s just nothing like it. Want to make your own? Greg Bass of Preservation Bacon knows how, and, ably assisted by Marshall Wright of Slow Food Austin he’ll teach you too. Come to our monthly Slow Session on November 5 at 7 p.m. And learn how the smoky meaty indulgence can be handcrafted. Habitat Suites, 500 East Highland Mall Boulevard (near Highland Mall). The session, as always, is free, and light refreshments will be served. For more info email education@slowfoodaustin.org

• Texas Book Festival, sent from Lisa Lawrence Gordon

Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, State Capitol building, Austin. This is a link to the schedule – http://www.texasbookfestival.org/Calendar.php one page for each day. If you scroll down you will see there is an entire tent devoted to Cooking. There are also some other panels you will find interesting in some of the other tents –the Lifestyle Tent for example has one on beekeeping adventures and another on gardening on Saturday. Be sure to stop by at 3:30pm on Sunday to hear Woody Tasch talk about his new book ‘Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered’.

The Festival is free and open to the public, and there are a ton of fun things to do for families, children’s authors, entertainment, children’s activity tent, the Biscuit Brothers…the list goes on.

4) Quotable Food

“For the millions of us who live glued to computer keyboards at work and TV monitors at home, food may be more than entertainment. It may be the only sensual experience left.”
Barbara Ehrenreich

Workshare member & Bouldin pickup site host Julie Webb (right) and friend enjoy the food at the potluck.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered (about 14 mushrooms)
1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and slice into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch kale (1/2 pound), rinsed, stemmed, and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan

Directions:

Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, green beans, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and continue cooking until the green beans are almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and the kale and continue cooking until the kale has wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and the Parmesan cheese. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

Directions:
For the Gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Pierce the sweet potato with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes and transfer to a large measuring cup to make sure the sweet potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, and pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.For the Brown Butter sauce: While the gnocchi are cooking melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally, until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Careful, the mixture will bubble up. Gently stir the mixture. When the bubbles subside, toss the cooked gnocchi in the brown butter. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Basil and Green Beans

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:

• Peppers 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 and Potatoes 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.

Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions.

Gringo Sol plays at the Fall Potluck as the sun goes down

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