Finally some sun in our still-wet field

1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective …. Sunny Weather and Steady Progress
• Tea-Tasting at Zhi Tea Gallery, by Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident

3) New South Austin Pickup Location Replacing Brodie/Slaughter

4) In Need of a New CSA Host for Round Rock!

5) Updates, Meetings, and  Events

• Johnson’s Backyard Garden Slow Food Farm Tour and Heirloom Plant Sale, March 6th, 13th, and 20th
• It’s That Time of Year Again!  Johnson’s Backyard Garden Annual Spring Potluck
• Beets, Not Bonuses: Slow Money is just 90 votes away from being named one of the best ideas to change America!
• Intern Donations Requested!
• Austin Blogs: Gadora Wilder

6)Quotable Food

7) Recipes

• Carrot Coconut Soup
• 1-Minute Spinach

8) Produce Storage Tips

9) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info

Thankful for a warm day to harvest

1) In Your Box this Week

Carrots
Radishes, Turnips, or Rutabaga
Kale, Spinach or Mustard Greens
Bok Choy or Broccoli
Cabbage or Brussels Sprouts
Lettuce
Dill
Green Onions
A smattering of potatoes
Oranges and Grapefruit from G&S Groves

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective …. Sunny Weather and Steady Progress
  

This was a week of progress at JBG.   The weather last week provided a much needed thaw to both our crops in the field and our harvest crew.  On top of that, we got the majority of our potatoes cut and planted, we began planting on our new River Road field, and we are even making progress on our equipment needs!

Even though the welcome change in weather wasn’t the direct cause of it all, the sun on our backs seemed to make all our hard work this week go a little further.  On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, workshares helped cut up nearly 10,000 pounds of potatoes to transplant.  Potatoes can be planted whole, because sprouts come from the eyes on the potato, but cutting them up makes the supply go a little further.  As long as there is an eye, there will be a sprout.  As fast as the workshares were cutting, we were hauling them over to the new field on River Road and transplanting them.  Not only was this job monumental because of its size, but it is the first planting on our new property!  Picture thirty-six 850-foot-long rows on our new farm (easy to visualize, right?):  that’s how many potatoes we’ll have for your boxes this spring.  Some great varieties, too: Purple Majesty, Yukon Gold, and Red Gold.

Meanwhile, our equipment needs moved ahead this week.  A long-time CSA member, Mark Goldberg, is helping us finance a BWI bedshaper for 60” beds.  This is going to make it much easier for us to keep on a strict planting schedule.  If we have the right equipment to make beds ahead of time, we won’t find ourselves in the position we have the last few months, where the rain made it impossible for us to work the soil and plant.  Thanks so much, Mark, for your support.  And thanks to all of our CSA members who are helping us keep our organic farm running efficiently.

Finally, the crew at JBG got some fantastic financial news last week.  We have been approved for several grants!  One, the Young Farmers Grant which is dedicated to helping beginning farmers maintain their businesses, has awarded JBG $10,000 for seed and fertilizer purchases!  JBG can spend as much as $300 a week on fertilizer, so this grant is going to be a tremendous help.  And two, we were also awarded a GOTEPP (Go Texan Partner Program) grant, which will match us $18,000 (meaning if we raise $18,000, they will match us with another $18,000) for advertising and customer relations.  If JBG can raise $18,000 to match GOTEPP’s grant, we will be spending it on new vegetable boxes for our CSA members, making organic cotton JBG t-shirts, developing our web site and making our CSA membership process run more smoothly.  If you’re interested in learning how to contribute toward this goal, please click here.  Every little bit helps!

We’re hoping the warm weather continues (though I hear Tuesday night is supposed to be a little rough) so we can keep getting all of our planting done to make our spring boxes as full and plentiful as they can be during the fruitful spring months.

From the Farmer’s Perspective is written by Neysa King.  To read more by Neysa, check out her blog at www.dissertationtodirt.com

Cutting potatoes was a week-long project

Purple Majesty Potatoes

• Tea-Tasting at Zhi Tea Gallery, by Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident

3) New South Austin Pickup Location Replacing Brodie/Slaughter

Beginning Friday, March 5th, Brodie/Slaughter will no longer be a CSA pickup site.  The new site in South Austin will be:

8110 Cattle Drive, Austin, Texas 78749

If you are currently picking up Fridays at Brodie/Slaughter, you do not need to do anything at this time.  You will automatically be transferred to 8110 Cattle Drive for your March 5th pickup.  If you are picking up at a different pickup site and would like to change your pickup location to 8110 Cattle Drive, please call us at 386-5273 or email the office at farm@jbgorganic.com.

Temo and new intern Marissa drive back from the field

4) In Need of a New CSA Host for Round Rock!

Our current Round Rock CSA host is no longer able to serve as a pick up site.  If you are interested in becoming the next Round Rock CSA site host, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com.  Site hosts are entitled to 4 free quarterly CSA boxes, and any other produce not picked up in the designated time.  Please contact our office for more details.

5) Updates, Meetings, and  Events

• Johnson’s Backyard Garden Slow Food Farm Tour and Heirloom Plant Sale, March 6th, 13th, and 20th

Saturday, March 6, JBG is collaborating with Slow Food Austin for a Slow Food Farm Tour and Heirloom Plant Sale.  Come by our farm to tour our greenhouse, fields, and participate in a discussion about organic farming and CSAs in Austin.  Browse through our heirloom Ark of Taste transplants and take some home to plant in your garden!  JBG’s heirloom transplant sale will continue through the first three Saturdays in March from 10am to 2pm.

• It’s That Time of Year Again!  Johnson’s Backyard Garden Annual Spring Potluck

Saturday, April 10th, Johnson’s Backyard Garden will host its Annual Spring Potluck!  Come join us for live music, great food, tractor rides around the farm, and lots of fun activities for the kids.  We truly believe that our CSA members are some of the best cooks in Austin, so come hungry to this locavores heaven, with tons of locally-raised and prepared dishes.  We’re ready for this year’s potluck to be the best one yet!  JBG will be sending out Evites soon, so save the date and keep a look out!

• Beets, Not Bonuses: Slow Money is just 90 votes away from being named one of the best ideas to change America!

Slow Money is just 90 votes away from being named one of the best ideas to change America in the online competition sponsored by Change.org.

This is a great chance for us to spread the word about Slow Money. More than 650,000 people saw and voted on ideas in a similar contest last year. And the top 10 ideas of 2010 will be presented at an event in Washington, D.C. to relevant members of the Obama Administration, and then promoted to more than one million readers, bloggers and activists.

If you’re interested in learning about the national Slow Money movement and subscribing to the mailing list, click here.

• Intern Donations Requested!

The interns are on the lookout for kitchen and bedroom supplies for their humble trailers.   Specifically, the interns need a microwave to heat up their lunches, and a washing machine for their dirt-caked work clothes!  If you have any gently used home goods you’d like to donate for our intern housing, please call us at 386-5273 or email Carrie at farm@jbgorganic.com.

Introducing new intern Margaret Wittenmyer

• Austin Blogs: Gadora Wilder

Check out Gadora Wilder’s blog where she describes Johnson’s Backyard Garden’s CSA and workshare programs.  Lovely pictures of the eggs we add to our boxes, too!  Thanks, Gadora, for the shout out!

http://gadorawilder.com/2010/02/13/fresh-eggs-from-johnsons-backyard-garden/

6)Quotable Food

“Butter vs. Margarine ? I trust cows over scientists.” –Anon

7) Recipes

• Carrot Coconut Soup

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

1 TBS + 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 TBS fresh ginger, sliced

4 medium cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp curry powder

2 cups sliced carrots, about ¼-inch thick

1 cup sweet potato, cut into about ½-inch cubes

5 oz canned coconut milk

salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

1.Chop onion and let it sit for at least five minutes.
2.Heat 1 TBS broth in a medium soup pot. Healthy Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
3.Add garlic and ginger and continue to sauté for another minute.
4.Add curry powder and mix well with onions.
5.Add broth, carrots, and sweet potato and simmer on medium high heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
6.Add coconut milk.
7.Blend in batches making sure blender is not more than half full. When it’s hot, and the blender is too full, it can erupt and burn you. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8.Return to soup pot and reheat.

• 1-Minute Spinach

1 bunch fresh spinach
1 tsp lemon juice
1 medium fresh garlic
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Optional:
chopped tomato
kalamatta olives
cashews
goat cheese
few drops tamari soy sauce

Method:

1.Chop or press garlic and let it sit for 5 minutes to bring out its health-promoting benefits.
2.Bring lightly salted water to a rapid boil in a large pot.
3. Cut stems off spinach leaves and clean well. This can be done easily by leaving spinach bundled and cutting off stems all at once. Rinse spinach leaves very well as they often contain a lot of soil.
4. Cook spinach in boiling water for 1 minute.
5. Drain and press out excess water. Toss in rest of ingredients while still hot.

8) Produce Storage Tips

• To keep broccoli at its freshest stage, store it for 3 to 5 days in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  Broccoli can also be stored by freezing it. Peel the leaves from the stalk. Blanch the broccoli in steam for 5 minutes. Cool, and then place the broccoli in a sealed plastic bag. Broccoli can be stored in the freezer for up to 10 months.
• Wrapping cabbage in plastic and storing it in the crisper section of your refrigerator limits its exposure to air flow, and thus reduces respiration and retards spoilage. Just as importantly, plastic wrap keeps external moisture out, preventing mold and rot, while helping the cabbage to maintain its internal (cellular) moisture-without which, the cabbage leaves lose their firmness and begin to wilt.

New seedling in the ground

9) 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-Th 8am to 5pm, Friday 8am to 12pm

The farm office is closed 12 pm to 1 pm for lunch.

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com

Angel harvesting carrots

1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective …. Organic Farms, Big and Small

3) New South Austin Pickup Location Replacing Brodie/Slaughter

4) In Need of a New CSA Host for Round Rock!

5) Updates, Meetings, and  Events

• Healthy Cooking 101 at Whole Foods
• Bad to the Bone: Stubb’s Presents Chef Smackdown
• JBG and Slow Food Austin March Farm Tour and Plant Sale

6)Quotable Food

7) Recipes

• Kale or Collards Frittata
• More Uses for Mustard Greens

8) Produce Storage Tips

9) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info

Easter Egg Radishes

1) In Your Box this Week

Carrots
Hakurei Turnips or Kohlrabi
Collards or Kale
Radish or Beets
Bok Choy or Mustard Greens
Green Onions
Dill or Parsley
Oranges and Grapefruit from G&S Groves
Avocados from G&S Groves

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective …Organic Farms, Big and Small
  

A lot of people marvel at the size of our farm.  70 acres, 60 vegetable types, over 300 varieties!  But as far as farms go, we are actually pretty petite.  According to the USDA, the average number of farmed acres on small farms in the United States is 160.  And that’s just for small farms.  For large farms, the average size is over 2,000 acres.  Compared to that, our 70 acres seems downright diminutive.

But not all of those are organic farms, right?  Organic farms might have different standards of “big” and “small.”  But let’s think about it another way:  not by what’s out there now… but what’s needed.  How much food can a farm, whatever its size, actually produce?  How many farms would it take to feed a city like, say, Austin?  A good rule of thumb is that 1 acre of land in vegetables can provide enough to feed about 100 people or 30 -35 weekly CSA shares.  That means that once JBG has 30 acres in full production (right now we have about 16), we have the potential to feed around 3000 people a week or produce 1000 CSA shares per week.  If the population of Austin proper is 680,000, that means it would take over 225 farms of JBG’s size to feed everyone!

It makes you think.  Where are all of these farms, and people to farm them, going to come from?  Austin has a great organic food culture that has ballooned over the last decade, and continues to grow.  But when you see the amount of farms it would take for Austin to be able to feed itself completely, it’s clear that there remains a big need for more organic farming, and more organic farms.  “Big” as we tend to see organic farms doesn’t seem so big when you consider those numbers.  We need much, much more acreage in Austin planted in organic crops.   Ideally more than 7000 acres just to feed Austin!

Farming in our country is a lost art.   Organic farmers here in Austin and around the United States are doing their best to rediscover techniques and designate more land to organic farming.  Young farm interns are our greatest hope for the future.  But not everyone is going to be a farmer, so how can we all do out part?  Perhaps the best thing we can do right now is to help those who want to farm find a viable way to do it, and that means supporting local, organic agriculture to the best of our abilities.  Shopping at farmers markets and/or  joining a CSA are great ways to start.  Helping your local farms financially or with volunteer hours is great, too.  Starting a small garden or helping community gardens is also good.  Only when we make organic farming a mainstay of our communities, and our diets, will it become a real part of our future.

3) New South Austin Pickup Location Replacing Brodie/Slaughter

Beginning Friday, March 5th, Brodie/Slaughter will no longer be a CSA pickup site.  The new site in South Austin will be:

8110 Cattle Drive, Austin, Texas 78749

If you are currently picking up Fridays at Brodie/Slaughter, you do not need to do anything at this time.  You will automatically be transferred to 8110 Cattle Drive for your March 5th pickup.  If you are picking up at a different pickup site and would like to change your pickup location to 8110 Cattle Drive, please call us at 386-5273 or email the office at farm@jbgorganic.com.

4) In Need a New CSA Host for Round Rock!

Our current Round Rock CSA host is no longer able to serve as a pick up site.  If you are interested in becoming the next Round Rock CSA site host, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com.  Site hosts are entitled to 4 free quarterly CSA boxes, and any other produce not picked up in the designated time.  Please contact our office for more details.

5) Updates, Meetings, and Important Events

• Healthy Cooking 101 at Whole Foods

Saturday, February 20th, 10:00 am Free!

Wondering how to cook all those vegetables, whole grains, and other healthy foods that you know you should be eating?  Join Mary, our Healthy Eating Specialist for a special mobile class on how to easily choose and prepare the most nutrient-rich and health-supportive foods.

Meet at the Healthy Eating Desk in Produce.

• Bad to the Bone: Stubb’s Presents Chef Smackdown

On Saturday, Feb. 27th, 6 – 9:30 pm, Stubb’s outdoor stage in downtown Austin will turn into a kitchen arena where three of the state’s highest profile chefs will battle it out, each choosing a preferred ingredient to stump their competitors’ culinary prowess. The chefs will create a dish that includes all three of the chef-picked ingredients which could range from diverse edibles such as grapefruit to cauliflower to oysters.

Audience participants and a panel of noted culinary experts will sample the dishes and use live text voting to determine the winning chef. The DJ, el john Selector, will be spinning bad-to-the-bone soul, funk and world beats to keep the tempo pumping until final votes have been cast.

Once the winner is announced, the evening melds into a rockin’ live concert with Charanga Cakewalk, a seven-piece Latin band featuring master multi-instrumentalist Michael Ramos and known for pan-Latin tunes that dive into deep, urban grooves.

On tap for the chef throwdown are three of Texas’ youngest and most acclaimed chefs – David Bull, named as one of Food & Wine magazine’s Top Ten Best New Chefs in 2003 and who is now Bolla’s executive chef at the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas; Shawn Cirkiel, executive chef of Austin’s Parkside Restaurant, recently named by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the “Hot 10 New American Taverns”; and Paul Petersen, star of TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters and author of Keeper of the Flame Interactive Cookbook. Petersen was also former executive chef of Café Cenzio at the Gage Hotel.

A live video feed will project all of the kitchen stage action onto Stubb’s stage canopy so the audience can see close-ups of the food preparation as well as the live feed for the text voting results.

A limited number of TICKETS available here: http://tinyurl.com/ybx7zg5

SFC thanks our sponsors, Stubb’s, Whole Foods Market Austin, Texas Culinary Academy and Cuvee Coffee!

When/Where
Saturday, February 27
6pm – 9:30pm
Stubb’s Amphitheatre
801 Red River
Austin, Texas
Tickets: http://tinyurl.com/ybx7zg5

• JBG and Slow Food Austin March Farm Tour and Plant Sale

Saturday, March 6, JBG is collaborating with Slow Food Austin for a Slow Food Farm Tour and Heirloom Plant Sale.  Come by our farm to tour our greenhouse, fields, and participate in a discussion about organic farming and CSAs in Austin.  Browse through our heirloom Ark of Taste transplants and take some home to plant in your garden!  JBG’s heirloom transplant sale will continue through the first three Saturdays in March.  Already a JBG CSA member?  You can order these transplants for pickup at your CSA drop-off site.  Just email Carrie at farm@jbgorganic.com

Dry weather Friday finally let us plant in the market garden

6) Quotable Food

“April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot wrote, by which I think he meant (among other things) that springtime makes people crazy. We expect too much, the world burgeons with promises it can’t keep, all passion is really a setup, and we’re doomed to get our hearts broken yet again. I agree, and would further add: Who cares? Every spring I go out there anyway, around the bend, unconditionally. … Come the end of the dark days, I am more than joyful. I’m nuts. ”
— Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life)

7) Recipes

I love Kale.  In fact, I love all cooking greens.  Olive oil, garlic, and onion mixed up in a pan with greens is one of my favorite meals.  But sometimes you want to mix it up a little and use those greens in different ways.  Here are some of my other recipes for greens beyond the sautee.

• Kale or Collards Frittata

Ingredients:

6-8 eggs

1/2 cup milk

A good melting cheese of your choice (I love a good Fontina)

1 bunch of Kale or Collards (or any other cooking green)

2-4 cloves garlic

1 bunch green onions

Olive Oil

Method:

Set oven to broil, or bake at 400 degrees.

In a bowl, beat eggs together.  Add milk.  Shred cheese and mix in.

In an oven-safe sautee pan, heat up olive oil.  Add onion and garlic.  Satuee until soft.  Add greens and sautee until soft and bright green.  Add salt and pepper to taste (at this point you can also add in whatever other veggies you’d like in your frittata).  Before greens are completely done cooking, add egg mixture to pan.  Stir until eggs become firm on the bottom.  Don’t stir too vigorously, you want the eggs and veggies to stay together like a sort of pie.  When the eggs are almost done cooking, transfer the pan into the oven and let cook for about 5 minutes.  The mixture should rise and get brown and crispy on the top. Take the pan out, sprinkle a little parsley, salt, and pepper on top and enjoy!

• More Uses for Mustard Greens

I love the spiciness of mustard greens, and it is even more intense when the greens are raw.  Try using them chopped up in your salads, or as a green in a savory sandwich like a  BLT or tuna melt.

8) Produce Storage Tips

Spinach, Kale, Collards and Mustard Greens are best stored in a plastic bag or Tupperware in the vegetable crisper for 3-5 days.

We hope sun this week will give our transplants a good nudge!

9) 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-Th 8am to 5pm, Friday 8am to 12pm

The farm office is closed 12 pm to 1 pm for lunch.

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com

Our New Intern, James, with Temo and Neysa

1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective … A Call for Support: Community Supported Agriculture at its Finest!
• From the Farmer’s Perspective … When Will This Rain End?
• News from the Food & Politics Book Club, by Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident

3) Updates, Meetings, and Important Events

• Sustainable Food Center Volunteer Orientation
• Free Cooking Class Series
• Citizen Gardener’s 2010 Winter/Spring Gardening Courses
• JBG March Plant Sale Coming Up!

4)Quotable Food

5) Recipes

• Sauteed Kale and Kohlrabi
• Poached Salmon Fillets with Dill Creme Fraische

6) Produce Storage Tips

7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info

Purple Top Turnips!

1) In Your Box this Week

Carrots – Big Bunches!
Hakurei Turnips or Kohlrabi
Collards or Kale
Mixed Lettuce or Spinach
Brussels Sprouts or Cabbage
Bok Choy or Mustard Greens
Beets
Green Garlic
Dill or Parsley
Oranges and Grapefruit from G & S Groves

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective…A Call for Support: Community Supported Agriculture at its Finest!

You’ve heard us talking about it a lot lately: Johnson’s Backyard Garden is expanding. We are purchasing 40 acres and renting an additional 10 acres on River Road (about ten minutes away) to help meet Austin’s demand for organic, local veggies direct from our farm.

To meet the financial demands of this expansion, JBG is turning to its CSA members.   JBG found its first successes through the hard work of just a few dedicated people. We are proud to be a truly Community Supported Farm, which is why we are extending an invitation to our members to be an active part in JBG’s expansion.

We have already received a tremendous show of support from CSA members (we are already almost halfway there!) interested in making slow money loans toward our goal of $79,500. For our slow money loans, we are asking for a minimum of $5,000. If you are interested in a slow money loan to JBG, email Carrie at farm@jbgorganic.com. We know that this is more than some can manage at this time, which is why we are opening up to donations from all of our members who want to participate in our expansion.

While we are not a non-profit and therefore cannot offer you a tax deduction, we rely heavily on the support of our members, and we hope you will make a donation today.

Here are some ideas of amounts to give:

$25 – $50 will provide rain gear or rain boots for one employee.

$200 will provide us with soil amendments, like organic fertilizer, for one week.

$300 will purchase two rolls of drip tape to irrigate our new fields.

$500 will purchase 100 harvesting bins to aid us in harvesting.

$1,000 will put us well on our way to purchasing used vegetable washing equipment.

Over $1,000 will go directly toward the purchase of a gently used tractor to break our new soil, till it, and make planting beds!

If you would like to make a donation to JBG’s New Farm Equipment Fund, please click the button below.

Thank you so much for your support these past years.  At JBG we know that our members are the foundation of our farm.  We hope we can continue to bring all of your fresh, organic produce, directly from our fields every week!

The boxing line, we know it and love it

• From the Farmer’s Perspective…When Will This Rain End?
  

Long periods of rainy days are inconvenient for everyone.  You get wet, cold, and instead of going to work, you just want to curl up under a blanket with a book and mug of tea.  But here at the farm, extended periods of rain makes life a little extra difficult, because no matter how much we want to stay on schedule, some farm work just can’t be done when the soil is wet…namely seeding and transplanting in the fields.  This period of rain is especially troublesome because we are right in the middle of the primary planting time for many cool weather crops, and as the days slip by, the one or two sunny days we are getting a week become that much more important for us to keep on a good schedule.  Sometimes, we are trying to get a week’s worth of work done in just one day!  Farmer John from Angelic Organics often gives farmers the advice to take your normal equipment needs and multiply them by two, because there will be days when several tasks have to be done at once due to the weather.  We are certainly hearing that advice these days.

From the Farmer’s Perspective is written by Neysa King.  To read more by Neysa about her experience at JBG, click here.

Saturated fields

• News from the Food & Politics Book Club, by Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident

3) Updates, Meetings, and Important Events

• Sustainable Food Center Volunteer Orientation

Join us for the next SFC Volunteer Orientation on Tuesday 2/9. Learn about the different SFC programs, projects, and all the various volunteer opportunities.
Please be prepared to fill out a criminal background check and pay the $10 administrative fee.

When/Where
SFC: 1106 Clayton Lane Ste 480W
When: Tuesday 2/9
5:30-6:30pm

RSVP to rebecca@sustainablefoodcenter.org

• Free Cooking Class Series

The Happy Kitchen presents:

Learn to prepare delicious, healthy and inexpensive meals. Be informed of good nutrition for you and your family. Learn how to get the most food for your money.

Classes meet once a week for 1.5 hours for a period of 6 weeks. After each class, you will receive a free bag of groceries to prepare the recipe taught in class at home.

***Registration priority for Sprouting Healthy Communities families***
***Childcare available***
***Must register for entire class series***
Contact Valeria Morrow: 512.236.0074 x 103 or valeria@sustainablefoodcenter.org

When/Where
Turner-Roberts Recreation Center
7201 Colony Loop Drive, Austin, TX 78724
Mondays 6.30 – 8.00 pm: 2/22, 3/1, 3/8, 3/22, 3/29, 4/5

• Citizen Gardener’s 2010 Winter/Spring Gardening Courses

Citizen Gardener began in August of 2008. It is designed to engage more Austin area residents in growing food locally.

How it works: The interested student signs up for ten hours of gardening course work. Upon completion of the hours, the student is not only awarded the distinction of being a “Citizen Gardener”, but has the skills to create their own garden.

The Reward: This process returns a cycle of gifting to the planet and others… a reciprocating, blooming and fruitful gift.

Two Saturday mornings and a Wednesday evening offers 10 hours of instruction. It’s a hands-on learning experience. Topics include site-design, raised beds, square-foot gardening and much more. Yup, only in Austin does the planting season start in mid-January and run until mid March—the same time block as these Citizen Gardener Classes.

For more information visit: http://www.edibleaustin.com/content/resources/events/view/63320/50?69b07cc833e0fcb9f5e80e74070ef07f=5d4a8a74120c795c65afbf69e0a4aa7a

• JBG March Plant Sale Coming Up!

JBG will be working with Slow Food USA to put on a Slow Food farm tour and transplant sale, right here at the farm!  Come discuss the importance of Community Supported Agriculture, a farm’s scale, sustainable practices, and farming near a metropolitan area.  Walk around the fields and see right where your food is grown, and then browse through our heirloom and Ark of Taste transplants for sale.  Take some home to grow in your own backyard garden!

JBG’s March Farm Tour and Plant Sale will take place during the first three weeks of March.  More details to come!

Heirloom tomato transplant

4) Quotable Food

“How do we keep the calories down but keep the flavors up?  That’s one of the things that we’re talking a lot about.  When you grow something yourself and it’s close and it’s local, oftentimes it tastes really good.”  –Michelle Obama

5) Recipes

Many of our members keep asking us, “what the heck is kohlrabi?”  Well, that’s understandable–it does kind of look like an alien spaceship.  But even when we tell you what it is, that doesn’t mean you know what to do with it.  So, here’s a simple recipe to help alleviate all your kohlrabi anxiety!

• Sauteed Kale and Kohlrabi

1 1/4 pound kohlrabi, bulbs peeled
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds kale (2 bunches), stems and center ribs discarded
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/3 cup salted roasted pistachios, chopped

Very thinly slice kohlrabi with slicer.

Whisk together lime zest and juice, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss kohlrabi with dressing.

Finely chop kale. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sauté garlic until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add kale by the handful, turning and stirring with tongs and adding more kale as volume in skillet reduces. When all of kale is wilted, sauté with 1/2 teaspoon salt until just tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature. 3Toss kale with kohlrabi and pistachios.

Bright Dill Bunches

• Poached Salmon Fillets with Dill Creme Fraische

I don’t know about you, but I always have a hard time going through an entire fresh herb bunch in a week.  No matter how many times I tell myself “remember the dill!” I always end up throwing some floppy, yellowing bit of it away, taking a moment of silence for dill-based forgiveness.  Well, here’s a recipe that calls for A LOT of dill,to help you go through the whole thing.  Make this recipe once, then throw the rest into a sauteed bunch of kale or collards, and I think you’ll get most of the way through.  If anyone has any other herb-heavy recipes, I’m sure we’d all love to hear them.  Enjoy!

Sauce

6 tablespoons chopped cornichons
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream

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Salmon

3 8-ounce bottles clam juice
3 cups dry white wine
10 whole peppercorns
8 fresh dill sprigs
6 lemon slices
8 6- to 8-ounce salmon fillets

Butter lettuce, lemon slices and fresh dill sprigs

For Sauce:
Place cornichons, dill and juice in small bowl and stir to blend. Add crème fraîche and stir gently just until combined; do not overmix or sauce will thin out. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill.)

For Salmon:
Combine first 5 ingredients in large, deep skillet; bring to simmer over medium heat. Simmer 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add half of salmon, cover and simmer until just cooked through, about 7 minutes. Transfer to platter. Repeat with remaining salmon. Cover salmon; chill until cold. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Line platter with lettuce. Top with salmon. Garnish with lemon slices and dill sprigs. Serve with sauce.

6) Produce Storage Tips

To store kohlrabi for several weeks, remove the leaf stems and place, unwashed, in sealed plastic bags in the refrigerator.  Save the greens to eat!

Freshly picked dill leaves have the best flavor.  However, they keep for several days in the refrigerator, their stems in a jar of water and covered with a plastic bag.

James potting up tomatoes for our transplant sale

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-Th 8am to 5pm, Friday 8am to 12pm

The farm office is closed 12 pm to 1 pm for lunch.

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com

Spinach in the field

1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective…
• Citrus Salads–Delicious Alternatives to the Simple Sliced Orange!, by Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident

3) Updates, Meetings, and Important Events

• Get Growing & Keep Going 2010 Conference
• Workshares Needed This Week!
• Sustainable Food Center Volunteer Orientation
• South Austin Food Coop Volunteer Call

4) Quotable Food

5) Recipes

• Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts
• Baked Carrot Oven Fries

6) Produce Storage Tips

7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info

Vicente harvesting lettuce

1) In Your Box this Week:

Carrots – Big Bunches!
Hakurei Turnips
Kale or Collards
Mixed Lettuce
Radishes
Brussels Sprouts or Cabbage
Broccoli Florets
Green Garlic
Scallions
Grapefruit (G and S Groves)
Oranges (G and S Groves)

Kohlrabi

2) Farm News:

• From the Farmer’s Perspective… Whole Foods and Healthy Eating

Brian Gaar wrote an article for the Statesman this weekend about the Whole Foods at 6th and Lamar.  The flagship store is implementing a new healthy eating education initiative, “Health Starts Here.”  As part of the initiative, employees are holding cooking classes and offering nutrition guidance for the community.  Signs have also appeared in the store’s aisles pointing out the most nutrient dense foods.  “Using a program developed by physician Joel Fuhrman, certain foods are now given scores based on a food’s nutrient density,” Gaar writes,  “Kale and collard greens get the highest score of 1,000. The lowest? Cola, with a score of 0.6.”

Whole Foods sees this initiative as a way to empower people.  If people can understand food, the company reasons, they can make better choices about feeding themselves and their families.  Potentially incendiary comments about the need for health care reform aside, I think we can all agree that a little more healthy eating would be an all around good.   What is more interesting to me is that Whole Foods is using food scoring systems and hiring nutritionists to educate people about something that farmers, and those who actively support farms, have known all along: fresh food is good food.  Fresh vegetables grown organically not only taste good, but they are good for you.  And not necessarily because they have a certain numerical nutrient content, but because our bodies have a relationship with them.  We are designed to eat real food; we have been eating these foods for thousands of years.   When we work on or visit local farms, and we see the food coming from the soil, a food score doesn’t have to tell us that collards are good for us.  We know they’re good because they’re provided to us naturally, because our grandparents and great grandparents and great great grandparents at them, and because we just feel better when we eat them.  Modern science can certainly re-package that lesson into something quantifiable, and if that gets people to eat better, then more power to it.  But the power behind eating organic, whole foods will always lie in its simplicity.  Food is not as mysterious as the plethora of diets out there would make it out to be.  Eat straight from the farm, and you can’t go wrong.

Read the full Austin-American Statesman article here.

Monica washing carrots

• Citrus Salads–Delicious Alternatives to the Simple Sliced Orange!, by Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident

3) Updates, Meetings, and Important Events

• Get Growing & Keep Going 2010 Conference

Get Growing & Keep Going (GGKG) – “Greening Our Schools” is a symposium organized by the Austin School Garden Network (www.austinsgn.org). This conference gives teachers, administrators and parents the tools to integrate gardens and nature areas into the school environment. Teachers will receive 7 CEU hours (through Texas AgriLife Extension Service) for participating in this event.

The 2010 conference features keynote speaker Kevin Coyle, National Wildlife Federation Vice President of Education. Field experts will lead a variety of sectionals, including topics such as rainwater harvesting, vermiculture, double digging, schoolyard habitats, entomology, environmental stewardship, fundraising, and building a garden community. Conference participants will also gather resources from additional organizations in the all-day exhibit hall.

For more information and to register, go to http://austinsgn.org/ggkg_conference.htm.

Registration cost is $25 (includes lunch)

Contact Jess at jess@sustainablefoodcenter.org if you have any questions. We hope to see you at the conference!

When/Where
Saturday, February 6, 2010
8am-4pm

Garza Independence High School
1600 Chicon St
Austin, TX 78702

• Workshares Needed This Week!

We have almost 400 CSA boxes to pack this week, so we gladly welcome any workshares that would like to come out.  Donate a few hours of your time, 8am-1pm on Wednesday or Friday and walk home with a big box of fresh veggies!

• Sustainable Food Center Volunteer Orientation

Join us for the next SFC Volunteer Orientation on Tuesday 2/9. Learn about the different SFC programs, projects, and all the various volunteer opportunities.
Please be prepared to fill out a criminal background check and pay the $10 administrative fee.

When/Where
SFC: 1106 Clayton Lane Ste 480W
When: Tuesday 2/9
5:30-6:30pm

RSVP to rebecca@sustainablefoodcenter.org

• South Austin Food Coop Volunteer Call

Our Wednesday, Feb. 3rd, Board Meeting is of particular interest to volunteers who want to see the food co-op succeed! We are holding the meeting at La Madeleine in Sunset Valley (5493 Brodie Lane) starting at 7pm.  Come listen to the board talk briefly about our current activities and then hear about your opportunities to help out. We really need you, so please consider coming and bring a friend.

4) Quotable Food

“… the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds.” –Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma

5) Recipes

• Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts, from 101 Cookbooks

I thought I’d share my all-time favorite brussels sprouts recipe with you.  It involves a skillet, less than five ingredients, about ten minutes of your time, and minimal culinary skills. You end up with vibrant green, tender brussels sprouts that become deeply golden and crusty where they touch the pan. I then lightly dust the whole pan with cheese and serve. This time of year it’s not unusual for us to cook them like this two or three times a week.

I was a brussels sprout hater for most of my life. Boiled brussels sprouts? No thanks. This is a different beast entirely. And I feel confident saying this golden-crusted version has the ability to turn even the most vigilant brussels sprout haters around.

24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don’t overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they’re tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Serves 4.

• Baked Carrot Oven Fries

We know all of our CSA members are digging our delicious, sweet carrots.  As much as we love them, some of us are wondering what to do with all of them.  We’d hate to see any of that tastiness go to waste.  So here’s a way to prepare your carrots that you may not have tried yet: Baked!  Eat up!

Those sweet carrots

Ingredients:

a big bunch of farmers’ market carrots, washed, trimmed
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Heat oven to 375.
Cut each carrot in half. Toss the entire bunch in a bowl with a couple glugs of olive oil. Arrange cut side down in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt. Bake for 30 minutes or until carrots are golden brown where they touch the pan.

6) Produce Storage Tips

With the leaf stems removed, kohlrabi can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks. Storage life can be extended if kohlrabies are placed in sealed plastic bags.

If you know you’re not going to be able to get to your radishes right away, trim them of their greens and put them in a jar. Put enough water in the jar to cover the radishes and store it in the fridge. They’ll keep for a good 4-5 days this way without losing any of their crunch or flavor.

A whole cooler of potatoes--waiting to be planted!

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-Th 8am to 5pm, Friday 8am to 12pm

The farm office is closed 12 pm to 1 pm for lunch.

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com