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