The potluck on Saturday was a hit with the young folk
1) In Your Box this Week
2) Farm News:
- From the Farmer’s Perspective … Help Us Get More People Eating Fresh, Organic and Local Vegetables!
- “Slow Milk?” By Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident
- JBG Now Hiring: Delivery Driver and Packing Shed Worker
3) Updates, Meetings, and Events
- Spring Potluck Recap!
- Slow Money Austin 2010 Conference at Austin City Hall, April 21st
- Interested in Becoming a CSA Site Host?
- Nominate JBG as Your Favorite Slow Money Business!
- Workshares! Come Help Us Harvest Garlic!
4) Quotable Food
5) Recipes
- Romano Risotto with Radishes
- Escarole, Fennel, and Orange Salad
6) Produce Storage Tips
7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info
Ag Commissioner Todd Staples paid us a visit on Friday. JBG will be featured in a future GoTexan film about local agriculture!
1) In Your Box this Week
Carrots
Radish
Spinach or Kale
Kohlrabi
Green Onions
Lettuce
Endive
Leeks
Arugula
Parsley or Dill
2) Farm News:
- From the Farmer’s Perspective … Help us Get More People Eating Fresh, Organic and Local Vegetables!
Many of you came out on Saturday for our annual potluck. It was a wonderful day to be around our CSA community, and we were so excited to see all of you and show you where your food is being grown! For those of you who took the farm tour around the Hergotz Field, we hope you noticed something: Hergotz Field is winding down. Most of what you saw on Saturday are the crops we planted in winter that are giving their last performance now in the spring: broccoli, beets, kale, collards, etc. As we get ready to put Hergotz Field into a cover crop, as far as the future goes, River Road field is where it’s at! We have an amazing amount of food growing over there: potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, corn, eggplant, peppers, basil, all getting ready to go into your boxes this summer. We hope to have an event out there in the future so all of you can see our new pad.
Let me give you some numbers. Remember that River Road is twice the size of Hergotz. At the new farm, we currently have about 70 beds of heirloom, slicer, and cherry tomatoes growing (they’re about a foot tall right now). A bed is 400 feet long; that means 28,000 feet of tomatoes! On Saturday, Brenton planted about 10,000 basil plants. Also sprouting up green leaves right now are 100 beds of potatoes. That’s right, 100 beds of Purple Majesty, Red Gold, Yukon Gold… these are going to be a real treat this spring; we’re expecting them to be ready next month!
We have all of this food growing over at River Road, and we are thrilled to begin distributing it to Austin residents. Here at JBG our mission is to get everyone in Austin eating local, organic vegetables. We currently have the capability to feed about 1,000 people, but our membership is only half that! That means that we can really kick into gear this season, increase our membership, and spread the organic, local love. You can help get more people eating organic, local veggies, too. In fact, we are relying on your help! All of you, current members or just regular readers of our newsletter, can help by simply telling friends and family about us. We do some publicizing on our own, but we’ve found that word of mouth is by far our best advertising. Since you’re at your computer now, you could send some friends the link to our website, or forward them our farm blog. Good news travels fast, so refer a friend or two, and help JBG get fresh healthy food to as many people as we can!
Thanks to the girl scout troop that visited us last week. The girls got to harvest some organic veggies and take them home
- “Slow Milk?” By Grit Ramuschkat, JBG Resident
- JBG Now Hiring Delivery Driver and Packing Shed Worker
If you are interested in applying for our CSA box delivery driver position or as a worker in our packing shed, please send a resume and a short statement of interest to farm@jbgorganic.com. Experience driving a box truck a plus. For more information, call 512-386-5273.
3) Updates, Meetings, and Events
- Spring Potluck Recap!
What a wonderful time on Saturday. We loved spending the afternoon with all of you who came out.
Farmers in the making?
- Slow Money Austin 2010 Conference at Austin City Hall, April 21st
The April 21 Slow Money Austin Showcase, held in partnership with the Sustainable Food Center and the City of Austin, provides an afternoon-?long program laying out the players, the issues and the opportunities involved in a healthy food system. With this event, Slow Money Austin brings together consumers, food businesses, civic leaders and investors to learn about the regional food chain, and explore funding alternatives essential to the continued growth of the regional food economy.
Specific program highlights include: -? The Current Status and Future of a Sustainable Central Texas Food System -? “Farm to Table to Farm” Showcase of Regional Food Enterprises -? Delivering Slow Money to Austin Attendees of the April 21 City Hall event will receive a gift bag featuring local fare from Better Bites of Austin’s food purveyors, and are invited to attend the Slow Money Austin Happy Hour immediately following.
Co-?hosted by La Condesa, this networking event, held directly upstairs at Malverde, will showcase local ingredients as fashioned by TX-?born, nationally esteemed Executive Chef Rene Ortiz. The following day, April 22, Slow Money Austin and nationally recognized Barr Mansion host a special Earth Day dinner prepared by the Dai Due Supper Club. Read more about the Slow Money Conference and Showcase and register to attend here.
- Interested in Becoming a CSA Site Host?
JBG is always looking for new delivery locations that are convenient for our members. If you’re interested in becoming a CSA host, there are a few things you should consider: What you need:
- A shady, covered carport or porch, preferably that’s air-conditioned.
- Space for at least 10 CSA boxes.
- Convenient parking for other members to drop by and pick up their boxes.
- A pickup site that’s accessible every week from mid-afternoon (around 3 p.m.) until 7 p.m.
What you do:
- Hosts store empty boxes until our delivery driver picks them up the following week. JBG asks that you put away the boxes that day or the next.
- After the delivery period ends, you distribute unclaimed veggies to charity or a needy family.
- You do not have to be present during pickup hours. Pickups are self-serve and on the honor system.
Perks:
- Hosts receive a complimentary CSA box every quarter.
JBG will work with you to determine which weekday fits best with the delivery route and schedule. If you’re interested in becoming a CSA host, please email farm@jbgorganic.com.
- Nominate JBG as Your Favorite Slow Money Business!
The Slow Money Alliance is taking votes on your favorite slow money businesses. If you mention JBG, we’ll be promoted at their national gathering in Vermont this June. If you have a second, click over and give us a shout out!
- Workshares! Come Help Us Harvest Garlic!
Some of you helped us weed it a few weeks ago, and now we are ready to harvest it! Rows and rows of lovely garlic. If you are available on Wednesday morning, come and help us harvest garlic and set it out to dry. This is a big task so we’ll need lots of help! You’ll be sure to repel mosquitoes and vampires for weeks.
4) Quotable Food
“Eating is an agricultural act.” –Wendell Berry
5) Recipes
- Romano Risotto with Radishes
Ingredients:
For risotto:
- 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (48 fl ounces)
- 2 cups hot water
- 3/4 stick unsalted butter, divided
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 pound Arborio rice (2 1/2 cups)
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
For radishes:
- 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound trimmed radishes, julienned
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
- Accompaniment: extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Make risotto:
Bring broth and water to a simmer in a 3-to 4-quart saucepan. Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons butter in a 4-to 5-quart heavy pot over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook onion, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in rice and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed, about 1 minute.
Stir 1 cup simmering broth into rice and cook, stirring constantly and keeping at a strong simmer, until absorbed. Continue cooking and adding broth, about 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until rice is just tender and creamy-looking but still al dente, 18 to 22 minutes. Thin with some of remaining broth if necessary (you will have some left over). Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 3 tablespoon butter.
Prepare radishes:
Whisk together vinegar, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Toss radishes with dressing and chives. Serve risotto topped with radishes.
- Escarole, Fennel, and Orange Salad
- 2 navel oranges (1 pound total)
- 2 medium fennel bulbs (sometimes called anise; 1 3/4 lb total), stalks discarded and bulbs halved lengthwise
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Head of escarole , dark outer leaves discarded and pale green and yellow inner leaves torn into bite-size pieces
Finely grate enough zest from 1 orange to measure 1 tablespoon. Cut peel, including all white pith, from both oranges with a paring knife. Cut segments free from membranes, then cut segments crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.
Cut out and discard core of each fennel bulb, then cut bulbs crosswise into thin slices.
Whisk together vinegar, zest, salt, and pepper in a small bowl until salt is dissolved, then add oil in a stream, whisking until combined well.
Toss escarole, fennel, and oranges with dressing in a large bowl until combined well. Season with salt and pepper.
6) Produce Storage Tips
Spinach is best stored in a plastic bag or Tupperware in the vegetable crisper for 3-5 days.
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.
Johnson's Backyard Garden is safe with Cowboy Spiderman watching our back
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