SFC Farmers Market at Downtown Austin. Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer’s Perspective:

I have a few CSA announcements to make this week.  First,  the trade box is back! Due to recent feedback from our customer surveys, we are bringing back the trade box for community pickup locations at people’s homes.  This doesn’t include any retail , commercial, or church pickup locations.  This is how it works: we fill the trade box with an assortment of vegetables, and you can trade out any vegetable in your CSA box for another kind in the trade box.  That way, if there’s a vegetable in your share you know you won’t eat, you can swap it out for one you like better.  Second, I wanted to remind everyone about the benefits of picking up your produce at any one of the farmers markets we attend. If you pickup your share at one of the farmer’s markets, you can trade out any vegetables in your share for ones in our booth.  By picking up at the farmers market, you get the savings benefit of being a CSA member plus the ability to customize your box by exchanging any CSA share items for vegetables in our booth (it’s a one-for-one swap, but you can swap as many items as you’d like).  Here’s a list of all the farmers markets we attend:

Saturdays from 8am to 1pm: SFC Farmers Market at Downtown Austin, SFC Farmers Market at Sunset Valley, Barton Creek Farmers Market, Cedar Park Farmers Market, and Burnet Road Farmers Market

Sundays from 9am to 1pm: Lakeway Farmers Market

Sundays from 11am to 3pm: HOPE Farmers Market in East Austin

Wednesdays from 3pm to 7pm: SFC Farmers Market at the Triangle

My third announcement is that we now have three more community pickup sites to choose from:

The Monument Cafe (in Georgetown): Thursdays from 4:30pm-6pm

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Galleria Oaks (near 183 & Anderson Mill Rd):  Thursdays from 3:45pm to 8pm

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Circle C (near Slaughter & Mopac): Tuesdays from 5pm-8pm

If you’d are a new member and would like to sign up for one of these locations, just click here or go to our website at jbgorganic.com.  If you are an existing member and would like to change to one of these new sites, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com or call the office at 512-386-5273.

Thank you to all of our CSA members – you really are the heart of JBG,  and you keep us going!

Checking out the broccoli at the farmers market. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

* Calling All Fundraisers: We Need You
* Week of January 31st CSA Box Photo & Contents List
* Attention Home Delivery Customers: Schedule Changes
* The Nitty-Gritty: Pet Food Politics

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

* Help JBG Provide Vegetables to Children in Need
* Annual Citrus Sale Continues

3) Recipes

* Double Broccoli Quinoa
* Broccoli Cheddar Soup

JBG farmers market offerings. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

Calling All Fundraisers! We’re Putting Together a Team

barn raising: n., A social event in which members of a community assist in the building of a new barn.

We have been working for now months on designing a new barn and cold storage facility next to our fields over at River Road.  Such a facility is greatly needed as we are bursting at the seams over here on Hergotz; however, we do not have the capital we need to build this barn alone.  Like an old-fashioned barn raising, we want to make the building of this barn a community effort.  If you have experience running a capital campaign or with fundraising in general and would like to give JBG a hand with this, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com.

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Attention Home Delivery Customers

Many thanks to all of our home delivery customers for making this service such a success!  We’ve had so many sign-ups for this convenient way to get your vegetables that we need to expand from two to four delivery days.  This expansion will enable us to fit in more homes without having to deliver well into the night!  Delivery days will continue to be determined by zip code.  If your day has been changed, we will call or email you directly within the next few days.  As always, if you have any questions about your schedule, please call the farm at 512-386-5273 or email us at farm@jbgorganic.com.  We thank you so much for helping make home delivery a success!

Week of January 31st CSA Box Photo and Contents List

Week of January 31st CSA Box Contents. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Week of January 31st CSA Box Contents

Spinach
Carrots
Salad Mix
Scallions
Broccoli
Cabbage
Rutabaga
Chard
Fennel
Oranges

Book Summary: Pet Food Politics
Implications of the biggest pet food recall in history

In early 2007, a pet food manufacturer started receiving phone calls from distressed pet owners. They were reporting kidney problems in their cats that started soon after the consumption of the company’s cat food. The company started investigating and a few weeks later notified the FDA of its intention to issue a recall. Most likely it was the wheat gluten within the cat food that was making the animals sick.

After a couple weeks of additional investigations the culprit was found. The wheat gluten, a common pet-food additive due to its high protein content, was found to be tainted with melamine and cyanuric acid. Wheat gluten is expensive to produce, but melamine and cyanuric acid, by-products of plastic manufacturing, are not. Even though melamine and cyanuric acid are not proteins, they contain nitrogen, the desired element in protein. By mixing wheat flour, which contains about 10% protein, with melamine, the protein content can be driven up to 75%. While the protein content of animal feed undergoes inspection, it is often tested with a method that counts the amount of nitrogen present. Since nitrogen from protein and non-protein sources looks alike, the fraudulent nitrogen source was able to slip through security.

The pet food manufacturer purchased the wheat gluten from another company who imported it from a supplier in China. As the FDA banned all further imports from the Chinese supplier, other pet food manufacturers using wheat gluten from the same source issued recalls as well. Once the scandal in China was unraveled, the CEO of the Chinese company was executed.

One reason the FDA feverishly investigated the case was to ensure none of the contaminated products entered the human food chain. However, it had already done so before the contamination became known. It’s common practice to feed salvaged pet food to hogs and poultry. When tested, traces of melamine showed up in the urine of those animals. Because the USDA is in charge of regulating meat and poultry production, the issue now became part of their responsibility as well. In the meantime, the public was reassured that the melamine levels found in farmed animals were safe for human consumption.

Throughout the months dealing with this case, the FDA came under intense criticism for being understaffed and underfunded and thus incapable of doing its job – insuring food safety. With 18,000 telephone calls from concerned consumers and only two full-time staffers to answer them, the agency was simply overrun. Since at the time FDA could only request voluntary recalls, it didn’t mention the names of the pet food manufacturers that opted not to recall. Critics proclaimed the FDA was no longer had the capacity to protect the food supply. At the time (and probably to this day) the agency still operates under food and drug laws passed in 1906 and modified in 1938, when the food supply chain was very different than it is today. The system was designed for whole foods brought in from a 50 mile radius. Now we have food products that may contain ingredients from 50 countries. The US currently imports about 80% of its seafood, 32% of its fruit and nuts, 13% of its vegetables and 10% of its meats. In 2007, these foods arrived in 25,000 shipments a day from about 100 countries. In 2007, the FDA was able to inspect about 1%.

What began with a few customer complaints turned into the largest food recall in history. It resulted in at least 4000 dead pets as well as one dead human. It exposed major shortcomings within the FDA and international food safety. It also illuminated the impossibility of separating the animal food chain from our own.

To read and discuss books like this, join the Food Think Book Club.

Source: Pet food politics – The Chihuahua In The Coal Mine by Marion Nestle

Sweet cat looking for a home.

Sweet Cat to Give Away

Soleily’s shelter name was Sweetie which couldn’t have been a more fitting name. Sweetness is a major part of her character. She enjoys sitting on your lap for as long as you can hold out and is always up for rubs — the longer the petting sessions last, the better.

She is a verbal cat with a full repertoire of different meows which she uses readily.

With other people or anything new, she is timid and shy. However, with her primary one to two caregivers she will develop a strong, devoted and loving relationship. Because she easily scared and somewhat indecisive I kept her as an indoor cat only. She is around 5 to 6 years old by now and still playful and active.

Please email or call me if you are interested in taking her. Also, email me with all further questions about her you may have.

Grit

Phone: 512-775-8463
Email: email@gritramuschkat.com

Lettuce head close up. Photo by Scott David Gordon

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

Help Us Bring Vegetables to Children in Need

We need your help to bring fresh produce to the Settlement Home for Children, a wonderful local non-profit and residential program that cares for and promotes the healing of abused and neglected children.  With the organic vegetables they receive from JBG, the Settlement Home  can provide nutritious meals to these children.  We are asking for your help in making this valuable partnership a long-term success.  We’ve created a special webpage where you can purchase vegetables for the Settlement Home.  Then, JBG will deliver this produce straight to their kitchen.

To donate, click here or go to http://www.jbgorganic.com/settlementhome.  No amount is too small. We would greatly appreciate your participation at any level.

CSA members can also make a one-time contribution when they sign up or renew their CSA membership. Please consider contributing to our partnership with the Settlement Home.  The more who give, the more produce we can provide these children in need.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has already contributed!  Your assistance is making this program a success.

Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG Hosts Annual Citrus Sale

JBG is now hosting its annual bulk citrus sale. Organic oranges and grapefruit are available for purchase at a cost of $10 per 10 lb bag.  These delicious oranges and grapefruit are grown in the Rio Grande Valley by G & S Groves, a certified organic grower in McAllen, Texas.  To order, please click here or go to our website at jbgorganic.com.

Photo by Scott David Gordon

3) Recipes

From 101cookbooks.c0m

Double Broccoli Quinoa

3 cups cooked quinoa*
5 cups raw broccoli, cut into small florets and stems

3 medium garlic cloves
2/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 big pinches salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream

Optional toppings: slivered basil, fire oil (optional)**, sliced avocado
crumbled feta or goat cheese

Heat the quinoa and set aside.

Now barely cook the broccoli by pouring 3/4 cup water into a large pot and bringing it to a simmer. Add a big pinch of salt and stir in the broccoli. Cover and cook for a minute, just long enough to take the raw edge off. Transfer the broccoli to a strainer and run under cold water until it stops cooking. Set aside.

To make the broccoli pesto puree two cups of the cooked broccoli, the garlic, 1/2 cup of the almonds, Parmesan, salt, and lemon juice in a food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil and cream and pulse until smooth.

Just before serving, toss the quinoa and remaining broccoli florets with about 1/2 of the broccoli pesto. Taste and adjust if needed, you might want to add more of the pest a bit at a time, or you might want a bit more salt or an added squeeze of lemon juice. Turn out onto a serving platter and top with the remaining almonds, a drizzle of the chile oil, and some sliced avocado or any of the other optional toppings.

Serves 4 – 6.

*To cook quinoa: rinse one cup of quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer. In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa, two cups of water (or broth if you like), and a few big pinches of salt until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when you can see the curlique in each grain, and it is tender with a bit of pop to each bite. Drain any extra water and set aside.

**To make the red chile oil: You’ll need 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes. If you can, make the chile oil a day or so ahead of time by heating the olive oil in a small saucepan for a couple minutes – until it is about as hot as you would need it to saute some onions, but not so hot that it smokes or smells acrid or burned. Turn off the heat and stir in the crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside and let cool, then store in refrigerator. Bring to room temp again before using.

Prep time: 10 min – Cook time: 10 min

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe

Look for deeply green, tight heads of broccoli. I typically avoid any heads that have yellowing florets or seem died out. If you like a slightly creamier soup, stir in a generous dollop of creme fraiche after pureeing. You can easily make this soup vegan by using olive oil and omitting the cheese/creme fraiche, and you can make it gluten-free by doing something in place of the croutons.

croutons
5-6 ounce chunk of artisan whole wheat bread, torn into little pieces (less than 1-inch), roughly 3 cups total

1/4 cup butter or olive oil (I like 1/2 and 1/2)
1 1/2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

soup:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups light, good-tasting vegetable broth
1 large head of broccoli (12 ounces or 3/4 lb.), cut into small florets

2/3 cup freshly grated aged Cheddar, plus more for topping
1 – 3 teaspoons whole grain mustard, to taste
smoked paprika, more olive oil, creme fraiche (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place the torn bread in a large bowl. In a small saucepan heat the butter until it has melted. Whisk the mustard and salt into the butter and pour the mixture over the bread. Toss well, then turn the bread onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the croutons are golden and crunchy. Toss them once or twice with a metal spatula along the way.

While the croutons are toasting, melt the butter (or olive oil) in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the shallots, onion, and a big pinch of salt. Saute for a couple minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cover, and cook for about four minutes, just long enough for them to soften up a bit. Uncover, stir in the garlic, then the broth. Bring to a boil, taste to make sure the potatoes are tender, and if they are stir in the broccoli. Simmer just long enough for the broccoli to get tender throughout, 2 – 4 minutes.

Immediately remove the soup from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Add half the cheddar cheese and the mustard (a little bit a a time). If you are going to add any creme fraiche, this would be the time to do it. Now add more water or broth if you feel the need to thin out the soup at all. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve sprinkled with croutons, the remaining cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a tiny pinch of smoked paprika.

Serves 4 – 6.

Prep time: 15 min – Cook time: 20 min

Sarah, Brenton, & Kim give the slide at "Ada's" playhouse a try. Photos by Scott David Gordon

Rain-soaked spinach patch. Photo by Brenton Johnson

From the Farmer’s Perspective

Well, we got a little rain earlier this week….  I was awakened by the thunder Tuesday night, and the strength and duration of the storm started to make me nervous.  I couldn’t sleep, so as soon as the sun began to rise, I headed over to River Road to check out the fields.  I was amazed by all of the flooding I saw!  Check out these photos I took:

JBG onion crop underwater. Photo by Brenton Johnson

Its hard to believe, but by the afternoon, the flooding was gone. Photo by Brenton Johnson

The summer sweet potato field turned into a lake. Photo by Brenton Johnson

Getting that much rain in such a short amount of time did cause some damage – namely it caused fertilizer and top soil to be washed away.  Some plants, too, were simply overwhelmed by the flash flooding and won’t recover.  The good news is that this water will be absorbed into the ground, and it will help replenish our aquifer.  We started harvesting just before noon on Wednesday, and the strangest thing was happening all around.  Bubbles were coming up all over the submerged fields.  At first, I didn’t know what it was, so I dug around in the soil, and the bubbles wouldn’t stop.  Then, I realized that the water was just soaking into the parched sub-soils below.   So, despite the damage, I am thankful for this significant rainfall because it will help replenish our groundwater supply and provide needed soil moisture for our Spring plantings.  It’s crazy that we got so much rain given the historical drought we have been experiencing – but that’s farming in Austin, TX for you!

Seeded flats fill up Greenhouse #2. Photo by Scott David Gordon

While our fields are busy soaking up the rain, our greenhouses are filling up with more and more seeded flats.  Greenhouse #2 already has over 80,000 transplants growing in it right now!  Given all of this early seeding, we will be well prepared for Spring planting and our annual organic transplant sale the first weekend in March.  Thank you to JBG staff for putting in all the work needed to get these seeded flats ready.

JBG crew member Christian Williams fills flats with soil. Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG crew member Ian Cubie helps with the seeding. Photo by Scott David Gordon

A stack of seeded flats await placement in Greenhouse #2. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

* Calling All Fundraisers! JBG Needs Your Help
* Week of January 23rd CSA Box Photo & Contents List
* Attention Home Delivery Customers: Schedule Changes
* The Nitty-Gritty: Sauerkraut

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

* Help JBG Provide Vegetables to Children in Need
* Annual Citrus Sale Continues

3) Recipes, by Dish a Licious

* in the DISH kitchen: We’re hot.  For hot pot!

Purple cauliflower peaking out of its leaves. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

Calling All Fundraisers! JBG Needs Your Help

barn raising: n., A social event in which members of a community assist in the building of a new barn.

As many of you know, we have been working for now months on designing a new barn and cold storage facility next to our fields over at River Road.  Such a facility is greatly needed as we are bursting at the seams over here on Hergotz; however, we do not have the capital we need to build this barn alone.  Like an old-fashioned barn raising, we want to make the building of this barn a community effort.  If you have experience running a capital campaign or with fundraising and would like to give JBG a hand with this, please email me at farm@jbgorganic.com.  Thanks so much for your consideration.  -Brenton

Transplants growing in the greenhouse. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Attention Home Delivery Customers

Many thanks to all of our home delivery customers for making this service such a success!  We’ve had so many sign-ups for this convenient way to get your vegetables that we need to expand from two to four delivery days.  This expansion will enable us to fit in more homes without having to deliver well into the night!  Delivery days will continue to be determined by zip code.  If your day has been changed, we will call or email you directly within the next few days.  As always, if you have any questions about your schedule, please call the farm at 512-386-5273 or email us at farm@jbgorganic.com.  We thank you so much for helping make home delivery a success!

Week of January 23rd CSA Box Photo & Contents List

Week of January 23rd Box Contents. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Week of January 23rd Box Contents

Salad Mix
Carrots
Spinach
Chard
Broccoli
Scallions
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Bok Choy
Beets

Sauerkraut

Last week I talked about mustard being one of the many things that are easy to make yourself. This week, I like to remind you of yet another one – sauerkraut.

Making sauerkraut requires as little as three ingredients: cabbage, salt and water. On top of that, you’ll need a few tools: a food grade container (a five gallon bucket works well), a weight (a full one gallon water jug will do) and a cheese cloth or plate to create a barrier between cabbage and weight.

The process that turns cabbage into kraut is called lactic acid fermentation. As the shredded cabbage leaves break down, the carbohydrates and proteins in the vegetable disintegrate. Lactic acid emerges. While lactic acid acts as a preservative, it seeps out too slow to prevent the vegetable from putrefying. This is why you need salt. Without salt, yeasts would form and the fermentation process would lead to alcohol rather than pickles. However, between .8 and 1.5% of the vegetable’s weight in salt holds off the rotting process until the lactic acid can take over.

The temperature range for optimal fermentation is sixty-four to seventy-one, which is an easily achieved environment in most of the world. Hence the widespread popularity of pickling in many cultures. Although sauerkraut is popular throughout most of Europe and North America, Germans have long loved it the most. This might be partially due to the fact that Germans also have long loved and perfected sauerkraut’s best friends – sausage and beer… . Being from Germany myself, I can only attest that I indeed was served a lot of sauerkraut (with sausage and later on beer) when growing up. Even today, 85% of Germany’s cabbage crop goes into commercial sauerkraut production, compared to only 20% in the US. In Sichuan province in China, kimchi, the asian version of fermented cabbage, eaten together with rice is considered a perfect breakfast. The bland rice contrasts nicely with the saltiness and spiciness of the kimchi. Basically, the pickles are flavoring the rice.

Below is a recipe for a simple kraut. Start with it and once you get a hang of it, move on to more elaborate recipes and flavors. I also attached a recipe for Kimchi as well as for a chocolate cake, that contains – guess what? – sauerkraut.

Basic Kraut

Ingredients:
Cabbage
Pickling salt or kosher salt
Brine (water and salt)

Shred your cabbage as thinly as you can. Use 3 TBSP of salt for each 5 lb of cabbage. Put the cabbage and salt into your bucket and mix thoroughly with your hands. Put your weight on top.

Within 24 hours, the cabbage should be submerged in its own brine. If it isn’t, dissolve 1 1/2 TBSP of salt in 1 quart of water and pour enough of this brine over the cabbage to fully cover it. Check the sauerkraut every day or two to see if scum has formed. If it has, it’s not a big deal, just remove it and wash your plate and weight before putting them back on.

Start tasting your sauerkraut latest after 2 weeks. It will be fully fermented in 2 to 4 weeks at 70 to 75 ? F or 5 to 6 weeks at 60 ? F. The kraut produces more vitamin C if it is fermented at a lower temperature. When it’s done, it will be pale gold with a tart, full flavor. But really, there is no hard rule about when your kraut will be done. It’s done whenever you like its flavor.

Store the finished kraut in the fridge or properly can it in a hot water canner for 20 to 25 min, depending on your jar size.

Jamie’s Quick and Punchy Kimchi

Ingredients:
1 Cabbage, approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lbs, sliced, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick
5 TBSP sesame oil
3 dried red chilies, chopped
2 star anise
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
2 TBSP sugar
5 TBSP vinegar, white wine or rice wine
2 to 3 cloves garlic
fresh ginger, a thumb-sized piece
salt

In a frying pan on low heat, gently heat the sesame oil with the chilies, star anise and spices for about 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the sliced cabbage in it for about 1 min. Keep the lid on. Drain and scatter the leaves on a baking sheet to cool.

After about 10 minutes, put the cabbage in a bowl and mix with the flavored oil, sugar and vinegar. Grate in the garlic and ginger and add a good pinch of salt. Mix everything well. Your kimchi will keep in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days.

Chocolate Cake with Sauerkraut

Ingredients:
2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/3 C sugar
1 C sauerkraut, pureed
2/3 C cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 C butter, melted
1 1/2 C water, hot
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and cocoa. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the melted butter, hot water and vanilla and mix well. Add the pureed sauerkraut to the wet ingredients, then mix in the dry ingredients in in several parts. Bake the batter in a prepared Bundt pan at 350 F for 55 to 60 minutes. Cover in chocolate frosting or simply sprinkle a little cocoa, cinnamon or powdered sugar on top.

Sources:
The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich
Salt, a world history by Mark Kulansky
Jamie’s America by Jamie Oliver
Weight Watchers
Wikipedia

Arrowhead cabbage on the CSA packing line. Photo by Scott David Gordon

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

Help Us Bring Vegetables to Children in Need

We need your help to bring fresh produce to the Settlement Home for Children, a wonderful local non-profit and residential program that cares for and promotes the healing of abused and neglected children.  With the organic vegetables they receive from JBG, the Settlement Home  can provide nutritious meals to these children.  We are asking for your help in making this valuable partnership a long-term success.  We’ve created a special webpage where you can purchase vegetables for the Settlement Home.  Then, JBG will deliver this produce straight to their kitchen.

To donate, click here or go to http://www.jbgorganic.com/settlementhome.  No amount is too small. We would greatly appreciate your participation at any level.

CSA members can also make a one-time contribution when they sign up or renew their CSA membership. Please consider contributing to our partnership with the Settlement Home.  The more who give, the more produce we can provide these children in need.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has already contributed!

Freshly cultivated rows of the Spring Brussels Sprout crop. Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG Hosts Annual Citrus Sale

JBG is now hosting its annual bulk citrus sale. Organic oranges and grapefruit are available for purchase at a cost of $10 per 10 lb bag.  These delicious oranges and grapefruit are grown in the Rio Grande Valley by G & S Groves, a certified organic grower in McAllen, Texas.  To order, please click here or go to our website at jbgorganic.com.

Anthony unloads this week's delivery of citrus from G&S Groves. Photo by Scott David Gordon

3) Recipes, by Dish a Licious

This week in the in the DISH kitchen:

We’re hot.

For hot pot.

Otherwise known as nabe, hot pot is the ultimate in Japanese home cooking.  A super quick, easy, one-pot meal.  And perfect for using up those CSA veggies you might be neglecting.

The rules are simple.  You’ll need:

1.)  A hot pot.  Grab a nabe, clay, or cast iron, from just about any Asian market.  They’re inexpensive and will last a lifetime.  If not, any pot will do really.  Don’t let that stop you from cooking.

2.)  Ingredients of your choice.  Vegetables.  Meat.  Shrimp. Noodles.  Tofu.  Just remember that they’re all cooking together in one pot, so try to cut them in pieces that will cook in the same amount of time.  Big chunks work well because they’re easy to pick up with chopsticks.

3.)  Broth.  Use any flavorful liquid you want.  Chicken stock.  Beef stock.  Veg stock.  Or, you can use the traditional Japanese dashi broth, which is super easy to make.  Here’s how:

Soak 1 piece of kombu in 2 quarts of cold water for 30 minutes.  Then heat the pot over medium until small bubbles appear on the sides of the pot, usually about 8-10 minutes.  Do NOT let it boil, this is important for the clarity of the stock.  Remove from the heat and add 2 cups of bonito flakes.  Let it stand, still off heat, for about 15 minutes.  Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot and bring it back up to a simmer over medium heat.

4.)  Sake.  Ok you don’t need sake, but it does fit the theme…

All that’s left now is to arrange your vegetables nicely in the hot pot, pour in the hot broth and lid it.  Bring it up to a simmer for 5-8 minutes, or long enough to cook all the ingredients, and you’re ready.

Gather around the table, lift the lid and dig in.  Family-style eating at its finest.  Get together and get cooking!

Got any cooking quandaries you want us to tackle?  Let us know at info@dishalicious.com

Ada's playhouse starts to take shape. Designed by Steven Mattern. Photo by Scott David Gordon

A very full Greenhouse #1. Photo by Carrie Kenny

From the Farmer’s Perspective

All week, our Greenhouse Manager, Kim, has been asking me, “When is the second greenhouse going to be ready?”  She’s already filled up the first greenhouse and now needs more space for the seeded flats that just keep coming.  I am happy to announce that Greenhouse #2 is officially ready!  We have installed fans, covered the walls, and put a piped-water heating system in place.  After the pipes were installed, we had to cover them with sand for protection.  JBG Farmers Market Manager Blake Chalfant put in a lot of time and muscle into this project and got almost all 3,000 square feet of the space covered.  That’s a lot of sand!  Thank you, Blake, for your hard work.  I am excited that we now have lots more  room to grow seedlings – we need it!

These lines of pipes will allow us to heat the greenhouse with water. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Command Central. Each pipe can be turned on and off individually to control temperature. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Sand outside the greenhouse. It will be used to cover up the piped water heating system. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Blake begins the daunting task of moving all of that sand. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Blake rakes the sand into place. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Getting there! Photo by Carrie Kenny

After the greenhouse was finished, I set my sites on another project that’s been long overdue: building my youngest daughter, Ada, a playhouse.  I have been promising her this for a long time, but work kept getting in the way.  Yesterday, though, I put farm work aside for awhile, and I gathered up everyone I could find to give me a hand.  Together, we put the sturdy poles in place that will serve as the bare-bones structure of Ada’s playhouse.  Those poles are heavy!  My heartfelt thanks to everyone who pitched in yesterday – soon, Ada and all of my kids will  have a great place to play.  Thanks, too, to Steven Mattern for designing this wonderful space!

You want us to lift this? Photo by Carrie Kenny

This pole is heavy! Photo by Carrie Kenny

Going up. Photo by Carrie Kenny

The peanut gallery. Photo by Carrie Kenny

A little higher. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Victory! Now only 5 more posts to go...Photo by Carrie Kenny

Beth Johnson checks out the progress. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Here's what it will look like when done! Designed by Steven Mattern

1) Farm News

* Week of January 16th CSA Box Photo & Contents List
* The Nitty-Gritty: Mustard – Easy to Muster!

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

* Help Us Bring Vegetables to Children in Need
* Annual Citrus Sale Continues

3) Recipes

* Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts
* Simple Cauliflower Recipe

Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

Week of January 16th CSA Box Photo & Contents List

Week of January 17th CSA Box Contents

Week of January 16th CSA Box Contents

Broccoli
Carrots
Spinach
Kohlrabi
Chard
Fennel
Scallions
Beets
Parsley
Salad Mix or Lettuce
Brussels Sprouts

Mustard – Easy to Muster!

Vinaigrettes, pasta dough and sauerkraut—just to name a few—are things that are easy to make yet all too often we have forgotten how. Mustard belongs in this list as well. It contains just four ingredients and requires only a quick mixing. It’s dead simple but does require two to three weeks for the ingredients to mature into something hot dog worthy. Try it out!

1/2 C mustard powder
1/4 C sugar, any type
1/4 C vinegar, any type
1 tsp salt

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and store in a cool, dark place. Taste your mustard after two weeks. If it’s still too bitter, leave it alone for another week. Once ready to eat, transfer it into a small jar and keep refrigerated. The recipe makes about 1 C.

Source: Jam it, pickle it, cure it by Karen Solomon

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

Broussels sprouts. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Help Us Bring Vegetables to Children in Need

We need your help to bring fresh produce to the Settlement Home for Children, a wonderful local non-profit and residential program that cares for and promotes the healing of abused and neglected children.  With the organic vegetables they receive from JBG, the Settlement Home  can provide nutritious meals to these children.  We are asking for your help in making this valuable partnership a long-term success.  We’ve created a special webpage where you can purchase vegetables for the Settlement Home.  Then, JBG will deliver this produce straight to their kitchen.

To donate, click here or go to http://www.jbgorganic.com/settlementhome.  No amount is too small. We would greatly appreciate your participation at any level.

CSA members can also make a one-time contribution when they sign up or renew their CSA membership. Please consider contributing to our partnership with the Settlement Home.  The more who give, the more produce we can provide these children in need.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has already contributed!

Close-up of a Broussels sprout stalk. Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG Hosts Annual Citrus Sale

JBG is now hosting its annual bulk citrus sale. Organic oranges and grapefruit are available for purchase at a cost of $10 per 10 lb bag.  These delicious oranges and grapefruit are grown in the Rio Grande Valley by G & S Groves, a certified organic grower in McAllen, Texas.  To order, please click here or go to our website at jbgorganic.com.

Organic Navel Oranges from G&S Groves. Photo by Scott David Gordon

3) Recipes, from 101 Cookbooks

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

This is the only way to eat brussels sprouts: cut in half and cooked until deliciously tender inside and perfectly brown and crusted on the outside.

Use brussels sprouts that are on the small size and tightly closed. You can finish these with many different types of cheese but I tend to go for Parmesan when the weather is good. I trade that in for heavier cheeses like gruyere or Gouda in colder weather. I finished them off with some toasted hazelnuts the other night – delicious!

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.

Colorful cauliflower. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Simple Cauliflower Recipe

To make this recipe vegan, just omit the Parmesan cheese finish – still delicious.

2 – 3 heads of small cauliflower (or 1/2 head large)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
a couple pinches of sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small bunch of chives, chopped
zest of one lemon
freshly grated Parmesan
a bit of flaky sea salt

To prep the cauliflower, remove any leaves at the base and trim the stem. Now cut it into tiny trees – and by tiny, I mean most florets aren’t much larger than a table grape. Make sure the pieces are relatively equal in size, so they cook in the same amount of time. Rinse under running water, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil and fine grain salt in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cauliflower and stir until the florets are coated. Wait until it gets a bit brown on the bottom, then toss the cauliflower with a spatula. Brown a bit more and continue to saute until the pieces are deeply golden – all told about six minutes. In the last 30 seconds stir in the garlic.

Remove from heat and stir in the chives, lemon zest, and dust with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a pinch of flaky sea salt (if you have it on hand). Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3 as a side.

Close-up of romanesco. Photo by Scott David Gordon

A tomato seedling emerges. Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer’s Perspective

It’s just two weeks into the New Year, but we are already thinking about Spring.  Our amazing greenhouse manager, Kim Grabosky, has been busy with the Spring seeding for our fields and for our annual Organic Transplant Sale.  This alone would take a lot of time, but she’s also responsible for managing the weekly plantings in the field and for ordering seeds for the whole year.  Kim does the work of a true farmer, and I don’t know what I would do without her.  I am excited by all the unusual heirloom varieties we will be offering for the first time at our transplant sale in late February/early March.  By then, we’ll also have quite a selection of tomato, Sun Gold tomato, tomatillo, sweet pepper, hot pepper, and basil transplants.  We will keep you posted on the dates and times of this sale as March get closer.  It’s not too early, though, to start thinking about what you’d like to have in your own Spring garden!

Former greenhouse manager, Maura, lends Kim a hand with Spring seeding. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Luckily, Kim has had a lot of help from Workshare volunteers.  Our former greenhouse manager, Maura Ambrose, even came by to lend a hand!   Volunteers got the greenhouse ready for the onslaught of new flats and then started seeding  peppers, tomatoes, lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and collards.  It was great having so many people out here – I feel grateful to have so much support from the community.  We couldn’t do it without you!

The greenhouse starts to fill up. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Workshare volunteers help with seeding. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Given all of the seeding we are doing, our greenhouse will soon be at capacity, so I have been getting our second greenhouse ready to house transplants.  We have the metal structure for this greenhouse already in place, but we need to add an exterior cover and a heating system.   When I went to visit Buena Tierra Farms in Fredonia, TX (to read about this visit, click here), I was so inspired by the hot water heating system farmer Steve Kramer built for his greenhouse that I am now installing one at JBG.  The greenhouse space is so large (it’s approx. 3,000 square feet) that it’s much more efficient to heat it with piped water than with electric heating pads or traditional forced air from a propane fired heater.  The way the system works is that hot water flows through a pipe system, heating the soil from the bottom up.  It is costly to build, but, in the future, we will end up saving lots of energy by not having to heat the air.  I am also considering this type of efficient heating system for the house I am building for my family at Hergotz Lane.  For the last five years, I have lived with my wife, Beth, and our four kids in a mobile home we purchased off of Craigslist for $20,000.  This is not how I planned it to be – in fact, when we first moved to Hergotz, I told Beth we’d build a house for the family within a year.  Now, five years later, we are finally getting started!  We are in the planning stage with architect and CSA member Matt Leach, and I am very excited about creating a home that is energy efficient and built to last.   My guiding vision for my personal home is similar to the one I have for the farm: create something that is sustainable and will be around long enough for future generations to enjoy.  It may cost more in the beginning, but it’s well worth it in the long run.  Fitting for a farmer, we most likely will be building our home out of earthen blocks.  We are calling it the 2511 House…it will be designed to last 500 years.

Broccoli transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

* Week of January 9th CSA Box Photo & Contents List
* The Nitty-Gritty: Incubator Farms

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

* Help JBG Bring Vegetables to Children in Need
* Annual Citrus Sale Continues

3) Recipes by Dish a Licious

* Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Bone Marrow Butter!

Matt cleans carrots in the barrel washer he built. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Yellow & Orange Rainbow Carrots after cleaning in the barrel washer. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

Week of January 9th CSA Box Contents

Week of January 9th CSA Box Contents

Rainbow Carrots
Radishes
Braising Mix
Broccoli
Dill
Spinach
Cabbage
Rutabaga
Scallions
Brussels Sprout Greens

Incubator Farms: Nurturing the Next Generation of Farmers

The American farmer is getting old. According to the last two Agricultural Censuses of 2002 and 2007, the number of farmers older than 65 increased by 22%, whereas those younger than 45 decreased by 14% and those younger than 25 by 30%. Today, the average age of a farmer is pushing 60. Nurturing the next generation is becoming an increasingly pressing task.

The low numbers of young farmers aren’t due to a lack of interest. Work share programs and farm internships are more popular than ever. Instead, it is the necessary start-up money and infrastructure to run a farm that are lacking as well as bookkeeping and business skills. According to the USDA, the average income from a beginning farm in 2009 was a negative $8,283. Even government aid is often just out of the reach. Federal government grants for beginning farmers generally require three years of experience for eligibility.

What is needed is a place where people can learn while operating under real market pressures. So called incubator farms attempt to do just that. Their goal is to help farmers-to-be bridge the gap between internship and full farm ownership.

Viva Farms in Washington, founded in 2010, is one of these incubator farms. It rents an acre for $400 to anyone interested. The rent includes costly plowing and preparation as well as an in-place irrigation system, a shared tractor and a cavernous cooler. Water is $100 per acre. Viva’s goal is to enable participants to take off on their own within 7 years. This year, Viva Farms started purchasing produce directly from its farmers for a CSA program as well as built an on-site farm stand run by the incubators. Creating a self-sufficient revenue stream, Viva Farms was able to move away from grants and donations as funding.

The New Farm Institute here in Austin, founded by Skip Connett and Erin Flynn of Green Gate Farms contains an incubator parcel as part of its program. Their first incubators were Neysa King and Travis Czerw, former JBG interns. “Working 8 hours per day on a farm for a few seasons doesn’t present a realistic picture of what it takes just to break even,” says Connett. It is a different game, he says, to farm year-round, 24 hours every day, making your own business decisions and shouldering your own risk. This is what incubator farms can teach.

The big question still stands. Will farm incubators be able to prepare emerging farmers well enough to succeed once they’re on their own? Since the concept is still very new, time has yet to tell. However, some encouraging early statistics are emerging. The most established incubator farm is in California and run by the Agriculture and Land Based Training Association. They work with Latinos and graduated 44 farmers over the past two years. Their pupils have gone on to create 25 new start-up farms. Incubators close to urban areas seem most successful, where future farmers can tap into high-value markets, selling fresh food. Conversely, they may not be the right learning tool for large scale agriculture or ranching.

As the USDA’s goal is to help 100,000 new farmers and ranchers launch viable businesses, incubator farms seem to only have a small impact. This is both the strength and weakness of incubators: They invest in individuals and businesses one at a time. They meet people where they are, take all their peculiar circumstances into account and help them move forward. It’s slow and labor-intensive, however, there is no real alternative. After all, we can’t learn farming in a night class and it takes longer than one growing season to take home a profit.

Sources:
Article by Jennifer Lanston for the High Country News, Nov. 2011
Article by Addie Broyle for the Austin American Statesman, Sept. 2011

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

Produce lined up on the CSA packing line. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Help JBG Bring Vegetables to Children in Need

We need your help to bring fresh produce to the Settlement Home for Children, a wonderful local non-profit and residential program that cares for and promotes the healing of abused and neglected children.  With the organic vegetables they receive from JBG, the Settlement Home can provide nutritious meals to these children.  We are asking for your help in making this valuable partnership a long-term success.  We’ve created a special webpage where you can purchase vegetables for the Settlement Home.  Then, JBG will deliver this produce straight to their kitchen

To donate, click here or go to http://www.jbgorganic.com/settlementhome.  No amount is too small. We would greatly appreciate your participation at any level.

CSA members can also make a one-time contribution when they sign up or renew their CSA membership. Please consider contributing to our partnership with the Settlement Home.  The more who give, the more produce we can provide these children in need.

Organic Rio Red Grapefruit from G&S Groves. Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG Hosts Annual Citrus Sale

JBG is now hosting its annual bulk citrus sale. Organic oranges and grapefruit are available for purchase at a cost of $10 per 10 lb bag.  These delicious oranges and grapefruit are grown in the Rio Grande Valley by G & S Groves, a certified organic grower in McAllen, Texas.  To order, please click here or go to our website at jbgorganic.com.

3) Recipes by Dish a Licious

This week in the DISH kitchen…

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Bone Marrow Butter!
photos by Alicia Mireles & Seth Juarez

Cauliflower season is in full effect at JBG and we’re catapulting this humble Brassica into stardom with a simple & impressive technique for cooking it.

Start by pulling or trimming the outer leaves off and cut the stalk off close to the base.  Rub it down with your favorite oil (olive, coconut, vegetable), place it in something oven-safe, preferably with high sides.  We’re going with cast iron skillets, but you could use a pie/baking dish or small stainless-steel skillet.

Bake it in the oven for 40-45 minutes.  It will start to slowly brown and soften.  If it looks dry, drizzle it with a little more oil.

While the cauliflower cooks, we build the butter.  You can use any compound butter your fluttering heart desires.  Japanese scallion butter, parsley & lemon zest butter, beet butter!   Or, forgo the dairy altogether and use olive oil.  The ingredients and flavors are your choice.  Just remember the technique.

Tonight, we’re feeling decadent.  We’ve got grass-fed marrow bones, and we’re doing Bone Marrow Butter.  Here’s how:

Place your marrow bones on a sheet tray and roast them in the oven around 375° for 10 minutes or until the marrow is soft, but not runny.  We want to be able to pull the marrow out in one piece.

Use a butter knife or small spoon to gently pull the marrow out in pieces.  Place it into a food processor with room temperature butter, a pinch of salt & pepper and pulse to incorporate.  Voila, bone marrow butter is yours.

Now, take the cauliflower out of the oven.  By now it’s lightly browned and starting to soften up.  Smear it with the bone marrow butter and back into the oven for another 30-45 minutes until it’s dark, golden & tender enough to cut with a fork.

Every 5-6 minutes we take it out to baste it with the melted butter in the bottom of the pan to help spread the love.

When it’s done, sprinkle it with minced herbs, maybe a squeeze of lemon and serve it right in the pan.

We tried to get a pretty picture of the cauliflower being served, but the crowd beat us to it.  It was devoured in minutes.

Now go get creative with this whole-roasted technique!  Try it with purple cauliflower, or cheddar from JBG.  Change up the flavors, use infused oil instead of butter.  Finish it with your favorite vinaigrette.  Make it yours.

Get cooking!

Any cooking quandaries you’d like us to tackle?  Let us know at info@dishalicious.com !

Lettuce transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon