0 ITEMS IN CART 
WEEK 18 IN PHOTOS
05/05/17 — Heydon Hatcher
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Week 18 has been all about staking, caging, and prepping the quickly growing tomatoes. Not only are these summer sweeties headed to market soon, but squash is, too! Summer is almost in full swing, yeehaw! In case you didn't catch it, our bulk tomato pre-sale is underway until Tuesday, check it out here.
We are having a tomato volunteer day this Saturday if you are interested in getting outside and getting dirty (email volunteer@jbgorganic.com if you want to join the fun). Otherwise, see you at the markets!
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: BENTO PICNIC
05/05/17 — Heydon Hatcher
Before we get to our Partner Spotlight, we want to remind you about our Bulk Tomato Pre-Sale which ends on Tuesday! Pre-order 25 lbs. of our mouth-watering beef steak slicing tomatoes for a discounted $50, and we'll deliver them to a farmers' market of your choice during the peak of our tomato season. Projected delivery dates are between June 1-June 30. We will contact you to schedule your pickup day. Order here.
This week, we had the immense privilege of meeting with one of our lively, local partners, Leanne Valenti, owner of Bento Picnic. She passionately incorporates our farm-fresh seasonal produce into their Japanese homestyle cooking inspired bento boxes creatively and beautifully week after week. "Every meal is designed with five colors, five tastes, and five elements to deliver a full-sensory experience with every bite." Like so many of our partners in town, we are inspired by Bento Picnic and can get behind their ultimate mission, keeping Austin nourished and healthy. Meet Leanne!
![Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
You've had a long history with JBG - tell us about that!
I moved to Austin in 2005, and was working at an after school program. I was always looking for ways for me and my kids to get involved with the community. I was looking through Craigslist for U-Pick type stuff specifically… picking peaches or something in the area. Brenton was just getting started with the 20 acres off Hergotz, and posted an ad about looking for volunteers on the weekend. He was still working full-time at the Department of Agriculture at the time. Interestingly, the entire reason I got into Japanese home-style cooking and bento is an interwoven story with volunteering at JBG because I went out there and volunteered with my good friend, Naoko, who is from rural Japan. We would both get veggie CSA boxes (mind you, I grew up in the suburbs of Houston in the '80s and '90s where macaroni and cheese counts as a vegetable), but I didn’t know what to do with them! Thankfully, really good cooking with veggies at the center of the plate was her upbringing and just part of her lifestyle. That is how I gained a huge appreciation and love of delicious, healthy Japanese homestyle cooking. I really wanted to make it accessible to people here. That’s how the concept of Bento Picnic got started... because of that relationship and my personal journey in figuring out what to do with the veggies.
What’s cool about bento cooking is whenever we would cook up a feast and eat it for dinner, instead of separating all the different dishes and packaging them in different containers, Naoko would package them as bentos instead. You would make a little lunch with a combination of all the different things as you were putting away your leftovers. It’s that meal prep that makes your week even easier.
When you were volunteering regularly for the farm, what are some good memories that you have?
My funniest story about Brenton is one time the volunteers were loading up the CSA boxes, and he had wandered into the packing shed. He had this bizarre look on his face, and was just standing there for a while maintaining this odd look. I asked him if he was okay, and he said, “I think that I have ants in my pants” and walked off. (Leanne starts laughing)
It’s been amazing to see the progress of the farm over ten years. Even seeing the changes over the course of a week (when I was volunteering regularly) and then now visiting for movie screenings, etc. when months have passed. It’s been incredible to see the pace at which the farm has grown and how Brenton's vision for the farm's future has been actualized.
Can you talk a bit about the principles governing bento boxes?
The key principle that we follow is using 5 colors, 5 tastes, and 5 elements in every meal. With that amount of variety, you get a lot of nutrition, flavor, and texture. The 5 colors are red, yellow, green, black, and white. Kubocha squash or spaghetti squash could be your yellow. Green is your bright spinaches, kale, arugula, and cucumbers. Reds can be tomatoes. White can be parsnips and egg whites. Black can be anything with a darker hue: eggplant or black fermented garlic, for example.
![Making a bento composition. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Making a bento composition. Photo by Scott David Gordon
The 5 tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent/spicy. Sweet, sour, and salty are pretty self explanatory, but the bitter and pungent takes a little bit more exploration. Bitter is something that dries your tongue and balances sweetness - all your herbs. Some root veggies are going to have bitter edge to them, too, think radishes. They can be pungent AND bitter. All these things can be interpreted lightly and with a lot of liberty and grace. It’s just supposed to be a framework for the creative process of constructing a box and general recipe development. I’ve been able to create amazing meals based off of that structure, and expand my cooking creativity greatly, instead of just mindlessly following recipes. I think about adding colors, rounding out the composition, and expanding the tastes.
Finally, the 5 elements are water, fire, earth, metal, and tree which all relate to cooking methods. Water is steaming, poaching, or boiling; fire is something on the grill or to saute; metal is the oven; earth is fermented or pickled; and tree is raw.
![BP 5 Elements Letter Size Color copy]()
People exert their creativity in different ways, whether it be painting, drawing, or music. For me, cooking is my creative outlet. Instead of just arriving at a blank page, when you have a framework to work within, things can move further faster. It’s been super empowering for me to come up with new variations. It has been very affirming to receive all the positive feedback… the people who eat the bento compositions and love vegetables all of a sudden. I attribute that newfound love to just paying attention to the flavor profiles during the different seasons of all the ingredients and rounding the meal out.
How can folks incorporate this into their home-cooking?
For example, if they are putting a salad together... how can you get all five colors into that salad? Even if you can’t get all five, how can you get at least three? From there, you are going to start to see how you can get more use out of all the things in your CSA box.
![Composing the greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Composing the greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Another way to incorporate bento into home-cooking/meal planning is to not just packing away all the things that you have prepared in their own individual containers. Try packing them away together as composed, complete meals. Most people have really busy weeks, and if their meals are already set up, they are ready to go for the week ahead.
What attracted you to this type of cuisine?
It hits all the points… it’s healthy, delicious, and convenient. When I was volunteering at JBG, I was working full-time for Americorps (which felt like more than a regular full-time job), and completing my Masters. I was so busy, but I care about myself and my body and the people I cook for, so I needed something nourishing and energizing. Ideally, I spent one day cooking and then had all my meals lined up for the week. That’s the level of convenience that attracted me to the bento lifestyle. Using the 5 colors, tastes, and elements always ensures that it is satisfying and delicious, too.
![Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
How does fresh produce fit into bento box principles?
You can’t check off a color if it’s food coloring. You have to use foods that naturally fit in the color framework. In order to fit the 5 colors, you have to bring in produce to do it. In order to do the 5 elements, you can’t just make all fried food. You have to incorporate things that are pickled, raw, sauteed, poached… you start to balance out healthier methods and healthier ingredients with the less healthy ones that just please your palate. I think that that’s the key, this method elicits so much balance.
![Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Do you have any tips for CSA Members who are stumped with certain vegetables?
Find a friend who is Japanese, and get them to search for the vegetable IN Japanese. There are so many recipes out there, that even if you look for them in English, you won’t find them. There are a lot of Asian veggies that come off of the farm, too. Don’t search for recipes in English, get someone to search for them in any Asian language, and you are going to find so many different recipes that are not in your current culinary arsenal.
I ask Naoko, still, to help me search for certain ingredients. Especially when I’m tired of using it in a certain way and want something new. She is always using cookpad, a really centralized site where almost every home-cook in Japan will post very thorough recipes, pictures, and feedback of anything that they’ve cooked. There’s an English version of it, but it is nowhere near as dense and robust as the Japanese version. I wish I could learn Japanese, but it’s not in the cards.
What's the veggie that stumps you the most?
Black Spanish radish… it’s too pungent for me. I need to find a good way to tame that back.
Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to incorporate more local and seasonal vegetables into their cooking?
The best way is going to the farmers markets, just making a habit of seeing what’s out there, picking something up, and using that as your springboard. Grab some tomatoes and make a point to use them in your dinner. I always do a couple of Google searches around what vegetables I have and will build a meal around that. It’s the same thing that Tom Colicchio says in his book Think Like A Chef, the proteins are not the star. You can get meats pretty much all year round, it’s the vegetables that you can only get at certain times.
![Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
How can folks look to bento boxes/Bento Picnic for inspiration?
Bentos are artwork for sure. You can get to all levels of effort with them. You can keep them simple, which is beautiful and uncluttered, or you can do the character style bentos, where people will make Pokemon type characters out of vegetables. It’s a thing that Japanese moms do to get their kids to enjoy veggies. It is smart, and gets kids excited to eat a variety of different things by making it look cool and pretty. Lots of people have cookie cutters in their kitchens, you can use those on vegetables, too, instead of just doing regular square or round cuts… and that just adds so much to the presentation right off the bat.
Do you have a favorite seasonal recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing with our readers?
Pepita Parsley Pesto
Yields about 1 pint
What’s your favorite thing about working with local farmers?
How fresh we can get something. It’s going to have so much more of a shelf life if we are packing up with local veggies. The same just can’t be said for things that come from a purveyor who is trucking things in from across the country or the world because they’ve already been on the shelf for a couple of weeks. Same thing goes for the flavor, the veggies are just that much more delicious… I’ve had folks get excited about carrots when they have always hated them, and I think it’s because they have probably never had fresh vegetables before!
I’ve been running the business for a couple years now, and in the first couple of months, I was catering a school field trip to Boggy Creek Farm. There were 7th grade boys that were raising their hands and standing up so that I would call on them… “How did you make these carrots!? These are so good!” Seeing kids react to the food is something that drives me and is super rewarding because kids don’t lie. If a kid is excited, you know you passed the test.
![Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Do you have a favorite JBG vegetable?
Watermelon radish… I had never tasted them before Brenton started growing them. They're so mild and the color just pops.
Where can people learn more/taste one of these boxes?
We’re at 2600 Cesar Chavez, we have a little shaded picnic area where you can sit down and enjoy them, or grab a box to-go! We have a website where you can place orders in advance, and will be ready when you arrive… here. We also have a kiosk format, more of a grab-and-go, at Austin Bouldering Project. We stock it daily and have quite the variety of rice bowls, bentos, snacks, and sweets. A lot of folks will work and climb at ABP and work up an appetite, so it serves them very well; however, you don’t have to climb there to grab a bento box. You can just walk in and grab your bento to go! We have a menu at Irie Bean on S. Lamar if you are looking for something south. We also cater, and you can find us at the Lakeline Farmers Market on Saturdays or the Mueller Farmers Market on Sundays!
![On Cesar Chavez. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
On Cesar Chavez. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
If you were a vegetable what would you be and why?
Kubocha squash because it’s going to give you energy to make it all the way through the day. My days are 14-16 hour days… I have a steady flow of energy that I use on whatever I’m doing. Whenever I get into it, I have a really strong ability to focus. They are also sweet and tasty, but definitely carry you through the long-haul.
![Bento goodness. Photo by Scott David Gordon.]()
Bento goodness. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
A huge thanks to Leanne Valenti with Bento Picnic for making time for us! Grab one of her boxes at the farmers market or around town, you won't regret it! 'Til next time!
Want to meet your farmers? We have an upcoming Meet Your Farmer Happy Hour at ABGB on 5/18 from 6-8 PM! Come have a beer and a bite, we can't wait to meet you.
This week, we had the immense privilege of meeting with one of our lively, local partners, Leanne Valenti, owner of Bento Picnic. She passionately incorporates our farm-fresh seasonal produce into their Japanese homestyle cooking inspired bento boxes creatively and beautifully week after week. "Every meal is designed with five colors, five tastes, and five elements to deliver a full-sensory experience with every bite." Like so many of our partners in town, we are inspired by Bento Picnic and can get behind their ultimate mission, keeping Austin nourished and healthy. Meet Leanne!
Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
You've had a long history with JBG - tell us about that!
I moved to Austin in 2005, and was working at an after school program. I was always looking for ways for me and my kids to get involved with the community. I was looking through Craigslist for U-Pick type stuff specifically… picking peaches or something in the area. Brenton was just getting started with the 20 acres off Hergotz, and posted an ad about looking for volunteers on the weekend. He was still working full-time at the Department of Agriculture at the time. Interestingly, the entire reason I got into Japanese home-style cooking and bento is an interwoven story with volunteering at JBG because I went out there and volunteered with my good friend, Naoko, who is from rural Japan. We would both get veggie CSA boxes (mind you, I grew up in the suburbs of Houston in the '80s and '90s where macaroni and cheese counts as a vegetable), but I didn’t know what to do with them! Thankfully, really good cooking with veggies at the center of the plate was her upbringing and just part of her lifestyle. That is how I gained a huge appreciation and love of delicious, healthy Japanese homestyle cooking. I really wanted to make it accessible to people here. That’s how the concept of Bento Picnic got started... because of that relationship and my personal journey in figuring out what to do with the veggies.
What’s cool about bento cooking is whenever we would cook up a feast and eat it for dinner, instead of separating all the different dishes and packaging them in different containers, Naoko would package them as bentos instead. You would make a little lunch with a combination of all the different things as you were putting away your leftovers. It’s that meal prep that makes your week even easier.
When you were volunteering regularly for the farm, what are some good memories that you have?
My funniest story about Brenton is one time the volunteers were loading up the CSA boxes, and he had wandered into the packing shed. He had this bizarre look on his face, and was just standing there for a while maintaining this odd look. I asked him if he was okay, and he said, “I think that I have ants in my pants” and walked off. (Leanne starts laughing)
It’s been amazing to see the progress of the farm over ten years. Even seeing the changes over the course of a week (when I was volunteering regularly) and then now visiting for movie screenings, etc. when months have passed. It’s been incredible to see the pace at which the farm has grown and how Brenton's vision for the farm's future has been actualized.
Can you talk a bit about the principles governing bento boxes?
The key principle that we follow is using 5 colors, 5 tastes, and 5 elements in every meal. With that amount of variety, you get a lot of nutrition, flavor, and texture. The 5 colors are red, yellow, green, black, and white. Kubocha squash or spaghetti squash could be your yellow. Green is your bright spinaches, kale, arugula, and cucumbers. Reds can be tomatoes. White can be parsnips and egg whites. Black can be anything with a darker hue: eggplant or black fermented garlic, for example.
Making a bento composition. Photo by Scott David Gordon
The 5 tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent/spicy. Sweet, sour, and salty are pretty self explanatory, but the bitter and pungent takes a little bit more exploration. Bitter is something that dries your tongue and balances sweetness - all your herbs. Some root veggies are going to have bitter edge to them, too, think radishes. They can be pungent AND bitter. All these things can be interpreted lightly and with a lot of liberty and grace. It’s just supposed to be a framework for the creative process of constructing a box and general recipe development. I’ve been able to create amazing meals based off of that structure, and expand my cooking creativity greatly, instead of just mindlessly following recipes. I think about adding colors, rounding out the composition, and expanding the tastes.
Finally, the 5 elements are water, fire, earth, metal, and tree which all relate to cooking methods. Water is steaming, poaching, or boiling; fire is something on the grill or to saute; metal is the oven; earth is fermented or pickled; and tree is raw.
People exert their creativity in different ways, whether it be painting, drawing, or music. For me, cooking is my creative outlet. Instead of just arriving at a blank page, when you have a framework to work within, things can move further faster. It’s been super empowering for me to come up with new variations. It has been very affirming to receive all the positive feedback… the people who eat the bento compositions and love vegetables all of a sudden. I attribute that newfound love to just paying attention to the flavor profiles during the different seasons of all the ingredients and rounding the meal out.
How can folks incorporate this into their home-cooking?
For example, if they are putting a salad together... how can you get all five colors into that salad? Even if you can’t get all five, how can you get at least three? From there, you are going to start to see how you can get more use out of all the things in your CSA box.
Composing the greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Another way to incorporate bento into home-cooking/meal planning is to not just packing away all the things that you have prepared in their own individual containers. Try packing them away together as composed, complete meals. Most people have really busy weeks, and if their meals are already set up, they are ready to go for the week ahead.
What attracted you to this type of cuisine?
It hits all the points… it’s healthy, delicious, and convenient. When I was volunteering at JBG, I was working full-time for Americorps (which felt like more than a regular full-time job), and completing my Masters. I was so busy, but I care about myself and my body and the people I cook for, so I needed something nourishing and energizing. Ideally, I spent one day cooking and then had all my meals lined up for the week. That’s the level of convenience that attracted me to the bento lifestyle. Using the 5 colors, tastes, and elements always ensures that it is satisfying and delicious, too.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
How does fresh produce fit into bento box principles?
You can’t check off a color if it’s food coloring. You have to use foods that naturally fit in the color framework. In order to fit the 5 colors, you have to bring in produce to do it. In order to do the 5 elements, you can’t just make all fried food. You have to incorporate things that are pickled, raw, sauteed, poached… you start to balance out healthier methods and healthier ingredients with the less healthy ones that just please your palate. I think that that’s the key, this method elicits so much balance.
Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Do you have any tips for CSA Members who are stumped with certain vegetables?
Find a friend who is Japanese, and get them to search for the vegetable IN Japanese. There are so many recipes out there, that even if you look for them in English, you won’t find them. There are a lot of Asian veggies that come off of the farm, too. Don’t search for recipes in English, get someone to search for them in any Asian language, and you are going to find so many different recipes that are not in your current culinary arsenal.
I ask Naoko, still, to help me search for certain ingredients. Especially when I’m tired of using it in a certain way and want something new. She is always using cookpad, a really centralized site where almost every home-cook in Japan will post very thorough recipes, pictures, and feedback of anything that they’ve cooked. There’s an English version of it, but it is nowhere near as dense and robust as the Japanese version. I wish I could learn Japanese, but it’s not in the cards.
What's the veggie that stumps you the most?
Black Spanish radish… it’s too pungent for me. I need to find a good way to tame that back.
Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to incorporate more local and seasonal vegetables into their cooking?
The best way is going to the farmers markets, just making a habit of seeing what’s out there, picking something up, and using that as your springboard. Grab some tomatoes and make a point to use them in your dinner. I always do a couple of Google searches around what vegetables I have and will build a meal around that. It’s the same thing that Tom Colicchio says in his book Think Like A Chef, the proteins are not the star. You can get meats pretty much all year round, it’s the vegetables that you can only get at certain times.
Making onigiri. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
How can folks look to bento boxes/Bento Picnic for inspiration?
Bentos are artwork for sure. You can get to all levels of effort with them. You can keep them simple, which is beautiful and uncluttered, or you can do the character style bentos, where people will make Pokemon type characters out of vegetables. It’s a thing that Japanese moms do to get their kids to enjoy veggies. It is smart, and gets kids excited to eat a variety of different things by making it look cool and pretty. Lots of people have cookie cutters in their kitchens, you can use those on vegetables, too, instead of just doing regular square or round cuts… and that just adds so much to the presentation right off the bat.
Do you have a favorite seasonal recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing with our readers?
Pepita Parsley Pesto
Yields about 1 pint
- 2/3 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 bunch parsley (~100 g)
- 3/4 cup pepita seeds, toasted
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 1/2 Tbsp safflower oil
- 1/2 cup water
What’s your favorite thing about working with local farmers?
How fresh we can get something. It’s going to have so much more of a shelf life if we are packing up with local veggies. The same just can’t be said for things that come from a purveyor who is trucking things in from across the country or the world because they’ve already been on the shelf for a couple of weeks. Same thing goes for the flavor, the veggies are just that much more delicious… I’ve had folks get excited about carrots when they have always hated them, and I think it’s because they have probably never had fresh vegetables before!
I’ve been running the business for a couple years now, and in the first couple of months, I was catering a school field trip to Boggy Creek Farm. There were 7th grade boys that were raising their hands and standing up so that I would call on them… “How did you make these carrots!? These are so good!” Seeing kids react to the food is something that drives me and is super rewarding because kids don’t lie. If a kid is excited, you know you passed the test.
Leanne. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Do you have a favorite JBG vegetable?
Watermelon radish… I had never tasted them before Brenton started growing them. They're so mild and the color just pops.
Where can people learn more/taste one of these boxes?
We’re at 2600 Cesar Chavez, we have a little shaded picnic area where you can sit down and enjoy them, or grab a box to-go! We have a website where you can place orders in advance, and will be ready when you arrive… here. We also have a kiosk format, more of a grab-and-go, at Austin Bouldering Project. We stock it daily and have quite the variety of rice bowls, bentos, snacks, and sweets. A lot of folks will work and climb at ABP and work up an appetite, so it serves them very well; however, you don’t have to climb there to grab a bento box. You can just walk in and grab your bento to go! We have a menu at Irie Bean on S. Lamar if you are looking for something south. We also cater, and you can find us at the Lakeline Farmers Market on Saturdays or the Mueller Farmers Market on Sundays!
On Cesar Chavez. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
If you were a vegetable what would you be and why?
Kubocha squash because it’s going to give you energy to make it all the way through the day. My days are 14-16 hour days… I have a steady flow of energy that I use on whatever I’m doing. Whenever I get into it, I have a really strong ability to focus. They are also sweet and tasty, but definitely carry you through the long-haul.
Bento goodness. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
A huge thanks to Leanne Valenti with Bento Picnic for making time for us! Grab one of her boxes at the farmers market or around town, you won't regret it! 'Til next time!
Want to meet your farmers? We have an upcoming Meet Your Farmer Happy Hour at ABGB on 5/18 from 6-8 PM! Come have a beer and a bite, we can't wait to meet you.
BBQ BROCCOLI STEAKS WITH AIOLI
05/03/17 — Heydon Hatcher
By Megan Winfrey
Roasting hearty vegetables is a tale as old as time. But hey, it's 2017 and we're all about taking traditional methods, changing them up slightly, and throwing a new name on it! Over the last few seasons, vegans and vegetarians have taken back the 'steak' via cabbage steaks, cauliflower steaks, and pineapple steaks - so it totally makes sense to throw broccoli steaks into the mix! This recipe even calls for a traditional BBQ rub, bringing it even closer to the real deal.
BBQ Broccoli Steaks with Aioli
- 4 broccoli heads, sliced in half down the middle
- 2 tbs. brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika (regular is also fine)
- 1 tbs. chili powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne
- 1 tsp. coarse salt
- 1 tbs. apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbs. mayonnaise
- Fresh grated parmesan cheese, for garnish
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Oil a large baking sheet, and place broccoli steaks cut side down.
In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, cayenne and salt.
Drizzle the stalk and tops of the broccoli with olive oil, then sprinkle on the rub. Rub it in a bit with your fingertips, making sure to get the seasoning into the crevices.
Roast for 20 minutes, until the leaves are crispy and the bottom is deep brown. While the steaks cook, prepare the aioli by stirring the mayo and the vinegar together in a small bowl.
Remove the steaks from the oven, grate parmesan cheese right over the top, then drizzle with aioli.
CSA BOX CONTENTS WEEK OF MAY 1ST
05/02/17 — Scott
CSA Box Contents Week of May 1st
Large Box
Beet, Red
Broccoli
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Cucumber, Pickling
Greens, Chard, Rainbow
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Tomato, Red Slicer
Turnip, Purple Top
Beet, Red
Broccoli
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Cucumber, Pickling
Greens, Chard, Rainbow
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Tomato, Red Slicer
Turnip, Purple Top
Medium Box
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Turnip, Purple Top
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Basil
Herb, Fennel
Leek
Potato, Red
Squash, Zucchini
Turnip, Purple Top
Small Box
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Green
Cucumber, Pickling
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Cilantro
Onion, Red
Potato, Red
Squash, Yellow
Beet, Red
Cabbage, Green
Cucumber, Pickling
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Cilantro
Onion, Red
Potato, Red
Squash, Yellow
Individual Box
Beet, Red
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Kale, Dino
Onion, Red
Potato, Red
Squash, Yellow
Beet, Red
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Kale, Dino
Onion, Red
Potato, Red
Squash, Yellow
'MATER MADNESS - TOMATO PRE-SALE
04/28/17 — Heydon Hatcher
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
We just finished planting 49,440 tomato plants! It's like farmers gone wild over here at JBG. We are caught in a tizzy of tomatoes, and want to extend a special offer to you. For this week only, we’re having a bulk tomato pre-sale. We will be offering 25 lbs of our mouth-watering beef steak slicing tomatoes for $50! That’s right, you heard us! This is a discounted price from our regular bulk sale prices in June and July. Beef steak tomatoes are our favorite variety for BLTs, hamburgers, and tomato sandwiches. They are great for slicing, dicing, juicing, canning, roasting, saucing, sandwiches, and salads. These are the all-around tomato and are sweet, juicy, and delectable! Pre-order them now, and we will deliver them to a farmers’ market of your choice during the peak of our tomato season. Projected delivery dates are between June 1st and June 30th. We will contact you to schedule your pickup day.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Why all the pre-sale hype? Well, this year’s ‘mater harvest should be one for the books. We have chosen some exquisite varieties for you this year, and we should have quite the bumper crop. Every time we walk by our rows of tomatoes, our mouths start watering at the thought of farm-fresh BLTs, bright tomato sauces, and perhaps our favorite way to enjoy a homegrown tomato - sliced thick with salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil. We got that ‘mater mania! How can you not start ruminating on salsa, homemade ketchup, margherita pizza, marinara sauce, caprese salad, and all the summertime sweetness when waltzing through the vastness of the tomato fields? We love the succulent produce that comes with the impending and sweltering heat. We listed some all-star food blog recipes below to get you pondering and perusing what you will be making with your tomatoes this season.
Tomato fields forever. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Tomato fields forever x 2. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Tomato field panorama. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Love tomatoes, but struggle with finding good recipes? Look no further:
Photo by Mackenzie Smith.
- Alexandra's Kitchen Grilled Corn and Cherry Tomato Salsa
- Tim’s ABGB JBG Gazpacho
- Smitten Kitchen’s Burst Tomato Gallete with Corn and Zucchini
- Smitten Kitchen’s Cubed, Hacked Caprese
- Love & Lemons Tomato, Basil & Artichoke Sandwich
- North Wild Kitchen’s Lompe with Carmelized Onions and Roasted Tomatoes
- Vermillion Root’s Malaysian Spicy Tomato
- The Brick Kitchen’s Fresh Tomato Pasta
- The Brick Kitchen’s Eggplant Caponata and Labneh Bruschetta
- i am a food blog’s Tomato and Egg Breakfast Pizza
- Megan Winfrey's Egg in an Avocado
Sichuan BLT with 5 Spice Bacon + Fried Green Tomatoes now on HELLOMYDUMPLING.COM Tune in tomorrow on @food52 Facebook live where my Sichuan BLT will be doing battle #f52tomatoweek BLT-off
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Pre-order your 'maters now! We promise they're just like the ones your momma grew! (Or daddy, or grandpaw, or Uncle Bob...)
Looking to work on the farm? We are looking to hire a Greenhouse Manager as soon as possible! Check out more info here.
Want to help us with our tomato bounty? We have a tomato work-day coming up on May 6th. Interested volunteers can email volunteer@jbgorganic.com with “tomato volunteering” in subject line. We always appreciate the smiles and help!
WEEK 17 IN PHOTOS
04/28/17 — Heydon Hatcher
Will. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Week 17 has tomatoes on our minds... We've planted almost 50,000 tomato plants, and this year's crop should be one of our best yet. Chompin' at the bit, and want to pre-order some tomatoes? Check out our special weeklong pre-sale here.
Our Victoria Red Table grapes are three years old now (vineyard images below), and are maturing wonderfully. A huge shout-out goes to Andrew Labay for talking with our Farm Manager and Head Grower about growing grapes in Texas. He mentioned something very interesting while he met with us - seasoned grape growers do not recommend cultivating grapes organically (because they are sensitive to pests and disease); however, our grapes look terrific! He was immensely excited about our experiment since there aren't many organic growers in the area. He is thrilled to be working with us, and is invaluable in helping us navigate the challenges we face that are different from conventional growers.
On top of that, we are ready to start constructing the trellis system for one of our newest crops, the muscadines! YEEHAW!
Photo by Scott David Gordon
CSA boxes ready to get filled. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Transplanting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Basil babies. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Tomato fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Vineyards. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Grapes a-growin'. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Vineyard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Garlic. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Farm tour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
One happy dude. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Blossom + bee. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Watering transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.
Tizzy of tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.MAGENTA HAND PIES WITH SPICED LENTILS, BROWN BUTTER LEEKS + GOAT CHEESE
04/27/17 — Heydon Hatcher
By The World in a Pocket
The bits and bobs from a quick refrigerator survey before you go out of town, before you need to make space for your new CSA (yes, #blessed), are also strong building blocks for a pragmatic pastry or a down-to-earth-dumpling. If it tastes good before you put it in a pocket, there is a solid chance it will be even better when you mix it with something else that also tastes good. Pockets also serve as a solid solution for forgotten produce in the back of your crisper, shriveled and softer than they should be, but not too far gone. Leftovers and stragglers can take on a whole new life wrapped up in a tender dumpling skin or a flaky pastry, and less food goes to waste all around.
Perishables in our fridge, before we leave town for 5 days:
- Purple sweet potatoes, roasted
- 1 big whole roasted beet
- A little over a cup of cooked lentils, spiced with whole cumin and coriander
- 2 sad leeks
- Not even half a glass of Pinot Grigio
- 2 opened, partially consumed packages of goat cheese
Photo by The World in a Pocket
The leeks are gritty, so I chop those first and put them in a bowl filled with water to loosen up the dirt while I think about what to do with everything else. Purple sweet potatoes mashed with a deep red beet make a special shade of magenta. Stirring in the lentils with salt and pepper seems to be the simplest approach. Done. I skim the leeks from the top of the bowl full of water and marvel for a second at the amount of dirt that remains at the bottom, silently thanking an old boyfriend for teaching me that trick when I was 21, never having a thought about a leek before I moved to NYC in 2006. I melt 2 tablespoons of butter as I rinse the leeks one more time. The butter has browned by the time the leeks go into the saucepan with a big pinch of salt, and they cook for about 2 minutes before I empty the white wine into the pan and turn up the heat. Once the liquid is reduced, (about 5 minutes), I stir what remains of the leeks/brown butter/white wine into the sweet potato mixture. That all goes into the fridge while I roll out the dough.
The well-tested recipe for empanada dough from Epicurious is my go-to for hand pies and empanadas. I double the recipe because I am never upset about extra pie dough. I cut the dough into circles using a cocktail tumbler, which makes about 20 small hand pies-- just the right amount of dough-to-filling ratio this time around. I roll & cut the dough on a piece of parchment paper that will fit right onto a baking sheet. Each hand pie takes two pieces of round dough. A tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture onto one disc, topped with a sprinkle of goat cheese, then covered with another disc of dough. The tines of a dinner fork pressed around the edges seal each pie, tops pricked. The cookie sheet full of savory pies goes into the freezer for 20 minutes before I take it out and carefully place the pockets in a ziplock bag and put them back.
Photo by The World in a Pocket.
Check out the wonders of The World in a Pocket's IG here.
