By Megan Winfrey

Beets are one of my favorite ingredients to cook with, because they make every dish so beautiful! How could anyone resist that perfect magenta? Beet hummus is extremely easy to make and absolutely delicious. It freezes well, so double or triple this recipe and get your beet fix all year long!

Beet Hummus

• 2-3 small beets
• 1 can chick peas, drained
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs. tahini, heaping
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and scrub the beets well before roasting. Place the beets on some foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap up, and roast for 45 minutes-1 hour, or until a knife inserted falls out without resistance. You want them to be very tender. Cool and peel the beets, then place them into a food processor or blender. Blend until only small bits remain. Add everything but the olive oil, blend until smooth. Continue blending while slowing adding the olive oil. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and if the hummus is too thick, add water little bits at a time.

Freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months, or keep in the fridge for up to one week.

Beet Hummus is a JBG breakroom favorite!

Breakroom birthday snacks.

A post shared by ada lisa broussard (@adalisab) on Jan 10, 2017 at 11:43am PST

CSA Box Contents Week of Mar 6th

Rainbow Chard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Come see us this weekend at our annual Transplant Sale! Taking place the first three weekends of this month, you have ample opportunity to come out to River Road and peruse our extensive menu of transplant offerings. Heck, you don't even have to wait until this weekend to check out the varieties, you can order online now! Check it out here.

Harvesting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Workin' on the orchard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Hydrating the transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Birds helping Montana out. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Montana at work. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Spinach. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Big skies. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

The prettiest salad you ever did see. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Curly kale details. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cover crop beauties. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

It's about ripe time to start getting that backyard, side yard, or community garden plot ready for a bountiful spring and summer. If you're like us at JBG, your hands are itching with the urge to get out and fill that garden with new plants. Before you start planting though, we've got a few tips to ensure your 2016 garden is as productive and healthy as possible!

Be sure to check out the details for our Annual Transplant Sale, as well as a special gardening workshop with Brenton, at the bottom of the page!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Check your Tools

It happens to the best of us - tools lying around, rain barrels getting a little slimy, trellises falling apart. Now is the best time to get everything clean and ready for you to hit the ground running when your pick up your organic transplants! Organize that shed, clean your tools, fix any broken fences or irrigation, and get ready for a great year!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Clear your Garden

Whether you put in a winter cover crop, or you have leftover fall crop residues, or even if your garden has filled up with grass (hey, we'll count that one as a cover crop too), it's time to clear that bed in preparation for the new! We recommend cutting whatever is left in your garden down to ground level. You can compost the residues or dig them right into your garden to decompose.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Aerate your Soil

Next, you'll want to start getting your soil ready for the transplants. First things first, it's time to loosen the soil. Over time, water, gravity, and sedimentation slowly compact your garden soil. Compacted soil is not as productive - your plants need lots of oxygen around their roots and plenty of space for water to trickle down. You can use a digging fork to loosen the soil, or use the double digging technique. If you have rocky or poorly aerated soil, consider building yourself a raised-bed garden to give those plants the fluffy soils they need to thrive.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Compost, Compost, Compost!

The next step is to make sure your soils are healthy and fed! We recommend applying a few inches of compost to your garden every year. This provides your garden space with nutrient rich organic matter and a host of microorganisms. Not only is compost a fantastic, natural, slow-release fertilizer, but it will increase the water-holding capacity of your soil, and decrease erosion.

You can go a step further and get your soil tested - this will tell you if you need to add any micronutrients or amendments to your soil. Here at the farm we test with a number of laboratories to attain the best possible soils we can, but for the casual home gardener, this step is not as necessary.

You can also find a comprehensive, month-by-month list of tips for central Texas from our friends at The Natural Gardener.

Alright, you're ready to start planting, now what?

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Come to the Annual Transplant Sale

Our greenhouses are filling up with spring transplants for your backyard! This year's Transplant Sale will be held at our Garfield Farm greenhouses on March 4th, 11th, and 18th. Transplants will also be available for pickup at any of our farmers market locations or straight to your doorstep if you order online!

This year's sale is bigger than ever, and we can't wait to see your home gardens flourish. This year's selection is immensely extensive and varied... we have 110 different fruit, herb, and veggie offerings including varieties from Slow Food’s Ark of Taste!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Learn from a Pro

Our very own farmer Brenton is the king of taking a backyard garden to the extreme. This month, he's going to share some of his knowledge to equip all of you Central Texas gardeners with the education needed to make sure your families are well fed this year. Join us on Saturday, March 11th for the Organic Backyard Gardening Workshop with Brenton Johnson.

When: Saturday, March 11th, 10 am - 12:30pm

Where: Our Garfield Farm! 4008 River Road, Garfield TX, 78612

Tickets: Available now!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Nitty Gritty:

• This workshop is designed to equip Central Texas gardeners with the tools they need to plan and execute a successful spring vegetable garden, and is designed for novice and experienced gardeners, alike.
• Topics will include: site selection, soil prep, soil fertility, irrigation, planting guidelines, variety selection, and pest management.
• Workshop instructor will give useful, hands-on demos of proper planting, watering, and harvesting techniques, with a special focus on tomatoes.
• Participants will have an opportunity for an open discussion and Q&A session with Brenton.

Backyard Bonuses:

• All workshop participants will enjoy 10% off their entire transplant order.
• Following the workshop, participants are invited to go on a walk-about with Brenton, where he will give a tour of a portion of the farm.
• All workshop participants are invited to bring a picnic and enjoy the Spring farmscapes.
• Participants will also receive a special discount to our CSA, as a type of crop insurance in case their backyard garden is less than bountiful :)
• If you bring your kiddos, we will have a JBG volunteer there to bring them on a farm walk-about and some sand pile exploration.

Spring on the farm is a super busy time, so if you are looking to dip your toes in a career rooted in agriculture, check out our job listings! We would love to welcome you to the JBG fam!

Ever visited our favorite zero-waste grocery store, in.gredients? Well, they have hit quite a rough patch and need the community's help! After more than four years as a leader in sustainability and the local food economy, they need to raise $30,000 for strategic infrastructure investments. Over 50 local vendors and fellow small businesses have rallied behind them by donating products, classes, tastings, tours & parties for campaign perks so that we may keep their doors open and secure their future in this rapidly growing city. Want to contribute? Check out their indiegogo campaign here.

By Mackenzie Smith

Raw collards are sweet and crunchy; hearty enough to hold a meal-full of fillings. My first collard wraps were inspired by Vietnamese spring rolls: noodles, sprouts, pork, shrimp, mint & cilantro, served with fish sauce. They were a hit, and once I realized collards are the perfect vessel for anything savory, stuffing a big leaf full of leftover _____ with a sprinkle of this and that has become a meal we crave regularly.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith.

The wrap in this picture is made with leftover brown rice and shredded beef shortrib from Dai Due, watermelon radish, mint, cilantro, sesame, scallion and hot sauce.

Prep your fillings (chop veggies, herbs) and set them up so they are easy to get to as you build your wrap, starting with grains and ending with crunch or hot sauce.

Use your leftovers! Get creative!

Pick one of each:

• Grain or noodle: brown rice, quinoa, noodles, couscous, freekeh, barley
• Protein: seitan, tofu, shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, poached/fried/scrambled egg, leftover sloppy joe filling, taco meat-- you get the picture

Add a healthy sprinkle of any or all:

• Mint, cilantro, basil, parsley, scallion, chives

Crunch:

• Julienned or shredded fresh carrots, watermelon radish, jicama or sprouts
• Pickles
• Nuts & seeds
• Crispy shallots or garlic
• Potato chips (yes)

Finishing with a few shakes of hot sauce is non-negotiable in this house, but to each their own.

Maybe this reminds you of a more virtuous Chipotle situation? Get into it!

Photo by Mackenzie Smith.

Prep your collards:

Gently swish around whole collard leaves in a big bowl of water before letting them sit for about 10 minutes. Take the leaves out of the water and give them one more quick rinse under the faucet before patting them dry with a towel. (While this step may seem gratuitous, collards are inherently dirty, coming up from the earth the way they do. Nothing says “don’t do this again” like a mouthful of grit.) Aim to leave as much of the leaf in tact as possible as you remove the thickest part of the spine from each one. If the leaves are small, place one on top of the other to cover the slit from removing the spine reinforce your wrap and make room for more filling. If your leaves are on the larger side, just use one for each wrap, starting with the slit side and rolling inward.

Starting with the grain or noodle, spoon it into the middle of the leaf, then add protein, herbs and crunch. Finish with hot sauce. Air on the conservative side as you build your wrap, especially the first go-round. Once you have tried it a few times, you will begin to see about how much a leaf can handle based on its size.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith.

CSA Box Contents Week of Feb 27th