“A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other’s lives. It is the knowledge that people have of each other, their concern for each other, their trust in each other, the freedom with which they come and go among themselves” - Wendell Berry

Veggie love!

To our beloved customers,

With the holiday season upon us, we are overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude. 2016 has been a whirlwind to say the least. At the farm, we started ‘16 with the best and most successful 5 months, while the end of year materialized as the hardest 7 months that we have had on record. With three nights of freezing weather this past week, it was truly frightening. Freeze can be immensely destructive, and as it the peak of our harvest season, there is a plethora of produce coming in from the fields. Thus, our entire farm team pitched in to transport the harvest as quickly as possible into the greenhouses. With the inherent obstacles that come with being a farmer (dang you, elements!), it oftentimes means heartbreak and staggering feelings of loss; however, in this particular instance, seeing our team banding together in a time of need, I saw a strong group of people giving 110 percent to save the day. A gaggle of muddy super heroes to the rescue! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the team that we have at the farm right now is the cream of the crop. We have never been so in tune with each other... There is no shortage of cooperation, communication, and hard work. We are all committed to making the farm awesome and stronger than ever. We have so many exciting projects and ideas up our sleeve, we foresee greatness in the New Year. For example, we have new Ark of Taste varieties that we will be offering at our upcoming Spring transplant sale, plus, new crops that will be appearing in your CSA shares that we have never dabbled in growing before! All of our schemes for 2017 have us marinating in immense anticipation… we cannot wait to share it with you!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

We could not be doing what we love so passionately without the tremendous and perennial support from you, our community. Your support is changing our food system, one purchase at a time. It helps employ over 90 full-time Austinites with fair wages, and let’s these folks work in jobs they believe in, plus it ultimately helps make farm labor a viable and respected job. Austin, with it’s highly-saturated oasis of talented chefs, amazing farm-to-table restaurants, locavores, foodies, and general enthusiasm for organic farming, I couldn’t have found a better place to farm. I honestly believe that if I started this business in South Alabama, where I’m from, there just wouldn’t be the support for what we are doing. Just knowing that we are helping keep Austin fed and that you appreciate us, keeps us going day after day.

We love our relationships with you. We love knowing your dogs' names and your kids' kale preferences. We don't even mind your disdain when there’s a sustained influx of okra... we're right there with you! We love that we grow food, and then get to meet the families that eat it. We love hearing about your recipe triumphs and failures. Your involvement and feedback is what pushes us to work each day to improve the quality and taste of our vegetables.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our entire JBG family is a complicated web of greenhouse workers, harvest crew, market staff, and the guys and gals that pack your CSA boxes... but you're also a very real part of the family. We do this for you, and we hope you not only know this, but taste it.

CSA members: You've stuck with us through thick and thin... though weeks of okra and devastating database crashes! Through flooded fields and destroyed greenhouses! I can't let this opportunity pass by without extending my very sincere and wholehearted appreciation your way. JBG wouldn't exist if it weren't for your commitment to buying locally and organically; I know it's not always easy or convenient.

The business of farming often gets in the way of remembering to say thank you... So thank YOU, and your family, and all the mouths you nourish with our vegetables. You're the best community any farm could ever hope for, and we sincerely love you all. HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

If you're reading this, it's because you care about the farm, and you believe in what we're trying to do. This holiday, do us a favor and tell a friend about us! November and December are always hard months for us (as many of you all are traveling and buying less vegetables), so your help telling a friend about our CSA program or our market stand is very helpful and greatly appreciated!

Week 51 caught us in a bit of a tizzy. With three nights of intense freeze, we found ourselves toiling tirelessly to get the harvest into the greenhouses to evade the damage that freeze can wreak upon the crops. Transporting the yield was quite the endeavor seeing as it’s the peak of our harvest season, and we have so much coming in currently! Our team banded together, gave it 110 percent, and got the work done though. Despite the damage that the cold caused, the silver lining of that struggle was seeing our team working cooperating, communicating, and working together. It was awesome!

We are wishing everyone of you the happiest holiday season. We cannot say enough how grateful we are of your support… it really makes our hearts sing!

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.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

by Megan Winfrey

One reason (of many) that I love living in Texas is all of the Mexican traditions and influences that filter across the border. Tamales were always a big part of the holidays growing up, and although I've yet to attempt making them myself, I love supporting the families that make them each year in the traditional way. I try to have a few dozen stowed away in the freezer by mid-December, making Christmas Eve dinner a total breeze. All I have to do is make the posole. Homemade tamales and posole is a traditional New Mexican holiday meal, and such a heart-warming way to celebrate and feast with family and friends. Here's to ya'll, everyone at JBG, holiday traditions, and a hopeful, healthy 2017!

Green Pork Posole

• 2 cans white corn hominy
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 8 oz. boneless pork loin, cubed
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups water
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 dried New Mexican chiles
• 2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1/3 cup green onions, chopped
• lime wedges

Heat oil in a pan over medium high. Add the pork and cook for about 5 minutes, until brown on all sides. Add onion and cook another 2 minutes. Add oregano, salt, garlic, and bay leaf - cook for another minute. Add the hominy, water, and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chiles and simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the chiles and bay leaf and ladle soup into large bowls. Garnish with cabbage and green onions and finish it off with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Enjoy with homemade pork tamales!

CSA Box Contents Week of Dec 19th

by Hector Gonzalez

Curried Fennel & Cauliflower Soup

• 4 fennel stalks
• 4 cauliflower leaves
• 1 medium cauliflower head
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 1 tbsp of curry powder (use your favorite!)
• 3 cups of vegetable broth (He used his corn cob broth in the video)
• Salt and pepper to taste

A video posted by Johnson's Backyard Garden (@jbgorganic) on Dec 19, 2016 at 1:57pm PST

Dice the fennel stalks and cauliflower leaves. Cut the cauliflower in florets, chop the stalks also Put pan to medium heat. Add the stalks and leaves and sauteé until soft (3-5 minutes).

Add garlic and toss for 1 minute. Add the curry powder and toss again for 2 minutes. Add cauliflower. Toss again.

Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until florets are soft. Let it cool for 5 minutes.

Blend until all ingredients are well mixed. Add more broth if you want it more liquid Top with salt, pepper and leftover cauliflower leaves and fennel fronds

Enjoy while listening to Merle Haggard (Hector's recommendation)

by Charlotte McClure

It's hard to believe it's Week 50! We've already got New Year's resolutions on our minds! This week, we started ordering seeds for 2017... We're excited to try some new tomato and pepper varieties next year, along with some beautiful mini head lettuce. We are already planning out the Spring transplant sale, and have some really awesome stuff up our sleeve for that event. It's going to be a great Spring season! But for now, we're relishing what's left of 2016 and enjoying winter's radishes, fennel, carrots, and turnips.

A big thanks to everyone who made it out for the Rolling Roadshow's screening of The Grinch this past weekend, it was a blast!

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.

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.

 

 

The holidays are upon us, and instead of getting stressed out as per usual, I’ve decided to focus my energy elsewhere: soup-making! You might not know this about me, but I LOVE to cook, a trait I’m sure I share with the majority of our CSA home-chef cooking all-stars. The taste of a fresh home-cooked meal is unrivaled, unparalleled, and supreme, it satiates the soul. Another little known Brenton-fact is that I have a voracious wintertime fervor for cooking soups and chilis. I love that the aromatic fragrances permeate and warm the whole house, plus it’s a serious comfort food to boot. Of all the many different types of cuisine that exist (I have quite an extensive cookbook collection, over 300 books!), my specialty resides in the Mexican and Cajun realm of cooking. Making a big ole vat of gumbo is something that I relish, and I find the process extremely meditative. Plus, living in Central Texas enables us, luckily, to grow most all of the veggies that are integral & popular in Cajun and Mexican recipes. YAHOO!

Chicken Tortilla Soup.

On my recent jaunt to Monterrey, the extensive, varied, and brilliantly vibrant produce at the farmers markets really inspired me to experiment and utilize more Mexican produce in my cooking. As a small token of my appreciation for our assiduous and incredible crews, I decided to make a huge vat of tortilla soup. Our Garfield crew grubbed down earlier in the week, and our Hergotz crew will be fully fed next week. The holidays are a perfect time to take inventory on the many aspects of life to be thankful for - and I must say, I am one lucky guy.

Farmers market spread in Monterrey.

Farmers market spread in Monterrey.

Farmers market spread in Monterrey.

We already have a gargantuan stainless steel pot and heavy duty burner for making carnitas at the farm, so thankfully the soup-making venture was equipped! The pots came with the biggest utensils I have ever set my eyes on… I swear there’s a spoon that is bordering on 4 feet long. And, don’t get me started on the ladle, it holds SO MUCH liquid… but, I digress. I’ve made tortilla soup before, so I had a pretty good idea of where to start, but I wanted to do a little research first to make it as authentic as possible. The first recipe I read was written by Rick Bayles, one of my favorite cookbook authors. He studied Latin American anthropology + linguistics, and hosted a cooking show for a long time focused on Mexican food. His recipe for Sopa Azteca talks about the history of the dish, explaining that it originated in the Mexico City area before becoming popular across the American Southwest in the 1970’s.

Giant utensils!

Rick’s recipe was great, but I wanted something a little more in-depth that used more authentic ingredients. My philosophy in cooking is to use raw and fresh ingredients as much as possible. I don’t want to buy a powdered chile blend, I want to buy whole chiles so I can grind and mix them myself. I follow the same philosophy in farming and in building. For example, all the soil we use in our greenhouse is mixed by hand to ensure we’re getting the exact composition we want. Is it easier to buy pre-made ingredients? Of course. But to me, getting it right is worth the extra effort.

With that philosophy in mind, I found this recipe which suggests roasting fresh whole tomatoes, corn cobs, heads of garlic, onions, and dried chiles to deepen the broth’s flavor. The author of this recipe explains that one of the of the defining ingredients in tortilla soup is the type of chile used when making the broth. Some recipes call for ancho, chipotle, or even Hatch chiles, but the most traditional chile to use is dried pasilla, which is almost black in color and has a dark, complex flavor.

Ingredients.

With all my ingredients at hand, I spent the rest of Sunday night working on the soup. I put the recipes away and freestyled it, which is my favorite way to cook. I browned 20 pounds of chicken legs with onions and garlic in a huge pot. I let that simmer for awhile before adding carrots, celery, oranges, jalapenos, whole black peppercorns, salt, thyme, and some wonderful smelling guajillo powder given to me by a farmer friend in Italy this past September. I started the stock at sunset and let it simmer until midnight. I put the stock pot in an ice bath to cool it down before finally going to bed. The next morning I skimmed off the fat and stored the stock until Wednesday.

On the day of the big lunch, I enlisted our irrigation manager, Temo, to help me cook the rest of the soup. We re-heated and strained the stock, then picked all the chicken meat off the leg bones. Then, we roasted a huge pot of tomatoes, onions, garlic, poblano peppers and fresh corn until charred, puréed it, then added it to the simmering stock. We reserved some of the roasted vegetable mixture to make fresh salsa. We also lightly roasted the pasilla chiles, rehydrated them in hot water, then puréed them and added them to the stock as well. Then we added more charred corn, chopped carrots, shredded chicken breast and fresh epazote. We called the whole crew over to the lunch barn and started serving everyone. The steam coming off the huge soup pot was surely a welcome sight on such a cold, blustery day. We put tons of fresh garnishes on all the tables to top off the soup: radishes, avocado, queso asadero, crema, jalapenos, epazote, scallions, cilantro, limes and freshly made tortilla chips. The soup was a huge success, and we’re going to do a repeat lunch for our packing crew at Hergotz next week. Now’s the perfect time to gather all your friends, family, and coworkers together to try out a huge pot of this soup for yourself. See the ingredients I used below if you’re inspired by the photos in this story.

Straining the stock.

Fresh toppings.



Enjoying the final product.

Enjoying the final product.

For the stock:

• 20 pounds of chicken legs
• 2 bunches of carrots
• Celery
• 6-8 Oranges
• Jalapeños
• Whole black peppercorns
• Salt
• Thyme
• Roasted guajillo powder
• Toasted and freshly ground cumin
• Dried Mexican oregano

For the Soup:

• 13 large dried pasilla chiles
• 20 lbs of tomatoes fire-roasted
• Peanut oil – I like this oil because it’s what I grew up with in Alabama. The town I was born in, Dothan, is the peanut capital of the world.
• 10 or so large white onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• Approx. 8 garlic heads
• A few bunches of carrots
• 1 bunch of epazote
• 3 chickens
• 12 ears of corn, shucked, kernels removed from cobs, milk scraped from empty cobs
• 6 large poblano peppers
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cans no-salt black beans, drained and rinsed

For the toppings:

• 100 tortillas sliced into thin strips and fried in peanut oil
• 1 quart Mexican crema
• Epazote
• 3 pounds shredded Mexican melting cheese asadero
• 15 avocados, pitted, sliced and flesh scooped from the skin
• Chopped scallions
• Sliced fresh jalapenons
• Sliced red radishes
• fresh cilantro bunches
• 15 limes, cut into 6 wedges

Feeds 100 hungry farmers!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the Rolling Roadshow’s screening of The Grinch! Who could have imagined that nestling in with loved ones to enjoy our grumpy green friend’s escapades on the big screen would ever take place in our greenhouses? It was wonderful to say the least, and the Rolling Roadshow team is seriously a dream. We are grateful that Music, Tech, and Food and the Central Texas Food Bank ventured out and spread the good word on their mission and how they combat food insecurity in our fair city (Thank you! Thank you!). Face-painting, okra ornament decorating, food truck delights, an extensive and very unique photo-booth, a very impressive wrapping contest, and cozy hay-rides (endless thanks to Brandon, our greenhouse manager, and Charlotte, our assistant farm manager, for being such rockstar tour-guides!) were all a veritable success! The grinch even came! He’s one weird dude! He definitely spooked some folks, but hey, he is the star of the movie, so… we let him stick around. Our diligent volunteers made everything heaps easier and helped immensely with everything running smoothly. Thanks to Ada for all her hard work on the event, we couldn’t do it without her. I love when we can get our farm community together, especially this time of year. We are super grateful for y’all’s support. ‘Til next time!



 

Photobooth shenanigans.

Okra ornaments. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Snuggled up to enjoy the movie.

Hayride!

Want to work on the farm with a show-stopping crew of your new best friends? Take a peek at some of our current openings!

Still looking for gifts for loved ones? Never fear, the JBG Gift Guide is here!

Hats! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Market bucks. Photo by Scott David Gordon.