by Megan Winfrey

This citrusy, creamy, spicy soup is everything I could ever want in a meal. I crave it year round, but I could eat it every day during winter. It has all of my favorites - lime, cilantro, ginger, chicken, mushrooms, fresh chilies, and creamy coconut. It might just be my "last meal" meal. Until making it, I didn't realize that lemongrass played such a huge role in the amazing flavor of my favorite dish. But WOAH - I can't believe how delicious and fresh lemongrass broth is. So, if you've received these grassy stalks in your CSA box or have seen them at the market, you've gotta make this ASAP! I didn't have time to hit up the Asian grocery store, so I used basic substitutions for a few of the more obscure ingredients and it turned out perfect. You might even have all of the ingredients already on hand!

Tom Kha Gai

• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cans (14 oz. ea.) full fat coconut milk
• 2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 2" pieces, crushed
• 6 slices peeled fresh ginger (or 8 slices peeled fresh galangal)
• Zest of 1 large lime (or 16 kaffir lime leaves, torn)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tbs. Thai fish sauce
• 2 tbs. light brown sugar
• 1 tbs. Asian chili hot sauce
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, wiped and sliced
• 5 small fresh chilies sliced paper-thin
• Fresh cilantro for garnish

*I used the bottom of a spice jar to crush the lemongrass.



In a large pot, combine broth, lemongrass, ginger, and lime zest. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, boil for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat, add the coconut milk, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, and hot sauce, stir well, then let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer until tender, another 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and simmer for another minute. Ladle into bowls, top with fresh cilantro leaves, and float the chili slices on the surface. Serve over cooked white rice, if desired.

CSA Box Contents Week of Sept 19th

Week 37 gave us a little time to finally take an updated JBGroup photo at Hergotz! Check out these farm-fresh faces!

It's been a milder week temperature-wise, and the fall greens are really coming in. Watermelons of the yellow variety are here! Yellow?! Yes, that's what we said! Yellow watermelons are headed to the markets this weekend - grab an armful before they're gone!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Happy Hour at Black Star Co-op last night!  We hope to have another one soon.

Transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Early morning tractor fun - seeding. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Bok choi. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Baby greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Greens on greens on greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Bunches. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Charlotte, workin' that walkie talkie. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Verdant fall. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Baby greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Coming soon! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Working on the greenhouses. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunflower harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sunshine! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

 

Time for another installment of our Employee Spotlight series!  We hope that these interviews will help acquaint you with the folks on the farm who are largely responsible for keeping the delicious JBG vegetables rolling out, week after week.

This episode features the immensely hard-working and loyal Montana Stovall, who took a minute out his busy week to meet with us. He joined JBG in 2013 as our Tomato Cooler Inventory Manager, and has taken on many different roles and responsibilities throughout the short three years he has been a part of the team. We love Montana, not only for his long red hair, but also for his tractor prowess and mechanical mindedness. Dedicated and quick-to-learn, he has become an integral player at the farm, and we are grateful for his tireless work. Farm community - meet Montana!

Where did you grow up? I grew up around Amarillo, TX. My family runs a 2900 acre grain farm. I grew up around that, but I moved to Dallas when I was three or four.

What brought you to JBG? I was selling vegetables for the farm I was managing at the time at the HOPE Farmers Market on a Sunday. I’m talkin’ up my CSA, and had some beautiful produce, but nothing like what JBG had down at the end. So, this guy [Brenton] is checkin’ me out, and his kids are like, ‘Dad, come on! Let’s go!’ but he sticks around for a minute to give me his card. He tells me he wants me to come out to his farm, and I said I wasn’t interested, but good to meet you, etc…

So, I head back to our farm, do the books, and realize we have just enough money to make it through the end of July. That’s when farming is really tough for Texans. I mean, it’s just really hard to farm in August. At JBG, our fall is phenomenal usually, but right now, especially. Most other farmers take off in August. They do their CSA in the spring, for four or five months, do a little bit of wholesale, and then take off in August. They will regroup around right now, second or third week in September, do a little bit of over-winter stuff and get an early jump on next year. That’s kind of the standard Central Texas rotation, and what really differentiates JBG from the rest, and ultimately that’s why I’m here. We have everything, 70 different crops at market, if not more, and you get to farm year-round!

But, back to the story… two or three weeks after he approached me at the market, I was working for him (after I finished my commitments with the other farm). That was back in 2013.

Back in 2013. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What is your current role at JBG? I am the Direct Seed Lead. Historically, I’ve been Angel’s helper, doing bed prep and fertility. [Angel is the JBG tillage lead/manager. Angel + Montana work very closely, and their whole work day is pretty much planned together.] Then, I would always watch and help Brenton do the direct seeding. All the direct seeding used to happen via Brenton on Saturdays, but Brenton started trusting us, and giving it to Angel and I to do. So, Angel would drive, and I would walk behind him... or be out in the middle of the field with a clipboard, checking the bed, checking the seeds, or adding more seeds if I needed to. Since we often find ourselves understaffed, here and there, or seasonally, I just decided to free up Angel so he could do something else, and that way we could get more done. That’s just how it happened! So, I’m the main direct seed guy for about a year and a half/two years now. I get the seeds, go out, and do my thing.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What have you learned from your role? I’ve always been about trial and error, and trying new things. That really helps my job, because the conditions are never the same. We’re constantly adapting to new ways to plant - we’ve done some crazy stuff when the conditions just aren’t right, or the soil just won’t dry to get stuff into the ground.

We have this spacing system in the computer for seeds, but it’s not really up to par. Because everything is ALWAYS changing, you have different conditions, different times of year, different ways of growing, if markets want bunch vegetables, or a bulk crop… we’ve had issues and it’s not always super easy, but it’s super interesting. At the end of the day, you just have to trust it and be super attentive. A small mistake could turn into a big mistake... The only thing I really worry about is that if I mess up, it might be two more weeks until the crop hits the market stand… the diversity that we have at the farm always makes me feel better though, because we will always have 14 or 15 really quality items in full abundance for the CSA and markets.

What does your life look like off the farm? Full of kids (5 kiddos!), garden dirt, and cars and trucks (FUN FACT: Montana worked as a mechanic in Pennsylvania before he became a full-time farmer, and has 6 ASE certifications!). I find myself always having a project or two or three laying around. I like to grow tomatoes a lot in the spring, or really whenever I can… I’ve got a big tomato garden. Right now, I have a big pepper garden, since my fall tomatoes died.

Besides that, it’s a full schedule - we balance the kids and all of our responsibilities. In the morning, all the kids are up at 5:30, we streamline breakfast, and then they’re on the school bus at 6:20. My kids are 5, 5, 7, almost 9, and I have a newborn. It’s fun.

Montana and his family (minus the newborn!)

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Do you cook a lot? What’s cookin’ in your kitchen? I LOVE to cook. Right now, I’m into smoking with pecan wood. I grow Numex Chilies, the green kind, but right now it’s the season for red ones. I smoke the red Numex Chilies, and make pots of beans. That’s just the best flavor in the world. I’ll have to send you some of my next batch. Besides that, I’m into kale. I’m a huge kale fanatic. I eat kale all the time, and almost every day when it’s in season. I picked a small bunch yesterday - the first of the season!

Since you’re such a big kale aficionado, what else do you like to do with kale? Kale with peppers and onions… just on the skillet, medium to high heat, a dash of olive oil… on the heat and off the heat, one or two minutes and that’s it. With the really sweet, over-wintered kale, I like to make kale chips. When it’s really in abundance, we eat pan after pan of kale chips - it’s awesome.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What might people be surprised to learn about you? Well, I was a DJ… played lots of electronic music from ‘02 - ‘09 (a different side of me than the Grateful Dead + bluegrass lovin’ guy that people know).

What’s your favorite and least favorite crops to grow? Least favorite: Rutabaga, because I don’t like to eat it.

Favorite: Tomatoes, that’s my favorite… or carrots, or cilantro, or watermelons. I love a big, juicy, red watermelon. I’ve got a lot of favorites.

What’s your favorite season? Spring. March is my favorite month... my birthday is March 14 which coincides with our last frost date. So, Montana’s birthday rolls around, and it’s time to plant our first batch of tomatoes!

If you were stuck on a desert island, and could only have three things, what would they be?

1. My family
2. My vegetable seed box that I have been collecting and saving over the years… that has all kinds of weird, random seeds that I grow at home (stuff that we don’t usually grow at JBG - I like having different varieties in my home garden).
3. My JBG hat

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Staff Survey - If Montana were a veggie, what would he be, and why?

Ada: Shishito. One of my favorite peppers and a classic JBG crop.. just like Montana. Classically JBG and an old-school favorite. Mostly pretty mild, but 1/10 times you better watch out because you might get some spice.

Charlotte: Montana would be a shishito pepper; usually mild but sometimes reeeeal spicy.

Krishna + Brenton: We second Ada and Charlotte.

Matthew Pelkey: A smoked Numex (Hatch) Chile, best taste, and just the right amount of smoke.

 

Thank you to everyone who came out to the CSA Happy Hour last night. Missed this gathering? No worries, we hope to do another!

by Megan Winfrey

Every once in awhile, usually at the turn of the season, something will appear in my CSA box that I've not only never cooked with, but never even heard of before. I LOVE it when this happens! The challenge gets me all pumped up, and I immediately start scouring the internet for information and recipes. This week, that mystery vegetable was Tatsoi, an Asian green also known as "Chinese flat cabbage." It's packed with vitamin C, folic acid, calcium, and potassium and has a nice mild flavor like spinach, but heartier. I found a delicious sounding recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen and modified it slightly. I can't wait to do more with this new-to-me green, and hope y'all will get creative as well!



Chilled Tatsoi Salad with Sesame, Orange, and Ginger

• 1 bunch of tatsoi, stems trimmed, cut into strips
• 2 tbs. soy sauce (I use Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
• 2 tbs. rice or white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. orange juice
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. Sriracha or other Asian hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp. white sugar
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted
• 5-6 orange slices

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with water and a few ice cubes and set aside. To prep the tatsoi, I layered the leaves on top of one another in a stack and sliced cross-wise into strips.

 

When the water boils, add the tatsoi and cook for exactly 1 minute. Remove immediately with a colander or slotted spoon into the ice water. Give it a good stir so the leaves don't bunch up, and leave to cool while preparing the dressing. You can make the dressing right into the bowl you plan to serve the salad in, or even a tupperware container to store in the fridge for later.

 

Thoroughly mix the soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice, hot sauce, ginger, and sugar in the bowl of your choice, then thoroughly drain the tatsoi and add it to the bowl. Chill in the fridge for an hour or longer, turning the salad over a few times to make sure the leaves are coated in dressing.

 

Before serving, quickly toast the sesame seeds until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Serve the salad cold with the sesame seeds and orange slices as garnish.

CSA Box Contents Week of Sept 12th

Yeehaw! I think it’s ripe time for a Flashback Friday, right?! We’ve come a looong way here at JBG... What’s that song? Baby, we’ve come a long way…? Anyhow, I was recently cleaning out my house and found this photo album made by a couple of my golden oldie staffers, Grit and Steven Mattern. They were some of the first volunteers (OGs) that helped me in the original backyard garden (along with Matt Pelkey, of course). The book is a medley of snapshots from everyday life on the farm in 2008, the first year that I began farming full-time. Took me right down memory lane, and really got me thinking about when we were really starting to get things rollin’ at Hergotz.

photos courtesy of Grit and Steven

I started farming in 2005, in the backyard of my family home on Holly Street real close to downtown Austin. It was just a hobby back then... I still had a full-time job working for the Department of Interior, managing the Bureau of Reclamation’s Water Conservation Program. We planted seeds in the Fall of 2004, and by the Spring of 2005, crops were ready. At the time, the Sustainable Food Center HQ was located just a block down from my house in a trailer (and only had three staff members!). Talk about convenient! An idea popped into my head one day and I immediately acted upon it. I moseyed on down the street, and asked them in person if I could sell my backyard produce at the SFC Downtown Farmers Market! They gave me a ‘heck yes,’ and so began my stint of vending at the farmers markets in town. Crazy, right? I was so excited to be included, I went home immediately and dusted off my old vintage tie-dyed and batik tablecloths that I used for selling grilled cheese from my VW when I was following the Grateful Dead around... Man, those were the days... but I digress. I sold about $100 worth of veggies at that first farmers market and was over the moon. I was bitten by the farmin’ bug, and boy, did I like it.

In 2006, we got whiff of an idea to start a CSA program. At this point, my hobby had totally usurped the backyard. My wife kept telling me that it was getting out of control, and with 4 crazy kiddos in tow, let’s just say it didn’t give them much space to run around and be a kid.

photos courtesy of Grit and Steven

Thus, we bought the farm on Hergotz, real proximal to the airport, in the summer of 2006. We continued the journey in 2007, farming solely with volunteers… and then in 2008, I decided to take the jump, quit my job, and farm full-time. No longer having the income security of said job, and having to support the family exclusively via farming was a tad terrifying to be honest. It was a huge leap of faith, one of those make-or-break moments in life.

The first year ended up being awesome! We were doing so much at once: buying our new house off Craigslist (seriously) + our first tractor, and not to mention, the somewhat shocking transition of living in downtown Austin to living in the COUNTRY, or the Dog’s Head area of Austin, as people sometimes refer to it. We built composting sawdust toilets for the intern trailer, and reached out to our CSA community to donate furniture to furnish them. We built a barn and put in an irrigation system to get water to the crops. It was such a great year, and we learned so much. It’s amazing what a little drive, tenacity, and a handful of hard-workin’ folks can do. We didn’t sell to restaurants or go to the farmers markets that year, we only provided for our quickly growing CSA customer base, and holy moly, did we make it happen!

photos courtesy of Grit and Steven

That same year, we also filmed a Friday Night Lights episode at the farm, hosted an Outstanding in the Field dinner where Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due cooked up a storm, and had a potluck dinner where folks chased the farmer. I wore a handmade luchador mask during the chase. It was pretty wild to say the least.

photos courtesy of Grit and Steven

After reminiscing about the old times, thinking about how so much has changed, my marketing manager, Ada, pointed out that things really haven’t changed. Things are the same, but different. We’re still running around like chickens with our heads cut off, hosting the occasional photo shoot, planning dinners on the farm, and farm events. We’re even still busy trying to build greenhouses. And Jesse Griffiths is still doing his fabulous thing with Dai Due Supper Clubs... and Matt Pelkey is still here, minus some of the chops, making sure our CSA program is top notch. Here's to the future of this crazy ole farm! 'Til next time, folks.

JBG crew today. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Speaking of dinners on the farm and farm events, mark your calendar! Black Star Co-op Happy Hour on Thursday, Sept. 15th from 6-8pm at at 7020 Easy Wind Dr. Ste. 100. Ample parking in the back. Are you a Black Star regular? Never been to Black Star? Either way, we promise this Burnet brew pub will be a worthy destination. Aside from cranking out some amazing beers + food, this co-op deserves all the cred for sourcing locally and taking care of their people. For all CSA Members, there will be an extended happy hour featuring $3/selected pints and $5 snacks featuring JBG produce, of course (menu TBA). Enter to win some special JBG treats including vintage JBG t-shirts or an add-on of a specialty crop to your next delivery.

Why are we doing this? Just a chance for CSA Members to gather, swap veggies stories, and meet some of the JBG crew... Ever wonder who are behind your weekly bounties? Meet the hands that plant, water, harvest, wash, sort and pack your CSA shares. Put a face to the names you e-mail and chat with over the phone. Say hello to your modern-day milk man, aka the delivery drivers who make bring you your veg. High five Brenton, whose outta control backyard garden set this whole thing in motion. You get the idea!

Also, Save the Date: Saturday, October 22nd. JBG Member-Only Potluck. We hope all CSA members mark their calendar and plan to join us for this member-only Potluck on Saturday Evening. We'll set some long tables, turn on the twinkle lights, and all gather for a shared meal to celebrate fall's bounty and your commitment to the CSA model. What's a CSA without the Community? Stay tuned for more details on this intimate and spirited dinner on the farm.