by Megan Winfrey

An old friend of mine recently turned me onto a new cookbook by photographer and seasonal food enthusiast Rohan Anderson. It's called "A Year in Practiculture," and it is right up the alley of anyone who would subscribe to a local CSA program. Anderson's lifestyle of living off the land is humble and inspiring. He makes this enviable way of life seem totally attainable, even for those of us who can't quit the city and retire to a plot of uncharted land. The recipes are simple, and simply delicious. The writing is funny and unpretentious. It's been on our coffee table for about 2 weeks, and my husband and I have both gotten lost in it on numerous occasions. Even our one year old has enjoyed flipping through the stunning, thick pages filled with gorgeous food and farm photography.



The recipe I've chosen to share this week is so simple, and the flavors blew me away. I did use store bought pizza dough mix, which isn't what Mr. Anderson intended, but oh well it's delicious either way! I know you will all love this recipe and be left wanting more, so I've included more info about "A Year in Practiculture" is at the bottom of this post! Enjoy.

Hipster's Kale Pizza

• 1-2 tbs. olive oil
• 2 tbs. butter
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 2-3 cups kale leaves, stems removed
• 1 pizza base, homemade or not
• Plain flour, for dusting
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 slice of bacon, rough chopped
• 3 oz. blue cheese, sliced

Preheat oven to 425ºF



Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan over low heat. Add the garlic and gently cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the kale and cook until wilted, adding water or white wine if it starts to dry out. It will take about 10 minutes for the kale to become fully tender, so test it as you go. Dust your hands and work surface in flour and begin to spread out your pizza dough on a baking sheet or pizza stone. I found that pulling the dough in opposite directions GENTLY with fingertips worked well. Be patient and generous with the flour, because this dough can be sticky and tricky.

Smother with the tomato paste, then spoon over as much kale as you like. Sprinkle over the mozzarella, lay the bacon pieces out evenly, drizzle the whole thing with olive oil, and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is light golden brown.



When done, remove from the oven and immediately top with slices of blue cheese. They will melt gloriously. Slice and serve.

Here is the link to buy "A Year in Practiculture" by Rohan Anderson. It's an absoulte steal with Amazon Prime!

CSA Box Contents Week of April 11th

Matt Pelkey, CSA Manager. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Today on the blog, we're introducing you to JBG's longest standing employee, our CSA Manager, Matt. Matt has been working for the farm since it was only just a backyard garden and has helped the farm to grow so much over the years. He's in charge of our CSA program, and by our (very rough) calculations, has packed over 220,000 CSA boxes since starting at the farm!

If you're a member of our CSA program, meet the guy who personally inspects your box each week - we thought you might want to know a little bit more about him. Matt is a man of very few words, but we were able to squeeze a few questions out of him. We hope that you enjoy learning a little bit more about one of the faces behind our CSA program!

Where did you grow up and what brought you to JBG?

I grew up in northern Maine, and about ten or so years ago I drove down to Austin looking for a change of scenery. Brenton put an ad of craigslist looking for a farmhand in the backyard - at the time I was working a job with half day Fridays, so I answered the ad and started working on Friday afternoons and Saturdays in the backyard. We would harvest and pack all the CSA boxes ourselves, then drive around town delivering them. On the way home, we'd usually grab a few beers and enjoy them in the backyard.

Any special memories from the original backyard garden?

After the farm's first expansion to Hergotz Ln, I moved into the back house at the Holly St location. So for a few years, the backyard garden turned into my personal garden which was pretty cool.

Matt and the CSA packing crew in the barn. Photo by Scott David Gordon

What is your current role at JBG?

Every week, I look at the farm's availability calendar and plan out the contents of CSA boxes for the next week. I weigh in on crop planning, letting the team know what crops do best and not so well in boxes. On a daily basis, I'm the head of our CSA packing line - I oversee quality control on the boxes and make sure they get filled correctly and sent to the right spot. At this point, I can pick up a box at the end of the packing line and, without looking into it, tell you if something is missing.

What's been the biggest change at the farm since you've started? Any surprising moments?

I think it's amazing that we've grown so much and been able to grow from a backyard to such a big farm. I remember when we first got to Hergotz and realized we had so many more CSA boxes to pack, and that we were going to have to shift our organizational structure and hire a few people to help us out.

Looking back, it's funny that that crew was still packing boxes on the floor of the barn for the first few years. This January, we hit an all time high for number of boxes packed in a single week - seeing that number and remembering the backyard garden days was pretty shocking.

Matt inspects each and every CSA box before it's sent out to a customer. Photo by Scott David Gordon

What's your life look life off the farm?

I have two boys and spend a lot of time with them. We just recently bought canoes, so we've been kayaking and canoeing on the lake and the Colorado River. I've been gardening with them too - we've been planting tomatoes, peppers, and garlic.

Matt's music collection, via Instagram.

What kind of music do you put on in the barn?

I listen to a lot of country and bluegrass - Hayes Carll, Todd Snider are two favorites these days. We listened to Merle all day in the barn on Wednesday in memory.

Favorite and least favorite veggies?

I really don't like eggplant at all, and cucumbers are probably my favorite - I just eat them whole all summer.

via Instagram

Favorite Austin businesses?

I've been spending time at Hops and Grain and The ABGB a lot recently. [fun fact: Matt's been wearing the orange ABGB hat pictured pretty much every day since we did a hat swap with the ABGB in November. Before that he was wearing a green hat from Callahan's, the general store right around the corner. Matt's green Callahan's hat was signed by Willie Nelson!]

Staff Survey: If Matt was a veggie, which one would he be and why?

Ada: An artichoke - he's got a big heart under a whole lotta layers! Once you've been around him for a while you learn how awesome and interesting Matt is - just like how an artichoke blooms into that big beautiful purple flower!

Krishna: A cabbage - Matt has a very pure center hiding under a lot of layers!

Brenton: I think there's a french fingerling potato named after a rat, and Matt is as quiet as a mouse. After some thought.. Raton potato!

Mike Mo: A beet - they are always around at the farm, just like Matt.

Thanks for all your hard work, Matt! Photo by Scott David Gordon

This year's fennel is some of the best we've ever grown! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Another busy week on the farm gone by! We are starting to see a wealth of Spring crops ready for harvest as the winter plantings are slowly replaced. Fennel and lettuce are both coming in strong, and we saw the first signs of grapes this week! We've started the process of curing our garlic crop- we'll dry the crop in our greenhouses in order to increase it's storage life and prevent disease. It sure smells great in there! The fields are bountiful right now and we are gearing up for some great spring farmers markets. See you there!

Fennel. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Jason points out a block on our field map to Angel and Vicente. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We started curing garlic in our greenhouses this week! Photo by Scott David Gordon

If only the internet has smell-o-vision. Photo by Scott David Gordon

A curly kale harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Itty bitty grapes on the vine. Our first crop! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Romaine. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Our lettuce crop is really in full swing these days. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Kohlrabi is here, destined for markets this weekend! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Dandelion greens in the sunshine. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Dandelions are a bitter green that is great for your health! Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG's artichoke crop is still growing strong. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Bunching cilantro in the field. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Field of tomatoes coming along for summer! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Look out for Broccoli to make it's return to markets this weekend. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cabbage growing at our farm. Photo by Scott David Gordon

by Megan Winfrey

Pot pie is one of those classic American meals that seems to hold a dear place in the hearts of almost everyone. But me? I've only recently discovered the heaven that is pot pie, because it just wasn't something my mother made growing up. She didn't have the affinity for putting things in pie crusts like I do. So, that being said, welcome to my first ever pot pie recipe. (I can hear the crowd roaring the background, can you?) If anything is certain, it's that my children will know the glory of pot pie in it's many versatile forms. They may even get sick of it, if that's possible.



Purple Pot Pie

• 4 scarlet turnips, peeled and chopped
• 6 purple carrots, washed and chopped
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 3 tbs. butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 and 3/4 cups vegetable stock
• 2/3 cup half and half
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 store bought or homemade pie crusts (here's a simple pie crust recipe)

Preheat the oven to 375ºF

Lay the chopped turnips and carrots on a large baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until fork tender, about 30 minutes.

In a heavy skillet, heat the butter over medium and add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft and the butter begins to brown. Whisk in the flour, salt, pepper, thyme, broth, and half and half. Cook, whisking, until no lumps remain then simmer on low until the gravy thickens. Taste and add more seasoning if you prefer.

When the turnips and carrots are done, raise the oven temperature to 425ºF.

Fold the chopped parsley into the turnips and carrots and set aside.

Roll out one of your pie doughs on a floured surface (or open and unroll store bought dough) and lay it in a 9" pie pan.

Scoop in the turnips and carrots and top with the gravy. Carefully place the other pie dough on top and cinch the edges with a fork or your fingertips. With a small knife, make a few slits in the top crust, then brush beaten egg over the top crust and edges.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

CSA Box Contents Week of April 4th

Thank you, thank you to everybody who came out to the Garfield Farm last Saturday for our annual Spring Picnic and 5k Garden Gallop! We love hosting this event at JBG because it brings together so many great members of our CSA community and friends from all over Austin and this year's event was no exception. We loved seeing familiar faces and were excited to meet new community members too - we even had visitors from outside of Austin for the event! This week we're recapping the Spring Picnic and Garden Gallop in photos and giving a huge thank you to all of the folks who made this event happen.

Some gallopers, including farmer Brenton and farm dog Roxie!

Thank you to Rogue Running! Without Rogue, we would be lost in a cabbage patch somewhere on the farm. But seriously, these guys are the reason the Garden Gallop and the fall Harvest Hustles are such a success every year. They help us organize the event and are such a huge hand day of, marking out the entire race, providing volunteers and hydration stations, and making it easy to host this fun and unique 5k!

The first runner crosses the farm-themed finish line of the 2016 Garden Gallop. Congrats on the win!

Thanks to everyone, big and small, who came and ran our course last weekend!

Thank you to our food and drink sponsors! Barrett's Coffee fueled staff and runners by generously providing us with some of their delicious coffee Saturday morning. Frank Hot Dogs provided the perfect post-race treat for runners and non-runners alike with their food truck - a great supporter of the farm, we were so happy they came out last Saturday! And, a huge thanks to The ABGB. These local brew-kings are the longest standing sponsor of JBG events, and they always come through generously to help us repay our bands by providing tasty, cold beer!

Thanks, Frank Hot Dogs!



Thanks to the bands! After the race, everyone settled in with food and drinks on the lawn and enjoyed a great day of picnicking to the sounds of Bottom Dollar String Band, Doug Moreland, and Chansons et Soulard. All three bands were fantastic - we were blown away by the talent. One especially exciting moment was when Doug Moreland brought a very guest to the stage for his performance - his dad!

The Morelands with Brenton. We can see the family resemblance!

Chansons et Soulards brought the Cajun jams to the farm.

Thank you to our volunteers! Without this amazing group of folks dedicating their time to setup, admissions, parking, and cleanup, we couldn't put this event on every year. This year's Picnic couldn't have run any smoother, and it certainly has a lot to do with this awesome group. (P.S. - Interested in weekend volunteer opportunities in the future?? Email us at volunteer@jbgorganic.com to let us know and we'll keep you in the loop when weekend slots are available!)



And of course, another huge thank you to our community for coming out. We've been through so many ups and downs since last year's picnic - two floods last year alone! We are all so proud to say that the farm looks better than ever, and it was really a special day to be able to invite you all out to enjoy and celebrate the bounty of a new Spring season with us. Thanks for being a part of our farm family, and we can't wait to bring you out again this Fall!

Tractor tires make for good seats to see the bands!

Dancer extraordinaire Annie (left) and a CSA member (right) that came all the way from Houston to celebrate with us!

JBG recipe blogger Megan Winfrey and her daughter Lou enjoy some tunes.

The Kids Fun Run was a big success! Two runners and mom round the artichoke corner to finish out the race.