Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer's Perspective: Winter is Coming

It really feels like the seasons are a-changin' at JBG this week. We started the week off with our first frost of the year, celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday yesterday, and are currently busy preparing for a great winter citrus season beginning next week (which is already DECEMBER, can you believe it?!). We hope your hearts and bellies are full this week and that you are enjoying the cooler mornings in central Texas - I know the JBG crew certainly is.

First frost!

First frost came relatively late this year for us - we've had a wet and mild November and were very prepared for the light frost we received on Sunday night. I went to the fields early Monday to see how everything had fared and was amazed at the beauty the frosty plants brought! While very aesthetically pleasing, this weather event does mean the end of our summer crop harvests - be sure to stock up at farmers markets this weekend if you haven't yet preserved your tomatoes, okra, peppers, and eggplant for the year! Heat-loving crops like these die in a frost when the liquids inside their cells turn to ice crystals, puncturing the cell walls of the plants. For our winter crops - roots, greens, etc. this first freeze and the change in season actually makes the veggies much tastier! Cold weather prompts these fall and winter crops to convert starches to sugars in preparation of winter, so while you enjoy the last of summer bounty don't forget to buy some of the sweetest broccoli, carrots, and kale you've ever tasted if you're shopping with us this weekend.

Photo by Scott David Gordon

This frost also killed off the tops of our sweet potatoes, which have grown to an impressive size this year. With all the rain and wet soil this fall, it's been difficult to get into the soil and harvest the roots and so they just kept growing! With all the extra time in the ground, and the moisture, we've seen some of the biggest and strangest-looking sweet potatoes in JBG history this year. I hope you're ready to see a lot more of these sweet winter favorites in your CSA shares coming up.

Sweet potatoes come in lots of shapes and sizes.

The change from fall to winter means another sweet treat for our CSA members - 'tis the season for winter citrus! Every year, JBG partners with our good friends at G&S Groves in McAllen, TX to bring you certified organic Oranges and Grapefruit delivered to your home and community. David Strohmeyer is a really impressive farmer and never fails to deliver on sweet Texas citrus. We'll carry these beauties as long as they are in season (through Spring). Citrus is available for delivery to farmers markets or with your CSA box for only $12 for a 10 lb bag! Find more details about the Bulk Citrus sale at http://jbgorganic.com/citrus. Deliveries start December 1st, so get your orders in this weekend to start enjoying fresh squeezed orange juice as early as Tuesday!

Certified organic citrus is back! Photo by Scott David Gordon

I sincerely hope that you all had a very happy Thanksgiving, surrounded by friends, family, and locally grown and prepared food! I want to take just a minute to thank you again for being a part of the JBG community. Whether is be through your Community Supported Agriculture share, your patronage at weekly markets, grocery stores, and locally sourced restaurants, we couldn't do this without you. A special thanks to those who have shared this season's bounty - those of you who have donated your holiday CSA share and participated in our Sponsored Share Program have enabled us to reach out to a wider community this season. For those of you who have not yet considered these two options - there is still time to help us reach our goal of 150 shares for The Settlement Home this holiday season!

We'll be spending today back in the office, but definitely dreaming of lots of weekend meals using our Thanksgiving leftovers. Turkey pot pie, turkey and giant-sweet-potato chili, turkey over wintery salads...CSA members, how are you using your leftovers? We'd love to hear in the comments!

 

For more of the farmer’s perspective, follow Brenton on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @farmerbrenton.

This week sure felt like the beginning of winter on the farm with the first frost on Monday. We've got our Spring garlic in the ground, all of the summer crops harvested from the field, and are busy with loads of greens, sweet potatoes, carrots and more!

Garlic for Spring. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Rows of garlic. Photo by Scott David Gordon

After the frost, we've sure got some sweet carrots! Photo by Scott David Gordon

The winter cover crop is coming along nicely. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Our sweet potatoes FINALLY stopped growing after Sunday's frost. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Sweet potato harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

This year's crop is especially big! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Temo dumps sweet potatoes into a harvest bin for storage. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Bok choy has been a favorite this season. Photo by Scott David Gordon

The lettuce block is sizing up nicely! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Romaine lettuce. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Our greenhouse is filling up with onions to be planted! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Dinosaur or lacinato kale. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Curly kale (left is unharvested, right is harvested!) Photo by Scott David Gordon

 

 

By Lucas Rager

By Megan Winfrey

Homemade gifts are sort of my go-to. This year, thanks to JBG, my family will be receiving a plethora of holiday preserves and food stuffs - all of which I look forward to sharing with ya'll! And to my family members who read this...sorry for the spoilers :)

Sweet Potato Apple Butter

• 12 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 5 cups apples, cored, peeled, and diced
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbs. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 3 tbs. cider vinegar
• Any size mason jars, rings and lids

Put all the ingredients except the cider vinegar in a 9 quart crock pot. Cook 9-10 hours on low (I put mine on overnight).



When ready to can, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Sterilize the glass jars by boiling them for a solid 10 minutes. Do not boil the lids and rings. While the jars are sterilizing, puree the contents of the crock pot in batches, liquid included. Put the puree in a large bowl and stir in the cider vinegar. Remove the hot jars from the water using a pair of canning tongs and set on a wooden cutting board or a kitchen towel.

Fill the hot jars with the hot puree, leaving an inch of open space at the top. Put the lids on, but don't tighten them too much because oxygen needs to be able to escape. Tighten only until they resist. Return the jars to the boiling water for processing. Make sure the water completely submerges the jars. Boil for another 10 minutes, remove with your canning tongs, and place on a kitchen towel to cool. Let cool all day or over night - you should hear the pinging of the cans sealing as they cool. Some jars take longer than others to seal, and some seal quietly.

Once completely cooled, you can test your seal by removing the ring and lifting up gently on the lid. If it stays closed, your seal is set. If not, re-process in the boiling water for another 10 minutes and repeat the cooling process - or refrigerate and use within 2 weeks. This stuff is DELISH. It's like pumpkin pie in a jar.

CSA Box Contents Week of Nov 23rd

Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer's Perspective: Giving Thanks

This week, I and everyone at JBG have a lot to be thankful for. We've received so much community support after a wild-weathered fall season, we just hosted a fun fall celebration of farming and local food at our Hoedown last weekend, and with Thanksgiving coming up, the list is only growing!

I want to send out a huge thank-you to everyone who made it out to the JBG Garfield Farm last Saturday to run, walk, eat, drink, and dance with your farmers at our Fall Hoedown. I had such a great time, and despite a little bit of rain the day was a huge success! It's always an incredibly enjoyable opportunity for me to show the community the fields where we grow vegetables for your families. Thank you for coming out and showing your support for local agriculture with us! Austin's own Rogue Running did a fantastic job coordinating our second ever farm 5k fun run, the Harvest Hustle - I had a blast running through the fields with you all and was definitely surprised when I was beat by members of my own staff! I consider myself a pretty dedicated runner, so I definitely felt blown away by the talent around me. Thanks is also owed to Saucony, who provided quality gear for the course and the runners, helping to make this a great race.

The 5k Harvest Hustle in action. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Following the Harvest Hustle, Silas Lowe and his band brought the Austin tunes for the whole hoedown to enjoy. This group has played a number of JBG events in the past and we're lucky to have them around. The band enjoyed drinks provided by The ABGB after their set - aside from being a great customer and supporter of the farm, the ABGB goes a step further to support JBG and local Austin musicians by teaming up with us for most JBG events to make sure the bands don't go thirsty! If you haven't tried their pizzas, sandwiches, salads and brews yet, you are missing out on a huge gem in Austin. Our team of volunteers helped us to run the day smoothly by dedicating their time to the farm and I have to thank them as well.

Lastly, the Hoedown could not have been a success without the hard work of JBG's own Ada Broussard. Ada always does an exceptional job making these events a success and this year's Hoedown was no exception. Thank you, Ada!!

Thanks, Ada! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Since we are just a few days away from Thanksgiving, let me continue my thank-you's by turning to you, the JBG community. I'm incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to be your farmer. As many of you know, organic farming was a long-time dream of mine, even as I was working as a government engineer for over a decade. JBG could never have gotten to be where we are today without the support of such an incredible community. From my backyard, to a thriving farm east of town serving Texas, it's been an incredible journey. I hope that JBG will be a part of your Thanksgiving meal this year - send us some photos if so, we'd love to see what you're cooking with the season's bounty! Thanks for your continual support of our farm.

Sponsor a share with JBG and give back this holiday!

For those of you traveling for the holidays, we hope you will pass on this bounty we are all thankful for - consider donating your CSA share to The Settlement Home this Thanksgiving. Your donated share helps feed children, young adults, and families in Texas with histories of trauma, abuse and neglect. It's as easy as emailing the farm and letting us know you would like to donate your share. If you are in town for the holidays, you can still donate to The Settlement Home by sponsoring a share, either in your name or someone else's. This is a great way to give back this holiday season, and a fantastic option when you are thinking of gifts to give family and friends. Donate here, and email the farm if you wish to donate in another's name.

The Settlement Home needs around 150 shares a year to meet their minimum needs - our goal for the is to meet that full 150 shares this 2015 holiday season. Won't you help us get there?

The trip I took to Big Bend this summer in my VW bus.

I'll close this week's newsletter by inviting you to an event this weekend - this event supports a cause close to my heart. This Saturday from 11:30-1:00, The Big Bend Conservation Alliance is hosting a fundraiser at the Mueller Amphitheater to raise funds for their campaign against the Trans-Pecos Pipeline in West Texas. This donation-based yoga class will support education about the pristine Big Bend regional ecosystems, and the possible detrimental effects that an oil pipeline in the region would have. The Big Bend Conservation Alliance also provides educational and legal support to landowners trying to fight this proposed pipeline. While I'm not much of a yogi, I can definitely get a good stretch in to bring awareness to this issue, and I hope you will too!

 

Next week's CSA schedule will be a bit different due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Listed below are the changes, please contact us if you have any questions!

All Thursday CSA Pickups & Home Deliveries have been rescheduled for Tuesday, November 24th. Same time, same place, earlier day.

Lakeline Farmers Market will be closed on Saturday, November 28th. If you normally get your CSA here, it will be sent to the Pop-Up Thanksgiving Market on Tuesday, November 24th from 4-6pm at the regular Lakeline farmers market location.

Mueller Farmer Market will be closed on Sunday, November 29th. If you normally get your CSA here, it will be sent to the SFC East Market (2921 East 17th St, 78702) on Tuesday, November 24th, from 3-7pm.

Waco Farmers market will be closed Saturday, November 28th. If you normally get your CSA share here, it has been postponed for 1 week. Let us know if you'd like to donate, instead.

All Thursday Dallas Pickups have been rescheduled for Tuesday, November 24th. Same time, same place, earlier day.

All Friday Dallas Pickups have been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 25th. Same time, same place, earlier day.

All Friday Pickup and Home Delivery customers can reschedule their pickup or delivery to a Tuesday or Wednesday pickup location to get their veggies early and get cookin'! If you'd like to reschedule your delivery, please let us know by Monday, November 23rd.

To contact the farm about scheduling, please call us at 512-386-5273 or email us farm@jbgorganic.com

Donate or Sponsor a Share

If your family is headed out of town for the holidays, or if you're trying to avoid an overflowing fridge, we hope you will consider donating your CSA share to The Settlement Home. Your donated share helps feed children, young adults, and families in Texas with histories of trauma, abuse and neglect. The Settlement Home has benefited from your generous holiday donations for many years! This nonprofit needs around 150 shares a year to meet their minimum needs--help us reach this goal by donating and/or sponsoring CSA shares!

Donating your share is easy. Just email us and tell us the dates you would like to donate your share(s), and we'll do the rest!

Sponsoring a share is easy, too. Need your vegetables for your holiday meal but still want to help those in need? Checkout our Sponsored Share program here.