WEEK 41 IN PHOTOS

10/09/15 — Farm

Montana and Brandon. Photo by Scott David Gordon

This week we had some respite from the heat with a few cool and cloudy days at the farm. We took advantage of the great weather and this week planted our Hergotz farm in cabbage and cauliflower! Things are looking really great at both farms - Garfield is greener than ever, and we're looking forward to showing you the bountiful and full fields at our upcoming Potluck and Harvest Hustle 5k on October 24th!

The transplant crew preparing for a busy morning. Photo by Scott David Gordon

A sea of fresh baby arugula. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cabbage and cauliflower are looking top notch! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Keep your eyes peeled at markets for some savoy cabbage soon. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Broccoli. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We still have loads of beautiful pickling cukes available. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Zucchini harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Transplanting parsley. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Rows of fall kale. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Freshly transplanted romaine lettuce. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Beautiful purple kohlrabi ready for harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Harvest mornings at our Garfield farm. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Baby carrots are here! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Harvesting carrots. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We finalized designs for the Harvest Hustle t-shirt this week!

We still have a few volunteer slots open for the Potluck and Harvest Hustle on October 24th - reserve your spot by emailing us at volunteer@jbgorganic.com.

HOT PEPPER SCONES

10/08/15 — Farm

We're excited to share a second recipe with you this week! CSA member Miranda Tucker sent us this great recipe to use up some of those hot peppers you've been seeing in your CSA shares. We love seeing what our members are doing with their JBG veggies - feel free to drop us a line at farm@jbgorganic.com if you've cooked up something you'd like to share. Thanks Miranda!

Hot Pepper Scones by Miranda Tucker

The recipe is based on the Jalapeno Scones in Leanne Brown's Good and Cheap cookbook (a great resource by the way!), but I made a few small changes (mostly adding way more peppers and subbing in some cornmeal - I think it adds nice texture and flavor.).

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter (1 stick) - leave in freezer for at least 30 minutes
1.5 c whole wheat flour
1 c cornmeal
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
4 oz. sharp cheddar, diced (monterey jack, asadero, manchego, and colby work as well - I think nearly any cheese would.)
3-6 peppers, diced (any type works here - whatever's in the CSA, fresh or roasted! I remove the seeds but leave the membranes for a bit of heat, but prepare according to your preferred level of spicy.)
1/2 cup half and half (milk would work just as well)
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and 1 t salt.
Use a cheese grater to grate the butter into the dry ingredients, then mix. (I use my hands.) You want to still have roughly pea-size clumps of butter in the mix. (Don't stress though; this recipe is pretty forgiving. I haven't had a bad batch yet!)
Mix in the diced peppers and cheese.
I get a little fancy with the eggs. If you want to keep it simple, just beat two eggs for the batter and save one egg for the eggwash at the end; skip to #5. What I do: Separate out two of the egg yolks, reserving the whites for the eggwash at the end. Beat the two egg yolks together with the third egg.
Mix your eggs for the dough and 1/2 cup half and half into the batter with your hands. Don't worry if it's a little shaggy; that's fine.
Dust a clean counter top or cutting board with flour. Plop your dough onto that and use your hands to press it into a circle about 1.5 inches thick. Cut your dough into 6 pieces like a small pizza.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put your scones on the baking sheet.
Beat the egg (or egg whites) you reserved for your eggwash thoroughly. Brush onto scones. (A pastry brush would probably help here. I've just been using my hands!) Sprinkle scones with salt and pepper to taste.
Bake scones at 400 F for 25 minutes.

This recipe is really easy, and it goes great with nearly anything. In a pinch, one of these isn't a bad on-the-go breakfast even by itself. The pile of greens on the side are collards that I cooked to go with the scones. The greens themselves were good, and dipping the scones in the "juice" from the greens was DELICIOUS. I'm probably going to make the same thing again next week with the braising mix that's coming in next week's CSA.

Thanks for everything y'all do - I love the CSA!

VEGETABLE DYEING

10/06/15 — Farm

By Megan Winfrey

Vegetable Dyeing

I'm mixing it up this week, ya'll. Instead of a recipe, I'm going to share my maiden voyage into plant dyeing. Natural dyeing has really fascinated me lately, mostly in part to the rad lady behind Folk Fibers, (www.folkfibers.com) who I started following on Instagram earlier this year. [editor's note: Maura from Folk Fibers used to manage our greenhouse here at JBG! She also used the originial backyard garden as an indigo plot in 2012.] She dyes the natural fabrics for her gorgeous quilts using plant, seed, and insect matter, and she yields the most vibrant array of colors you can imagine. Now, me? I smear beets over my lips every time I eat them and one time, I haphazardly threw my baby's white onesie into the beet water hoping it would turn an earthy magenta. Well, every ounce of color washed out immediately and then I knew, I had to do a little research and try again.

After googling around, I found out that a pre-bath in a vinegar/water mixture was necessary to set the dye, and to only use twice as much water as plant matter.

Well, my family has to eat, so I didn't have much plant matter left over to work with after planning the week's meals. I used probably 2 cups worth for each dye bath. Next time, I will save plant scraps for a few weeks and make a much more potent dye.

The first dye consisted of a bunch of papalo and the stems of a bunch of chard.
The second dye was the fresh skins of 2 purple eggplants. The third dye was a bunch of beets and their greens. The first step was to gather the pieces I wanted to dye (some onesies and cotton rags) and put them into a large pot with a 4 to 1 ratio of water to distilled vinegar. Then, I prepared the plant matter. For each dye, I chopped all of the plant and vegetable matter into small chunks, added twice as much water as plant matter.
At this point, I have 4 pots going. One for fixing the pieces I wanted to dye and three different dye pots - perfect for a 4 burner stove.
I brought each pot to a boil, then lowered to a simmer for one hour.
Once everything had simmered for an hour, I strained the dyes back into their pots, squeezed the excess liquid out of the onesies and rags, and divided them evenly among the dyes. I let everything sit overnight, hoping to achieve a deeper color

To my initial dismay, everything turned out pretty pale. Though the colors are beautiful, I was hoping for a more vibrant outcome. I think that using more plant matter would remedy this, and I can't wait to try again.

I hope y'all enjoy your own adventures in vegetable dyeing, and I'd love to hear how it turns out!

CSA BOX CONTENTS WEEK OF OCT 5TH

10/05/15 — Scott

CSA Box Contents Week of Oct 5th

Large Box
Bean, Green
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Collards
Greens, Dandelion
Herb, Dill
Kohlrabi, Purple
Pepper, Sweet Medley
Potato, Sweet
Radish, French Breakfast
Squash, Butternut

Medium Box
Bean, Green
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage, Green
Carrot, Orange
Greens, Collards
Greens, Kale, Curly
Herb, Dill
Potato, Sweet
Radish, French Breakfast

Small Box
Bean, Green
Beet, Red
Broccoli
Greens, Braising Mix
Greens, Kale, Curly
Kohlrabi, Purple
Pepper, Sweet Medley

Individual Box
Bean, Green
Beet, Red
Broccoli
Greens, Collards
Pepper, Sweet Medley

FTFP: LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

10/02/15 — Farm

Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer's Perspective: Light at the End of the Tunnel

Just like that, October is here! September was a wild month on the farm and time definitely flew. Fall is one of our two peak season for vegetable growing in central Texas, and because of this, we've just completed what might be the busiest month we'll have all year making sure our fields are full for this bountiful season. I know I say it all the time, but I'm always so amazed and grateful for our hard-working teams here at the farm who are working tirelessly to feed our Texas community. I am finally feeling like the mad rush of Fall planting is slowing down just a little bit, and so we are turning our attention to some new projects.

Photo by Scott David Gordon

I want to thank all of the smiling and dedicated volunteers who came out during the month of September to help our greenhouse staff with their astronomical load. If you remember, last year we built out 5 new greenhouses at our Garfield farm in order to meet our growing needs for organic vegetable starts. These greenhouses are now full to bursting - Brandon and Adrienne, alongside our volunteers, have been seeding 7 days a week for the last month and their work has really paid off. Just this week we planted out over 10,000 red cabbage transplants - our transplanting crew has also been working nonstop! We were happy to see so many community members come out for our weekend volunteer days during the month of September, and we hope to offer this opportunity again in the future (we need volunteers for our fall Potluck - more details below!).

Photo by Scott David Gordon

As the fields finally fill up and the weather starts to cool down, it's almost time to celebrate the season at our Fall Harvest Hustle and Potluck on October 24th! The entire staff at JBG has been putting a lot of energy towards making this the best event yet. Haven't decided whether or not you'll make it? Let me tell you why this is an event you won't want to miss. First, this is the best opportunity to see where you food is grown and the best season to see it, plus we've got a few great options for doing so! Rogue Running is sponsoring our Harvest Hustle 5k, a scenic and active farm-tour at our beautiful Garfield farm along the Colorado River. We also have a 1-mile Kid's Fun Run which is sure to be a blast. This fall, we're bringing back the community Potluck, which is always a great showcase of our community's incredible cooking skills and definitely not to be missed. This week we confirmed our bands as well - you'll be dining and dancing to the tunes of local talent Carson McHone, the Bottom Dollar String Band, and The Parish Festival!

If you've ever thrown a party before, you know it's always easier to plan with a head count - we hope you'll RSVP by getting your Hoedown ticket today!

We're also seeking volunteers to help make this the best Hoedown yet. Email us at volunteer@jbgorganic.com to reserve a spot - we'll say thanks with a free event ticket and awesome volunteer t-shirt!

Join us for the Harvest Hustle and Potluck on October 24th - bring the kiddos! Photo by Scott David Gordon

I have one other project I wanted to tell you about this week - JBG's first ever Farm-to-Gym program! Austin has such an incredible health and fitness community, and through Farm-to-Gym we're excited to partner with studios around town to make your local, organic veggie pickups even easier! JBG is offering some great promotions to our Farm-to-Gym partners that we hope you'll take advantage of - and we're not just biased to gyms either. We think that local, organic food is great for yogis, dancers, karate students, bikers, and Cross-Fitters too. Want to see if your gym is participating, or interested in becoming a partner? Email heydon@jbgorganic.com for more information.

As you can see, there's been no shortage of work at JBG this week. As things start to slow down just a little, and we see the light at the end of the tunnel of fall field preparations, I'm looking forward to even more new projects this fall. Our shade structure should be completed soon, so keep your eyes peeled for more nursery stock from JBG this spring - we loved growing figs, grapes, and pomegranates last year, both for our farm and for your gardens as well. What would you like to see us grow next year? Olive trees? Peaches? We'd love it if you would let us know in the comments.

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

FIRST FRIDAY STAFF PICKS

10/02/15 — Farm

Photo by Scott David Gordon

September was a great month at JBG, both on and off the farm. We have a lot to celebrate within our little staff community, and a few other fun favorites to share with you this month.

We have THREE engagements to celebrate this month at the farm, ONE wedding, and TWO new babies!!! A HUGE congratulations to:

Our very own farmer Montana and his lovely Michelle.
Jack-of-all-trades Kelby and Kristal - they're tying the knot in November!
Kate and Alexander - we wish your names were also an alliteration, but we'll forgive you. These two are planning a motorcycle trip across the Americas right now!
Amy and Dany had the most beautiful wedding in New York this month.
Fawn and family welcomed baby Flynt into the world in September!!
Head Grower Temo is also a proud new father, and we couldn't be happier for his family.

Help us wish our staff congratulations, and be sure to say hi if you're volunteering, stopping by markets, or picking up at the farm! Other things on our radar this month:

The Trans-Pecos Pipeline could be threatening the pristine Big Bend region of West Texas. We hope you'll add your voice to the conversation about this project.
The new release from the Wood Brothers has been a favorite at Hergotz this month.
Check out The Secret Ingredient on iTunes - KUT's newest podcast all about food!
Learn more about food waste and how you can help - Just Eat It
We just love Laura Miller's Instagram. No other words needed.
Farm photographer Scott is currently taking a survivalist course at Earth Native, and an herbalism course with Ginger Webb. Cheers to continued learning!