Squash harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Those summer vegetables are keeping us busy!  Check out some of this week's harvest in Scott David Gordon's beautiful pictures.  And, as you'll see, those sunflowers are still going strong!  CSA members - look for some of these flowers in your share this week.

Rows of squash. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Zucchini squash harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Zucchini squash harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Patty pan squash harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Sweet potato greens. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We have lots of melons just in time for this hot weather. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Whoa! Check out all of those sunflowers! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

JBG's Nellie Stephenson at the Great Wall of China.

Look who made it to the Great Wall of China - none other than JBG's former Wholesale Manager extraordinaire, Nellie Stephenson!  Thanks, Nellie, for taking JBG all the way to China with you!

By Megan Winfrey

I'm "sorry, not sorry" for this week's recipe. Something has come over me lately and I just want to put everything in a pie crust. I hope ya'll have been enjoying it as much and I (and my husband) have!

Tangy Beet Pie

Filling:

4 medium beets, cooked & peeled

1 medium red onion, sliced

2 tbs. brown sugar

3 tbs. butter

4 tbs. balsamic vinegar

Salt & Pepper

Crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick butter, cold & cubed

1 egg

3 tbs. cold water

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the cold cubed butter and mix with your hands until dough becomes grainy. Make a well in the center, add the egg and cold water, mix until soft. Form a ball. Roll out dough on a floured surface, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky. Roll dough large enough to cover your cake pan.

Once the beets are peeled, slice into quarters

In a large pan, heat the brown sugar. As it starts to melt, add the butter and stir. Add the beets and red onion and cook on med-high until caramelized, 10-12 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Reduce to low and add balsamic vinegar. Cook for 2 minutes. Sauce should thicken and become silky. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

To assemble, butter the bottom of a round or square cake pan. Pick beets from the mixture and line the bottom of the pan, forming kind of a beet "crust." Pour the rest of the filling in and cover with the dough. Tuck in the edges around the filling & pierce the crust in a few places. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

BONUS!: I used my leftover dough to make a cinnamon sugar roll up!

Just ball it up, roll it out, sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar and roll into a log. Throw it in the oven with the pie and it will come out flaky on the outside, soft on the inside & delicious.

CSA Box Contents Week of July 27th

Sunflower time! Photo by Scott David Gordon

I have to give a shout out to our amazing Operations Manager, Krishna Raghavan. It was his birthday earlier in the week, and this July also marks his third full year at JBG. Man, has he done a lot in three years! I don’t know where we would be with out him - really, there’s not an aspect of the farm that Krishna hasn’t worked hard to improve.

JBG's amazing operations manager, Krishna Raghavan. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Krishna has done so much that it’s impossible to list it all. He reorganized our overall business structure and organizational chart to better fit our needs, revamped our wholesale program and record-keeping systems, negotiated for employee health insurance, consolidated the farm loans, received grant funding for new greenhouses and for wholesale expansion, helped design the new irrigation system and barn/packing shed at the Garfield farm, updated our organic certification process - I really could go on an on. But you get the idea – this man can do it all! And, on a daily basis, he really does. He is the person that employees turn to most when there's a problem, and he keeps this farm going, day-in and day-out.

The amazing thing about Krishna is he does it all with such grace. He truly is one of the kindest people I know, and I feel incredibly lucky to get to work with him everyday. And did I say patient? I know I am not always the easier person to work with, but Krishna has the patience, focus and drive to keep me on task. We are so very lucky to have such an incredibly smart, kind, and hard working person on our team. Krishna, I wish you happy birthday and extend a heartfelt thanks for all you do for JBG.

Photo by Scott David Gordon

Israel harvests sunflowers. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Whoa, those sunflowers are getting tall!  And they sure are a beautiful addition to our harvest.  Thanks, Scott, for capturing these flowers as well as the vegetable crops we have growing out there.  As you'll see, we've also been getting a lot of new planting done.

A flower reaching up to the sun. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Those plants sure are getting tall - our crew might get lost in there! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Adrienne carts transplants out of the greenhouse to be planted. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Adrienne lays out trays to be planted. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Driving the transplants out to the field. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Regular volunteer, Marlena, starts seeding a new tray of transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon

And in the field, the planting continues. Photo by Scott David Gordon

And the daily harvest continues. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Arugula close-up. CSA members - look for some in your box this week! Photo by Scott David Gordon

A parting shot of our sunflower harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Photo by Scott David Gordon

By Megan Winfrey

There aren't many things I won't eat, as long as it tastes good. And I'm proud to say that the handful of things I disliked growing up, I've learned to love. The one thing I've never been able to get behind, however, is eggplant. It’s a texture thing. But with all of the eggplant I've been receiving lately, I decided I'd better try and use some of it rather than exchange it or give it away.

So, here's how I ate eggplant, and loved it.



Baba Ghanoush

3 medium eggplants

1 cup parsley

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1/4 cup of tahini

3 tbs. good olive oil

Salt and pepper

Any of your favorite JBG veggies for dipping

TAHINI  is a paste made from toasted sesame seeds and oil. You can find it with the peanut butter at most grocery stores, or make it yourself.

You'll need:

1/4 cup of sesame seeds, preferably shelled

2-3 tbs. vegetable or olive oil

Toast the sesame seeds for about 5 minutes on low, or until they become fragrant.

Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree into a coarse powder. Slowly add oil, one tablespoon at a time, and blend until a thick paste forms.  It will look a lot like natural peanut butter!

FOR THE REST

Heat your oven to 400ºF. Prick the eggplants all over with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Cook, flipping once, for about 40 minutes or until the skins wrinkle up and the flesh in tender. Let cool for about 30 minutes, then peel off the skins and stem. Cut into chunks and press out any left over liquids.