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LOCALLY GROWN, ORGANIC PRODUCE DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR.

THIS WEEK'S INSTAGRAM WINNER IS...

04/21/13 — Farm

instagram dog

Ameliacarry!  Thanks for sharing this great picture of a canine fan!

Take your best shots of anything JBG-related – the JBG logo on a truck, the JBG vegetables in your CSA box or the meal you cooked with them, JBG at the Farmers Market or in the grocery store, etc. Then, label your pictures on Instagram with #jbgorganic or #johnsonsbackyardgarden. Each week, we will select winner to be featured in the newsletter. The winner will also receive his or her choice of a JBG hat, tote, or t-shirt. Get out your phones and start taking pictures! We can’t wait to see what you create.

GREAT VIDEO OF JBG POTLUCK

04/20/13 — Farm

Bringing a plate to share. Photo by Scott David Gordon Bringing a plate to share. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Videographer Justin Humphrey created this great video of our potluck a few weeks ago.  Check it out! Thank you, Justin, for sharing your time & talents with us.

JOHNSON KIDS TALK ABOUT LIFE ON THE FARM SUNDAY AT HOPE!

04/18/13 — Farm

JohnsonsBackyardGardenChildren_PanelDiscussion_HOPE_Screen

Come see Lila, Drew, Ada, and Jimmy talk about their life on the farm!  They will be featured on a panel discussion this Sunday at HOPE Farmers Market.  Here are the details:

When: Sunday, April 21st from 12pm to 1pm

Where: HOPE Farmers Market, Plaza Saltillo (5th & Comal, 78702)

FROM THE FARMER'S PERSPECTIVE

04/17/13 — Farm

IMAG0248 Gaining a new perspective in Yelapa

Last week, I had a big change in perspective as my wife, Beth, & I headed to Yelapa, Mexico for our first vacation in years.  I heard about Yelapa from Renee Rangel of RRR Farms when I ran into her at the HOPE Farmers Market.  I asked her where I should take Beth on vacation, and without missing a beat, she enthusiastically said, "Yelapa!".  Elizabeth Winslow, the founder of Haymakers, also had high praise for Yelapa.  Having just spent five days there, I now understand why they love it so much.

Yelapa beach Yelapa beach

After flying into Puerto Vallarta, Beth and I got to Yelapa the only way possible: by a 45 minute boat ride.  This truly is the only way in and out, and I think this is part of the reason that Yelapa has remained relatively untouched by the outside world.  It is a "communidad indigena", which means that the land is held collectively by the indigenous people who have always lived there.  Land here cannot be purchased by outsiders, and, as a result, you don't see all of the commercial development that has taken over so much of the world.  In fact, Yelapa didn't even have electricity until 2001.  Now, there is also wifi, and it is not uncommon to see satellite dishes to capture TV & internet attached to thatched-roofed house.  These changes made me a little nervous about the future of Yelapa - I would hate to see such a beautiful place give way to corporate culture.

The cottages where Beth & I stayed

Although there were signs of the encroachment of modern life, the overall feeling of the place is one of simplicity.  This is exactly what I wanted - something off the beaten path where we could relax.  Yelapa is a tropical dry broadleaf forest, and we arrived just before the start of the rainy season. It is a place with no cars (although now you do see some 4-wheelers), no paved roads, no glass windows (all of the structures had window openings, but no glass), and very few boats (unlike the Gulf coast near where I grew up, there aren't any pleasure boats or sailboats - just small working boats).  It is pretty amazing to be able to look out onto an uncluttered beach and to be free of the constant sound of traffic.

A Yelapan travels by burro. A Yelapan travels by burro.

It is hard to believe that a place like this still exists, and I have to say that it was the perfect place for Beth and I to take a vacation.  Even so, I had trouble relaxing at first.  It is always hard for me to leave the farm, and I felt a little guilty about not working.  It helped that I couldn't make calls on my cell phone, but I do admit that I did tap into the wifi to check in via email a few times - old habits and worries are hard to break.  All in all, though, it was a wonderful vacation for me and Beth as we took in Yelapa's unique way of living and natural beauty.  If you are interested in learning more about Yelapa, I recommend you check out this website: Yelapa History Project.

Farmer Brenton learns to take a vacation Farmer Brenton learns to take a vacation

I SAY SWEET POTATOES, YOU SAY BATATAS

04/07/09 — Aaron

Table of Contents:

1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News

  • Open House/ Potluck and The Onion Creek Crawdaddies: April 19th!
  • A bit about our Hakurei Salad Turnips
  • I say Sweet Potatoes, You say Batatas
  • Intern exchange
  • Plant Sales
  • Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online
3) Events
  • Food Justice Speaker Series
  • Concentration of Power in the Global Food System
  • Fair Food Across Borders
  • Building Local Food Systems
  • Environment, Health and Food Safety
  • Spring Speaker Series
  • Permaculture Winter 2009 Series
  • Austin Organic Gardeners
  • Travis County Master Gardeners Association

4) Quotable Food

5) Recipes
  • Beets with Walnut Vinaigrette
  • Supreme Turnip Salad

6) Vegetable Storage Tips 7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Information

Please send newsletter feedback, suggestions and contributions to farm@jbgorganic.com

We’re on Facebook! We’re also on MySpace, be our friend!

Haruki salad turnips. A wonderful addition to your box this week.

1) In Your Box this Week:

Chard
Spinach Lettuce
Baby Arugula or Salad Mix
Pac Choi
Kale or Collards
Parsley or Mint Hakurei Salad Turnips
Kohlrabi Radish
Green Garlic
1015 Sweet Onions
Last of the Citrus

    This list is subject to change depending on availability and quality of crops on harvest day.  You’ll find the most accurate packing list on the homepage of our website.

    2209-1191

2) Farm News

  • Open House/ Potluck and The Onion Creek Crawdaddies: April 19th!
We have picked a date for the special occasion, please joins us at the farm on Sunday April 19th from 4pm til dark. We will provide music and entertainment. Bring a dish to share, your own place settings and all the friends and family you can think of. Bring a chair or a blanket, and BYOB. You do not need to be a CSA member to attend, this is an event for everyone (except your canine friends, please leave them at home). So mark your calenders and peruse your favorite recipes in preparation for this annual event. We’ll meet in the orchard and have a walking tour of the farm with other local foodies.  The Onion Creek Crawdaddies will be our musical guests for the evening.
  • A bit about our Hakurei Salad Turnips
This white "salad turnip" sets the standard for flavor. The flat-round, smooth white roots mature early, just after radishes, and are best harvested young. The flavor is great raw - sweet and fruity - and the texture is crisp and tender. The dark green hairless tops are useful raw or lightly cooked with the roots. Compared with other early white turnips, Hakurei (Brassica rapa) tastes better and stays smoother as it sizes. The  Hakurei gourmet Japanese turnip is probably my favorite winter vegetable.  It's a small (radish-sized) white turnip that is mature in about 5 weeks.  Rinse the bottoms, remove the taproots, halve and cook in chicken stock for a half-hour or so. A few minutes before serving toss in the chopped greens. Great stuff.
  • I say Sweet Potatoes, You say Batatas
Planting sweet potatoes has been our big project this week, so I thought I'd do a little research on the plant. Much to my surprise, there is a great deal of conflicting information out there. Though most sources agree that the plant originated in the West Indies, there is also a fair amount of discussion claiming Central and South America or South Asia or Polynesia as possible locations of origin. One errant source cited Columbus as actually bringing sweet potatoes to the Americas (proof that you can't believe everything you read).
What current popular culture calls the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), actually belongs to the morning-glory family Convolvulaceae, was known in pre-Columbian days as Batatas. This name, from the Arawak language family included the regions of the West Indies, Florida and Louisiana, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and as far south as the coastal regions of Brazil. Sweet potatoes are botanically unrelated to the Irish potato (Solanaceae family, which includes tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and the weedy nightshades). While sweet potatoes are often referred to as 'yams', the true yam is the tuber of an African tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato. True yams are still a curiosity in the United States. When researching plants I always start with one of my favorite growing guides, a set of four volumes, entitled Audels Gardeners and Growers Guide: Good Vegetables and Market Gardening published in 1928. The information is still useful, the illustrations are beautiful. Here are a few examples of info they hold about sweet potatoes.

sp-dry_page_2sp-moistsweet-potato-plow2sp-storage

Generally speaking, folks in the northern states prefer the so-called "dry-fleshed" type of sweet potato, such as Big Stem Jersey and Little Stem Jersey, while the southerners prefer the "moist-fleshed" type. This category of sweet potatoes includes the variety Beauregard that we are growing at the Farm.The soft, rich, "moist" varieties are the ones erroneously called "yams" in the United States. A strange fact about these two types of sweet potato is that the "dry-fleshed" ones have more water in them than the "moist-fleshed" ones do!

This week I made a trip to Grand  Saline, Texas, where we purchased 1800 pounds of Beauregard sweet potatoes from Lyn and Betty Melton. They, along with their sons, have been growing sweet potatoes (and hay, summer squash, peas and red potatoes and raising heifers) since 1971. Over the years, they have sold their sweet potatoes at Dallas farmer's markets, to canneries, and to regional grocery stores.

Lyn Melton, sweet potato farmer.

We will use Melton's sweet potatoes to grow our own 'slips' or 'draws'. These are early root cuttings that we will replant, in six to eight weeks, to actually produce the sweet potatoes you will eat. Sweet potatoes are one of the few vegetables where true seeds are used for breeding only.

Will finely tilled and hilled two beds of soil in preparation of laying out our sweet potatoes.  Like carrots, sweet potatoes require a bed of soil that is completely free of clumps which would drastically distort the final shape of the veggie. Adam, Jeff, Dylan and I placed the sweet potatoes in a solid path down the center of each bed, with about a one inch space between each potato. This layer was then covered with two inches of soil followed by a layer of plastic mulch that will help generate the heat needed to produce good growth. The plastic mulch, however, will be used only for the short term. When the sweet potatoes begin to sprout enough to raise the plastic we will poke holes in it to create proper ventilation for a few days then completely remove the mulch. Soon after we will be able to harvest the 'slips' and plant our production crop.

Empty crates and rows of sweet potatoes. Dylan plants our sweet potatoes for 'slip' production. Lyn's Sweet potato harvester. It's just a little more advanced than what Audels recommends.
  • Intern exchange
Lucas left about ten days ago for Los Angeles with his final destination being home in Germany. We keep joking that he's late for work and has become such the slacker. However, a few days ago Adam moved in and he has eagerly jumped in to fill Lucas' shoes. Adam is a local Austinite, musician, stone mason and would be farmer. Dylan will be leaving for Wisconcin on April 15th. He will be working on a CSA farm, where he has worked before, and then plans to relocate to parts unknown. A few days before he leaves, Evelyn will be arriving from Chicago to spend some time with us at the Farm. So, on your next visit to JBG you are likely to see new faces (mixed in with the old faces you already know). Please stop and say hello to Adam and Evelyn.

Adam Davis, our new intern.

And while were at it, here is Adam's 'new' abode.

And while we're at it, here is Adam's 'new' abode.

  • Plant Sales:
We’ve added three varieties of organic tomatillo, four varieties of eggplant, and ten varieties of peppers to our list of starts available for your home garden. Heirloom tomatoes continue to sell at a fast pace as home gardeners get that spring itch to start planting. If you’re interested in enriching your family’s diet and garden experience, check out our web site to place your order. CSA members can have vegetable starts delivered to your weekly drop off site for the next couple of weeks.  General public orders may be picked up at the farm stand, in front of the greenhouse, at 9515 Hergotz Lane. All transplants are seeded to 1? plugs and cost $1.00 each for Johnson’s Backyard Garden CSA members and $1.75 for the general public. We require a $20.00 minimum order, and this minimum can include any combination of the plants we have available. Remember, these starts have been produced in our greenhouse and need to be hardened off for a few days before planting in your garden. Place the starts, still in their tray, under your house eaves or a patio awning. This practice will allow the greenhouse plants to gradually adjust to the colder temperatures of the great outdoors. Water the starts a few times each day to prevent them from wilting in their small 1? plugs.  If a late season frost is in the forecast, be sure to cover your veggie starts with row cover, an old sheet, or a layer of newspaper. Eggplant
irene1 Irene - This traditional egg-shaped, purple black eggplant sets heavily, producing medium-sized firm fruit. Irene is one of the very few eggplant varieties with intermediate resistance to Verticillium races Va & Vd.
eggplant_long_green Louisiana Long Green - Attractive 7? banana-shaped fruits average 6 oz. each. At edible harvest the fruits are light green with creamy-green stripes at the blossom end. Spineless plants average 3-1/2? tall, withstand light frost. 100 days.
rosa-bianca-l7432 Bianca - Prized by chefs and gardeners alike for its creamy, mild flesh and lovely appearance, this Italian heirloom eggplant has become very popular. Well-filled, round to tear-drop-shaped fruit is white with soft lavender streaks outside, and inside flesh white and sweet with no trace of bitterness. Delicious for slicing, stuffing, or any eggplant use. 75 days.
snowy Snowy - Non-bitter fruit enjoyed in a long, uniform 8-10? sharp-white fruit. Earlier to bear fruit than others and will enhance any collection of eggplant when displayed with others of varying colors. 65-80 days.
Tomatillo
Verdetom-verde
Purpletoma-purple
Goldieyellow_husk_ground_cherry_seeds
Peppers
anaheim_hot_peppers_seeds Anaheim - Also know as the ‘New Mexican Chile,’ this moderately pungent fruit is deep green, but turns red at full maturity. Very smooth peppers are 7-1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide and borne on tall, productive plants that offer good foliage cover for the fruit. Tobacco mosaic virus resistant. Excellent for canning, freezing or drying. 75 days
corodetoro Corno di Torro - Italian ‘bull’s horn’ colorful sweet peppers are 8 to 10 inches long and curved like a bull’s horn. Ripen to deep red or bright yellow and are delicious fresh in salads, but more often are sauted or grilled. Prolific tall plants. 68 days.
cubanelle_sweet_pepperr Cubanelle - This is a large sweet pepper. It is yellow-green in and matures to red. This variety of sweet pepper is very popular among home gardeners. Cubanelle Sweet Pepper is great for frying, stuffing, dipping and on salads. 12 inches. They’re high in vitamin C .
numex_big_jim_hot_peppers_seeds Numex-Big Jim - The largest of New Mexican varieties, this pepper has pods up to 12 inches long that weigh as much as 4 ounces. Their size makes them a favorite for chiles rellenos. Medium hot pungency. As an advantage, plants are able to set fruit under hot, dry conditions. 80 days.
pepper_orion_organic Orion - This is a huge blocky pepper, up to 5 inches long and wide, with thick, heavy walls and 4-lobed shape. Widely adapted, it does well even in warm locations, where its heavy foliage cover shields fruit from the sun. This very high quality Dutch pepper has excellent disease protection with resistance to 3 races of bacterial leaf spot and tobacco mosaic virus. 75 days.
queen-l5718 Queen - Brightly colored bell pepper with a delicious sweet and mild thick flesh. Queen consistently produces big, green, blocky 4 lobed bells that mature to orange. The sturdy plants have resistance to tobacco mosaic virus. 70-74 days.
ringo Ringo - Produces large plants laden with elongated, pointed fruit measuring about 5cm in diameter at the top and reaching almost 30cm in length. With a shape that is somewhat reminiscent of a bull’s horn, they turn from green to a stunning bright yellow as they ripen.This is a later maturing variety better eaten after it turns yellow. At that point it is mildly sweet and perfect grilled and peeled, fried, or used fresh in salads.
serrano-del-sol Serrano del Sol - Very impressive new version of open-pollinated Serrano pepper, this one boasts fruit that is twice the size and two to three weeks earlier than the original. Peppers are fleshy and meaty with the unique Serrano flavor so popular in Mexican cuisine. Measuring about 5,000 Scoville units, they are about the same pungency as a jalapeno, and are quite versatile for sauces, salsas, or flavoring. 64 to 67 days.
tabasco Tabasco - Fiery hot, this is the one that has made Tabasco sauce famous. Green leaf strain that grows best in the South and East. Light yellow-green peppers turn to red and grow on tall plants. 80 days.
telica_hot_peppers_seeds Telica - Plant produces heavy yields of extra large 4 ¾â€ long by 1 ¾â€ wide Jalapeno peppers. Peppers are hot, have thick flesh, and turn from shiny green to red when mature. 75 days.
  • Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online:
You can manage your Johnson’s Backyard Garden CSA membership online. At CSA accounts,you can make payments, check schedule pick up times and dates, and renew or change your order. It’s the best way to stay up to date with your individual account. If you experience any difficulties managing you account, please contact Carrie at the farm Monday- Friday before 12:30 pm at 512.386.5273 or email her at farm@jbgorganic.com.
Farmer Johnson with his crop of new Yukon Gold potatoes. They should be ready for harvest in just a few weeks

3) Events:

  • Food Justice Speaker Series
Grit sent in this list of upcoming events being held at Monkey Wrench Books.  She writes, 'People are paying attention to food like never before. These conversations are raising questions about where our food comes from and its impacts on health, the environment, and human rights. This series highlights efforts towards a more fair and sustainable food system in Austin and elsewhere.'
  • Concentration of Power in the Global Food System
April 9, 7pm, MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) Discussion on how free trade agreements -- partnerships between governments and corporations -- centralize food production and concentrate market power. * Paul Martin, Siempre Sustainable Network * Carmen Llanes, PODER & Texas Fair Trade Coalition * Eva Hershaw, Photojournalist * Moderator: Sthea Mason, American Friends Service Committee
  • Fair Food Across Borders
April 16, 7pm, MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) Film screening ("Paying the Price") and discussion on migrant agricultural workers in the U.S. and Mexico. * Melody Gonzalez, Chiapas Media Project * Fair Food Austin * Moderator: Cristina Tzintzún, Workers Defense Project
  • Building Local Food Systems
April 30, 7pm, MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) Meet individuals and organizations in Austin that are contributing to food access, efficacy and awareness that helps make a local, sustainable food system possible. * Andrew Smiley, Sustainable Food Center * Youth participants, Urban Roots * Erin Flynn and Skip Connett, Green Gate Farms * Moderator: Marla Camp, Edible Austin
  • Environment, Health and Food Safety
May 7, 7pm, Center for Community Engagement (1009 E. 11th Street) Explore the impacts of the conventional food system on the environment, health, and food safety. * Curt Ellis, filmmaker, "King Corn" * Charlotte Herzele, University of Texas at Austin * More speakers TBA Sponsors: American Friends Service Committee, Fair Food Austin, MonkeyWrench Books, Oxfam-UT, PODER, Sustainable Food Center, Texas Fair Trade Coalition, Center for Community Engagement (UT-Austin), Urban Roots, Workers Defense Project For more information, visit http://fairfoodaustin.blogspot.com http://monkeywrenchbooks.org
  • Spring Speaker Series
Varying times on select days through May 30. Check Web site for schedule. 10 a.m. today: Mixing It Up With Dave: Container Patio Gardening at its Best!’With Dave Mix, Pacific Home and Garden. Free. The Great Outdoors Garden Center Nursery, 2730 S. Congress Avenue. www.gonursery.com
  • Permaculture Winter 2009 Series
7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, through April 8. Permaculture talks and videos about sustainability. Habitat Suites, 500 E. Highland Mall Drive. Free. 619-5363. www.permie.us.

  • Austin Organic Gardeners:
The Austin Organic Gardeners meet the second Monday  of every month at Zilker Botanical Garden. www.austinorganicgardeners.org Meetings start at 7 p.m.
  • Travis County Master Gardeners Association:
The Travis County Master Gardeners Association holds it’s monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month. www.tcmastergardeners.org Meetings starts at 7 p.m. Sweet potatoes waiting to be planted.

4) Quotable Food:

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly. ~M. F. K. Fisher

5) Recipes:

A recipe from Sandra Martin:

'I am normally not one to enjoy beets, but I found this recipe which made a believer out of me, and I wanted to share it with other JBG CSAers. You can also use your CSA parsley in it. I have adapted the recipe from The Greens Cook Book by Deborah Madison with Edward Espe Brown. Enjoy!'
  • Beets with Walnut Vinaigrette
serves 4 1 lb. beets Walnut Vinaigrette 1 T. sherry vinegar 1 T. balsamic vinegar 1/4 tsp. salt 1 T. walnut oil 1-2 T. olive oil feta or goat cheese crumbles Italian parsley black pepper Preheat oven to 400 deg. Peel beets and cut them into roughly the size of a medium radish. Dress with olive oil and salt and pepper, and bake for approx. 50 minutes or until tender but not too soft, turning once. While beets are baking, prepare vinaigrette. Combine the vinegars and salt, and add the oils. While the beets are still warm, dress them with the vinaigette and the parsley. Taste for tartness, adding more balsamic vinegar if needed. Season with black pepper. Sprinkle with feta or goat cheese crumbles.
  • Supreme Turnip Salad from cooks.com
3 turnips 2 tart red apples 1/2 c. chopped raisins 1/8 c. grated orange rind 1 tsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 c. alfalfa sprouts (optional) Parsley bits 3/4 c. mayonnaise 3 tbsp. fresh orange juice Fresh pulled turnips add a delicious zesty flavor to this nutritious salad. Peel and grate turnips. Core and coarsely chop unpeeled apples. Combine mayonnaise, sugar and orange juice. Pour over turnips and apples. Add remaining ingredients and toss. Serve immediately or chill. An Alabama joke for Aaron and Brenton. Quess which one is the computer programmer and which is the farmer.........
6) Produce Storage Tips:

We aim to grow and package our vegetables to maintain the highest taste and nutritional quality possible. However, once they’ve left the farm it’s up to you to keep them fresh and nutritious. There’s no refrigeration at the CSA drop points so it’s best to pick up your box as early as possible. Here are some additional tips on how to store this week’s share:

Spinach, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Salad Greens, Pak Choi, Braising Mix and Cooking Greens will stay fresh in the crisper for 4-7 days and should be kept in plastic bags. Any bunch greens can be freshened by cutting an inch of the bottom stalks and soaking the entire bunch in cold water for 10 minutes. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few hours to revive. Carrots, Radishes, Turnips, Beets, and Parsnips should be stored in plastic bags. They'll last two weeks in the fridge. Take tops off carrots before storing, leave greens on radishes, turnips and beets, with both roots and tops in the bag.

Oranges and Grapefruit are best kept at room temperature of 60-70 degrees and used within two weeks. Do not store in plastic bags.

Parsley and Cilantro are best with bottoms of stems trimmed, placed upright in a jar of water in the fridge. Basil can be stored upright in a jar of water at room temperature, or in an open bag on the counter. These three all do well frozen also (they will loose texture but not taste).

Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your guide for how to can, freeze, dry, pickle or ferment just about anything.

Brenton and Hea discuss 'potting up' the pepper starts. This means they will be removing the 1-inch starts to flats with 2-inch cells to accomodate the growing root system.

7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info:

Johnson’s Backyard Garden 9515 Hergotz Lane, Box E Austin, TX 78742

Office Phone: 512.386.5273 Office Hours: M-F 8am to 12:30pm

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com website: www.jbgorganic.com

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TWO MEALS NOT TO BE MISSED

03/31/09 — Aaron

An amazing Live Oak that sits just past our property line.

Table of Contents 1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News

  • Dai Due Dinner at the Farm. This Sunday!
  • Open House/ Potluck. April 19th!
  • The Nightshade Family: Fruit or Vegetable?
  • Tomatilla, Peppers, and Eggplant Starts are now Available for Sale
  • Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?
  • Austin 360: Tomatoes in the Ground, Spinach in my Belly
  • A Personal Farm Video
  • Background on H.R.875 and New Ideas about H.R. 759
  • Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online
3) Events
  • Spring Speaker Series
  • Permaculture Design Course
  • Ten-Minute Gardener Series
  • Permaculture Winter 2009 Series
  • Trowel and Error
  • Austin Organic Gardeners
  • Travis County Master Gardeners Association

4) Quotable Food

5) Recipes
  • The Locavore's Dilemma
  • Spinach Pie

6) Vegetable Storage Tips 7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Information

Please send newsletter feedback, suggestions and contributions to farm@jbgorganic.com

We’re on Facebook! We’re also on MySpace, be our friend!

1) In Your Box this Week:

Radish Chard Spinach Parsley Mint Kale Beet Greens Collards Boc Choy Beets Asparagus Oranges Grapefruit

    This list is subject to change depending on availability and quality of crops on harvest day.  You’ll find the most accurate packing list on the homepage of our website.

2) Farm News

  • Dai Due Dinner at the Farm: This Sunday!
Johnson's Backyard Garden will be hosting spring dinner in the orchard. Jesse Griffiths, from Dai Due Supper Club, will be the chef. April 5th has been scheduled for an excellent meal in the pecan orchard, where this seasons new pecan leaves are just beginning to leaf out. The dinner will focus on our amazing farm fresh spring vegetables, super fresh Gulf fish and shellfish, from Freeport, grilled over pecan wood and local dairy products. It will be family style, about four courses, and include live local music. Please feel free to bring your favorite bottle of wine or ale to accompany this springtime feast. The dinner will start around 3pm and will serve about 50 people. Please check Dai Due's website today to register as this event will sell out. Jesse Griffiths, from Dai Due Supper Club, will be preparing a fantastic meal for us.
  • Open House/ Potluck: April 19th!
We have picked a date for the special occasion, please joins us at the farm on Sunday April 19th from 4pm til dark. We will provide music and entertainment. Bring a dish to share, your own place settings and all the friends and family you can think of. Bring a chair or a blanket, and BYOB. You do not need to be a CSA member to attend, this is an event for everyone (except your canine friends, please leave them at home). So mark your calenders and peruse your favorite recipes in preparation for this annual event. We'll meet in the orchard and have a walking tour of the farm with other local foodies.
  • Greenhouses: Hydroponics and Pests
Last Thursday, Brenton and all the farm hands went to visit Walnut Creek Organic Farm in Bastrop. Owner John Paquin gave us a tour of his property including his greenhouse where he grows the organic tomatoes you've occasionally found in your CSA box this winter. His tomatoes are grown in an organic hydroponic set up that winds the tomato vines, attached to a pulley system, around each row of the greenhouse. John, who has recently taken over this tomato operation from Reliable Organics, has already started experimenting in the greenhouse to produce a tomato with a fuller flavor.
Walnut Creek's tomato greenhouse.
Walnut Creek's tomato greenhouse.
Tomatoes on the vine. There were literally hundreds of them ripening.
While John's greenhouse is highly productive, our own greenhouse at Johnson's Backyard Garden has been going through some difficulties with mice.  It seems they are very fond of newly planted seed trays. So far the mice have made quick work of watermelon, muskmelon, basil and cucumber seeds that have not yet germinated. Our greenhouse can not really be mouse proofed efficiently; too many gaps exist, the biggest are under the sliding doors.  In the past, newly filled flats were placed on the floor of the greenhouse. We have recently tried elevating the newly planted seed flats. We set four 5 gallon buckets upside down and placed tables on top. The seeded flats are now out of the reach of the mice, who are unable to climb the slick walls of the 5 gallon buckets. Though it may look funny, it has worked to eliminate mouse feeding.
Note the upturned soil and empty cells where mice have extracted the seed. Mouse proofed seed flats.
  • The Nightshade Family: Fruit or Vegetable?
The controversy over whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1893. A tariff law imposed a duty on vegetables but not fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. On February 4, 1887 action was brought against the collector of the port of New York to recover back duties paid under protest on tomatoes imported by the plaintiff from the West Indies, which the collector assessed under the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883. This controversy was settled in 1893 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the tomato was a vegetable. The Court's official interpretation was based on the popular dictionary definition which classifies a vegetable as something eaten at dinner with your main entree, but not as a dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden, 149 U.S. 304 (May 10, 1893). As a result of this ruling, the nightshade family (Solanaceae) includes several species of fruits which are better-known as vegetables to most people. Botanically speaking, these "vegetables" are technically botanical fruits because they are seed-bearing structures that develop from the ripened ovaries of flowers. Because the entire fruit wall or pericarp is fleshy, it is technically called a berry. The cultivated tomato is native to South America, although archaeological evidence suggests that it was domesticated in Mexico and Central America. The Maya called the fruit tomatl, a name that was corrupted by the Spanish into tomate, and by the English into tomato. The tomato flower structure illustrates that the tomato is  closely related to the genus Solanum which includes the potato, eggplant, pepper, tomatilla and many other nightshades.
Recent studies using chloroplast DNA corroborate the genetic affinity between nightshades and tomatoes. Since some species of nightshade contain some very toxic alkaloids, the tomato was considered inedible and poisonous in the United States until the 1800s.  In fact, the Old World ornamental Jerusalem cherry produces small tomato like fruits that contain the poisonous alkaloid solanocapsine.
An interesting tomato relative is called ground cherry or tomatillo. As the fruit develops into a fleshy, tomato like berry, the outer calyx of the flower also enlarges into an inflated, papery, bladderlike sheath that encloses the berry. The unripe fruits are used in salsa verde. They are also stewed, fried, baked, and used in dressings and soups. Ripe fruits can be eaten raw, in sandwiches and salads. There are several wild species of tomatillas called ground cherries in the mountain and desert regions of southern California. A Peruvian species is naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands. It is called "poha" and the berries are eaten fresh and used in jams and jellies.
Our typical Tuesday work/lunch crew. Front row from left to right are Hea, Will, and Drew
  • Tomatillo , Peppers, and Eggplant Starts are now Available for Sale (along with our Heirloom Tomatoes):
We've added three varieties of organic tomatillo, four varieties of eggplant, and ten varieties of peppers to our list of starts available for your home garden. Heirloom tomatoes continue to sell at a fast pace as home gardeners get that spring itch to start planting. If you’re interested in enriching your family's diet and garden experience, check out our web site to place your order. CSA members can have vegetable starts delivered to your weekly drop off site for the next couple of weeks.  General public orders may be picked up at the farm stand, in front of the greenhouse, at 9515 Hergotz Lane. All transplants are seeded to 1? plugs and cost $1.00 each for Johnson’s Backyard Garden CSA members and $1.75 for the general public. We require a $20.00 minimum order, and this minimum can include any combination of the plants we have available. Remember, these starts have been produced in our greenhouse and need to be hardened off for a few days before planting in your garden. Place the starts, still in their tray, under your house eaves or a patio awning. This practice will allow the greenhouse plants to gradually adjust to the colder temperatues of the great outdoors. Water the starts a few times each day to prevent them from wilting in their small 1" plugs.  If a late season frost is in the forcast, be sure to cover your veggie starts with row cover, an old sheet, or a layer of newspaper. Eggplant
Irene - This traditional egg-shaped, purple black eggplant sets heavily, producing medium-sized firm fruit. Irene is one of the very few eggplant varieties with intermediate resistance to Verticillium races Va & Vd.
Louisiana Long Green - Attractive 7? banana-shaped fruits average 6 oz. each. At edible harvest the fruits are light green with creamy-green stripes at the blossom end. Spineless plants average 3-1/2' tall, withstand light frost. 100 days.
Bianca - Prized by chefs and gardeners alike for its creamy, mild flesh and lovely appearance, this Italian heirloom eggplant has become very popular. Well-filled, round to tear-drop-shaped fruit is white with soft lavender streaks outside, and inside flesh white and sweet with no trace of bitterness. Delicious for slicing, stuffing, or any eggplant use. 75 days.
Snowy - Non-bitter fruit enjoyed in a long, uniform 8-10? sharp-white fruit. Earlier to bear fruit than others and will enhance any collection of eggplant when displayed with others of varying colors. 65-80 days.
Tomatillo
Verde
Purple
Goldie
Peppers
Anaheim - Also know as the 'New Mexican Chile,' this moderately pungent fruit is deep green, but turns red at full maturity. Very smooth peppers are 7-1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide and borne on tall, productive plants that offer good foliage cover for the fruit. Tobacco mosaic virus resistant. Excellent for canning, freezing or drying. 75 days
Corno di Torro - Italian 'bull's horn' colorful sweet peppers are 8 to 10 inches long and curved like a bull's horn. Ripen to deep red or bright yellow and are delicious fresh in salads, but more often are sauted or grilled. Prolific tall plants. 68 days.
Cubanelle - This is a large sweet pepper. It is yellow-green in and matures to red. This variety of sweet pepper is very popular among home gardeners. Cubanelle Sweet Pepper is great for frying, stuffing, dipping and on salads. 12 inches. They're high in vitamin C .
Numex-Big Jim - The largest of New Mexican varieties, this pepper has pods up to 12 inches long that weigh as much as 4 ounces. Their size makes them a favorite for chiles rellenos. Medium hot pungency. As an advantage, plants are able to set fruit under hot, dry conditions. 80 days.
Orion - This is a huge blocky pepper, up to 5 inches long and wide, with thick, heavy walls and 4-lobed shape. Widely adapted, it does well even in warm locations, where its heavy foliage cover shields fruit from the sun. This very high quality Dutch pepper has excellent disease protection with resistance to 3 races of bacterial leaf spot and tobacco mosaic virus. 75 days.
Queen - Brightly colored bell pepper with a delicious sweet and mild thick flesh. Queen consistently produces big, green, blocky 4 lobed bells that mature to orange. The sturdy plants have resistance to tobacco mosaic virus. 70-74 days.
Ringo - Produces large plants laden with elongated, pointed fruit measuring about 5cm in diameter at the top and reaching almost 30cm in length. With a shape that is somewhat reminiscent of a bull’s horn, they turn from green to a stunning bright yellow as they ripen.This is a later maturing variety better eaten after it turns yellow. At that point it is mildly sweet and perfect grilled and peeled, fried, or used fresh in salads.
Serrano del Sol - Very impressive new version of open-pollinated Serrano pepper, this one boasts fruit that is twice the size and two to three weeks earlier than the original. Peppers are fleshy and meaty with the unique Serrano flavor so popular in Mexican cuisine. Measuring about 5,000 Scoville units, they are about the same pungency as a jalapeno, and are quite versatile for sauces, salsas, or flavoring. 64 to 67 days.
Tabasco - Fiery hot, this is the one that has made Tabasco sauce famous. Green leaf strain that grows best in the South and East. Light yellow-green peppers turn to red and grow on tall plants. 80 days.
Telica - Plant produces heavy yields of extra large 4 ¾" long by 1 ¾" wide Jalapeno peppers. Peppers are hot, have thick flesh, and turn from shiny green to red when mature. 75 days.
  • Austin360: Tomatoes in the Ground, Spinach in my Belly
Log into Addie Broyles recent article, Tomatoes in the Ground, Spianch in my Belly in Austin 360. Addie has been an occasional visitor to the farm and mentions Johnson's Backyard Garden as the source of most things vegetable. Thank you Addie.
  • A Personal Farm Video:
There is an interesting farming video from Coyopa Productions called Fridays on the Farm. It tells a personal story of farming/growing/family-ing on the Red Hill Farm in Aston, PA. Red Hill Farm is a six acre CSA in it's eighth year of production. Run by Catholic nuns, the CSA has a membership of 130 families. The short documentary and a personal essay exploring the experience of writer/director Richard Hoffmann when his young family joined a community-supported farm. Compiled from nearly 20,000 time-lapse photos, the film is visually rich. "Fridays at the Farm" has been on the international film festival circuit for the past year,  won two nice awards, and is part of the Green Series on the Sundance Channel.
Peas blossoms.
  • Background on H.R.875 and New Ideas about H.R. 759
The Food and Water Watch has a quick background on H.R. 875 with comments on what they consider to be a more troublesome bill, H.R.759. This bill contains several provisions that could cause problems for small farms and food processors. If you are not familiar with this site, take a moment to check them out as they keep an eye on many environmental issues.
  • Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?
A recent New York Times article was sent to us from Michael Klug, Hyde Park pick-up host and frequent workshare at the farm (with his sons). You can read the full article, 'Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?' , which details the growth and current status of the organic movement,  comments onTom Vilsack, the new Secretary of Agriculture, and how food policy should fit in to the current administration.
  • Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online:
You can manage your Johnson’s Backyard Garden CSA membership online. At CSA accounts,you can make payments, check schedule pick up times and dates, and renew or change your order. It’s the best way to stay upto date with your individual account. If you experience any difficulties managing you account, please contact Carrie at the farm Monday- Friday before 12:30 pm at 512.386.5273 or email her at farm@jbgorganic.com.

3) Events:

  • Spring Speaker Series
Varying times on select days through May 30. Check Web site for schedule. 10 a.m. today: Mixing It Up With Dave: Container Patio Gardening at its Best!'With Dave Mix, Pacific Home and Garden. Free. The Great Outdoors Garden Center Nursery, 2730 S. Congress Avenue. www.gonursery.com
  • Permaculture Design Course
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. select weekend days until today. Check www.permie.us for schedule. TreeFolks, 10803 Platt Lane. $500 whole course; $60 each day. 619-5363.
  • Ten-Minute Gardener Series
4 p.m. Tuesday. Earth-kind and water-wise landscaping. Bastrop 1832 Farmers Market, 1302 Chestnut St., in the Market Building at the back of the lot, Bastrop. Free. www.bastrop1832farmersmarket.org.
  • Permaculture Winter 2009 Series
7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, through April 8. Permaculture talks and videos about sustainability. Habitat Suites, 500 E. Highland Mall Drive. Free. 619-5363. www.permie.us.
  • Trowel and Error
Mayfield Park Gardening Symposium. 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 4. Mayfield Park, 3505 W. 35th St. Free; $5 donation requested. www.mayfieldpark.org.

  • Austin Organic Gardeners:
The Austin Organic Gardeners meet the second Monday  of every month at Zilker Botanical Garden. www.austinorganicgardeners.org Meetings start at 7 p.m.
  • Travis County Master Gardeners Association:
The Travis County Master Gardeners Association holds it’s monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month. www.tcmastergardeners.org Meetings starts at 7 p.m.

4) Quotable Food:

What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease.~George Dennison Prentice

5) Recipes:

  • The Locavore's Dilemma: Theresa Downer sent in a link earlier this week to slate.com. She recommended reading 'The Locavore's Dilemma: What to do with the kale, turnips and parsley that overwhelm your CSA bin.' OK, so it's not exactly a receipe but it is good reading about how to deal with your overflow of veggies each week.
  • Spinach Pie:
    • By Peggy Trowbridge Filippone, About.com
This savory spinach pie gets richness from cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, and eggs. You may substitute 1 pound of thawed frozen spinach for the fresh, but be sure to squeeze out all the water. Like quiche, the pie may be served warm or at room temperature. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes 1 teaspoon butter 1/4 cup diced sweet onion 1-1/2 pounds fresh spinach, large stems removed and coarsely chopped 1 (8 ounces) package cream cheese, at room temperature 3/4 cup milk 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 4 eggs 8 ounces (2 cups) grated Cheddar cheese, divided use 1 unbaked prepared pie shell Gently saute sweet onions in the butter in a large, deep skillet until translucent. Add chopped spinach and stir constantly until spinach has released its water. Remove from heat. Line a colander with cheesecloth and pour in the spinach mixture. Pull up the corners of the cheesecloth, and twist to squeeze out all of the water. Let cool to room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 F. Beat cream cheese with milk, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add eggs, beating until combined. Stir in drained spinach and onions and half (1 cup) of the Cheddar cheese. Pour into prepared pie shell and bake for 25 minutes. Remove spinach pie from oven. Sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese evenly over the top. Return to the oven and bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese melts. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting. This savory pie is good warm or at room temperature. Yield: 6 to 8 slices
6) Produce Storage Tips:

We aim to grow and package our vegetables to maintain the highest taste and nutritional quality possible. However, once they’ve left the farm it’s up to you to keep them fresh and nutritious. There’s no refrigeration at the CSA drop points so it’s best to pick up your box as early as possible. Here are some additional tips on how to store this week’s share:

Spinach, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Salad Greens, Bok Choy, Braising Mix and Cooking Greens will stay fresh in the crisper for 4-7 days and should be kept in plastic bags. Any bunch greens can be freshened by cutting an inch of the bottom stalks and soaking the entire bunch in cold water for 10 minutes. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few hours to revive.

Broccoli will last 4-7 days in plastic bags in the crisper.

Oranges and Grapefruit are best kept at room temperature of 60-70 degrees and used within two weeks. Do not store in plastic bags.

Parsley and Cilantro are best with bottoms of stems trimmed, placed upright in a jar of water in the fridge. Basil can be stored upright in a jar of water at room temperature, or in an open bag on the counter. These three all do well frozen also (they will loose texture but not taste).

Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your guide for how to can, freeze, dry, pickle or ferment just about anything.

Ladybugs have found the sunchokes and will assist us with any aphids that decide to take lunch here.

7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info:

Johnson’s Backyard Garden 9515 Hergotz Lane, Box E Austin, TX 78742

Office Phone: 512.386.5273 Office Hours: M-F 8am to 12:30pm

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com website: www.jbgorganic.com

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VIEWS FROM THE FARM

03/24/09 — Aaron

Dylan unloads a pick up truck load of organic grapefruit.

Table of Contents 1) In Your Box this Week

2) Farm News

  • Dai Due Dinner at the Farm. Mark your Calendar!
  • Open House/ Potluck. Mark your Calendar Again!
  • At the Farm this Week
  • The New White House Veggie Garden
  • The 'Food Saftey Modernization' Act
  • Don't Forget we have New Delivery Times at Your Pick Up Site
  • Architecture for Tomatoes
  • Heirloom Tomatoes are Selling Quick
  • Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online
3) Events
  • Gardening for Wildlife Seminar
  • 52nd Annual Zilker Garden Festival
  • Austin Organic Gardeners
  • Travis County Master Gardeners Association

4) Quotable Food

5) Recipes
  • Provençal Greens Soup

6) Vegetable Storage Tips 7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Information

Please send newsletter feedback, suggestions and contributions to farm@jbgorganic.com

We’re on Facebook! We’re also on MySpace, be our friend!

The fence line separating the office field and the orchard.

1) In Your Box this Week: Broccoli Florets Spinach Kale Radish Arugula Pac Choi Green Garlic Lettuce Just a few Fennel Baby Chard Beets Strawberries Oranges Grapefruit Coming soon: Turnips

    This list is subject to change depending on availability and quality of crops on harvest day.  You’ll find the most accurate packing list on the homepage of our website.

2) Farm News

  • Dai Due Dinner at the Farm. Mark your Calendars!
Johnson's Backyard Garden will be hosting a dinner in the orchard.  Jesse Griffiths, from Dai Due Supper Club, will be the chef. April 5th has been scheduled for an excellent meal in the pecan orchard. The dinner will focus on spring vegetables, pastured meats and local dairy. It will be family style, about four courses and live music. The dinner will start around 3pm and will serve about 50 people. Please check Dai Due's website today to register as this event will sell out.
Jesse Griffiths, from Dai Due Supper Club, will be preparing a fantastic meal for us.
  • Open House/ Potluck. Mark your Calendar Again!
We have picked a date for the special occasion, please joins us at the farm on Sunday April 19th from 4pm til dark. We will provide music and entertainment. Bring a dish to share, your own place settings and all the friends and family you can think of. Bring a chair or a blanket, and BYOB. You do not need to be a CSA member to attend, this is an event for everyone (except your canine friends, please leave them at home). So mark your calenders and peruse your favorite recipes in preparation for this annual event. We’ll meet in the orchard and have a walking tour of the farm with other local foodies.
  • At the Farm this Week
We've had another busy transplanting week: tomatoes, basil, eggplant, sweet peppers, cucumbers, melons and more lettuces. The green house has emptied a bit as most of our plants are moving to the fields at this time of the year. Will also direct seeded green beans, which we grow in two rows per bed. Never one to waste resources, he decided to plant garlic down the center of the bean rows to utilize space and add to our pest and soil management. Here's how it works. The beans replenish nitrogen in the soil, which makes surrounding plants grow better; just one type of Mother Nature's natural fertilizers. Beans will also help protect nearby eggplants from the dreaded Colorado potato beetle.  The green garlic repels aphids, controls rust flies and some nematodes, and protects tomatoes against red spiders. Green garlic will be harvested in just a few weeks as part of your CSA box. This will not allow the garlic, a member of the Allium family, to interfere with the development of the beans as they near maturity about 5 to 6 weeks later.
Our little fig tree, planted at the residential driveway, is leafing out with it's beautiful wavy greenery.
  • The New White House Veggie Garden:
A great public outcry for personal food awareness can be seen in the entertaining short called  This Lawn is your Lawn. Well, it looks like your letter writing and phone campaigns have worked (Thanks !).  In  case you haven't heard the news, the public debate has won over the Obama  household. The White House landscapers are installing an ORGANIC vegetable garden on the White House Grounds  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/20/Spring-Gardening/
Citizen request for a White House garden has helped spotlight a timely political discussion. This particular organic garden draws attention to the  current 'Food Safety Bill' which would support big chemical companies and huge industrial farms. Yet the First Family has made a public stand for locally grown organic food; to feed themselves, their guests and make donations to a local food bank. We hope this helps send a message to the folks at Monsanto, ADM, etc. who are backing the 'Food Safety Bill'.
  • The 'Food Safety Modernization' Act:
Here is more conversation regarding the 'Food Safety' bill that is currently before congress. Beth Johnson (our farming cohort) received some email comments that look at the other side of the proposed bill. The following email texts are a letter from Katy Ziegler Thomas,Vice President of Government Relations, National Farmers Union and Dan Nagengast of the Kansas Rural Center, whose websites have been included for further reading. The email comments reflect their understanding and knowledge of the current bill before Congress.
The uproar caused by this bill is pretty remarkable. Donn Teske of Kansas Farmers Union had their D.C. office contact Rep. DeLauro's staff directly. Donn said to feel free to share what they found. It will reassure at least some of the small farm community. Slightly larger regional or wholesaling farms may have more to worry about. Many of you have contacted NFU_DC regarding H.R 875/the Food Safety Modernization Act, introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). The internet rumor mill has been burning up regarding DeLauro's legislation and her intent. Some have suggested she is aiming to ban backyard gardens, organic production, farmers markets, etc. Rest assured this is not the intent or focus. I met w/DeLauro's staff last Thursday regarding their intent with language, specifically Sect. 206 and to get a response regarding the internet rumor mill. As I expected, DeLauro has no intention of causing harm/hardship to small-independent family farmers, backyard gardeners, organic producers or farmers markets. They did acknowledge the language is ambiguous in areas and could have been better articulated/defined with input from their farming-friends. Specifically, under Sect. 206 they intended to include large-scale production operations that ship production nationwide, not the producer with limited acres who sells at the local farmers market or CSA, etc. I encouraged them to include an exemption within Sect 206 to clarify exactly who they are aiming to go after. USDA's definition of "small farms" is any farm with less than $250,000 gross receipts annually on which day-to-day labor and management are provided by the farmer and/or farm family that owns the production or leases the productive assets. They are exploring this suggestion. The legislation only addresses/impacts FDA jurisdiction, meaning there would be no impact on livestock production - which is under USDA jurisdiction. References in the legislative text to "animals; ranches" etc., are used for legislative text continuity purposes. The bill has been referred to Energy & Commerce, former E&C chairman John Dingell already has a drafted food safety bill. Dingell's bill will be the starting point for E&C, with DeLauro focused on getting a few pieces of her language into Dingell's language. NFU has not endorsed or opposed HR. 875 or any other food safety legislation at this point. Attached is NFU's policy on food safety - which calls for a single food agency and mandatory recall authority. I anticipate food safety legislation to be debated extensively in Congress this year - with all current forms of language to change significantly before completed. I'm not certain where or how the rumors about DeLauro's efforts began, but she is a friend of independent small family farmers, not a foe. If there are legitimate concerns with her language the staff is open to suggestion/improvements. If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to let me know.
  • Don't Forget we have New Delivery Times at Your Pick Up Site:
WEDNESDAY PICK UP The Farm Pickup - 9515 Hergotz Lane, Austin - 2:00-7:00pm Tarrytown Pickup - West 10th Street, Austin - 4:00-7:00pm Cedar Park Pickup - Hunter Ace Way, Austin - 3:00-7:00pm Northwest Austin Pickup - Running Rope, Austin - 3:30-7:00pm Round Rock Pickup - Sam Bass Rd, Round Rock - 2:00-6:00pm SATURDAY PICK UP The Farm Pickup - 9515 Hergotz Lane, Austin - 1:30-7:00pm Downtown/Eastside Pickup - Willow St, Austin - 1:30-7:00pm Hyde Park Pickup - Avenue H, Austin - 2:00-7:00pm South Central Pickup - Treadwell St, Austin - 2:30-7:00pm South Austin Pickup - Rocky Ford Drive, Austin - 3:00-7:00p
  • Architecture for Tomatoes:
Tomato stakes run single file along each tomato bed. Look closely and you can see the orchard has been the construction site for all the tomato cages we will use this season. Thanks to all the workshares who helped in the wire fence wrangling. This little tomato has plans to fill the tomato cage in just a few short weeks.
  • Heirloom Tomatoes are Selling Quick:
Our tomato starts have been selling quickly, however, it's not too late to get your own organic heirloom tomato plants. If you’re interested in growing some of the most beautiful and flavorful tomatoes in your own backyard garden, check out our web site to place your order and we will deliver the starts to your weekly drop off sites for the next couple of weeks. Â  All transplants are seeded to 1? plugs and cost $1.00 each for Johnson's Backyard Garden CSA members and $1.75 for the general public. We require a $20.00 minimum order, and this minimum can include any combination of the plants we have available.
Black Krim
Pruden's Purple Rose de Berne
Green Zebra Aunt Ruby's German Green
Cherokee Purple Marianna's Peace Pineapple

  • Log into your JBG CSA Membership Online:
You can manage your Johnson's Backyard Garden CSA membership online. At CSA accounts,you can make payments, check schedule pick up times and dates, and renew or change your order. It's the best way to stay upto date with your individual account. If you experience any difficulties managing you account, please contact Carrie at the farm Monday- Friday before 12:30 pm at 512.386.5273 or email her at farm@jbgorganic.com.
Will reports that the potatoes are growing well and are currently about the size of a golf ball.
Will reports that the potatoes are growing well and are currently about the size of a golf ball.

3) Events:

  • Gardening for Wildlife Seminar:
7 p.m. March 25. Learn how to create a place for wildlife in your backyard and how to get certification as an official wildlife habitat. Zilker Botanical Garden center, 2220 Barton Springs Road. Free. 444-8765.
  • 52nd Annual Zilker Garden Festival:
10 a.m.- 5p.m. Mar 28-29.This family friendly event includes a great variety of musical entertainment, guest speakers, children's activities, more than a hundred vendors of plants, crafts, and unique items. (Admission charge.) Austin Organic Gardeners
  • Austin Organic Gardeners:
The Austin Organic Gardeners meet the second Monday  of every month at Zilker Botanical Garden. www.austinorganicgardeners.org Meetings start at 7 p.m.
  • Travis County Master Gardeners Association:
The Travis County Master Gardeners Association holds it's monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month. www.tcmastergardeners.org Meetings starts at 7 p.m.
Will's plans have changed once again. He will be living in the 'well house' as soon as it is finished. The windows, leaning against the trailor, will be part of the final house.

4) Quotable Food:

  • Bread deals with living things, with giving life, with growth, with the seed, the grain that nurtures. Its not coincidence that we say bread is the staff of life. ~Lionel Poilne

5) Recipes:

CSA member Marian Schwartz sent in a soup recipe this week using arugula and tatsoi to make Martha Rose Shulman's Provencal Greens Soup. Marian says  "it was beyond fabulous.  Thirty minutes from start to finish, too.  With all the yummy greens we're getting these days, it might be a good recipe for the newsletter."

  • Provençal Greens Soup, from Martha Rose Shulman, published in the New York Times.
In France this simple, nutritious soup is made with wild greens that you might forage on an afternoon's walk, such as nettles, watercress and dandelion greens. If you must use one green,  Swiss chard is recommended. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 leeks, cut in half length-wise, sliced, rinsed of dirt and drained on paper towels 4 garlic cloves, sliced 6 cups chopped greens (leaves only), such as Swiss chard, dandelion greens, watercress and beet greens 1 1/2 quarts water Salt, preferably kosher salt, to taste Freshly ground pepper to taste 2 large eggs 4 thick slices country bread, toasted and rubbed with a cut clove of garlic Grated Parmesan for serving (optional) 1. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat, and add the leeks. Cook, stirring, until tender, three to five minutes. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about one minute. Add the greens, and stir until they begin to wilt. Add the water and salt to taste, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the greens are very tender and the broth sweet. Add pepper, and taste and adjust seasoning. 2. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Making sure that the soup is not boiling, whisk a ladle of it into the beaten eggs. Take the soup off the heat, and stir in the tempered eggs. Brush the garlic croutons with olive oil, and place one or two in each bowl. Ladle in the soup, sprinkle on some Parmesan if desired and serve. Yield: Serves four Advance preparation: You can make the soup through step 1 several hours before serving.

The Forsythia hedge at Grit and Stephen's is in full regalia. 6) Produce Storage Tips:

We aim to grow and package our vegetables to maintain the highest taste and nutritional quality possible. However, once they’ve left the farm it’s up to you to keep them fresh and nutritious. There’s no refrigeration at the CSA drop points so it’s best to pick up your box as early as possible. Here are some additional tips on how to store this week’s share:

Spinach, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Salad Greens, Bok Choy, Braising Mix and Cooking Greens will stay fresh in the crisper for 4-7 days and should be kept in plastic bags. Any bunch greens can be freshened by cutting an inch of the bottom stalks and soaking the entire bunch in cold water for 10 minutes. Place in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few hours to revive.

Broccoli will last 4-7 days in plastic bags in the crisper.

Oranges and Grapefruit are best kept at room temperature of 60-70 degrees and used within two weeks. Do not store in plastic bags.

Parsley and Cilantro are best with bottoms of stems trimmed, placed upright in a jar of water in the fridge. Basil can be stored upright in a jar of water at room temperature, or in an open bag on the counter. These three all do well frozen also (they will loose texture but not taste).

Checkout our storage tips on our website for a more complete guide, and of course, feel free to contact us with any questions. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your guide for how to can, freeze, dry, pickle or ferment just about anything.

Prickly poppies bloom along the field edges inviting bees, lady bugs and beneficial wasps back to the farm.

7) Johnson’s Backyard Garden Contact Info:

Johnson’s Backyard Garden 9515 Hergotz Lane, Box E Austin, TX 78742

Office Phone: 512.386.5273 Office Hours: M-F 8am to 12:30pm

e-mail: farm@jbgorganic.com website: www.jbgorganic.com

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