A very merry 2018 from the JBG farm family to yours! This week we revisit and celebrate 2017 in photographs, and prepare to start the cycle all over again in the New Year. We want to take a brief moment to shower our farm photographer, Scott David Gordon, with all the praise and accolade we have in us! Scott is an unbelievably invaluable asset to our farm - he's out in the fields week after week, rain or shine, to take dazzling photos so that we can share our daily farm-fresh experience with you, our community. Thank you, Scott!

JANUARY:

Sunrise harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

February:

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Citrus. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Transplanting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

March:

Transplant sale. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Rainbow kale. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Transplant shower. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Montana at the helm. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

April:

Foggy harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Garlic galore. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Spring Picnic and Garden Gallop 5k. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Spring Picnic and Garden Gallop 5k. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Spring Picnic and Garden Gallop 5k. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato gradient. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

May:

Tomato fieldwork. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Potato wash. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Zinnia harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Farmers Market fun with the fam. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Meet your Farmer Happy Hour at ABGB. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

June:

Tomato season with the kids. Photo by Casey Wiggins.

Tomato U-Pick. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Farm dog Missoula posing with the 'mater bounty. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Vineyard. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Flower fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomato field. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

July:

Mackenzie, our recipe blogger, during the tomato dinner. Photo by Rick Cortez.

Farm vehicle views. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Pepper time. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tracy and the sunflowers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Melon toss. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

August:

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Okra fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

CTFB donation bags. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Office dawgs. Photo by Ada Broussard.

September:

Transplant team. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Mueller Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Becky aiding in preparing beds. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Montana in the shop. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

CSA boxes going out. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

October:

Jackpot. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Fall Harvest Open House. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Fall Harvest Open House. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

JBG Employee Costume Contest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Ada and Mike Mo celebrating National School Lunch Week at the cool kids' table. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

November:

Market bounty. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Broccoli harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cleaning carrots at Hergotz. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

BTS weekly veggie shoot. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

December:

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Wonky veg face. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Will in the fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Thanks for an amazing year, we can't wait to see what 2018 will bring! Happy New Year!

Recipe and Photos by Mackenzie Smith

Photo by Mackenzie Smith

The first time I made broccoli and cheddar dumplings, it was out of sheer necessity. It was the winter of 2016. My boyfriend, Jason, and I were living in Brooklyn when Jonas struck NYC. Jonas was a blizzard severe enough to shut down the subway for a day or two and Mayor Bloomberg closed the public schools for two days.

Instead of preparing for the storm, I spent the day before Jonas at a happy hour that lasted well into the evening, after all of the shops had closed. I woke up the next day hungry and hungover.

After a glass of alka seltzer and a piece of sourdough fried in olive oil with a healthy helping of hangover shame, I took stock of our fridge: a container of roasted broccoli, almost a whole head of roasted garlic, a few pieces of roasted Jerusalem artichoke, a lemon, a near-empty tub of white miso, a single egg and a full bag of sharp cheddar cheese.

I laid back down, wishing I would have made it to the store before they all closed down for the storm, praying the alka seltzer would kick in soon. Right before I dozed off, I remembered that two packages of dumpling wrappers were stowed away in the back of our freezer.

As the snow fell in giant flakes outside of our window, Jason and I watched The Last Man on Earth and folded dumplings together. We didn’t brave the weather until late that night when our bellies were full of broccoli and cheddar dumplings laced with miso and garlic and the snow was waist-high.

We have lived in Austin for a little over a year now, and have fully embraced the weather here. The 40-degree weather that usually gets up to 50 mid-afternoon is FREEZING and we want to stay in and make dumplings as much as we did when the snow piled on top of the cars parked on our block.

Cauliflower will work just fine in place of broccoli in this recipe, and any cheese could play for cheddar here. A head of roasted garlic isn’t entirely necessary here: if you don’t have one, you could sub in a clove or two of fresh, or a teaspoon or so of garlic powder. I use my kitchen shears to cut my broccoli into tiny pieces. If you don’t have shears, chop them with a knife-- just don’t skip this step. If the broccoli is too big, it will be hard to fold your dumplings without tearing the wrapper. This recipe does not include Jerusalem artichoke because I haven’t seen any in our CSA this year, but they will surely improve the dumpling if you have some to add!

Photo by Mackenzie Smith

Ingredients

• 1 raw egg
• 1 Tablespoon white miso
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• About a head of roasted garlic, skins removed
• 6 ounces (about a cup and a half) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• About 2 cups of roasted broccoli, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium sized baked potato, or half of a large one, skin on (sweet potato or white beans would probably be great here, too!)
• 1 package of dumpling wrappers (I get mine from Hana World in Parmer Lane in Austin)

Whisk the egg with miso and sesame. Stir in cheddar and garlic. Add vegetables and stir until they are evenly coated in the egg and cheese mixture.

If you are storing dumplings for later, freeze them on a single layer in a sheet pan for about 20 minutes before putting them into ziplock bags and back into the freezer.

I like Appetite for China’s method for pan-frying dumplings, but they are also easy to prepare by dropping into boiling water and cooking until the dumplings float to the top of the pan.

Dipping Sauce

Mix together equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar, then add a few tiny drops of sesame oil, a teaspoon or so of chili oil, and top with thinly chopped scallions.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith

CSA Box Contents Week of Dec 25th

The SFC Downtown Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

The end of the year is almost here and the holidays are upon us. We visited the SFC Downtown Farmers Market this past weekend on a rainy day. Our spread of greens right now is vast and varied, come grab a bunch of something green you've never tasted before!

We have been planning for the year ahead nonstop. We are ecstatic to try cultivating all kinds of new vegetable varieties. Get ready to expand your palate.

Carrot bunches. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Chioggia beet beauties. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Visit our market stands to taste different kinds of greens from all over the world! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cleaning up those carrots. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Spinach galore. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Transplantin'. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Up close and green. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Carrot harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Getting romanesco and personal. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Beautiful contrast. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting on a beautiful day. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Turnip for what?! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Grooming off the turnip leaves. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Becky hard at work, crop planning. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Dear Friends and CSA members,

I wanted to take a moment to reflect and express gratitude for another abundant year here at JBG Organic. Now, as the days are the shortest, we are making plans for our next season and taking stock of the last. This year has been one of the most abundant years in the history of our farm! With the exception of a hard frost in the Spring, we have had close to perfect weather all year and fared Harvey with minimal damage to the farm. Ideal weather paired with our incredibly hard working and dedicated staff has resulted in some of our highest yields and best quality vegetables we’ve ever grown.

Of course, none of this would ever be possible without the enduring support and patronage of our CSA members. You are changing our local food system, one CSA purchase at a time. We employ 100 Austinites with fair wages and jobs they believe in, and are creating an Austin in which farm work is a viable and respected job. Your support helps ensure the safekeeping of precious farmland and makes an economic statement that local organic agriculture is important, not only because it is healthy for your family and the environment, but because it tastes great too!



I was especially touched in the wake of hurricane Harvey at the outpouring of care and generosity from our CSA community. With your support we were able to donate over 300 CSA shares to communities in need.

I am incredibly grateful to have the privilege of growing food every day for you and your families. We are immensely optimistic about next year. We have been poring over crop-planning for the year ahead, analyzing mistakes from the past 5 years, and exploring new vegetable varieties. Get excited, we have so many exciting things ahead. Next year I look forward to continuing to cultivate community and a more accessible, healthy and delicious food system in Central Texas. Here's to 2018!

Ada, Brenton, and Krishna. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sincerely, Your Farmer, Brenton

Recipe and Photo by Mackenzie Smith

A good raw beet salad is one of my favorite ways to enjoy such an earthy vegetable. I prefer mine crunchy, zingy with spice and tang, well-rounded by maple syrup and olive oil, and very pretty. This recipe works well with any variety of beet, but I love using JBG’s show-stopping candy canes here, spreading the decorative circles out all over the plate to really let them shine.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith.

Raw Beet Salad with Ginger Lime Dressing

• 3 candy cane beets, very thinly sliced
• Juice of a lime
• A teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
• Salt
• Maple syrup
• Olive oil
• Fresh mint

Photo by Mackenzie Smith.

Squeeze a lime over the freshly grated ginger, and stir together. Pour over the beets, and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Place beet rounds on a plate, then drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Sprinkle with flaky salt if you feel so inclined. Garnish with fresh mint.

Note: The photo above features sliced avocados with Marcus Samuelson’s chermoula sauce. Click here for that recipe.

CSA Box Contents Week of Dec 18th