We've been collecting secrets.... from our CSA Members. And not just any members - those men and women who are true JBG Community Supported Agriculture veterans: folks who have been members of our CSA program for 10+ years. Families who have been opening up, washing, and prepping pounds and pounds of our vegetables for over a decade.  In fact, most of these folks have likely cooked and consumed, sliced and sauted, anywhere from 5,000-10,000 pounds of vegetables. Pretty wild, no?

We know that incorporating seasonal vegetables into your weekly menus isn't always the most intuitive process, but as some of these secrets reveal, it can be done. In fact, as these veterans demonstrate, it's quite possible to seamlessly involve local, organic, and seasonal vegetables into your everyday life in a long-term and meaningful way. If you're new to the CSA, we hope these veterans inspire you. With practice, unpacking, storing, and using up each and every vegetable we send you can be as easy as ordering takeout.

Whether you're new to the CSA, have been around for over a year, or are one of our members who have been around since the Holly Street days, we thank you for your support. We hope that by sharing some of these secrets, you'll feel inspired to think of JBG as your eternal grocery store, there to plant, grow, and care for the food that will fuel you into the future.

Give yourself a pat on the back if you've been a member for some time now. Cooking hundreds of pounds of local vegetables is a commendable feat! Photo by Scott.

Risa G. 

My word of wisdom is utilizing the customization JBG offers. You  just need to set a reminder before the window closes :). Also, don't be afraid of trying new veggies, it's always great to try new recipes. One thing I started doing with herbs is to dry them and store them in a glass jar! They still smell really fresh even after being dried! Also the grapefruits.  Enjoy the sweetest juiciest grapefruits during the season!

Risa is right. Give our customization feature a try. We did this just for you! When you customize, you have the ability to swap out two items from your box with two items from our swap list - which is made up of the crops that are most bountiful in any given week.  If you're unsure of when your customization window is, just shoot Faith an email (farm@jbgorganic.com) and she'll let you know! And yep, grapefruits will be gone before you know it. You can learn more about customization here, or order grapefruit by the 10 lb. bag here. 

Risa's dried herbs. Drying your JBG herbs is a homemade way of season extension. Bravo, Risa! Thank you for the photo!!

 

Marcus and Tracie G. 

I love the weekly emails from the farm and recipes. We have a few pieces of advice:

• Use a recipe app (we use cheftap) to hold on to great recipes to use when you find yourself with an abundance of something
• Have a default easy way to clear out a lot of veggies if needed. Our favorites are roasted root veggies and kale chips.
• Try out the recipes from JBG. We've really liked that those coordinate with the veggies. 

Well geez! Thanks for reading Marcus and Tracie! And yes: look no further the the JBG Recipe Archive. Also, we're pretty intrigued about Cheftap.... or the idea of any recipe app. Great suggestion, y'all!

 

Erin O.

As far as advice goes, I try to prep the veggies in advance to ensure I'll use them all before the next week's box. The ability to customize the contents is key for getting veggies the whole family will enjoy.

What she said. Prep those boxes. Here is a post where we cover some of that, plus tried and true storage tips. 

Jess and Jon K.

One thing I would say is take a look at what's in your box before you pick it up. Customize it! If you have lots of something left from last week and more is coming this week--swap it for something. Do a little planning to fit your veggies into your week. Know what your family likes but don't be scared to try one new thing a week! Roasted turnips have become a favorite around my house! 

Did someone say turnips? 

Turnip gratin. Recipe and photo by Nadia Tamby.

Marian S.

One piece of advice I can give for people trying to figure out how to use their whole box--is to think outside the box.  Use the abundance that you can't find a place for at dinner to replace your go-to dishes that you make as a matter of course. For instance, most of the year, I have to buy lettuce at the store for our evening salad, but many of the box items make excellent salads that are outside my usual playbook. Recently I made a warm cauliflower salad, adding some chopped parsley and a handful of black olives with the vinaigrette. Or in the summer, when we often get a lot of peppers, I'll gently saute them in olive oil with garlic, add about a quarter as many (even canned) tomatoes, and, at the end, parsley or basil. I keep that bowl of scrumptious peppers in the fridge to eat as an extra side dish with, say, broiled chicken, or with eggs, or with white beans, or on bruschetta. They're very versatile and quite addictive--even cold. This is especially good for the peppers we usually get in the box, which can be too delicate to broil or grill.

My only other thought is, if the box is particularly abundant, stay home and eat it!  Fewer restaurants and more home-cooked meals. The two of us get through a medium box nearly every week, with friends over for dinner usually one night a week, but we only eat out on special occasions.

Marian said it all. Here are some other hacks and ideas, like Marian's ingenious bowl of marinated peppers, that will help you use up your veggies throughout the week. And need some more inspiration to stay home and eat? Here are 10 reasons why home cooked meals (with our veggies) are better than a night out. 

Too many vegetables in the fridge? Stay home and eat 'em. Photo by Heydon Hatcher.

Alana M.

Over the years I’ve made lots of greens soup to empty my crisper drawer for a new share box

When in doubt, make a soup. 

This chicken soup recipe on our blog is so versatile. Want to make a winter version? Search the blog for "Isaac's Famous Soup". Recipe and photo by Heydon and Isaac Hatcher.

Mary Ellen B.

My only tip is that once I get the vegetables home they take on new life when I wash them, trim the roots and plop them in a medium mixing bowl-size bowl of fresh water. They become fresher day after day. Oh, and then we store bowls of vegetables in water in the refrigerator of course.

My sister remarked “these greens (kale, lettuce, collards, etc) look fresher than in the grocery store!!!!!” I was so proud.  We are eating at home more than ever, and feel we are really on the right track nutritionally. 

Yes! Mary Ellen has revealed the secret of "refreshing" your greens. More on that here. 

Abby E.

• Use the JBG website. It has tons of recipes and advice for storing and cooking vegetables. 
• Read the weekly blog.
• Only try one new to you vegetable at a time. Don’t give up if you don’t like it the first time. Try a different way to prepare it and give it 3 chances.
• Take advantage of the customization feature. I have a reminder set so I don’t forget.
• If there is a vegetable your family just doesn’t like, pass it on to a friend who does like it.
• Get some friend to join with you. Preparing and talking about food together is so much fun.

Great summary, Abby. We couldn't have said it better ourselves. 

Do you have any CSA secrets? We'd love to know. 

Is purple daikon a new vegetable to you? Follow Abby's advice and give it a try 3 times before hitting that swap button. It just might be your favorite new radish. Photo by Scott.

Recipe and Photo by Isaac Winburne and Heydon Hatcher

We made the first iteration of this salad for a dear friend a couple of weeks ago. She gushed about it, I posted a quick shot of the dish on my Instagram, and I received a deluge of responses inquiring about what exactly this stunning, fractal alien vegetable was. Since working at the farm, I’ve always thought of the Romanesco cauliflower as Mother Earth’s veggie crown jewel. Much like a rare gem, having access to this brassica while it’s thriving is difficult to boot, since most grocery stores don’t consistently carry this spiraling enchantress. Thus, I feel immensely grateful to the farmers at JBG for cultivating and harvesting this specific crop year after year for us, and equally ecstatic when I see it gracing the market stand.

The beauty of it is at times unbelievable; thus, retaining its bewitching shape for a dish is usually of utmost importance at our house. This recipe is simple as can be, focuses on the unbridled taste + look of the Romanesco, and is dazzling as a side to any meal.

Ingredients

• One head of Romanesco cauliflower (leafy bottom removed)
• Two lemons
• Olive oil
• Salt

Recipe

Lightly shave small heads off of Romanesco and into small bite-size chunks. Make sure to retain beautiful fractals.

After you have removed all heads and cut into bite-sized pieces, keep the stalk! Cut the stalk in half, and then into slanted chunks. The stalk is surprisingly sweet and different in texture from the heads.

Add one hefty drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and stir around from bottom. Repeat this step once more. Stirring from the bottom is important -- so as not to ruin the shapes.

Add 16 grinds of salt and the juice of two lemons. Stir thoroughly. Enjoy!

CSA Box Contents Week of Jan 20th

Cabbage is ready to harvest when the center head is very very firm, with the top leaves barely able to be pulled off. Of course, the large outter leaves are edible, too, and those are usually enjoyed by farm staff. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

 

A cabbage patch of Texas proportions. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Do you eat your cauliflower stems? These greats are full of nutrition, and the strong center ribs roast up perfectly and are perfect for dipping. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Greens as far as the eye can see. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Dino kale, getting read for distribution. Kale leaves that are damaged by bugs (a few holes) or are slightly discolored get thrown on the grown in our kale beds. These decompose, returning both organic matter and nutrients back to the soil. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Literal tons of seed potatoes, waiting to be planting. We will also be selling some of these at our Spring Transplant sale (2/29, 3/7, 3/14). Did you mark your calendar? Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Red and green leaf lettuce. Similar tastes, complementary colors. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

All this lettuce gets hardened off on a flatbed before it's transported to the fields for planting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Believe it or not, our greenhouse are starting to fill up with spring crops. It's around the corner! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

1.SUPPORT LOCAL

 

By joining our CSA, you are supporting a locally owned and operated business. Buying local helps our economy as well as supply jobs and support the livelihood of fellow Austinites. Unique local businesses are part of what makes Austin and Texas so special! Have you heard of the term food miles? Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its production to the time it reaches a consumer’s plate. Food miles are one factor to consider when considering the environmental impact of a particular food.  As you can imagine, so many items in your standard grocery store measure food miles in the thousands. When you buy our vegetables, not only are you supporting a local business, but you’re also purchasing food that measures food miles in the tens…. Produce travels from our fields directly to your table, with no grocery store storage warehouses in between. 

Our CSA can augment your regular weekly shopping list, ensuring that you have some of that scrumptious local produce in your diet, too! A little goes a long way. 

Becoming a member of our local community means getting to know your farmer. Whether you pickup at a market or attend our annual events, it's certainly special to know the people growing your food. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

2. GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Farm-fresh vegetables are jam packed with vitamins and minerals that are essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Two and a half cups a day says the FDA? Ain’t no thang with a CSA headed your way. Here at JBG, we use sustainable cropping methods that ensure the health of our soil, and healthy soil means nutritious vegetables. 

In addition to being beautiful (and tasty) this week's kale pesto packs some serious nutritional punch. Photo (and recipe) by Mackenzie Smith. Head to our hope page to find the recipe! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

3. FRESHEST POSSIBLE VEGGIES

Cultivated in East Austin and oftentimes harvested no more than a day or two before reaching your doorstep, these vegetables are at peak nutrition and flavor. Getting a CSA share with JBG means you know exactly where your food is coming from and how it's grown. GMO? Heck no! Our farm is certified organic, and then some.Come out for a volunteer day, see your crops in the field, and ask your farmers about it. 

Veggies, like this chard, go from being living plants with roots in the ground to dinner ingredients in a matter of days. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

4. KNOW YOUR SEASONS

Eating locally connects you to the seasons, to the land, and to your own health and wellness. Cucumbers will cool you down in the summer, while braised collards will warm you up when the temperatures start to drop. Enjoy the best pico de gallo of your life during the short window when cilantro, onions, peppers, and tomatoes all overlap, and we promise you'll never go back to the store-bought stuff again. You'll get acclimated with the seasons on a whole new level, and learn about what naturally grows when and why. 

We can grow carrots throughout a large portion of the year, but if you're paying close attention to the seasons you'll notice that carrots harvested after the first big cold snap are as sweet as candy - carbs have converted to sugar as the plant prepares for a cold winter. Or a simmering stew. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

5. TRY NEW FOODS

With farmers who are constantly chompin’ at the bit to try a new crop, who knows what will show up in your CSA box. From the array of Asian greens to the broad pepper spectrum, keep your mind wide open to a whole new world of vegetables you never even knew existed. Each week one of our trusted CSA members creates a recipe that features the CSA box contents, and we’ve got a wonderfully delicious archive of recipes that will help you eat your way through any season. 

 

Still not convinced? If you join by the end of January, we'll send you a free box. Just enter the code below.

Still looking for some resolutions to kick of 2020? We’re all for self-improvement, but strict diets and rigid goals just don’t do the trick for us. Instead, we’ve compiled a list of resolutions that can and should be fun. Resolutions that aren’t too vague nor too far fetched. Resolve to do one, or all of these, and you’ll likely end up eating healthier and maybe even eating happier. We wish you a healthy and energized start to the year.

Martha Pincoffs is the founder of 30 at Home, a challenge to cook all of your meals, for 30 days. Checkout the link below to read the full story about 30 at Home. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

1. Cook more.

Austin has no lack of delicious eateries, and with so many options for take out and food delivery, it can be tempting to forgo the perfectly good vegetables you have sitting in your fridge and pick something up. Why don’t you resolve to cook more? Maybe you go all in and do the 30 at Home Challenge (we featured this challenge last year - eat all meals at home for 30 days!).  Or maybe you resolve to pack your lunch everyday. (Here is a great guide for that very goal.) Or perhaps, save restaurant meals for the weekend.. Whatever the goal is, make sure it fits with your lifestyle and isn’t too extreme. Cooking more has so many benefits - gain new skills, spend more time at home, and save money.

Getting a CSA box is a great way to ensure you cook more. These veggies aren't going to slice themselves! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

2. Eat more vegetables.

This may seem a little… obvious… coming from your vegetable farmers, but we think it’s a noble goal, nonetheless. Are you a CSA Member? Resolve to use each and every vegetable in your box, and then some. Considering the CSA? It’s an awesome way to get more vegetables into your diet - we grow them, harvest and deliver the veggies… all you need to do is cook them. (Join before the end of the month, and we’ll send you a free box. Code: freshidea2). We hope a resolve to eat more vegetables means eating more local vegetables. Resolve to have at least one vegetable from a local farmer in each and every dish you cook! Checkout the JBG Recipe Archive for some inspiration, scour the internet, or turn to classic recipe websites like food52 , Epicurious  nytimes, and Bon Appetit. Eating more vegetables may mean you eat a little less meat, but instead of focusing on less meat, we encourage you to think about the quality of the meat you consume. Eat meat raised on pasture, ideally coming from a local farm or ranch. There are so many farmers’ markets in town, and most of them offer a wide selection of quality meat (and vegetables). If it’s not the weekend, grocery stores like Wheatsville and Whole Foods, as well as butcher shops like Salt and Time and Dai Due carry Texas products that you can trust.

To incorporate more local ingredients into your cooking, head to a farmers' market. Pictured here is the iconic SFC Downtown Farmers' Market, held each Saturday in Republic Square. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

3. Cook something new.

If you’re like us, you have a mental catalog of dishes you’ve always wanted to try and make. This is the year, nay, the month (!) to tackle at least one of those menu items. Set aside some time on the weekend to tackle a kitchen-project - pickle some stuff, make a giant batch of empanadas (and freeze some for later), or try your hand at gnocchi.  Do you crave a certain dish from a restaurant in town? Try to recreate it at home! If you usually cook with east Asian flavors, consider traveling to the Italian peninsula. Do you have any trips planned for 2020? Take a moment to research the foodways of that place (even if it’s just somewhere else in the U.S.) and let those flavors inspire you. Head to the bookstore or library and flip through some cookbooks… it’s okay to choose a recipe based on the photo. That’s why they’re there.

Do you love Indian food but are intimdated to make it? Find Krishna's easy recipe for Aloo Mutter on the JBG blog by searching "aloo mutter" in the search bar. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

4. Cook something super simple.

Give yourself the freedom to eat something as simple as white rice and sauteed greens, for example. Not only will your digestive system thank you (a break after the holidays!), but committing to eating very simply (at least for some meals) will free up some mental and physical time for other things. Eat leftovers, eat simply, maybe just buy some cheese and crackers, slice up a radish and call it dinner. Food doesn’t have to be complicated!

Using high quality ingredients, like fresh veggies straight from our fields, is the key to cooking simple food, that is delicious. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

5. Invite someone over for dinner.

If you’re not used to hosting or feeding other people, the idea to cook something for someone else can be a little daunting. Will they like it? Will it come out right? Were they expecting something fancier? Though these worries may keep you from doing the deed, don’t let them! Cooking for someone can be super easy. Call it like it is: “Come over for taco Tuesday, and please bring some salsa!” See? That wasn’t too hard. Cooking for someone is a great way to show you care, plus the quality of the time spent together is usually superior than trying to navigate a busy bar line or yell over too-loud music.

Involve your guests in the cooking process - it will lighten your load and also make everyone feel welcome. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Best of luck with these new year’s resolutions. We hope our veggies make their way into some of your meals. Let us know how it goes!