Hey guys!

JBG Head Farmer, Brenton Johnson, here with an update on this year’s tomato crop and bulk sale. We just started picking tomatoes, on Saturday, May 25th to be specific. Maybe some of you were lucky enough to taste the first tomatoes of the season at the farmer's market last weekend. Delicious, right? It looks like we're gonna have an awesome crop this year... the plants look great.

Tomato bounty. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Now for the bittersweet news... we only had time to plant one succession of tomatoes this spring, so we're only expecting to have them for the month of June. Unfortunately, since we didn’t plant as many tomatoes this spring, I don’t think that we will have a tomato U-Pick this year. The first big harvest is just around the corner, starting during the 1st week of June. So, if you want to enjoy some of our certified organic, delicious, mouthwatering, farm fresh, red juicy tomatoes this year, please order now! It's definitely going to be a short season!

Tomatoes shaping up beautifully this year. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Choose between large homegrown tomatoes, mixed cherry tomatoes, San Marzano sauce tomatoes, or green tomatoes. You can have them included with your CSA delivery home delivery or choose your favorite farmer's market for pick-up.

Tomato gradient. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Happy Summer,

Brenton Johnson

Photos and piece by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

Priya Krishna’s recipe for spinach and feta cooked like saag paneer has taken my favorite Indian dish to new heights. The beauty of this recipe, made first by Priya’s mom, Ritu, on a trip to Greece in the 90’s, isn’t just that tangy, salty feta replacing paneer for a much more complex banter between spinach and cheese. Nope. It’s all that and the bold blend of coriander toasted in ghee or olive oil with ginger, garlic, green chile, and loads of spinach, then blended with lime juice and cilantro.

But it doesn’t stop there!

This dish is finished with whole cumin seeds, dried red chile, and asafetida toasted in ghee or olive oil, one version of chhonk (or tadka, vagar, or oggarane, depending on what part of India we’re talking about). It is worth it to try this recipe and make the chhonk as written with whole cumin and asafetida, because the seeds add a pleasant crunch and the asafetida exponentially enhances the flavor of everything it’s cooked with. But, if you don’t have those two ingredients on hand and or the time to drive to Anand Bazaar to buy them, powdered cumin will work in a pinch and not having asafetida isn’t a deal breaker.



The spices and the feta do a nice job of balancing the bitter flavor that sometimes comes from heartier greens, so swapping out some or all of the spinach for kale, collards or swiss chard is an excellent way to use up the greens in your CSA.

I had the great honor of being hired to photograph Priya’s new book, “Indian-ish, Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family” last year, and have thoroughly enjoyed cooking from the book ever since. My knowledge of how to cook Indian food is so much greater now, as is my understanding of what it means to be an American. Make Priya's recipe for spinach and feta cooked like saag paneer with the bounty from your CSA and you'll get what I am saying.

Recipe from Indian-ish, Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family



Serves 4

• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 green cardamom pods, or ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (freshly ground is best)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced into ½-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound fresh baby spinach (10 to 12 cups)
• ½ tablespoon fresh lime juice (from about a quarter of a lime), plus more if needed
• 1 small Indian green chile or serrano chile, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 ounces feta cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes (a little over ½ cup)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafetida (optional, but really great)
• ¼ teaspoon red chile powder

In a large pan over medium heat, warm ¼ cup of the ghee (or oil). Once the ghee has melted (or the oil begins to shimmer), add the coriander and cardamom and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until the seeds start to brown. Add the onion and cook until it is translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the spinach and cook until it is just wilted, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the lime juice, green chile, and salt. Let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend into a chunky paste. Return the spinach mixture to the same pan and set it over low heat. Stir in ½ cup water, then gently fold in the feta, being careful not to break up the cubes. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes more to soften the feta slightly and allow it to soak up some of the spinach sauce.



While the feta cooks, in a small pan or butter warmer over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons ghee (or oil) for 1 minute. Add the cumin seeds. As soon as (emphasis on as soon as—you don’t want your cumin to burn!) the cumin seeds start to sputter and brown, about 1 minute max, remove the pan from the heat. Immediately add the asafetida (if using) and red chile powder.

Pour all of the ghee (or oil) mixture into the spinach and feta once that is done cooking.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 27th

Summertime is right around the corner (as the humid and higher temps this week might have hinted) meaning our favorite summertime crop is soon to be at peak harvest! That’s right, tomatoes, we’re lookin’ at you. We’ve already harvested some gorgeous green tomatoes, but there will soon be a cornucopia of multi-colored ‘maters that scream summer at your local market!

Tomato gradients. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Want to ensure your portion of the tomato harvest? With a cooler spring that has been very kind to our burgeoning tomato crop, you won’t want to miss a piece of this better than ever harvest. For a very limited time, we're having a BULK TOMATO PRE-SALE. Pre-order 20 lbs. of our mouth-watering beef steak slicing tomatoes, and we'll deliver them to a farmers' market of your choice during the peak of our tomato season. Projected delivery dates are either the end of June or early July! We will contact you to schedule your pickup day as peak harvest approaches. Order now, and reserve your portion of our tomato harvest! We will deliver the tomato bounty to your local market (see the list of markets here).

Rows and rows of 'maters. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Why all the pre-sale hype? Every time we walk by our rows of tomatoes, our mouths start watering at the thought of farm-fresh BLTs, bright tomato sauces, tomato martini (anyone?!) and perhaps our favorite way to enjoy a homegrown tomato - sliced thick with salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil. We want to share this seasonal 'mater mania with you.

Simple and gorgeous tomatoes. Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley.

Pre-order your 'maters now! We promise they're just like the ones your mamma grew! (Or daddy, or grandpaw, or Uncle Bob...)

Tomato U-Pick bounty. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Peppers shaping up. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Things are heating up, and a plethora of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and okra are on the way to market soon! We are hiring an amalgam of positions at the farm, so if you or a friend love vegetables and sunshine, check out our job listings here!

Bell peppers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Shishitos!! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Okra bloom. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Carrot harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting carrots. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Rows of tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes shaping up! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Gorgeous tomato colors. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Show-stopping red of the tomatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Author: The Migoni Kitchen / Servings: 2 people / Total Time: 30 minutes (cook time) plus 30 minutes-1 hour marinating time

These sesame and ginger tofu soba noodle bowls come together in under 30 minutes and make for a great healthy weeknight dinner or quick lunch! The perfect way to use up some carrots, herbs, green onions, and those cucumbers we’ll be getting our CSA Boxes here pretty soon! If you prefer to have meat with your bowl over tofu, this dish can be easily adapted for chicken or beef as well.

Ingredients

Sesame Ginger Tofu

• 12 ounces Extra-firm Tofu Drained and cut into cubes
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 Teaspoon Ginger Grated
• 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
• 1/4 Cup Cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil

Soba Noodle Bowl:

• 6 Ounces Soba Noodles About 2 individual portions
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 1.5 Tablespoons Mirin
• 1.5 Tablespoons Sambal Oelek or other chili paste
• 1 Medium Cucumber Sliced thinly
• 2 Medium Carrots Sliced thinly
• 1 Bunch Green Onions Diced
• 2 Tablespoons Cilantro Chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Peanuts Chopped or crushed

Instructions

Sesame Ginger Tofu

Combine the ingredients for the tofu marinade in a large bowl or zip lock and mix well to combine.

Add your diced tofu and marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Remove the tofu from the marinade and pat dry.

Toss in cornstarch, tapping off any excess.

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Sear tofu on each side until slightly golden brown.

Remove and set aside while you prep the remaining ingredients.

Soba Noodle Bowls

Cook soba noodles according to package instructions, usually boil about 3-5 minutes then immediately drain under cold water.

While the soba noodles are cooking, mix together the ingredients for the dressing (soy sauce, mirin, Sambal Oelek, and sesame oil.

Top the soba noodles with your seared tofu, sliced cucumbers, and carrots. Add green onions, cilantro, and peanuts for garnish before drizzling with the dressing.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 20th