Happy Friday, farm friends! As we dig into the depths of springtime, we are a flurry of activity here at JBG. The farm is always a hive of activity, but there’s something different about spring. It’s such a magical time in Central Texas. Like Brenton mentioned last week, we are doing some much needed rearranging of farm positions. It’s immensely exciting, overdue, and will ameliorate daily operations vastly. If you or a friend are interested in the farm business, hop on over to our jobs listing page and peruse!

Farm News from the TX Capitol

Very exciting news comes from the capitol this week. Thanks to all the lobbying by the Texas Farmers Market, the Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance, and calls/visits from central Texans to their representatives, Senate Bill 932 has been unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives! The Senate bill caps permit fees that local regulators can impose on farmers market vendors and farmers at $100 per year. Less fees translate into vendors and farmers participating in more markets. Mutually benefitting our community as more high-quality, local, organic food will be more readily available. According to Texas Farmers Market, “before this bill passed, many farmers’ market vendors were charged more in health department fees than local McDonald’s!” We are elated for this welcome change.

Lyndsie working the Texas Farmers Market at Mueller. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

TFM + AFS Modified Screening

This coming Tuesday, May 21, Texas Farmers Market and Austin Film Society will be screening the film, Modified. “In the award-winning new documentary MODIFIED, the filmmaker and her  mother embark on a very personal and poignant investigative journey to find out why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not labeled on food products in the United States and Canada, despite being labeled in 64 countries around the world.” There will be a small farmers market and a discussion panel laden with agricultural and local food heavy hitters like: Edwin Marty, Sustainable Food Policy Manager, City of Austin; Ben McConnell, Founder of Bouldin Food Forrest; Liz Mejia, Founder of Green Hen Farm; Alvaro Mejia, Founder of Green Hen Farm; James A. Brown, Founder of Barton Springs Mill; and Kate Payne, Executive Director at Texas Farmers’ Market (Moderator). It is sure to be an extremely enlightening evening. Find more info here.

Stills from the movie, Modified.

CSA Yard Signs!

CSA Members, check out these yard signs! Do you just love your CSA Box and want to unabashedly flaunt it to your neighborhood? Please let us know if you'd like a yard sign, and we'll send one along with your next share. Just email Faith at farm@jbgorganic.com and she'll hook you up!

Yard sign! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Spring Harvest Updates

In other JBG news, we are in the sweet spot of mid-spring harvest. Loads of cool weather crops are still thriving, and some tender summer crops are trickling into markets. CSA members often laud that this time of year is why they joined the CSA in the first place as there is seemingly endless variety and diversity. Get out to markets and relish the diversity this weekend. Cooler weather crops like lettuce and kale won’t be lingering for much longer as the heat arrives. We have cucumbers, more squash, onions still coming in, leeks, and even some cauliflower this weekend! Peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants will be arriving soon! Summer is right around the corner. ‘Til next time, folks!

Recipes and Photos by Megan Winfrey

Last weekend was one of those that you want to stretch on and on and on. 4 of my favorite ladies and I met up at a family ranch out in Doss, just west of Fredericksburg. We enjoyed several leisurely walks through the pastures and along the newly filled creek, lots of goats, 1 friendly horse, late night spades over mezcal cocktails, and of course an abundance of delicious food. I brought along 2 boxes of the most beautiful fresh capellini pasta made that morning by my friend Nick DeCarmine. I met him when he was making fresh pastas for Asti Trattoria, but he's since ventured out solo and started his own company called DeCarmine's Handmade. You are definitely going to want to place an order through his website and follow him on Instagram for daily pasta pics that will make you drool on your phone. Between the fresh pasta, some lemons, eggs, cheese, spices, fresh bread, and a bounty of JBG veggies and herbs, we pulled together two delicious and healthful meals - no cookbooks, no recipes. Not being tethered to a recipe is so freeing - you can riff off your friends, shake it to some tunes, and sip on that cocktail without constantly looking down or worrying about missing a step. It's the kind of cooking that's being taught over at Club Homemade, which y'all have read about in previous JBG blogs. Be sure to check them out and sign up for a class if you haven't already!



As you'll see below, as long as you have the basics on hand like salt, pepper, butter, oil, and citrus - you don't need much else. Those few things will work together to enhance the natural flavors of your organic produce, and that's the best way to enjoy it!

Supper

Chop a few fennel bulbs, a couple small onions, a few cloves of garlic, some green onions, and a handful of parsley. Sauté in a tablespoon or two of butter over low heat until soft and translucent.

Get a big pot of water going over high heat and add a generous amount of salt. Once the water reaches a rolling bubble, turn it down a bit so that it's not violently churning before adding the fresh pasta. She's delicate! Separate the noodles gently with your fingers gently drop it into the pot. Give it a stir, and check its doneness after 45 seconds. If it's not quite there, check it again at a minute, then at a minute and a half until it's al dente. Strain quickly (save some pasta water!) and toss with a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking.

In a big bowl, toss together the cooked pasta, the sautéed veggies, A LOT of parmesan cheese, some generous squeezes of fresh lemon juice, and about 1/2 - 1 cup of pasta water. Gorgeous.

Slice some squash or zucchini into 1/2 inch rounds. Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika (or whatever spices you fancy) and bake in the oven at 350 until tender.

The first of the summer tomatoes have started to emerge, and I couldn't resist! Slice tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and gather some fresh basil from the garden or wherever you can. Make stacks of tomato, basil, mozzarella, then more basil and top with balsamic vinegar if you have it or just humble salt and pepper.

Breakfast

Scramble up about a dozen eggs in a large bowl and add lots of chopped dill, parsley, basil. some salt and pepper. Add a couple pats of butter to a large skillet and heat over medium-low. Once the butter melts, pour in the eggs and stir, cooking slowly, until soft scrambled. Cut off the heat but let the eggs rest in the pan to harden up just a bit more before serving.

Shred a bundle or two of carrots, maybe 10-15, into a bowl. Add a generous amount of fresh lemon juice, chopped dill, a couple dashes of soy sauce and a sprinkle of sugar and a bit of salt. Yum.

Peel and thinly slice a few kohlrabi bulbs. Mandoline recommended. Spread onto a plate and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

Recreate the kale + veggie sauté from supper, add some soy sauce, leave out the pasta. (or not)

Butter and toast some fresh sourdough bread.

Greek yogurt makes everything better. Add it to bites of egg on toast and forkfuls of carrot slaw.

Fresh fruit never hurt anyone!

Coffee/tea/mimosas/micheladas are always recommended.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 13th

Brenton here. I was thinking about my job this week and what I love so much about it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s like driving a race car with the accelerator pedal stuck to the floor. It’s also like playing with the Grateful Dead, total improvisation all day long.

I usually wake up around 5 am, drink a smoothie (usually kale, lime juice, hot peppers, OJ, and cilantro), paired with a big ol’ cup of joe. I drive to work and when I pass the airport, that’s usually when all the ideas gush into my head. Fun fact: I have a google doc entitled “Brenton’s To Do List” and this is where I organize all my thoughts. Boy, is that list LONG. I get to thinkin’ about the day ahead and then the ideas really start flying. I drive way too fast into the farm, causing a flurry of dirt trailing up behind my truck... there’s just so much excitement to start the day and it usually manifests with my pedal to the metal.

Since the new year, I’ve had a revitalized and newfound love of the farm. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve turned into a workaholic again. I’ve been practicing and using my Spanish every day. It’s so fun to learn a new language. We’ve made some big changes on the farm lately. We used to have three CB radio channels at Garfield, but now we just have one. Sometimes it’s a madhouse with all the communication and coordination in two different languages on one channel, but mostly it’s great and exciting. We also used to have three divisions on the farm: field crew, growing crew, and harvest crew. Now, we just have one: the FARM crew. Everyone is helping with everything. The farm crews used to be very separate in their jobs and tasks, and we are shifting to a more centralized group mentality. This makes for workers with all kind of skills.

On that one channel. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

I’m not sure if there are many people who get more use out of a cell phone than me. Quick story: this weekend, I ended up buying 4 kayaks for the kids and myself. I took the kiddos to Town Lake and we had tons of fun testing out the newly purchased boats, but on Sunday I decided to go on a special adventure by myself sans kiddos. I put my boat in at Mopac and 360 and headed down Barton Creek to Sculpture Falls (don’t worry, I had a life jacket). It was awesome. Where am I going with this tangent? My cell phone was totally immersed in water! The creek was raging! If you don’t know me by now, I’m always up for an adventure. But needless to say, the cell phone being nonfunctional was another obstacle to tackle to maintain regular day to day farm operations. I’m on my phone nonstop with people.

Talkin' away. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

I start the farm day by going into the greenhouse office, checking out the harvest schedule, troubleshooting on the internet, and logging in (why are passwords always so hard to remember?). I print out the harvest list, 7 copies, then drive to the lunch barn where the harvest crew managers have gathered promptly at 6:30 to start the harvest. The sun is usually just peaking over the horizon, and what a sight it is. I have been managing the harvest for 3 weeks now and really have hit my stride. I, then, meet the remaining farm crew at 6:45. We all gather for a quick meeting and brainstorm together. This will be the most productive thing we do all day as the farm is totally unpredictable and no day ever repeats itself. We have to adapt on a daily basis due to all kinds of unforeseen events. This weekend, it was a flash flood, next week, who knows?!

Brenton at the computer. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

So, on this specific Tuesday, because of all the rain, I get a call from a manager that says the red and green cabbage, onions, and leeks all need to be harvested! Reasons being: we have to get the onions out before the new bout of rains on Wednesday, cabbage is ripe, and leeks need to be harvested because somebody left it off of the pick list.

Next thing on the agenda is several guys on the farm need technical support repairing some irrigation pipes. We are all working together beating this pipe with a 30 lb hammer, softening blows with a piece of wood. After we get it on there, in order to complete the job, we have to get additional supplies: concrete, posts, etc… all stuff to secure one piece of pipe in place. While I go get those aforementioned supplies, someone else is using the torch to cut posts in pieces. What happens after is kind of technical to explain, but basically picture me (or just look below) in a four-foot hole, covered in mud, pounding posts in the ground. Then I take bags of concrete and put posts through the concrete. I fill the hole with dirt, level with a box blade, etc. If you can believe it, this was all before 8 AM!

Brenton fixing irrigation pipe. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

At the same time as all that nonsense was going on, the transplant crew is transplanting shishito peppers, and I’m making a plan for what they’ll do after that task is done. I went to look at the sweet potatoes and realized that the slips are more than ready to be planted! Luckily, last week we made some extra beds, so we were all prepped to put them in the ground before the rain.

Sweet potato slips. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

I have 5 people that aren’t on the harvest crew. Specifically, these folks are our floaters at the farm. I’m able to use this crew creatively to help tackle whatever comes up that day. They drive tractors, help with irrigation, and really take on anything… they are a versatile bunch.

After the crew finishes shishitos, we start cutting the sweet potato slips. We got the knives really sharp before we started and I demonstrated the technique to Mandy. Fun fact: Mandy is a registered nurse, but wanted to take a break from that stressful work and live the life of a farmer for a while. I'm not sure that she knew what she got herself into! The technique is not quite using a cutting or sawing motion, but more of a big sweep of the arm, kind of like how you would handle a samurai sword. Basically, we cut a bed of sweet potato slips. First, we cut them just below the dirt, and then we line them up and trim the root end until its about 6 inches. This is what gets planted, while the leaves get thrown into the furrows to compost back into the soil. Just as soon as we get everyone situated cutting slips, then I check with the mechanic.

Sweet potato slip cutting. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sweet potato slips. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Slips getting transplanted. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

We have about 8 different vehicle projects going on right now. On the docket are two transmission jobs, welding a new axle, hub assembly to a harvest trailer, replacing a tire on a harvest truck, and the most important and pressing project, fixing the power steering and headlights on one of our delivery vehicles. Just when I arrive at the shop, I get a call from Hergotz, Ada’s mad! She’s wondering where the minivan is, and I reply I’m pushing it out of the shop and am on the way! I speed over to Hergotz in the minivan to get deliveries on the road. I’m not sure what the rest of the day holds, but here are a few things I’m thinking of…

• Go pick up the AC for the new shop office
• Go get a quote from Crawford Electric and Elliot Electric for the new barn at River Road for electrical equipment (Side note: we're so excited about our new barn facilities at Garfield. it's 120 x 180 feet and 40 feet tall. it's going to be huge! To start with: we're going to have 5 separate coolers. Right now the main thing I'm working on is trenching across the main road and installing a giant transformer and a 1000 amp electrical service rack that will provide power for all of the buildings and coolers on the farm.
• The carrots are getting big… I need to modify the carrot harvester and get it functional
• I’m supposed to buy the Hergotz Lane crew pizza today
• Several loads of gravel are coming to the farm today, but I'm not there now. Somehow, I'll have to coordinate where to drop them over the phone.
• The old Dodge harvest truck needs a tire... stop at the tire shop for a used tire.
• I need to work on a new proposal for farmers’ market managers schedules & duties
• Talk to Ada about hiring a bunch of new people for the busy summer season. (Check out some jobs here!).
• When I was in college and worked my first job in the summers, they called me the 'home project king'. This is a little bit of a home project… our mechanic, Tim, needs to help me remove the gas motor from the outboard boat motor that I purchased from craigslist this weekend... so I can install my new 48-volt electric motor to take my sailboat for dinner cruises downtown on Lady Bird Lake. Electric motors are allowed!
• Clean out my truck, so that I can take it to the Nissan dealer for a very difficult repair on the electrical system that's we don't have the time to tackle at the farm.

Phew, what a day! It's tiring, but I couldn't imagine doing another job. I love what I do. What do you have on your to-do list? Do you think you have what it takes to live the farmer life? Check out some of our job listings here.

See ya next time! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Broccoli harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Lots of rain equals tons of mud. Despite the almost daily deluges, we are soldiering on and getting all the summer favorite crops in the ground. Peppers, tomatoes, and squash are progressing perfectly as you'll see below. Summer is almost here!

We're doing a bit of restructuring with some of the office positions here at the farm and have some exciting jobs opening up. Check them out here!

Brenton with a torch. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Lettuce galore. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Harvesting sweet potato slips to transplant. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Cabbage glory. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes makin' progress. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes!! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Pepper season on the way. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Gorgeous summer squash. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Thai basil. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Recipe and Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

• Makes 6 ounces (or three 2-ounce jars)

This week our CSA was full of zucchini and our garden full of fresh herbs, so I blended a batch of zucchini simmered in coconut milk with mint & basil and a hefty shake of cinnamon for our 9-month-old baby. What a hit!

We had already tested each separate ingredient by introducing single ingredients and waiting a day or two to make sure she did not react to any of them after her first try. Soft herbs are a nice way to introduce new flavors and make pureed vegetables taste even better, and they are easy to throw into a puree. If your baby hasn’t tried zucchini yet, it is an easy vegetable to introduce— just simmer or steam in water and puree until smooth.

This time, I made a small batch of this to make sure bebé was into it, and she wolfed it down in record time. Will be doubling or tripling this batch next week — bring on the zucchini, JBG!

• 2 small zucchini, chopped
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 4-5 basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 4-5 mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Chop zucchini and add to saucepan with coconut milk. Simmer on medium for about 2 minutes, then cover the pan and let sit so zucchini continues to cook for about 3 minutes.

Move zucchini to the blender and add herbs and cinnamon and blend. Add a bit of water if you need to. Taste, and add more cinnamon or herbs if you think you should.

CSA Box Contents Week of May 6th