CSA Box Contents Week of Sept 24th

Ever made it out to our farm? If your answer is a resounding no, you're in luck! Our Fall Open House is just around the corner. As the temperatures cool, we always like to invite the community out to experience the magic of our River Road farm, laden with greener fall crops. Throw those sweaters on and bring the whole family to enjoy some farm-tastic exploration on Saturday, October 27th. Starting from 4:30 and running until dark, you'll find that our 200-acre farm haven sidled up alongside the Colorado River is only a quick 25 minutes away from downtown Austin, yet feels worlds away with its ample quiet and vast spaces.

Enjoying a fall open house farm tour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tractor fun times. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Bring your family and friends, a picnic and a couple of cold ones, and join us! JBG staff will be on site giving farm tours. This year's farm tour will include a tour of Farmshare Austin, a neighboring nonprofit that teaches folks to farm, increases food access, and preserves farmland. Additionally, there will be numerous tractors and a mammoth sand-pile for the young (or young at heart) to conquer. Our friends at Tiny Tails to You will be on site with some critters, and we'll have some spooky art projects, too. Want to get a little exercise? Forego the tractor-tour, and peruse our fields with a self-guided walking tour instead. Get those steps in! Rather get your zen on? We will be hosting a yoga class for those who are more keen to stretch and breathe in that fresh air. If picnics aren't your cup of tea, the Ginger Armadillo food truck will be around to satiate grumblin' tummies with the most delectable fare.

Picnics. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sand pile good times. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Amidst rows of lettuce and fields of carrots, we'll set up a small market stand highlighting the season's best. CSA Members: you have the option to pick up your CSA share at the Open House (pick up your veggies straight from where they're grown... we think that's pretty cool!). To reschedule your delivery and pick up at the Open House, shoot us an email (farm@jbgorganic.com). We are still looking for volunteers for this event, too. Email ada@jbgorganic.com if you'd like to lend a hand!

Schedule line up from last year. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Our farm is truly beautiful this time of year, and we can't wait to share it with you. This event is free and open to the public, so bring a friend. Please leave your pups at home! See you at the farm! RSVP here.

Fall open house last year. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Becky leading a tour. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Japanese turnip harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

The ample rainfall this past week really threw a linchpin in plans. We've had to rearrange planting schedules to make things work as planting in the rain is quite difficult. We gratefully welcome the rain and cooler temperatures though! We are hiring for the wholesale crew, and are happily welcoming some new volunteers at the barn. Ever wanted to volunteer or work at the farm? Check out volunteer info here, and job information here. See you at markets this weekend!

Early morning tractor work. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Readying transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Readying transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Readying transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Eggplant blooms. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Eggplant harvest towers. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Preparing beds. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Gettin' meta and preparing beds for fall crops. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Bok choy bunches. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Bok choy harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Dandelion green details. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Japanese turnips freshly harvested. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Colorful CSA line. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Volunteers! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Recipe and Image by Megan Winfrey

This week, I was inspired by fellow blogger Nadia's latest recipe. I made her coconut lemongrass jasmine rice paired with stir fry veggies and the BEST frozen dumplings EVER from Costco. If you're a Costco regular and a fan of dumplings, I highly recommend adding these to your shopping list. They take 2 minutes to steam in the microwave and come with a delicious sweet-soy dipping sauce.

Lemongrass & Ginger Stir-Fry

For the rice, here are Nadia's instructions.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1 cup coconut milk (or ½ cup water and ½ cup coconut cream)
• 1 lemongrass stalk (tough green parts removed, sliced into chunks)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Rinse the rice several times until the water runs clear (this takes me about 3 iterations).

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook on the “white rice” setting. Alternatively, this can be made on the stovetop just as easily – bring it to a boil then turn to low heat and cover with a lid for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let the rice steam further for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork! Remove the lemongrass chunks (or just beware they aren’t pleasant to chew on – so let your guests know).

For the stir-fry:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped carrots
• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbs. minced fresh ginger
• 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp. chili paste with garlic
• 2 tbs. lime juice
• 2 tbs. sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 tsp. soy sauce

Combine chili paste, lime juice, and sugar in a small bowl and mix until the sugar has dissolved.

Heat the sesame oil in a non-stick wok or deep skillet over medium-high until it starts to smoke.

Once the oil is very hot, add the chili paste mixture and stir for about 1 minute.

Add all of the vegetables and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add the stock, coconut milk, and soy sauce and continue cooking over medium-low heat until the vegetables are tender but still crisp. Serve over lemongrass coconut rice.

CSA Box Contents Week of Sept 17th

By: Ada Broussard

Why do we work here?

The hours? For our staff in the fields, they can be brutal. We don’t work at JBG for the hours.  We were not drawn here for the farmer’s salary nor the glamorous conditions. The Texas summers are hot, and on a farm our size, the vast majority of our harvesting is done by hand. Have you been to our office? It’s a trailer. I took a cue from Brenton and call it a “mobile home” when giving directions to a new visitor, who I’m worried may or may not mistakenly arrive in heels. The hole under my chair is patched by an old piece of tin, and we’ve got rocks borrowed from the parking lot in the back of our printer trays to keep tension on the paper. There are piles of ancient Edible Austins, collections of seed catalogs, and old and made-to-look-old posters from farm events adorning our walls. The spiderwebs in the corners are the least of our worries because van 6 broke down on North Lamar and we’re missing a part for the green-bean sorter. There are always vegetables sitting on someone’s desk. Currently, I’ve got the innards of red and green bell peppers sitting next to me (mid-morning snack), and there is a spaghetti squash with sharpie faces drawn all over it on Casey’s desk.

Would I dare to have spent the past four (or five?) years working anywhere else? Hell no. I’ll happily travel east every morning, against the flow of Austin traffic, to the welcoming sound of barking dogs and Jerry Garcia blaring from the barn. The bend in the Colorado River southeast of downtown looks like a Labrador Retriever’s head, and I was delighted after working here for a while when Brenton told me that many folks actually refer to parcel of land, our Hergotz property, as the Doghead. We spend a lot of time at our jobs, often more time with co-workers than we do with our families, and on most days, this has been a delightful Doghead trailer to come home to.

When you work in the office of a farm, vegetables are your job. How we grow, pick, pack, and distribute vegetables are the equations that fill our days. The moments in between, at least at the Hergotz office, are often filled with discussions (and tastings) of what we do with the vegetables we grow, back at home in our kitchens. One eggplant, many recipes: Lucas’s baba ganoush versus Krishna’s Baingan Bharta. How do you eat like a farmer? There are at least as many different answers as there are full time employees here – about 100.

Brenton, Mike Mo and I all hail from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, respectively. I see the biggest similarity in our food traditions. We all know the ins and outs of how to make a succotash, or a casual potato salad, or some pickled squash. We are all well-versed in Southern gas-station delicacies. Brenton grew up eating boiled peanuts from roadside stands, Mike Mo gawked at Koolickles, and a bag of cracklin was my car-ride snack when visiting grandparents 10 minutes west of my hometown. The unprompted, intense, and veracious fried chicken craving is a real force that Mike Mo and I both know, deeply. Are we pregnant? No, we’re just southern. I only buy pasture raised chicken, usually organic, ideally from a farmers’ market, except when I sneak away to Popeye’s… usually about four times a year, always around Mardi Gras or any other bout of homesickness. (Before you judge me, know that I’m not the only one who has an affinity for the occasional Popeye’s run.) 



I hit the jackpot when it comes to family food traditions. My mom prioritized sit-down, home-cooked dinners, every night. As kids, milk or water was our liquid of choice.  On a special occasion, we might be offered “red juice”, and on a very very special occasion, we might even be allowed a can of Coke. Somehow her limited grocery budget always included fresh flowers for the table. She recognized the opportunity for connection and healthy habits that could blossom around the supper table. My love of meals comes from my mom. My love of food and flavor comes from my dad, whose Cajun rice and gravy rivals any grandmaw’s from across Acadiana. (And to be clear, the gravy I’m talking about is different from the white, flour-based gravy that goes with biscuits, and is more of a sauce made from the prized bits leftover after browning a meat of some kind. Sandra seems to know what she’s talking about, if you’re looking for a recipe.)  A very finely chopped holy trinity gets cooked down low(ish) and slow, until it’s an unrecognizable pulp, propelling a savory mouth-experience like no other. Cajun food under our roof included the classics that probably come to mind like gumbo and étouffée , but other, everyday dishes got the same attention to seasoning and the resulting depth of flavor: lima beans and rice, corn maque choux, stuffed mirlitons (often called a choyote squash here in Texas) or a big pot of split pea soup. When my dad cooks these, they are inherently “Cajun” food, and inherently good food, the kind that makes me want to cry.



Mike Mo  and Brenton know a thing or two about Louisiana cooking (Brenton makes a mean red beans and rice!), but they might be prone to throw in some tomatoes to their jambalaya, gumbo, or étouffée. And though I’ve had perfectly fine jambalaya that included tomatoes, such an acidic addition would be considered blasphemy in my traditionally Cajun (versus Creole) house.

Casey is a pescatarian, and while I’m not sure that she’ll ever be able to relish in the first bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo of the season, her plate still overflowith. Casey arrives at Hergotz every morning with a perfectly prepared lunch, always made by her sweet husband, Brian. Whatever is on the menu for the day is packed in the cutest and most ergonomic of containers, almost always with a perfectly portioned nut cup for snacking. While the rest of us occasionally show up to work under prepared, using clipboards for cutting boards and relying our pantry staples of oil, vinegar, and salt to concoct something consumable with whatever vegetable is lying closest, Casey’s lunch is always there, because Brian is steadfast, and if that’s not an expression of love through food, I don’t know what is.

I’m not sure what Andrew eats. Less by design and more by circumstance, he seems to always be intermittently fasting (a diet which seems to be having a moment right now).  Andrew is on his feet, hustling, beginning at about 6:45 every morning. CSA boxes are carefully packed Tuesday-Friday because of his efforts. I think he waits to eat the majority of his calories when he leaves the farm, and though the caretaker in me worries about his energy levels, he’s often the happiest guy in the barn.

Though technically he doesn’t work at Hergotz anymore, I can always count on Matt during tomato season. After the first tomatoes of the season start to arrive in volume, like clockwork, there will be a large stainless bowl of freshly-made salsa in the breakroom… plus a few bags of El Milagro chips. For those that work in the barn, snagging a couple chip-dips is as easy as filling your water bottle. But for us office folks, we have to concoct far more elaborate excuses to be in the breakroom, having a snack attack, in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. Speaking of past employees whose lunchtime habits have left a lasting impression on me – thank you, Nellie, for teaching me the art of the desk-salad (aka, add goat cheese).  Sarah, your miso dressing turns any boring roasted vegetable or grain bowl into an actual meal, balanced with flavor and full of umami. Her recipe, in its original form, is included here for your enjoyment.



And Krishna! Where to begin with his food traditions!? Krishna grew up in Chennai, and cooks like the gracious Indian uncle you never had. If pointedly asked, Krishna will always bring a large tray full of an authentically-Krishna rice dish for lunch. The crowd favorite is his yogurt rice, served with what he calls a “tomato pickle“ and what I would describe as a boldly-spiced tomato paste. His “Yellow Rice” is chocked full of turmeric, toasted mustard seeds and coriander, sometimes cashews, and plenty of peppers – the sweet ones are sautéed, and a few serranos are fried until burnt and crispy. I’m sure I’m forgetting ingredients, but until I say farewell to JBG I’ll never actually need to know how to make this dish, and really just need to perfect how to ask for this dish. No matter what dish Krishna brings in to share, you can always assume that he was up at 5 am that morning, cooking it. If his 80-something year old, spunky, jet-ski operating mom is visiting from India, there’s a good chance she’s up early in the morning helping Krishna with the vegetable prep to feed the farmers she’s never met.

We're all scavengers – seeking out and sharing bounty when it hits. Tracy is our barn manger, and also the leader of these calorie-seeking expeditions. I know I’m not the only person at Hergotz who will occasionally bring extra food to make sure our valiant and gracious leader is fed. Someone made a huge pot of beans last night? Bean and veggie tacos for all. Spoils from weekend farmers' markets often include delicious loafs of bread from Texas French Bread, and when someone is especially unprepared for lunch there's always a jar of mayonnaise in the fridge and (literal) tons of vegetables in the cooler. If you've never had a mayo, cucumber, arugula, pepper, tomato, onion, squash, basil, zucchini sandwich then you're really missing out.



The seasonal pulse of this place can be exhausting and stressful at times, and for the majority of our employees, this job is supremely physical. Lunchtime is a retreat from the sun, and a chance to take a breather. Here at Hergotz, our tiny breakroom and the food shared there is part of the fun of this job, and for me, is one of the reasons why I work here. Or wait, is it the people? They all blend together to me at this point, all well-seasoned. And I’d love to think that this is by design, a part of my comprehensive employee-wellness plan, but really, this is just what happens when you have a bunch of hungry farmers with access to quality ingredients under one barn roof. Cooking food for my family and friends is an expression of love that comes very easily to me. All of this is simply to say that I feel enormously grateful that my love of community, family, and food has found a home within the walls of our Hergotz trailer…..err mobile home.

 

Feral Hog Friday Carnitas

As some of you may know, wild hogs are an intermittent pest at JBG, as well as at many other farms across the state.  So tonight, I’m going to cook up some of this sustainable, healthy, and delicious protein for the Hergotz barn crew. Friday is for feasting.  The gigantic frozen block of mystery-cuts is currently defrosting in my fridge, and by this evening it will be ready for a slow roast in the oven. Thank you Temo and Vicente for the meat.

*This is less of a recipe, and more of a plan of action.

Ingredients:

• About 3 lbs of wild hog, or pork shoulder. Lucky (or unlucky…) for us, this hog has been feasting on organic butternut squash, watermelon, onions and beets.
• A couple of yellow or white onions
• If you have sweet peppers, throw those in too
• Cumin, salt, and oregano
• Either 2 limes or 1 orange

To Serve: HEB or El Milagro Tortillas, Jesse Griffith's Jalapeno-Salsa, some pickled onions, and fresh cilantro. If I’m feeling decadent, maybe some avocados. I’ll have to swing by HEB to grab tomatoes and cilantro, but other than that, this is a pretty homegrown meal.

Plan of attack:

Chop up a couple of onions, and maybe some peppers if you have a plethora, and put them at the bottom of dutch oven. I’ll be using my magnalite. Toss with a scant amount of neutral oil. Cut up your pork into 2 or 3-inch cubes, and season well with salt, cumin, oregano and maybe a bit of cinnamon or chili powder if you’re feeling wild. Nestle this on top of your onions. Squeeze the juice of a couple of limes or one orange on top of your pork and onion nest, and cook, covered, in a 275 degree oven for about 3 or 3 ½ hours, or until fork tender.  Consider removing your llid for the last 45 or so minutes of cooking. *If there isn’t much fat on your cuts of pork, you may need to add a bit of braising liquid to your pot or a quick glug of oil. Basically, you just want to make sure your meat doesn’t burn before its own fat renders.

Gather friends, and eat.

Farm travel. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Save the date for our long-awaited Fall Open House on Saturday, October 27! We're also having another Volunteer Day on Saturday, September 22nd. Email the farm at farm@jbgorganic.com to RSVP!

Lot's of mud and rain at the farm this week but the show must go on! See you at the markets this weekend.

Muddy roads. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Rows of radishes. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Morning harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Making Mizuna bunches. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Mizuna. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Montana's rainy day work. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Summer squash bloom. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Squash bloom with visitor. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Back'er up. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Lemongrass harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Lemongrass close-up. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Poppin' flats. The transplants need a little help to come out of the starter trays(flats). Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cucumber plants in front of squash. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Nice Zucchini. Photo by Scott David Gordon