Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Part two of week 35 is captured by Tamir Kalifa using his medium format Hasselblad 500 cm. Tamir proclaims this camera to be his unrivaled favorite for many reasons... texture and quality to name a couple. However, the main reason Tamir maintains such high regard for the Hasselblad is that one has to very specifically and consciously choose one's shot. It's a very meditative, meticulous act and requires all attention.

In the words of Tamir himself, "most of my professional work is done using digital cameras, so I jump at any opportunity to meditate on people, places, and things through the viewfinder of my Hasselblad."

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Karly. Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Antonio. Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Brenton. Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Montana. Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Myrna. Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

Photo by Tamir Kalifa.

A huge thanks to Tamir once again. Follow along on his instagram or check out more work on his website.

There’s something about late August and the back-to-school rush that has us daydreaming of winter greens, the sound of fallen leaves crunching underfoot, Texas football, and quality family time. It’s a time of transition at the farm with summer fruits and cucurbits petering out and fall roots and leafy greens gradually entering the scene.

Back to school and we are back to our more regimented fall agendas. For a lot of us, that means less travel and more home-cooked meals. Even if you don't have children, we know your body is craving the wholesome and nourishing flavors of autumn. Super greens and hearty soups will soon be a welcome replacement to the summertime habits of late night pizza and one-too-many trips to the ice cream shop (just to cool down, we get it!). Even though Texas summers are long, change is in the air... and if you've ever thought about joining the CSA, now is the prime time. By becoming a CSA member, you have no choice but to augment your existing diet with fresh, organic produce, all week long.

Kiddos at the farm. Photo by Casey Wiggins.

We like to think of our CSA program as a tool that ameliorates and simplifies meals during the work week. We've got plenty, but here are the top ten reasons we think that the CSA will make dinnertime the best time:

1. Home-cooked meals = priceless family time.

If you are cooking as a family, quality time with your loved ones is inevitable for better or for worse! Back to school usually also means back to dance, soccer, music lessons, etc, meaning life can get busier quickly, making time to gather around a family meal and connect with your loved ones all the more important especially in this day and age. Make dinner-time a no-screen time, and really soak up that quality face time.

2. Get kids involved in the kitchen!

Home-cooked meals are immensely healthy for your family inside and out. Why don't you start a new tradition this fall? How about integrating the whole family into preparing meals? Cooking with kiddos gets them interested in the ingredients, has them taking on difficult and novel tasks, and they are more likely to taste the final product in the end!

Playing with food. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

3. Nutrition and life skills

Cooking with your family is also a catalyst to start a conversation about health. If you get your children in the kitchen understanding why you use certain ingredients, you can also chat about the benefits of said ingredients as well. This preps kiddos for the future - it sets them up for good habits of cooking and eating that they’ll tap into for the rest of their lives! Additionally, kids need two main things to successfully adjust to a regular school schedule this time of year: good rest and good nutritious food!

4. New veggies mean new adventures

Opening your weekly CSA box is always an exciting experience. If you get your kiddos involved, it’s like embarking on a culinary adventure week after week. Every season brings a new ingredient to learn about.

Veggie exploration! Photo by Casey Wiggins.

5. Meal planning made easy!

Meal prep and meal planning are essential to being able to sustain a cooking regimen. Each week, we'll give you a list of the veggies that you will receive (accompanied by gorgeous photographs from Scott David Gordon). These veggies are an easy source of inspiration to plan any meal, can be incorporated to family-favorites, or can inspire new culinary adventures. There are plenty of nutritious, seasonal, 30-minute meals that will feed a hungry crowd. Want to cook more? Or, want to cook healthier, whole meals for your family? The CSA is a great way to delve into this practice. Not the inspired chef? No worries. Each week on our blog we publish recipes (and priceless tips like how to store certain veggies) catered to that week's offerings.

6. The convenience of delivery

Did we mention we deliver? That's right, we drop off veggies straight to your home or neighborhood. Skip the grocery store, and go straight to the source for your fall menus.

You get to see this shining face every week - Lucas, our delivery driver extraordinaire. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

7. Relish the seasons

If you join now, you can enjoy the joys of dwindling summer crops + emerging fall favorites... think: brassicas galore! With so much diversity in the fields, imagine all the different culinary treats you can create.

8. Picky eaters and food allergies? Don’t fret.

Got picky eaters or food allergies? Did you know you can customize your box? If you're a member, all you need to do is log-in to your account the weekend before your upcoming delivery, click on "My Deliveries," and you'll see your options to swap out veggies you are less keen on for ones you prefer.

Summer color scheme. Photo by Gillian Shewaga.

9. A conversation starter

Use your participation in the CSA as a starting point for talking about things that matter to you as an adult - supporting the local economy, fair treatment of workers, the impact our food has on the environment, etc. When you’re a CSA Member, you’re truly a member of something pretty awesome, and something bigger than you. Bring your kids to our farm events (Open House on October 27th!) and invite them to feel a part of the community, as well.

10. Veggies for a great deal

Because you’re buying straight from the farm, there are no third parties jacking up the price of our produce. You’re truly getting the most produce for your dollar, meaning you have extra cash to spend on other ingredients or maybe an after-dinner trip to Lick.

E. McQueen, relishing her veggie loot. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Check out more information on the CSA here, and check out the sign-up page here. 'Til next time, folks!

 

Recipe and Photo by Megan Winfrey

Finding yourself with an excess of butternut squash is never a bad thing. You can use it in so many diverse ways - just look at the plethora of recipes on this very blog! My new favorite way to fly through butternut squash is... wait for it... to put it in a SMOOTHIE. Yes. It's delicious. And it brings on those fall feels while still cooling you off during these 50+ days of 100-degree weather. While most people are getting excited about pumpkin-spice lattes, I'll be over here with my butternut squash smoothie.



For the squash:

Peel whole butternut squashes, however many you want. Slice them in half, scoop out the seeds, and cut into cubes.

Fill a large pot with about 2 inches of water. In a steaming basket, steam the squash (in batches if you have to) until fork tender.

Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temp, then transfer to a bag or container for freezing.



For the smoothie:

Get creative! Butternut squash has a pretty neutral flavor, so you can mix and match pretty much anything that you'd normally put in your smoothie.

My smoothie went like this:

• 1/4 cup frozen butternut squash
• 1/2 cup frozen mango, strawberry, pineapple mix
• 1 tbs. cinnamon
• 1 tbs. nut butter
• 1 cup green juice
• 1 cup plain kefir yogurt
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• coconut flakes, pistachios, almonds, and craisins for topping

It’s high time for planting here at JBG. We are up before the sun daily, readying for the full schedule ahead. Our peak planting occurs twice a year - now and in February. While we are consumed with planting for the next two months, planting crew will be absolutely integral to farm operations. Currently, we are shorthanded and are in dire need of farm-loving folk to help us out. Interested? Check out this breakdown below for a day in the life.

Working with transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Starting around 15 minutes before daybreak, the planting crew grabs flats of transplants from the greenhouse, puts them on a trailer, and begins the process of loosening the baby plants from the flats together.

Movine the transplants out of the greenhouse. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Loosening the transplants. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Fun farm fact - we have two different kinds of crops grown at the farm: direct seeded and transplants. Direct seeded means the seeds are put directly into the ground (root crops like carrots and beets); whereas, transplants are cultivated in the greenhouse until they reach a certain maturity (crops like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and parsley to name a few).

Loosening the baby crops makes the transplanting process faster and easier when they are on the transplanter. Once all the plants are loosened, the crew heads out to the fields slated for planting that day, and the transplanting begins! The transplanter only holds two people on the back at once, so folks pair up and hop on! The transplanter pokes measured holes in the ground, squirts water into said holes, and the planting crew puts the crops in each hole.

On the transplanter. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

On the transplanter! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Since the dog days of summer are upon us, oftentimes some transplants won’t survive the heat; thus, the planting crew has to revisit the fields and check on the progress. If transplants have perished, they replace them with new transplants manually. If weeds emerge on a freshly planted bed, the crew removes them, too. Despite planting being the main responsibility of the planting crew, these folks are immersed in all aspects of farm production depending on what the day holds. Folks might be asked to clear a field of drip tape before a plower comes through in preparation for a new crop. If it’s a rainy day, planting crew might help in the greenhouse with random tasks or seeding. If Montana needs help direct seeding, the planting crew supports him in that endeavor, too! The diversity of this job is the perfect way to learn a lot about farm production.

Planting manually. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Freshly planted success. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

If this sounds like a blast, visit our jobs page for more details, or email us at jobs@jbgorganic.com. If you already have a job you love, but you still want to come out and get your hands dirty at the farm… check out this letter from our head farmer, Brenton, about an upcoming CSA work day!

Brenton and Roxy in cooler jacket weather. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

If you have been a CSA Member for a long time, or perhaps a market customer, you'll know that there are some serious ebbs and flows to farming in Central Texas. While most farms have their big push in the Spring, for us farmers in the Southern latitudes, fall is an equally busy time. In the late summer, we're in our peak planting season which should set us on track for a bountiful fall harvest.

With Austin's booming economy, finding labor to help us at the farm is an increasingly harder and harder task. We urgently need a big push to get us caught up for the fall, and need your help to do it. Join us for our Community Work Day next Saturday, September 1st from 7:30 am-Noon!

Whether you enjoy our produce at markets, at local restaurants, or have been a long time CSA Member, we would seriously appreciate your helping hands next Saturday. Feel free to bring your friends and family (kids welcome), but please leave the dogs at home. Depending on the turnout, we've got several tasks that we need help with... there is no shortage of work to be done at the farm right now! We're hoping that with your help, the farm will have a bountiful fall harvest.

A huge thank you in advance to those of you who are able to make it. We sincerely appreciate the time and energy you will put into the farm. If you've been a JBG customer for a while but have never been out to the farm, we urge you to come! We think you'll leave with a truer appreciation for the work that goes into producing the veggies you love.

Please reach out to the office if you have any questions.

Sincerely, Brenton Johnson

P.S. Save the date! Our Annual Fall Open House is happening on Saturday, October 27th. We promise we won't make you pull any weeds then.

‘Til next time, farm friends!

Photo by Allison Smoler.

We continue the guest photographer series this week with Allison Smoler picking up the lens. Hailing from a family of artists, artisans, and photographers, Allison is no stranger to the creative realm. Her family inherited her uncle Jim Krantz's Omaha darkroom when she was very young, which cemented her wonder and respect for photography. Working primarily as a photographer for local jewelry designer, Shaesby, she also dabbles in jewelry fabrication herself with her side business, Suelo Jewels. Allison ventured out to the farm at daybreak with her Mark III Canon to document what early morning looks like out at the Garfield farm. We are elated to have her lend her eye for week 34! Check out her fresh take below.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

Photo by Allison Smoler.

A huge thanks to Allison for taking time out of her schedule to document farm life! Check out her Instagram here for epic travel adventures and adorable captures of her Australian Shepherd, Jackson Blue, or here for beautiful jewelry creations! 

Recipe and Photos by Nadia Tamby

Have you been getting some pretty large, beautiful purple radishes? I usually default to roasting any veggies that I don’t have plans for – it extends their life a few days and worst-case, I can always throw roasted veggies in a frittata or puree them for a creamy soup. With the weather still in the 100’s in Austin, I haven’t been using my oven much and soup is out of the question. I have been quickly “refrigerator-pickling” some veggies – it keeps them crunchy and they are great to snack on or add to a cheese platter. I made these very simple so that I could snack on them straight, or could even julienne the radish pickles and put them in a banh-mi sandwich.

Remember that we’re not going through the real “pickling” process, so keep your pickles in the fridge. They should last a couple weeks. Note that these pickles will turn pink as the purple hue in the radish interacts with the acid in the vinegar… they will be beautiful but I recommend slicing some of these to top salads or to eat raw to appreciate their unique pattern and color raw!



Ingredients:

• 2 large purple radishes
• 2 jalapenos, cut into halves or quarters lengthwise, seeded if you want to reduce the heat
• 2 peeled and crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup of each: rice wine vinegar and water

Instructions:

Slice your radishes into desired shape (spears, rounds, half-moons, even julienned or shredded if you specifically plan on using this for banh-mi sandwiches!) and place into glass jars.

Combine all other ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Pour the liquid, garlic and jalapenos (you may have to push them down into the radishes if your jar is crowded) into the jar with the radishes and place the lid on. Let cool then place jar in the fridge. They will be ready to eat the next day, but are even better a few days later. Taste every so often until they are as pickled as you like. Note that you can make more of the pickling liquid (you need enough to at least cover the radishes), just try to keep the ratio of sugar, salt, rice wine vinegar, and water the same. Pickled radishes smell kind of funky… but taste delicious.