CSA Box Contents Week of June 11th

A quick reminder: Our annual Tomato U-Pick is a favorite event of the summer and is just around the corner! You and your family are invited to our Garfield, Texas tomato fields next Saturday, June 16th to harvest your share of our tomato crop. Rows and rows of juicy red fruit, ripe for the picking. A note on the kiddos: We might be biased, but we really think this is one of the best events out there for your kids, and we really hope you consider bringing the whole family. Get your box now!

Potatoes! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Did you know that the average age of farmers is around 58 and that this figure has been on a steady rise for the past 30 years? Even in Austin, a city where the hunger for local food is as vibrant as a vine-ripened tomato, it is increasingly hard to find folks who want to work at a farm. In the current May/June issue of Edible Austin, Kristi Willis wrote about the shortage of restaurant workers in a piece called "Calling All Cooks". We feel a similar plight, and the title could just as easily have been "Calling All Farmers". Often, we have trouble fulfilling our staffing needs, making it very difficult to harvest the vegetables that many of Austin's farm-to-table restaurants (as well as schools and CSA members) rely on. We are aggressive with our job postings, creative with our promotion of positions, offer competitive pay, health insurance, fresh vegetables, bonus opportunities, incentive programs, cold beer.... and still our job postings often go unanswered.

Last week, we had more potatoes in our field than we have labor to harvest. Specifically, we had over 10,000 lbs of potatoes that lay underground, unable to be harvested because our field crew is that understaffed. Such a debacle is a familiar problem to farms our size. When we planted these potatoes, we didn't account for the severe labor shortage seen across all of Austin for entry-level jobs.

Wonder why we are telling you about this dismal potato plight? Because there is a beautiful silver lining! We are very relieved and happy to announce that with the help of the Central Texas Food Bank, we cobbled together a plan to save these 'taters. Instead of getting plowed back into the soil, the CTFB helped us rescue these Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac potatoes last Friday, June 1st. We sent out an SOS email and the community responded. Volunteers came out in the morning and harvested as many potatoes as possible. The event was a HUGE success. With around 20 volunteers/staff, we harvested 8,690 lbs of potatoes in 4 hours. Can you believe it?

Wonder what's happening with the 'taters? CTFB is doing a couple different things with the potatoes that were harvested. About 10% have already been distributed to a local Austin partner agency of theirs - arguably some of the kitchens that need them most, and two main things will be happening with the rest:

• About half will be reworked into “Stew Bags,” a 10-20 lb bag of assorted produce CTFB distributes. These bags will be distributed to many of their partners throughout Central Texas.
• The other half will be sent on weekly container loads of produce that CTFB sends to Temple and Waco, where they will be split up between several partners of CTFB in those areas.

Check out some of the images from the gleaning day below. Thanks to everyone who came out, and a huge thanks to CTFB for everything you do in our community. Keep Central Texas fed!

Potato gleaning.

The potato gleaning crew.

Working hard, slingin' 'taters.

Look at all the potatoes!

Tomatoes on the vine! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Week 23 has us in a tomato fervor. We are knee deep in these summertime fruits and relishing the beginning of what seems like it will be a long and fruitful (literally) season! Get your bulk orders in ASAP to enjoy some of this summer crop. Heavy winds from the storm on Sunday broke some of our older tomato stakes. Needless to say, this meant we had some repair work to do earlier this week, along with some tomato vine re-tying.

We cannot wait for the annual JBG Tomato U-Pick next Saturday, June 16th. You and your family are invited to our Garfield, Texas tomato fields to harvest your share of our tomato crop. It's from 7:30 until noon. Pre-purchase a box now for $25 or buy a box the day of for $30. This is one of our favorite events, and is absolutely wonderful for kiddos! Bring them along for some awesome memory-making and a tomato-tasting good time.

In other news, we have a boatload of new staff at our packing shed and on the tomato crew. We are excited to have new folks and extra hands to get veggies to the people. This week, we said goodbye to our amazing Market Manager, Lyndsie. We will miss her! However, we are also happy to welcome Devon who will be taking over for her. Welcome to the crew!

Tomatoes on the vine. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes growing! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

The tomato harvest. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Amaranth. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Graffiti eggplant. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Kirby in the fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Sorting 'maters. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Tomatoes ready for market. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Taste the rainbow. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Recipe and Photo by Megan Winfrey

As someone who slices a lot of vegetables, I can't believe I lived nearly 30 years without owning a mandolin. I'd curse myself everytime I made a gratin, crudite, or baked chips- hand throbbing and arm quivering- struggling to cut perfectly thin slices and (obviously) not able to do it consistently. But then, I'd find myself at Target, eyeballing the $30 mandolins (like, why are they so expensive!?) and talk myself out of the purchase.



Needless to say, as the photo speaks for itself, I finally took the plunge and I've gotta say, SO WORTH IT. I can wait to put that bad boy to use this summer on everything from red potatoes to squash and beyond.

Rainbow Chard & Potato Pie

• 2 tbs. butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 5-6 JBG red potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch chard, thick stems removed, rough chopped
• 1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.

Heat the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Spread them out evenly in the bottom of the skillet and remove from the heat.

Arrange potato slices, overlapping, in the bottom of the skillet and up the sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, a third of the chard, and a third of the cheese. Repeat layers until the ingredients are used up, ending with the cheese.

Cover the skillet with a lightly oiled piece of foil and bake for about 1 hour, 15 minutes. The potatoes should easily pierce with a fork.

Gently remove the foil and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Let rest for a few minutes, then slice and serve!

CSA Box Contents Week of Jun 4th

We are doing something a little different this week on the farm blog. We are combining two of our spotlight series, as the couple highlighted meets the requirements of both! This past Tuesday, we had the immense pleasure of interviewing a creative powerhouse couple: Taylor Chambers and Valerie Wolf. If you've ever been enchanted by the nonpareil dining experience at Justine's, then your senses have been unknowingly seduced by the culinary handiwork of Taylor, the Executive Chef behind the scenes. Valerie, his better half, is a gregarious and visionary floral designer who notoriously stuns with her flower creations at weddings and events all year-round in and around town.

On a scorching hot Tuesday, they welcomed us into their bright Eastside home with freshly sliced watermelon in hand. A Townes Van Zandt vinyl spinning, carefully curated flowers throughout, and no shortage of portraits of family and friends tucked into mirrors and placed on shelves, we caught these two on a comfortable and quiet afternoon with their two cats, Chicken & Maggie, and dog, Bruce, milling about. We got the lowdown on chef life, how they deal with their weekly veggies, and favorite recipes & kitchen gadgets. Read the full interview below:

Taylor and Valerie. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

How long have you been a CSA member? Taylor (TC): Two to three years.

When you get your CSA box, what’s your standard plan of action? TC: We bring the box home, pull everything that’s old out of the fridge, and either make stock with the old stuff, or make a big dinner that night and try to use everything up. We just rotate it out.

Valerie (VW): It’s kind of our excuse to clean the fridge. The fresh produce brings a clean vibe to the house, which is really nice.

Who cooks more in the house? TC: Since I’m not here as much, she ends up cooking more often at home than I do. On my days off, I usually cook though.

VW: Yeah, if he’s got a night off, he’ll do the cooking. I offer help, but he’s usually got it under control and I won’t do much. When it’s just me and he’s working, I normally cook veggies and rice, or veggies and beans. That’s my go to. I’m working through the box every night that I’m here. The variety of the veggies keeps my go-to plate interesting.

Taylor and Bruce. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What’s your favorite veggie to prep/cook and what’s your least favorite? VW: I love the carrots. Whenever there are carrots in the box, I’m stoked. Especially the rainbow carrots, because they are so beautiful and add so much color to a plate. Maybe it’s because we get so many of them from time to time, but my least favorite would be beets. I love them, but you have to boil them or something first and then store them. It’s just a bit more of a process. Even with juicing them, that’s a process in and of itself.

TC: Tomatoes. There’s nothing much better than a really ripe tomato. I just ordered the first case of the season for Justine’s this week! My least favorite would be collard greens. They aren’t hard to process or anything, it’s just there’s only a couple ways that you can use collard greens. Artichokes, on the other hand, I love, but hate processing. They just take so much work.

What’s your favorite recipe to cook at home? At Justine’s? TC: I make it here and at Justine’s, too. Kind of going off collard greens again, but you can take a collard green leaf, blanche it, cool it off, stuff it with rice, vegetables, and other things, roll it back up, and pan-fry it. Then you serve it with some kind of sauce. It’s kind of like a dolma. When it's served at Justine’s, it’s more of a rice, ground pork, vegetables, and sausage mix rolled into a collard green.

Salt-roasted beets are really good, too. You take a bunch of beets, cover them in salt, herbs, and throw them in the oven. They get seasoned and infused with all the herbs - you pull them out, cool ‘em off, pull the skin off, and cut them. They get perfectly seasoned. You can put thyme and sage in it, and get that taste… they’re really good in salads.

VW: Like I said before, rice and veggies! I don’t really cook much. Taylor put cookbooks on the shelves so that I can start using actual recipes. So, that’s why he kind of takes over when he’s around.

Bruce staying close with Maggie scoping the situation. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What’s the veggie that stumps you the most when you are cooking? VW: Turnips, for sure.

TC: There are quite a few, but same here. Turnips are good in so many different ways, but kind of like beets, there are only so many ways that you can prepare them and have them be delicious. Beets are so nice because you don’t have to do much to them for them to be good. I guess what stumps me the most is trying to use whatever we get from the farms that you don’t normally eat like carrot tops or fennel fronds. They are half of the veggie that you just got and you don’t want to throw it away. You can pull the leaves off the carrot tops and make pesto with it. The leek tops you can’t do much besides putting it in stock… it tastes like onions. That’s one of the most challenging things about getting farm vegetables. You guys will give us the whole plant and I try and figure out how to use the whole thing, in some shape or form.

Where did you learn to cook? TC: Just working, and working with different people! I’ve been in a kitchen since I was 15 years old. I’ll be 32 in July. I didn’t get really serious until I moved to Austin, though. I would just read books, try recipes, and switch out certain ingredients. I learned a lot from our old chef, Casey, at Justine’s. I just mostly immersed myself and tried to be a sponge over the years.

Chicken. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What did you grow up eating? TC: Beans and rice! My dad made a lot of beans and rice. My mom and dad are both from Alabama, so they both like southern food. We had a lot of southern food. A lot of pot roasts and collard greens… but when they moved to McAllen, where me and my brother were born, they started getting into Mexican food. So we’d have chalupas, tacos, barbecues, and stuff like that. My dad is a pretty big cook.

VW: My mom worked really hard to make sure that we were eating healthy, but at the same time it was more processed stuff. It wasn’t like everything was scratch-made. It was casseroles of things made from canned ingredients. So when I met Taylor, it was all really eye-opening to me that you could make all the things that I had been accustomed to coming out of a can, and that you could know the source of where those ingredients came from.

I would say I’m an expert at snacking. I grew up on a lot of snacks. My mom would pick us up from school and would have a box full of snacks for us, healthy ones, like carrots and smoothies and that kind of stuff.

What is the most difficult part of working with farms and sourcing locally? TC: Honestly, a lot of time, price can be problematic, but that should be overlooked because you’re trying to support your community. The farm is trying to give you a good source of better tasting food than you can get from a large provider that is bringing in produce from warehouses. Another one is availability… you get whatever the farms have. You can’t do anything about that, so you have to read the availability sheet and try and get it as fast as you can. Most of the time JBG doesn’t run out as their list is usually always up to date. However, with smaller farms, it can be a different story. They can sell out of crops really quickly. Regardless, it really isn’t that difficult to work with local farms.

I feel like a lot of places in Austin already work with farms, and maybe everyone should. Most restaurants and chefs that I know, work with some kind of small farm for something. This one girl comes by once a year just to give us dewberries. I will not have seen her for a year, and then she’ll show up with a giant tray of dewberries for sale. That’s really fun, too. To source from the people who are really small and grow a random, small, and specific crop. That’s always a nice surprise when people come in like that.

A shelf in their kitchen. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What’s the best part of working with farms? TC: Just the quality of the product that you get. It’s really good. The carrots that I get from JBG are probably my favorite snack to have all day. They’re way sweeter than anything that I get from larger providers. The texture is great, the color is awesome, and y’all have them for a long time. Simply put, the food tastes better.

Anything you think that readers would be surprised to learn about the day to day in a kitchen? TC: Maybe just the amount of effort that goes into the food that people order. Obviously, depending on where you go, the effort will be different. At Justine’s during our serving shift, there are only four people cooking the entire shift. It’s really small. I don’t think a lot of people take that into account, one: how busy the kitchen can be, and two: how many people are being a part of that process, because they never see it.

Do you have any advice for a home chef trying to cook with more seasonal vegetables? TC: Read cookbooks, and when you find recipes that call for certain vegetables, like if a recipe calls for yellow onions and leeks are in season… use leeks instead. Try replacing an item in a recipe with what you have available. It gives a whole new twist on the recipe. That will help you learn how to use vegetables, and reprogram your brain in a way to think that they can be used in all these different ways.

Taylor and Valerie. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Any quick recipe or technique that you want to share with our readers? TC: I mean, there are so many! Something really easy that you can do with beets, since we’ve been talking about them so much, is boiling beets. When you boil them though, throw in a bunch of herbs, vegetable scrap, ginger, garlic or even some red wine, cool ‘em off, peel ‘em, cut them in half, douse them in some cornstarch, and fry those in a little bit of butter and oil. You get some nice, crispy, flavorful beets.

Disclaimer: be careful when you are frying food at home because you can have an accident. When you fry something, you don’t ever want to go over halfway on your pot, and it’s better to use a pot instead of a pan. If you have a deep cast-iron, put a quarter of an inch of oil in there to fry something. If you want to deep fry something, use an actual sauce pot. Go no more than halfway with the oil, because when you put something in it, all the moisture that’s in it is going to expand really rapidly. It’ll settle down after a while, but if you put too much oil in it, it’s going to expand and you’re going to catch yourself on fire. Things like beets have a lot of moisture in them, so you don’t want to go too crazy with the amount of oil you are using when you fry them.

What item are you most excited about on the Justine’s menu? TC: I just did a celeriac and serrano coleslaw with grilled plum chutney and barbeque-rubbed roasted duck breast. It was my way of doing Texas barbeque but still trying to stay along the French lines. I was really happy with that one. I’m usually really happy with the blackboard that we do at the restaurant. The set menu is really good, everything is fantastic on that, but it’s repetitive... we make it every day. The pork chop is good, and the bolognese is really good. The specials board is where we get to have a little bit of fun, step out of the bistro boundaries, and do a little more creative, seasonal stuff. This is where we can get the weird, seasonal produce and do some cool, creative dishes.

Having a moment with Bruce. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What’s your favorite kitchen gadget? VW: Mine is the immersion blender because it does so much work quickly for you. You just have to make sure everything is soft enough for it to work its magic, but once it is, it just purees anything so easily. Take something like butternut squash, it’s rockhard in the beginning, but once you boil it down and it’s softened up, the immersion blender can turn it into a perfectly blended soup!

TC: Besides my chef knife, maybe the sausage stuffer that we have. Mostly because I just really enjoy making sausages, but it does take a matter of skill… feeling the pressure and how much you need to crank it. There are a bunch of moving parts on it, and it’s satisfying to make a really well-made sausage. I really enjoy using the wood-burning grill, too.

What are you cooking these days at home? TC: When I cook at home, I get to do whatever I want to end up doing. It’s usually along the lines of Texas meets Mexican meets French. Everything I know now is based off of French cooking style and techniques. But, I really enjoy using peppers, spices, vinegars, fire, and smoke. I really do enjoy cooking at home. We don’t have the same luxuries that we have at the restaurant, but it’s still a lot of fun to spend the afternoon working over the grill, listening to music, and being surrounded by loved ones.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Do you have any advice for new CSA members? VW: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. When we first started getting the veggies, I didn’t even know what some of the stuff was. We used to pick up at in.gredients and had to change to pick up at the farmer’s market. The change-up was at first a bummer, but now we know that the farmer’s market setup is so nice! All the veggies are out, and everyone that works at the market is super knowledgeable. You might as well use that resource, especially if you aren’t used to cooking seasonally or not sure how to use a particular veggie. Use the recipe cards that come in the boxes, too! The turnips and beets, I didn’t grow up on that stuff, so when we first got them, I was pretty stumped. Now, I can hold my own… you just have to jump in and figure it out.

TC: You kind of nailed it. Be careful of the size of box you select, too. We bought one that was too big for the two of us. If you don’t figure out how to use it before it all goes bad, you end up wasting a lot of food.

VW: Start smaller than you think you need, and figure out how much you actually use, and then choose the size that best fits your lifestyle. I think it takes a lot of trial and error, and mostly, just don’t get discouraged if you’re two weeks in and didn’t use any of their veggies… it takes some time. It definitely did for us.

Maggie staying cool with beer and watermelon. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What makes the CSA worth it for you guys? TC: It tastes better, in my opinion. A lot of the produce that we get is stuff that you just can’t get at HEB. It’s really nice to have that variety that Valerie mentioned earlier, too. Of course, in certain seasons, like winter, you aren’t growing as many different varieties, but now when you’re getting peppers, tomatoes, and carrots… it’s really awesome.

When you aren’t gushing over your CSA, what do you do? TC: This is a new hot topic, but I’m in an ax-throwing league. Every Tuesday for the next 7 weeks, I’m ax-throwing. I’m going to make it to finals, hopefully. Besides that, I do things around the house and enjoy our time together. I’m the Executive Head Chef at Justine’s - there are many hats under that umbrella. I mostly dream about food, make sure that everyone else can cook it the way I’m dreaming about it, and try to keep the ship afloat.

VW: I am a floral designer. I run my own company called Davy Gray. I mostly do flowers for weddings and events. I’m starting a ceramics class this week out at Laguna Gloria - that should be fun. That’s what I’m going to be doing with my free time!

Valerie's flower genius.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what three things would you bring (water and food excluded)?

VW: Taylor (and all of this three things), ax, and matches.

TC: pocket knife, a compass, and a very large first aid kit.

A huge thanks to Taylor and Valerie for their continued support of the farm, allowing us to feature them, and for being such strong forces of good in our community! ‘Til next time!

We think that our staff is the best in the business (okay, okay, we are a little biased), but the JBG family hails from all over the place and covers the gamut in talents and interests. We love sharing events, adventures, and side projects that inspire and excite our JBG-ers (food-related or not) with the community. Check out the staff-curated list of favorites below!

JBG peeps. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Scott (Staff Photographer) - There is a hilarious and touching play happening this weekend and next at Hyde Park Theatre. It’s called Small Mouth Sounds, written by Bess Wohl and produced and directed by Mark Pickell with Capital T Theatre. One of the actors, Jason Phelps, was just interviewed on my podcast, Austin Art Talk. It’s a great episode. Please check out the play, and listen to the interview here!

Scott & Jason Phelps.

Nate (Delivery Driver) - Been spending most weekends riding my bike and chillin' with my dog Rocko (Texas Heeler)! Some good parks to check out in Austin if you ride or skate: House Park and Mabel Davis Park.

Nate flying on his bike.

Lucas (Delivery Driver) - I just got a new canoe! I love it, and I hope to get a big straw hat soon too. Hoping to check out Snake Island this weekend with some friends.

Lucas' new canoe!

Krishna (Operations Manager) - I recently built raised beds and a trellis with my 2 sons. The soil in my backyard is crushed concrete so raised beds were necessary for growing vegetables. We are growing cherry tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, peas, gourds, and watermelon.

Krishna's backyard garden.

Casey (Customer Service Extraordinaire) - I got married this year and wanted to recommend an amazing wedding photographer to anyone who is currently looking for someone to capture their celebration! Bill McCullough is an Austin based photographer with a very unique, creative style. He uses light and space to create beautiful, surreal photographs rendered in bright, vibrant colors. He also the master at improvising in the moment and capturing funny, odd scenes. His pictures feel like paintings and you can always find something new when you look again. Find more images on his site or his IG.

Casey by Technicolor Weddings.

Andrew (CSA Line Manager) - Nikki and I went to Dallas last month's for the 13th Annual Texas Frightmare Weekend. Lots of good vibes, costumes, and rarer collectibles for the horror fan aficionado. It's a must for any person who's looking for a good time.

One of the costumes at Frightmare weekend. Photo by Nikki Acosta.

Ada (CSA and Marketing Manager) - I'm currently on vacation, but can't miss contributing to my favorite monthly post! Restaurante Chamicos in Tulum. Vacation! Fish! All the people in Tulum who are so nice.

Fish at Restaurante Chamicos.

Mike Mo (Wholesale Manager) - Just finished Homeland in its entirety. I love it so. This season of Billions is worth a watch, too. Also, Heydon Hatcher. She's great and writes this blog.

This is Heydon wearing yellow boots. She's having fun. Photo by Scott David Gordon.