July 21st, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

I am so excited to be bringing us the first of our summer sweet peppers.  There are several varieties from Woodland Gardens and they are beautiful colors so I hope you enjoy.  Woodland Gardens also proved us with the cucumber once again.  Your basket has a bunch of leeks from Walker Farms a little further south.  These will always come out of the ground a little sandy when we are getting regular storms.  They can be difficult to keep whole and remove all the dirt from the core.  When I slice them for cooking, I always soak the slices in a bowl of water to remove the excess dirt that gets in the inner layers.  Cooking it whole you can slice it in half lengthwise can help with the cleaning.

I am happy we are still getting carrots this week but Paige at Serenbe said the bed was getting fairly ready to turn.  It’s been fabulous having carrots and the tops for so long!  Enjoy them while you have them.  They are going away as summer crops continue to appear.  The sweet peppers are the newest in the summer line up this week but the okra and eggplant is around the corner.  Serenbe harvested the swiss chard for us this week and I know several of you have missed the cooking greens.  These will be available next week too! Yeah!  I think the lemon basil will go well with it.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Sweet peppers

Swiss chard

Rainbow carrots

European Cucumber

Arugula with roots

Leeks

Lemon basil

Blueberries

This morning started off rough with our vegetable husband van having a flat tire.  I had no way to call the first farm to let them know I was delayed but I just kept working to solve the problem quickly without getting frustrated.  I really believe that our food taste so much better because it has been loved from beginning to your table.  I would not want to bring any hostility to our harvest but car problems and delays can be tough in the heat.  Thanks to some help from a few great people along the way, the tire got patched, I got on the road and my own daddy went to one farm for me as a way to get me back on time.  Team work!  I am so thrilled that no veggies were stranded on the side of the road in July!  Life has a way of working out, and my dad seemed to enjoy seeing the farm.  Have a beautiful week and remember, I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

All the best,
Margie Thorpe

July 14th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

The heat is only relieved by the insane evening storms we are having these days.  With this extreme weather comes some extreme outcome in your food.  Some of you had issues last week with one of your veggies.  I will say that the arugula was not up to its usually standards, and there was a reason.  It was not grown in the same way.  This week I promise you will be thrilled with the young arugula in roots.  Thanks for letting me know.  I value your input, and so do our farmers.  This is a group effort to shift the way we access our food, the way we eat, and the way we spend.  I want you to know that I am working extra hard to find us a green veggie each week.  Greens are not really growing in the hot temperatures, so we depend on the arugula this week grown indoors for us, and a green cabbage from a farm a bit north of us, in North Carolina.

This basket is full of surprises.  Be sure to empty everything out because you each have a nice bulb of garlic in the bottom from Woodland Gardens.  Savor your fingerling potatoes because we have been told this might be the last week of these beautiful treats from Brooks Garcia’s farm.  I will see if there are any out there from another farm before I give up on the goodness of the tatie altogether!

You have the first of our cherry tomatoes this week from Woodland Gardens, and there is a variety of types.  They look great, and I did do a little tasting off the vines when I picked up so I can say they are quite tasty!  Woodland Gardens also shared the lovely cucumbers with us once again.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Green cabbage

Fingerling banana potatoes

Rainbow carrots

Cucumber

Cherry tomatoes

Arugula with roots

Garlic

Blueberries

Thanks for your notes on our facebook site.  I want you to know that the Creative Loafing Best of Atlanta ballots are out, and they have a section that asks for farm-to-table restaurants as well as a fave CSA program.  So fill one out if you have time.  We have added a wonderful recipe this week that uses your carrots, potatoes, garlic, and cabbage, as well as a few recipes for those carrot tops, thanks to one of YOU who shared some tips.  As usual, I am always happy to TALK FOOD!  Have a great week!

All the best,
Margie Thorpe

July 7th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

First of all, this Saturday is my birthday and I have to tell you how happy I am to look back on this year and look to the future of next year WITH YOU and all of our farmers!  I may not have much that the bank can count but I have such a rich life and I cherish our community of folks that care.  Thanks for trusting me to do such an important job for all of us!  I hope you had a great holiday last weekend - I will have another one this weekend.

The tomatoes are starting to really come in and we have a variety of heirloom slicers this week.  These tomatoes are from Serenbe Farms.  They also harvested the first eggplant of the season for us today.  Let me know what you think.  There are several recipes on the website to help you with preparing eggplant, but I will certainly add more as the summer continues.  This week’s new recipe is for carrot greens pesto.  Tonia and I were talking about how tasty this pesto is, made from what most of us discard so take a look at it and see if it sounds like something for you.

Last week I really missed having some sort of green in my diet so I found some arugula for us this week from the guys at Neva Farms.  Greens will be tough to find in the heat of the summer so enjoy them when we get them and settle into summer veggies like our tomatoes, eggplant and squash this week.  I am thinking squash and green onion quesadilla for supper tonight!  Quick, easy and super tasty – my kind of meal!  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Eggplant

Rainbow carrots

Tomatoes

Arugula

Green onions

Yellow squash

Basil

Blueberries

I would love to invite you to log on to our facebook site for Vegetable Husband, and let me know what your favorite recipe is that uses some of our summer food.  If you don’t want to write on the facebook site, then email us.  I will use one of your recipes for next week’s basket so let’s see what you recommend.  Of course, as always, I am always happy to TALK FOOD!  Have a great week!

All the best,
Margie Thorpe

June 30th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

This morning the farmers were so thankful for a little rain after all the threats.  Last night Serenbe alone got 2 inches of water for the crops – yeah!  The more water, the better the watermelon, and we will be looking for those soon.  For now, we have blueberries once again.  This time we are harvesting our berries from our friends at Evie’s Country Garden.  Let me know what you think.  Next week we will either have blackberries again or a canary melon from Walker Farms.

Since it was 4th of July this weekend, I had to get us the early harvest of corn.  We all have white organic corn from Newton, GA for our festivities.  Some of you may have four ears rather than the three we had originally planned due to the size of the ears.  Please know that many times when you pull back the silk on organic corn, you will have to fight a little worm for your sweetness.  This is the price of no pesticides.  The good news is if you find one, it means the ear is especially sweet!  Do your best to harvest what you can.  The only way to avoid this is to peel all of your corn, and I don’t think you would want that since many of us grill it in the husk.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Tomatoes

Fingerling Banana Potatoes

White Corn

Green Onions

Cucumbers

Carrots

Mint

Blueberries

Your green onions and carrots are once again from Serenbe Farms.  Next week, they will be sharing some cherry tomatoes with us as well as squash.  I can’t wait for those summer treats!

I have to admit I tried really hard to have RED tomatoes (from Woodland Gardens), WHITE corn, and BLUEberries for the delivery for the 4th.  I am a sucker for a holiday theme.  Feel free to make fun of me, but if you ever taste my red, white and blue frozen rum parfaits you won’t be disappointed!  (grins)  All of you enjoy your weekend whatever you do, whomever you choose to share it with, and whatever food you choose to prepare.  I am grilling veggie patties (made from our veggies and quinoa) and some local meat for my carnivores.  Most of all, be as safe in your travels as we are in our food!  Of course…remember I am always happy to talk food!

Namaste,
Margie Thorpe

June 23rd, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

Even in this season of plenty, farming has its challenges.  This week we planned for kale from Whippoorwill Hollow but by yesterday afternoon the grasshoppers had beat us to the crop!  Yes, they ate your greens this week.  Andy was so upset but he could not harvest lacy half-eaten leaves for us.  Instead we quickly found some wonderful arugula with roots from Neva Farms to fill our void.  Ya just never know what will happen in the fields from hour to hour.

Your blackberries are coming from Woodland Gardens this week and I am so excited!  Yesterday I took a walk and harvested a few berries from some wild thorned bushes and it made me extremely grateful for today’s harvest.  It is no easy task!  Everything else in your basket has been harvested this morning from Serenbe Farms. It looks like we will be getting much of our food from Paige and Justin at Serenbe this summer so please give me any feedback you have for our farmers.  They love hearing the good and even the bad helps us know more about the food.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Yellow Wax Beans

Arugula

Swiss Chard

Green Onions

Cucumbers

Carrots

Basil

Blackberries

I want to add a couple of reminders for this week.  Next week’s basket will feed your 4th of July festivities and I have already reserved a few ears of white corn for us.  If you need more than a few, let us know and we will order extra for you.  I will add this to the extras list in your email on Friday.  Also, in an effort to use as little petroleum products as possible, I ask that you always send us the berry containers back if they are still in good condition.  The farms can reuse these just as they do for the eggs.  I am also trying to use paper bags over plastic whenever I can although some of you may receive the arugula in plastic today.  Little steps add up.

Arriving at Serenbe this morning there were children at the farm learning about what it takes to grow our organic food.  It is so nice to see summer camps taking these field trips (literally).  I wish everyone could visit a nearby farm once a month just to appreciate each piece of nourishment we are so fortunate to have.  For me, it always reminds me to take a deep breath as I sit down to a beautiful meal and reflect on all the people that worked so hard to bring this food to my belly.  Gratitude is a wonderful feeling and a great way to start a meal.  I am also always grateful that you join me every week on this journey to eat better and support our local organic growers.  Remember I am always happy to talk food!

Namaste,
Margie Thorpe