August 27th, 2008 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

This is week three for the delivery service and all is on schedule, regardless of the weather.  Even the storms are not keeping me down, although the leg is still slowing me down.  This morning the fields were muddy but the veggies look great as a result.

This is definitely the last of the blueberries for the season.  I will be working hard this week to find a farm with a nice fruit for you before the apples come in to season.  You have a new variety of eggplant this week.  The asian eggplant is so tender and easy to cook.  Just slice it up and sauté in a pan with garlic and onions and enjoy.  A little soy sauce makes a nice dish.  I also  like to sauté it with some hot peppers.  Yumm!  I am getting hungry now.

I want you to really enjoy the tomatoes this next couple of weeks because the plants are tired and the tomatoes will be gone before we know it.  I don’t know about you but I am really going to miss slicing up a fresh tomato for a snack.

Below is the list of your goodies for this week:

Potatoes
Asian Eggplant
Sweet peppers
green beans
Roma Tomatoes
Purple tomatoes
Basil
Parsley
Blueberries

Please enjoy the freshness of your Georgia produce, free of any pesticides and ripened to perfection.  Do not hesitate to call or e-mail with any questions you have and enjoy the recipes I will post on the website each week to help you use some of your ingredients.  Remember, I am happy to talk FOOD!

Namaste,

Margie Thorpe
info@vegetablehusband.com

August 20th, 2008 by Margie

Dear vegetable husband Customer,

This is week two for the delivery service and all is on schedule.  Even with a broken ankle, I will be on the road today gathering and delivering fresh and local naturally grown produce for your week.  The injury will slow me down and I will be sending a helper to your door each week while I am still in the cast, but we will continue to accept new clients, so feel free to spread the word in your community.

I know I said we were ending the blueberry season, but I am excited to find out that there are still more available this week!!  You have a pint of blueberries again.  Enjoy the fruit of summer.  I have been eating them every morning with yogurt.  What a treat!

You will also find more sweet peppers this week as well as hot peppers.  Don’t get them mixed up!  Your sweet peppers are loose in the basket and the hot peppers are in a bag.  You have a variety of hot peppers.  The largest ones are the mildest.  The recipe on the website for eggplant uses hot peppers too.
Below is the list of your goodies for this week:

Potatoes
Eggplant
Sweet peppers
Hot peppers
green beans
okra
Tomatoes
Basil
Blueberries

Please enjoy the freshness of your Georgia produce, free of any pesticides and ripened to perfection.  Do not hesitate to call or e-mail with any questions you have and enjoy the recipes I will post on the website each week to help you use some of your ingredients.  Remember, I am happy to talk FOOD!

Sincerely,

Margie Thorpe

August 16th, 2008 by Margie

I look for fruit to be nice and plump and full of color but unfortunately my ankle is also a nice plump and purple!  For those of you that saw me on that first delivery Wednesday evening, you know! Yes, I fell down my stairs and injured my ankle loading the baskets in the car the very first week of deliveries.  Thursday I spent the day at Grady hospital only to find out the ankle is broken and I will be in a cast for the next 6-8 weeks.

The good news is I managed to get your deliveries out that evening while they were fresh-picked thanks to my helpers, Joe, Shane and my dear old dad.  The bad news is I did not get the recipes uploaded for you.  I have added a recipe and a few tips to the website today,  Let me know if these help you.  This next Wednesday will go out as planned.  I have someone that as offered to help the temporarily handicapped vegetable husband get her veggies out!  Yeah!

Last thought, the eggplant is so good right now.  Many of you have told me about how you used the basil, the eggplant and the okra.  Please keep sharing any ideas or concerns you have.  I am so happy to hear about other people getting as excited about fresh food as I get!!

August 13th, 2008 by Margie

After many weeks of searching the countryside, begging farmers for food, and embarrassing myself with my ignorance of some raw forms of food, it is finally time to start bringing you fresh-picked, locally grown bounty!

I was told I could not find enough product to start this service but luckily my mother raised a very stubborn young woman and the notion of not giving up when I truly want something has paid off for all of us!!  I found a great farm, Full Moon Co-op run by Jason Mann (seen above) and he will be providing us with beautiful fresh veggies through the fall.  I will be getting some items from other farmers as they experience bumper crops of items.  By the way, I only learned what a “bumper crop” was referring to about two months ago.  I am not a lifelong farm girl but I am a lifelong foodie, and a vegetarian on and off, depending on how good the cut of meat is that you offer me.

I share my lack of farming background with you because I want all of you to know that I am LOVING getting closer to the source of my own food and I hope I can share some of that with you.  I could let a head of lettuce from the commercial grocery store go bad as I eat out every night… but when I have seen the fields, and met the farmer that has walked the rows in the hot sun to nurture and pick each bean that fills a bag in my fridge, there is no way I can skip over that produce until it goes bad!  I feel a moral obligation to enjoy the food that someone worked so hard to create for my health.  Sound sappy?  Well, I am a little sappy when it comes to the appreciation of good healthy food but hopefully it will show in your basket or bag each week.  Enjoy your veggies!!!

Oh yeah, I have to share my most embarrassing moment so far with my farmers:

I have been testing product from several farms around the region so I could find produce I could get behind and bring to you.  One week my new friend Linda at Scharko Farms had provided me with a selection of beans.  I came back to her the next week telling her how good everything was and how I prepared each item.  Of course I did have to share some critique, as well.  The beans I cooked were very stringy.  I had removed the ends prior to cooking but they were stringy all the way through.  She walked over to the container with bags of beans and asked which ones they were.  I pointed to a bag and she laughed and said, “Margie, those are field peas!” Ooops!  I might have enjoyed those a lot more if I had taken the pea OUT OF THE SHELL!  In my defense, it looked a lot like a variety of bean called a rattlesnake bean that I was able to eat the entire bean the week before.  The embarrassing part was I was trying to “help” her by telling her what was wrong with her produce.  lol For those of you that do know what fresh field peas look like, forgive me.  For those of you that don’t, feel free to call me before cooking anything you have in your bag.  I promise I will know what it is and how to prepare it easily.

cheers!

August 13th, 2008 by Margie

Dear vegetable husband Customer,

First of all, thank you for being part of my efforts to give you and me a healthier life! We are in the midst of the dog days of summer and the food is still plentiful.  This first week of deliveries I am so thrilled to bring lots of great vegetables and herbs.  The okra is in and it was picked this morning for your week and the eggplant is still beautiful.

You are also enjoying the last of the blueberry season this week with a pint of blueberries.  Unfortunately we will be saying goodbye to the blueberries but when one fruit goes out of season it leaves room for a new crop.  I look forward to being the person that will bring you these fresh crops every week if you will allow me.

Just to remind you, vegetable husband is dedicated to bringing you fresh-picked, locally grown organic produce.  I will also send out announcements from time to time to offer you special additions to your menu such as goat cheese or fresh eggs.

Below is the list of your goodies for this week:

Potatoes
Eggplant
Sweet peppers
Okra
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Basil
Mint
Blueberries

Please enjoy the freshness of your Georgia produce.  Do not hesitate to call or e-mail with any questions you have and enjoy the recipes I will post on the website each week to help you use some of your ingredients.  Remember, I am happy to talk FOOD!

Sincerely,

Margie Thorpe