December 30th, 2008 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
I hope you had a great week and enjoyed your basket. We are saying good-by to 2008 and hello to an entirely new year. I hope you have big plans for your clean slate. My plan is to stay alive and get a little healthier everyday.
This week we are lucky enough to have more broccoli from Taylorganics Farm. We also have beautiful rainbow chard from Full Moon Farm in Athens. If you were planning to jump into a January diet, this basket will help. There are no potatoes or other starchy vegetables this week—just pure green power! Find the protein of your choice, whether that is a wonderful pot of beans or a nice grilled piece of fish, and enjoy the intense nourishment these dark greens will give us without the calories.
New Year’s Day is a traditional day to cook up a pot of greens so I have given you plenty of collards to do just that. You will also find a few hot Thai peppers for those of you who like the heat added. The recipe this week is definitely all about the New Year’s Day peas and greens for luck and money. Unfortunately, black-eyed peas are not in season so we will have to rely on the dried ones from a market. The superstition says that you need to eat as many greens as you can for money in the new year, and as many peas for luck in the new year. I will be having peas, greens and cornbread for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Below is your list of goodies for this week:
Baby red romaine leaves
Mixed salad greens
Bok choy
Cilantro
Dried red Thai peppers
Collards
Dinosaur kale
Rainbow Chard
Broccoli flower & greens
Enjoy your bounty and please wash these greens and herbs well! The farms still have no running water by the washing station so a little Georgia dirt is coming home with us. Remember, if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail or call me. I am always happy to talk FOOD!
Namaste,
Margie Thorpe
December 23rd, 2008 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband customer,
Once again, we are surrounded by preparations for holiday events of all sorts. Whatever you are celebrating this week, I hope this basket will help in the process.
Some of you may have noticed that in this last week’s Creative Loafing, they did a profile of your own Vegetable Husband. Thanks for giving me such a lovely job to talk about to the newspaper. It was a great little plug for our local organic community.
We have added yet another farm to our community of folks that are growing for us this winter. The parsnips, broccoli and cauliflower that you have are all from Neil at Taylorganics in Ellenwood. Let me know what you think. I can’t wait to dig into my first cauliflower of the season!
Some of you shared your stories with me of cooking the Chinese cabbage last week. Please feel free to do this whenever the mood strikes you. It is great information for me. This week we are very fortunate to have salad greens once more with these freezing temperatures. Jason and his crew at Full Moon Farms in Athens have kept the plants nice and covered so we can delight in the freshness over this holiday week. Enjoy!
Below is the list of your goodies for this week:
Baby arugula
Mixed salad greens
Parsnips
Collards & Kale
Sweet potatoes
parsley
Broccoli flower & greens
cauliflower
The small collards also have a few Russian red kale leaves in the bag. I harvested what was available to add to your collards. It is always nice to mix the greens when cooking them. Next week you will have much more mature collards for your New Year’s Day meal. Come on, we could all use plenty of luck and money in 2009!
Namaste,
Margie Thorpe
December 17th, 2008 by Margie
December 17th, 2008 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband customer,
This week looked like we were going to be eating lettuce and onions but thanks to a few great farmers sharing their love with us, we now have a great arrangement of veggies once again. Rashid at Truly Living Well Farm in East Point provided us with carrots and collards this week and Steve Miller’s Farm in Clarkston shared his Chinese cabbage with all of us. We will enjoy the food they have shared with us this week and look forward to some other treats from their land during the year to come.
Please keep in mind that next week is Christmas and then New Year’s. If you are going to be away, let me know and I will suspend your service. Just let me know the date you would like to resume service. I will be delivering on Tuesday instead of Wednesday next week and the week of December 30th.
Below is the list of your goodies for this week:
Heirloom head of lettuce (varied variety)
Mixed salad greens
Chinese cabbage
Bok choy
Collards
Green onions
Carrots
cilantro
Butternut squash
As you see, we have two selections of lettuce, and salads should come in handy during a hectic week for many of us. The Chinese cabbage can be cooked or used in salad. It is very tender. You can also use the carrots for salad or cook them. I am thrilled that we have the carrots! These are delicious.
Please enjoy your veggies, and enjoy your week. Be mindful as you prepare for the holiday. If you are celebrating Christmas and buying for family and friends, don’t get frustrated by all the process. Remember that the process is part of you celebrating your love and appreciation for these people. Otherwise, the gesture is meaningless.
I cannot send you all enough love and appreciation this week!
Sincerely,
Margie Thorpe
December 10th, 2008 by Margie
We are not even into the winter months but we are certainly feeling the chill. We had several unseasonably cold nights and they slowed down the growth in the fields quite a bit. Today’s rain and warmer temperatures will surely jump start more activity, if only temporarily. As I travel through the rain to pick up and deliver our veggies, I am not as nervous and aggravated by the rain as I normally am. This year I have a closer relationship to this water falling from the sky, I know that even though it backs up traffic on 75-85, it also gives nourishment to the luscious greens. I look forward to seeing how the coming weeks are directly affected by the warm and wet weather of today. Enjoy your greens!
And big thanks to my friend and photographer Manuel Llaneras for this nice shot of farmer Duane and myself.
