April 28th, 2010 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
I want you to know that our countryside around the state is getting more and more beautiful with the changing weather. I find myself driving down the same two lane on my way to the same farm but suddenly thinking that I have missed my turn. Every week the same area looks so different. Be sure to look around and notice all the wonderful changes in our own intown streets as well. I know it’s hard to see beyond the pollen sometimes but the source of the pollen is quite stunning!
In each basket you have a borrowed fruit from our Florida neighbors. Many of you have asked that we try to find fruit each week so I am doing my best. This week I could not get enough berries from our Georgia farms quite yet. The colder temperatures slow down the warm weather crops. We will continue to harvest local strawberries in the next few weeks, but for now let’s enjoy the goodness of the Florida Valencia oranges. These are bright and juicy. You also have gorgeous European cucumber once again from Woodland Gardens in Winterville, GA. These were so tasty last week that we all hoped we could get them once more and we were in luck.
I added a wonderful recipe for chard and leek tart on the website to help you use the leeks you have this week. These are beautiful and came from this morning’s harvest at Whippoorwill Hollow Farm. The kohlrabi, turnips and the lettuces came from Neil over at Taylor Organics. These heirloom lettuces make salad a buttery treat. I am not sure I can go back to restaurant lettuce ever again. Enjoy! Below is your list of goodies for this week:
Heirloom Lettuces
Leeks
Rainbow Chard
Kohlrabi
Purple turnips with greens
European cucumber
Cilantro
Oranges
Please think about ways that you can connect yourself to your growing season whether it is food or wonderful flowering plants around you. I am organizing some summer workshops to help us all think of ways to prep and store our summer harvests for leaner winter months. Let me know if there is a particular interest you have. That’s all for now remember, I am always happy to talk food!
Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe
April 21st, 2010 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
The spring weather is paying off in the fields. We are seeing nice growth in several new veggies. This week you better be ready for loads of sauté and salad. We have a wonderful bouquet of braising greens from Brooks Garcia’s farm. There are three heads of greens from his farm; a bok choy, a lighter green leaf, which is a flowering Chinese cabbage, and the third head is tyfon greens and will have a radish root at the end. Enjoy the green and the root!
The big surprise was when Woodland Gardens told me they had a large European cucumber for each of us. What a treat! They also provided their young bok choy so you will have several varieties of Asian greens to try. Your arugula and garlic chives were harvested this morning from Serenbe Farms and the van smelled so good the rest of the drive (smiles). I can’t wait for my dinner tonight of something with butter and garlic chives, for sure! The lettuces are coming on strong so we will enjoy fresh lettuce for another couple of weeks. This week our lettuce is from Taylor Organics here in Ellenwood GA. Below is your list of goodies for this week:
Heirloom Lettuces
Arugula
Spring onions
Braising greens (bok choy, flowering Chinese cabbage, and tyfon greens w/root)
Bok choy
European cucumber
Easter egg radishes
Garlic chives
I was fortunate enough to get out and celebrate a brand new office for our Georgia Organics office this last week. Several farmers and sustainable local food companies were represented. I am considering inviting more local companies to join our list of extras that we pick up regularly. Feel free to let me know anything in particular that you would like to find. We also are welcoming Jason Mann’s new restaurant, Farm Burger, in Decatur which opens today with sustainable, locally-raised meat and veggies. Check out the link on our website. That’s all for now remember, I am always happy to talk food!
Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe
April 19th, 2010 by Margie
I know that we are all about the veggies but some of you might have noticed that Full Moon farms has been missing from our parade of beautiful food lately. Jason has been busy moving his farm to a new location and constructing a new restaurant in our own backyard. Athens farmer and restauranteur (Farm 255) is opening a casual place for you meat lovers right here in Decatur.
It’s called Farm Burger and the new business will feature burgers made with locally raised grass fed beef. Imagine picking up something quick that still allows you to think about where your food comes from. Even the interiors echo the mission of being sustainable and thinking responsibly as they work hard using re-purposed lumber and other materials to create a simple and warm dining space. Check out the exciting blog counting down to the opening.
April 19th, 2010 by Margie
Our friend Jacinta shared this note and video about Kohlrabi. Given all the questions we’ve gotten about it, we thought you might enjoy this informative (and very bizarre) video.
Hi Margie,
I found the cutest little video about kohlrabi I thought I would share. Who knows, perhaps someone might not know what it is, as I sure didn’t. Enjoy.
- Jacinta
April 15th, 2010 by Margie
This is so amazing. Here is a great example of someone else as excited about the veggies as I am. Check out our friend Narra’s blog on her journey with the weekly baskets
Margie,
Thanks so much for sending the letter. I managed to figure out what everything was, although it’s tough with so many greens! I decided to cook the mustard greens last night but I had to go back and forth tasting the mustard greens and arugula to be sure I had the right one.
I really like having the information about which vegetables come from which farms. I started a blog a few months ago to help me record all the new things I’ve been cooking and I like to be able to link to the farms the produce is coming from. You say you want to know how we’re cooking the things we get in our baskets – well here you go… This may be more information than you wanted, but you can see basically everything we’ve cooked in the past few months. http://themostlyvegetablekitchen.blogspot.com
Thanks again for the letter and thanks for everything you do each week to get us such delicious, fresh food!
Narra
