May 2nd, 2012 by Margie

May 2, 2012

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

We are in the middle of another great Wednesday here at Vegetable Husband.  Mary and Lulu are once again running the show and doing a fabulous job making the farm runs and organizing the veggie sorting.  I am taking over the letter this week because Margie is still enjoying a Spanish vacation.  Last I heard, she was drinking wine with a castle view.  Instead of being insanely jealous, let’s think about all the Spanish food ideas she’ll bring back with her to share with us!

We are lucky enough to be able to get all of our fruits and veggies this week from only two farms.  I am already daydreaming about a spinach and strawberry salad with green onions.  If you are running out of radish ideas, check out last week’s blog entry about pickling radishes and keep in mind that this week will be the last with radishes for a while.  Let us know if you have any favorite cooking tips for radishes, too!

Below is your list of goodies:

Strawberries – Jackson Lowe Farm

Kale – Jackson Lowe Farm

Kohlrabi – Jackson Lowe Farm

Radishes – Jackson Lowe Farm

Spinach – Steve Miller Farm

Lettuce – Steve Miller Farm

Broccoli Leaves – Steve Miller Farm

Onions – Steve Miller Farm

Margie sent word from her vacation for you:

I am still traveling in Spain and the strawberries are in season here as well.   This morning I was lucky enough to have fresh strawberry juice for breakfast!  I want that when I return.  Of course we will be moving quickly to blueberries in Georgia.  Steve Miller is offering us spinach and green onions again this week, as well as a darker green.  These are the broccoli leaves and when cooked have a nice sweetness to the taste.  I think these are one of my favorite cooking greens.

I can stand in this week and as soon as she gets back, Margie is going to be ready to TALK FOOD!

Best,

Laura Ingkatanuwat

April 25th, 2012 by Margie

April 25, 2012

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

As we move from April into May we see the farmers already planting for the summer and tending the early hot weather crops such as early peppers.  For now, the salad and cooking greens continue to grow in mass quantities.  I find the biggest challenge is finding us something to add to our diet that is not green and leafy.  This week that “something” is snap beans.  We also have green onions and the local strawberries again.  These will be gone soon and making way for blueberries.  This week I am adding a recipe for strawberry cupcakes to the website.  Yes, cake!  My girlfriend (who is a baker) was nice enough to recommend her fave for fresh berries so let me know if you use it.  My berries still disappear too quickly to go in cake.

In our basket of greens we have a lovely head of bok choi this week from Jackson Lowe, which is the new name for our friends that were formally known as Turtle Bend Farm.  The farm is still in the same place and the food is still the same, grown by Mecca and Adam.  They just changed their business name.  Their farm (whatever the name) harvested half of our beautiful basket this week, and I have been promised strawberries again next week, jus so ya know! We also have a wonderful opportunity to see the local film, GROW, in town this week.   For details check out vegetablehusband.com and I will tell you that the film features some of your food growers from recent weeks.

Below is your list of goodies:

Arugula – Jackson Lowe Farm

Bok choi – Jackson Lowe Farm

Spinach – Steve Miller Farm

Snap Beans – Bryson Farm

Green Onions – Steve Miller Farm

French Breakfast Radishes – Jackson Lowe Farm

Lettuce – Steve Miller Farm

Strawberries – Jackson Lowe Farm

I am writing this letter as the last work I do before leaving for a vacation in Spain.   As some of you know, I lost my sweet dog Maya last week to complications and many of you have been instrumental in helping me thru the week, and for that, I thank you.  Now I will find my balance thru taking some wonderful time for me, wandering the lovely food of Barcelona.  I leave VH in Laura’s hands so feel free to email us but calls will not be answered until after my return May 7^th, at which time once again I will be thrilled to TALK FOOD!

Gratefully,

Margie Thorpe

April 18th, 2012 by Becky Striepe

Margie is having a rough week (as you’ll read below), so this week I’m sharing the letter with you guys. Please keep Margie and her sweet pup Maya in your thoughts this week! Read the rest of this entry »

Atlanta CSA, CSA, Georgia CSA, Georgia farms, local food, local produce

March 28th, 2012 by Margie

March 28, 2012

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

Today was an absolute pleasure to do what I do.  The city is beautiful with spring blooms but you should see your local farms!  Large oak trees, showing off one more year of new growth, shaded the road to Serenbe.  Even the fields of cattle seem to be extra cheery with spring in the air.  Once I got to Serenbe, I was able to check out what is coming up in the next few weeks and the food is definitely coming in now!  Our local goat dairy, Decimal Place, had dozens of white baby goats running all over the place.  I laughed the entire time I was there!  Thank you for the honor of gathering our food.  The basket is a picture of spring too!

We have the first pick of a new crop of carrots – yeah!  This week we can actually make a salad of lettuce, and tomatoes, as well as carrots and onions.  It is rare that these ingredients are available at the same time so enjoy your spring bowl of salad.  We also have young collards, kale, turnips, and beet greens in a bag of braising mix from Scharko Farms.  This is great for simple stir fry.  Your spinach is from Serenbe this week.  They also harvested the oregano for us.  I will add a recipe this afternoon to the website to use your spice this week.

Below is your list of goodies:

Swiss Chard – Woodland Gardens

Spinach – Serenbe Farm

Baby Carrots – Woodland Gardens

Mixed Lettuce – Woodland Gardens

Mixed Braising Mix – Scharko Farm

Spring Onions – Scharko Farms

Grape Tomatoes – Alderman Farms

Oregano – Serenbe Farm

I am happy to say that I am feeling much better and I appreciate the warm wishes from many of you.  Being sick is not something I do well .  I feel like the sun and the moon look different now that I am coming out of the sick bed.  Of course the best part for me is to be able to prepare my own food again.  That is even funny to write…but it’s true!  I hope this week’s spring ingredients find you all well and please let me know if you need any ideas for the veggies this week.  As usual, I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

Gratefully,

Margie Thorpe

March 21st, 2012 by Margie

March 21, 2012

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

It is officially spring now and the dustings of pollen all around us shows it.  For those of us that have been eating our local harvest for a while, I hope that you find as I do that you have less and less reaction to the seasonal allergies.  With every fresh locally sourced vegetable we eat, we also take in the local pollens, giving us less cause for allergic reactions to the seasonal pollen around us.  I used to buy extra local honey and bee pollen to help but I no longer need to supplement in this way.  Let me know if you need honey or if I need to get some local bee pollen for some of you during this time.

The weather is reason enough to be in a great mood but I am thrilled to say that all the veggies in the basket this week are from our farmers right around the Atlanta area!  (as far as Athens)  The fruit is our only item from a neighboring state this week! We officially made it through the winter season once more and our farms are looking bountiful again.  You have beets coming from Woodland Gardens as well as a fresh head of lettuce!  I am super excited to have leeks this week from Taylor Organics.  They also harvested green and purple broccoli flowers for us.  I also hope that you are enjoying the spinach as much as my family is.  We can’t decide whether to eat it first or savor it during the week but it is definitely the fave right now.  Of course now we have beets…the favorite has competition.

Below is your list of goodies:

Sweet Potatoes – Steve Miller Farm

Purple and green Broccoli – Taylor Organics

Leeks – Taylor Organics

Beets – Woodland Gardens

Spinach – Steve Miller Farm

Microgreens – Woodland Gardens

Lettuce – Woodland Gardens

Valencia Oranges – Uncle Matt’s Family Farm

Those of you that got a letter last week might remember I went away to a fitness spa.  Well, life does not always have the same plan for you that you have for life.  I got very ill with unexplainable headaches and flew home several days early to return to a doctor and my own bed.  I am unfortunately missing the drive to the farms again this week as I recuperate from an ear / sinus infection at home, but Brian, Tracy, Mary, Lulu and Laura have it all covered.  The spa did give me a new love of eating completely vegetarian again.  I am talking to the chef there to share some of his amazing dishes with all of us. I will share more and more tips on the website from the spa diet there.  Even from my sick bed, I never missed a meal! I can never change quite that much and know that if I can still talk I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

Namaste,

Margie Thorpe