August 31st, 2011 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
I hope we have all enjoyed our summer season because it is quickly coming to an end and Labor day weekend marks that end for many of us. As I drive from farm to farm to pick up one vegetable at each instead of many, it is obvious how hard our farmers are working to harvest in this dry climate with scorching sunny days. The ground is no longer soil in places, but now is a hard floor of clay that can easily be swept clean. It is funny how a few weeks of severe weather can change everything around us. The okra still thrives for now so we each have a bag of mixed red and green okra this week. We also have some garlic, some is from Serenbe and some from Jenny Jack Sun Farm but each of you have Read the rest of this entry »
August 24th, 2011 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
Be kind to your veggie driver today as we are loading watermelons to your home! Riverview Farm has harvested each one of us a whole juicy watermelon for this week. Since this is such a large item for our baskets, we will only have a total of seven items this week. I thought you would prefer this to eight items and getting a half of a melon. Plus, I did not want to risk cutting it and properly wrapping all these for us. Enjoy it! I love watermelon mint salad or juicing it is great too! We also have the lovely mountain fresh slicing tomatoes again.
Walker Farms brought us some beautiful okra for this week so you might have red or green Read the rest of this entry »
August 17th, 2011 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
This week we start with an apology to those of you that were disappointed by the peaches. Many of last week’s peaches were not favorable even though they looked fine as they went in the baskets. For this reason, this week you have nine items. I am making it up to you with a huge melon from Riverview and two different varieties of tomatoes from two local farms. The small ones in the paper bag are great for saucing or any type of cooking. Of course the slicers are just plain good!
We also have mixed eggplant once again this week. I am adding tips for using our eggplant harvest to the Read the rest of this entry »
August 10th, 2011 by Margie
Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,
Most of our food comes from one lovely farm this week and that is Chris and Jenny at Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm. You will notice that your okra and the green beans have been bagged together to cut down on our use of plastic. Feel free to separate these at home. It might help preserving them in the fridge. My okra will not need to worry about preservation. It is hitting the skillet tonight! I will let you know that this week might be the last of the green beans as our crops of field peas start to come in this month. I will be happy to post more recipes for the green beans or the field peas when we get them. I personally have loved making a garlic sautéed green bean and adding yogurt to the pan before serving. It has a strong garlic flavor and the yogurt gives a more refreshing tone to them for a summer side dish.
We are lucky enough to have the sweet sun gold tomatoes again this week. Try not to eat these in one sitting. I can’t seem to stop once I start with them but I am hoping they will last long enough to do a simple red pepper-tomato salad with a bit of cheese and onion if I still have one of our sweet onions. Your eggplant is either the longer Japanese eggplant of the small Italian (black beauty) variety. These are great sautéed or roasted. Of course cooking them with the sweet peppers is an old favorite. Yes, you see peaches in the basket and enjoy them with ease because they are organic. They are from our neighbors in SC since they are the closest organic orchard (Georgia has none). Let me know what you think of these. I am hopeful they will be tasty! Below is your list of goodies:
Mixed eggplant – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Okra – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Sun Gold Tomatoes – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Sweet mixed peppers – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Green Beans – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Butternut Squash – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Garlic bulbs – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Peaches – Watsonia Farm, SC
After spending a few restful days at the lake, I am back here and super grateful for the food I access everyday. When you see your food through the eyes and bellies of others, you realize how special it really is. Now I am all excited about planning our anniversary celebration. The date is September 17th and we are still confirming our location but get ready to come meet and sup with your farmers and VH community. Last year was a blast and some of the best food I have had at any potluck! There are several restaurants adding their dishes to our potluck party too! I will give you details as we get them. For now, eat well and remember I am always happy to TALK FOOD!
Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe
August 3rd, 2011 by Lynn
I hope that you are finding moments of coolness in all this heat. As we begin August, it seems more important than ever. This week’s basket will help with several things that we can eat without ever lighting a burner. We have the joy of two different local fruits this week. We each have blueberries once again but this week they are harvested from Serenbe for the first time for us. Always let me know if one harvest seems tastier than another. You also have a nice melon this week from Ivabell Acres. This is a farm that has taken over growing at the Glover Farm property just west of Atlanta. We welcome their food for the first time this week.
Turtle Bend is providing us with their lovely okra again this week as well as a harvest of eggplant and tomatoes. They seem to be the first farm with a sizable amount of okra available. I hope that you are enjoying this. I was told it is delicious roasted whole in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Now that sounds like the least amount of work for me! I will try that this week myself. If you have other ways that you enjoy it please share your thoughts. There are several recipes on the website for okra as well. Jenny-Jack-Sun Farms has provided us with the beautiful red sweet peppers again! I roasted one on the grill last week with some leftover corn and what a treat that was. You also have their green beans. Below is your list of goodies:
Eggplant – Turtle Bend Farm
Okra – Turtle Bend Farm
Tomatoes – Turtle Bend Farm
Sweet Red Peppers – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Green Beans – Jenny-Jack-Sun Farm
Garlic Chives – Serenbe Farm
Sweet Melon – Ivabell Acres
Blueberries – Serenbe Farm
I will tell you that Laura, the voice behind your weekly emails from us, has gone to the farms for you today in my absence. I am finding my cool spot at the lake this week. I packed the car with loads of farm goodies and left Wednesday in Laura and Brian’s capable hands. I know the food is beautiful and I am sure the baskets are too. I will be back in time to talk to our farmers this weekend. For now, I will tell you that okra and farm fresh eggs taste just as special here at the lake as they do at home and I am cooking for my beau’s 88 year old dad here. It is so nice to see people eat in amazement as they remember “whole food”. What most people access at a market does not compare to the food we get fresh from our neighbor farmers! Be sure to let our politicians know that we need to protect our small farms and our access to the food. Chew on it, and remember I am always happy to TALK FOOD!
Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe
