Green Gate Farms News: Flower Crowns, Cooking Class in the Farmhouse, Farm Stand & More!
FARM STAND/ADVANCE ORDERS
Farm Stand at Big Red Barn, East Austin (8310 Canoga Ave., Austin 78724) Open to all, Saturdays, 10-12 Veggies, Flowers, Garden Plants and Breathtaking Beauty at our 1902 Historic Bergstrom Farm. SNAP accepted (soon!)
This week at the farm stand you’ll find:
- Root Veggies: Potatoes
- Onions (Red & Yellow), Garlic
- Herbs: Parsley, Fennel Fronds, Mint, Thyme
- Other: Peppers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers
- Plants for your Garden and Flower Bouquets!
AND MORE!
Advance Orders via “REKO Ring” Place your order weekly at private Facebook page for touchless pick up on Saturday mornings.
CSA NEWS
Spring Veggie and Flower CSA Snapshot:
- No Summer Veggie CSA -- food and flowers available at our farm stand and REKKO Ring.
- Spring Veggie season has ended unless you are recieving a make-up share for the next two weeks.
- Flower CSA Spring Season, 12 weeks: April 7-June 26, $20 bouquet weekly/prorated. (Or join for the month of June.)
- 5 CSA pick-up locations in Austin and Bastrop, Wednesday/Saturdays
- Got a question about your food or flowers? Contact your Community Organizer, the volunteer who manages your pickup site and handles any issues that might arise.
FLOWER NEWS
Yippee! Lisianthus are featured in this week’s bouquets. I love these delicate white, pink and yellow flowers that are as beautiful as a thornless rose. If only they were fragrant, they'd be perfect. If you receive a pastel-colored bouquet, you may also find pink delphinium, lilac, sweet pea, scabiosa, vitex, and ammi (and the last of the lilies). The brighter colored bundles include sunflowers, dahlias, dill or parsley, mum, and mountain mint. Hope you enjoy your blooms!
Pick up a bouquet at our farm stand or join the remainder of our 12-week Flower CSA (prorated from the week you join). You can also join for just June. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and help our flower farm to thrive!
FLOWER FUN -- (Farmer Skip Crown Birthday Crown):
- Crown Class - June 19. Just in time for Father’s Day. Create flower crowns for yourself/guy/partner. After a farm tour, we’ll show you how to use grapevine, wildflowers and herbs to create a one-of-a-kind headdress. Fun for birthdays, celebrations, all ages. Last chance to enjoy a class on the farm until Fall. $75 per crown.
FARM NEWS & EVENTS (see www.greengatefarms.net):
- Farm Camp for Adults. Have a farm or want one? The founders of GGF spend the morning answering your questions about how to find/start a sustainable farm. Also, cover tools, techniques, and resources. Sunday morning, 9-12, June 27.
(some of Reese's past dishes)
- June 19th, Summer Cooking Class. Learn how to cook summer favorites as part of our Farmhouse Cooking Class series. After a farm tour, chef (and Local Food Intern) Reese Bergschneider will teach basic knife skills, how to harvest crops at peak flavor, and how to make the most of your favorite summer produce. Virtual attendance options available. Learn to make: Cucumber salad, Bruschetta, Summer Squash, and Basil Pasta Okra curry – all with veggies right on the farm! *Learn more and sign up here!
- A special thanks and warm farewell to Farm Manager Kalina who managed the farm for the past year. Her ability to keep the plates spinning during this particularly difficult time is a tribute to her thoroughness and dedication. We look foward to seeing where her farming career takes her.
- Green Gate Gift Cards Available: Give the gift of fresh, organic food while supporting our farm. We have Farm Bucks for all your celebrations.
AGRIHOOD NEWS
This Saturday evening, 6-8, the Bergstrom farmhouse will transform into a gallery featuring an exhibit of Kerry Beverly’s landscape paintings. The expansive vistas of rural Austin make it the perfect setting to enjoy Kerry’s art— clouds, open spaces, and big skies of Texas and the desert Southwest. All works are for sale.
* July 14th, be sure to attend our monthly Garden Club meeting, 5:30-7:30 at the Big Red Barn. We'll tour three Tiny Home gardens and plan our community garden.
GET INVOLVED
- Volunteer on our farm! Shifts available in east Austin and Bastrop. No experience necessary. Just complete the volunteer form on our website and we’ll be in touch! (www.greengatefarms.net)
- Make a difference: Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (TOFGA) is the leading voice of education and advocacy for organic food production in Texas. As a member-run/funded organization, TOFGA includes farmers, ranchers, gardeners, dairies, cheese makers, soil amendment producers, nurseries, food markets, farmers markets, educators, students, eaters and more. Volunteers and donations welcome, see www.tofga.org.
FARMER UPDATE
An Introduction, and Goodbye
By Farm Daughter Avery
Hey y'all. Some of you may know me from our farm stand and CSA emails, but for all of our new, lovely farm supporters, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Avery; I’m Farmer Erin and Skip’s daughter, and I have been the Administrative Director for Green Gate for the past year of the pandemic. For many college kids like myself, it was strange returning to my high school bedroom when school shut down. After a grueling first year of adjusting, I am now savoring the rainy, lush spring on the farm. I’m so grateful for having been surrounded by so much life and movement during an isolating time.
Engaging in an active role with Green Gate has been revitalizing in a way I would never have expected, and in a year it has completely transformed my relationship with the farm. Having devoted myself to academics for most of my life, I never saw farming in my future. But being at the center of this community as it grows with neighbors in both Bastrop and Austin’s first organic Agrihood has sparked something in me that my parents must have felt when we started here 16 years ago. It was always joked growing up that of my two siblings, I would be the child to continue the farm's legacy and for a long time I wanted to fight that. These days, at the least, I’m not so sure…
Hearing the familiar chatter of grasshopper wings when I walk the farm reminds me that August is on our heels and it’s time to slow down. In Texas, summer is when we hibernate. Though it’s hard to give up the fight against weeds and bugs, it is a nice reminder to humble ourselves to nature– our greatest provider and adversary. There is so much to learn from letting go. It makes finding those pockets of cherry tomatoes– still ripening in secret when you were sure the bugs finished them– a whole lot sweeter.
As I prepare to return to college life, I am taking stock and counting my blessings. I have learned so much during this year, both professionally and personally. Most of all, I have learned that this work is profoundly important and that our customers and farm supporters make it all worthwhile. Thank you for making this farm what it is.
Supplemental CSA Share "Week 11"
- Onions
- Garic
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Thyme/Oregano
- Cubano Peppers
- Kale/Chard
Recipes from Avery:
- It's time to make Tzatziki! Use our refreshing cucumbers for this summer dish:
- If you're craving curry, try putting our kale or chard in this simple curry I make all the time:
- Here is a simple and exciting Yukon Gold Potato recipe:
