Seasonal Weekly Menu: Johnson's Backyard Garden in Austin, Texas

Denver is covered in snow (again), it's 22 degrees F in Maine, and in Texas Brenton and Beth Johnson are just starting to harvest a tantalizing assortment of fresh produce for their CSA members.

Looking out my window it's almost incomprehensible that in a week or so they will be picking broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, red and green cabbages, collards, dinosaur, Siberian and Red Russian kale...not to mention two types of soft-neck garlic, five delicious varieties of beets, flat and Savoy spinach, arugula, rainbow chard, lettuces (red and green butter heads, romaine, Cos and leaf) for salad mix, baby head lettuce, numerous types of carrots...as well as white and purple turnips, rutabaga, kohlrabi, various long round white and red radishes, mustard greens, a few Chinese vegetables (red mustard, bock choy, pac choy, tatsoi)...are you running out of breath yet...sage, cilantro, parsley, dill AND fennel. It's enough to make a girl pick up and move to Texas. Of course my husband would never go for that, so I decided that spending some time learning how and why a family farm gets started was the next best thing.

The Johnsons are high school sweethearts from Southeast Alabama who settled in Central Texas after Brenton graduated from Auburn University with an Agricultural Engineering degree. Their 20-acre farm is located just east of downtown Austin near the Colorado River. The soil is "very deep and fertile" and Brenton says proudly that it is "some of the best land around for farming." This January is the first harvest season for the Johnsons on their new farm.

They started by selling the produce they grew in their 3,000 square foot backyard garden. At the time, they lived very near the Austin Farmers Market and would harvest fresh lettuce, tomatoes, basil, peppers and herbs and a few minutes later be selling it in the market. Not only were their customers hooked on their fresh, organic produce, but Beth and Brenton were able to realize their dream. Last summer the Johnsons were able to purchase their 20-acre farm, and they spent the next months planting the crops which are now ready to harvest.

Brenton and Beth are dedicated to growing organic and heirloom produce and selling it locally. For Brenton "producing food responsibly and in an environmentally sound manner is one of the most important jobs there is."