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When Will Greenling Carry Texas Wines?

By Kathryn on March 16, 2012 in Ask Greenling, News and Announcements, Tips for Eating Sustainably

Texas Wines are not for Greenling. At least not yet.

This has been rather heart-wrenching, and we get quite a few inquiries about Texas wines. But here’s the bottom line – It’s hard to grow wine grapes in Texas. Really hard. So you can pretty much assume if someone is creating wine from Texas grapes they dumped lots of chemicals on those grapes to get them to grow. And I’m not talking a little liquid Nitrogen to give them that growth-spurt in the spring. I’m talking boatloads of all sorts of chemicals to ward off diseases, fungi, bugs, etc. You name it and it probably likes to feast on the oh-so-delicate Vitis vinifera grapevines struggling for survival in Texas climates.

It’s not pretty. So, what’s a self-respecting, Sustainability-oriented company to do? Well, we carry Sustainable wines not from Texas and will wait for intervention for the poor Texas grapes. I hear that Becker vineyards is working on some wine from imported, organically grown, grapes. At least that would be locally produced. And our good friend, Scott Collier, at Rockroom wines has some incredible wines that are just waiting on Texas Distribution.

It was an incredibly tough choice to leave these off the menu. The best way to achieve the advancements to get to Sustainable Texas wines is to encourage and support Texas wines. But we just can’t support anything that damages the environment. We hope you understand. And if you know of any environmentally responsible Texas wine operations, please let us know!

When we introduced the Parducci Sustainable Red and White, sales shot up above any other wine and I wondered if there was a misconception about our wines. Every single one of them can be called ‘Sustainable,’ though they may have different approaches to the term. Here’s the skinny on just a few of our wine choices -

Bonterra - These guys were one of the first to get Organic certification for their wines. They’re a great $15 bottle that supports people who are committed to the Organic seal.
Chimango - From Argentina, this is one of the lowest priced certified Organic wines combining the seal with affordability. Pick up the Cab or Malbec Rose for only $8.99
Joseph Drouhin - This winery has been cultivated by the same family for over 130 years. Using biodynamic farming (some call it ‘beyond Organic’) the Drouhin family uses only natural products with the utmost respect for the soil, the vine, and the environment. Learn more about them here -http://www.drouhin.com/en/index.php

And many more! Great wines you can feel good about buying and drinking. I’ll talk about our beer selection next time. Add beer & wine to your order here (As usual, I’m sorry to report that TABC only lets us deliver alcohol in Travis County) -http://www.greenling.com/categories/35/products

And a quick side note on the TABC – It’s actually quite incredible that we’re able to deliver wine and beer at all! We’re very happy to have worked with TABC to ensure we have the right security measures in place and the right kind of permit. It actually took 18 months to work through all of this. One of the rules we just couldn’t work around was that we can only deliver within the county where we’re located. So, there you have it. We’ve thought about having satellite locations in surrounding counties so that we can deliver all over….but we’ll only go through this long, arduous process again if sales of these items really pick up. So, to all who don’t live in Travis county, encourage all of your Travis-county-living friends to order so we can justify expanding this option.

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How Should I Clean My Greens?

By Kathryn on February 24, 2012 in Ask Greenling, News and Announcements, Notes from the Field, Tips for Eating Sustainably

We get this question from customers at least twice a month, more often during the winter greens season: Why are these greens so sandy, and how should I clean them?

The greens that we get from local farmers usually arrive with more dirt on them than the pre-washed organic greens that travel from California or Mexico. There are a few reasons for this, but the most obvious is that these greens are fresh out of the field! Finding soil in the roots or crevices of your greens is actually a good sign that they haven’t traveled far from the ground where they grew up. Still, there’s nothing worse than chewing dirt along with your chard, so it’s important to clean your greens before you eat them.

To thoroughly clean a bunch of greens, you will need a cutting board, a sharp knife, a basin or large bowl filled at least halfway with cold water, and kitchen towels for drying. A salad spinner is optional, but I find that it’s the best tool for really getting every last bit of dirt off.

First, cut the roots and any tough stems off of the greens. Compost the root end and discard any rubber band or string holding the bunch together. If there are any large pieces of debris or dirt on the greens, quickly rinse them under running water.

Separate leaves of greens and dunk them into the cold water. Gently swish the leaves around in the water with your hands, wiping away any visible dirt or debris with your fingers. Then, let the greens rest in the water for several minutes. This allows the dirt to fall away from the leaves and settle in the bottom of the bowl.

Once the greems have rested for a few minutes, examine them for any more grit or visible debris. If you see more dirt on the surface of the leaves, swish and gently scrub them again with your fingers. For curly kale and mustard greens, it might take a few repetitions to get all the crevices clean.

Once the greens look nice and clean, gently pull them out of the water and place them in a salad spinnner. Spin them dry, taking care to drain away any gritty water that comes off of the leaves. If you do not have a salad spinner, lay greens out on a kitchen towel to dry. If you’re in a hurry, you can gently pat the greens dry with another towel. Otherwise, let them air dry before storing.

Repeat this process using a fresh basin of water for each bunch of greens. And don’t toss the water when you’re finished– use it to nourish and refresh your outside plants!

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How long will onions keep?

By Texas Locavore on September 23, 2008 in Ask Greenling, Tips for Eating Sustainably

Hillary asks, “Hey, do you know for how long onions keep? I’ve got about ten in my fridge now…”

Me too, Hillary! Mine are on my counter, though… Which is the right way to store them? According to Kim Reddin of the National Onion Association in Greeley, Colorado, that depends on the onion. There are two types of onions, for storage purposes. The ones with only a single thin layer of papery skin – like our 1015′s – don’t keep long. You should use those quickly – or freeze them if you want to use them later in cooked applications. (You can find directions for freezing and other preservation methods on the NOA’s website.) But the ones we’re seeing now with multiple, thicker layers of papery skin, can last for quite a while. “The main thing the onions want to keep well,” says Kim, “is dry air. They don’t want to be wet.” So the refrigerator can be a good place if you have a drawer that is at once well-ventilated and low in humidity so they won’t experience condensation. The cool, dark, dry conditions onions need to last might be easier to find under a counter or even in a garage after the weather cools off. A big no-no? Storing them with potatoes. Onions can absorb moisture from potatoes if they’re too close together, and that’ll make them go bad, fast.

There’s no exact science for determining how long an onion will keep, but you’ll know if one’s gone bad. Key signs are sprouting and mold spots. If you see the latter, though, just peel away the layer with the mold, discard it, and proceed as usual.

Another great tip from Kim: Since thick-skinned onions that store well tend to be more pungently flavored than their spring/summer counterparts, prepare them in advance if you want to serve them raw. To mellow that flavor, slice them, then soak them in ice water overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

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