Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Happy Autumn!

In case you didn’t get or didn’t read the email…DINES FARM IS NOT COMING THIS WEEK! They did say they would be here next week, and the following week for Turkey deliveries (and everything else).

Please keep in mind the CSA opens at 3:30pm, if you come earlier there’s no guarantee you can pick up your food at that time. We try and accommodate but you may need to wait till 3:30pm (and sometimes later if the CSA workers for that day are running late or cancel without giving notice). If showing up at 3:30pm is an issue, the alternatives are…1) stopping by up till 7:30pm before the CSA closes (though if you call 631-385-1079 before 7:30pm there might be someone still cleaning up or who might be willing to wait a bit for you to stop by), 2) making arrangements with someone else to pick your food up or 3) having a CSA bag pre-packed (by pre-arrangement) and having it left on CSA member Debbie Greenwood’s porch bench to be picked up after 8pm after the CSA closes.

Everyone who ordered their Honey got it last week, right? If not, let me know.

Anyone go to the CSA Fall Tour & Pumpkin Picking this year? Email me comments (positive OR negative) and photos (I may need help with the photos) and I’ll post in the next CSA email.

Got any pets that eat produce? Let us know! Gerbils, Rabbits, Horses, Turtles, Lizards are a few of the critter I know of that eat stray Lettuce leaves and unwanted Carrot Tops (or stray Carrots  ). If you could use these for your animal companion(s), ask at the CSA if we have any for you to take home.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO WEIGH OUT YOUR FOOD CAREFULLY.

SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR!!! We still need to fill 40 spots to have the CSA filled for the year!!! I’m going to keep talking about this till Farmer Bill asks me to stop. Please feel free to tell this to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season and have them contact me! If we all were able to find one person to join…we’d be done in a minute. Please feel free to suggest places to leave the CSA brochures or names of individuals/groups to contact about CSA (either just to give info or to give a talk about CSA/local eating). I’m happy to do whatever is needed.

Miss the Exchange Table? We don’t have one if there aren’t enough people to staff the CSA. This year, we need to figure out if it’s because we have less members and/or less working members. Hopefully, in the next weeks we can fill the CSA up and not have to contemplate everyone working more hours, or next year, putting a limit on how many non-working CSA members the CSA can sustain.

This email includes…
1. Your CSA doesn’t need you this week…maybe  .
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. Slow Food Membership Deal AND Local Book Club Forming…talk to CSA member Ann Rathkopf about this and all things Slow Food tonight at the CSA between 3:30 and 5:30pm!
4. BRING BAGS!
5. Notes from the Farm
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Where you can go eat Dines Farm meats without cooking them yourself…
8. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
9. Dried Beans, anyone?
10. Scholarship for young people who might want to be farmers…
11. It’s time to weigh our food!
12. Holiday time is around the corner…anyone looking for some new cookbooks for gifts (to get or to give) this year?


1. Your CSA doesn’t need you this week…maybe  .

If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.

You can always show up a little before 3:30 or 5:30pm at the CSA and offer to work if help is still needed…you never know! Everyone that’s scheduled doesn’t always show up on time…or at all.



2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)

Veggie Tip Sheets attached to this email for everything on the CSA share list this week (use Bok Choi sheet for the Pak Choi)

November 11, 2010
Week #30

1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce
3. Cauliflower: Cheddar (Golden) OR Purple OR White – 1 head
4. Pak Choi (use the Bok Choi Veggie Tip Sheet)
5. Arugula
6. Leeks
Total Items: 6 (?)



3. Slow Food Membership Deal AND Local Book Club Forming…talk to CSA member Ann Rathkopf about this and all things Slow Food tonight at the CSA between 3:30 and 5:30pm!

If you’re interested in joining a book club that focuses on books about food, this is the one for you! We now have a Facebook page called "Slow Food Huntington Book Club". Meeting are tentatively scheduled for Thursday evenings and the group will meet monthly. Questions? please email Veronique Stravato or via the Facebook page.

Slow Food had a fall membership sale that is still available. Join NOW for $25 instead of the usual $60 rate. Not sure how much longer this will last!

Don’t know about Slow Food?
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/

To join Slow Food…
https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5986/t/7933/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2518

Check out Slow Food Huntington Chapter Facebook page…
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Slow-Food-Huntington/111833608364



4. BRING BAGS!

What more can you say about this?

At the CSA, we bag our own food. I’d suggest to bring a selection of plastic bags (especially for things that are dripping wet like Lettuces and other Greens which we get later in the season when they are picked from out in the fields…as opposed to the greenhouse where they are probably coming from now) AND paper bags (for things that don’t like plastic like Tomatoes…the moisture that plastic attracts will make them rot faster).

Keep a stash of bags in every vehicle you own, and replenish when the stash gets low! That way you’ll never be without. AND, if anyone is picking up for you…please tell them about needing bags!



5. Notes from the Farm

October 30, 2010

November is here, summers’ bounty is gone, and our fall crops are all doing well. We will have plenty of fall Greens of all types. Broccolis and Cauliflowers are just now beginning, as are our fall Cabbages…Green, Red and Savoy. We continue to have many types of Lettuces and Radicchio. We have Winter Squash, mostly Acorn and Butternut, as well as Sweet Potatoes…enough to last until our final delivery (December 16th).

Our Garlic did not grow out as expected so there is not much of that and our cloves are small. Possibly planted too late last fall?

Turnips and winter Radishes are ready. Look for these over the next weeks. Jerusalem Artichokes have also started to be harvested. Herbs such as Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Savory, Dill and Cilantro will also appear at your pick-up sites this month.

Organically yours,
Farmer Bill (Halsey)



6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…

Check out the attachment for instructions and plant list. This one has the phone number to the farm AND I put it as a PDF because some folks couldn’t open the Word version.



7. Where you can go eat Dines Farm meats without cooking them yourself…

Nice article in the NY Times found by CSA member Haley Wiggins…(I sent it to the folks at Dines Farm in case they didn’t know)…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/nyregion/31joint.html?_r=1&ref=neighborhood_joint

Dines Farm is also mentioned in their NY Magazine write up…
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/ted-honey/

Have breakfast before 11am to avoid stroller gridlock…or go after 11am if you have strollers and would like to join the crowd  ! Be prepared to wait, know you’re paying for local, organic ingredients and that they have no bathroom (is that legal?). Then enjoy!

This spot is two blocks away from where Green Thumb Farm’s Cobble Hill site is located…used to be on the corner of Court St & Congress St…not sure where it is this year.



8. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)

If you don’t mind trekking into the city, these are two email lists to get on that have a lot of very cool food-based (local/organic) events…
http://brooklynbased.net/
http://www.eatingintranslation.com/


Wednesday, November 10th to Sunday, November 14th

Chocolate Show
The Metropolitan Pavillion
125 W 18th St
NYC
For more info:
http://newyork.salon-du-chocolat.com/salon_intro.aspx
To purchase tickets:
http://nychocolateshow2010.eventbrite.com/

The website could be better as they’re not listing specific events regarding appearances, book signings etc, but all the biggies of chocolate will be there…Callebaut, Guittard, , Jacques Torres, Michel Cluizel, Vahlrona. If you go…visit NibMor, a Huntington based chocolate business that sells vegan, raw, non-gluten and dairy, non-GMO, low glycemic chocolate bars. I’m sure there will be other intesting vendors.


Friday, November 12th

9am to 10:30am

Morning Meditation with Rev. Ratzlaff
UUFH
109 Browns Rd
Huntington, NY
FREE

CSA member, Rev. Paul Ratzlaff conducts a morning sitting meditation every Friday. The schedule is as follows…
9am to 9:45am – silent meditation
Bell is rung
Poem or Buddhist reading is read aloud
Check in with everyone
Reading a selection out of a collection of Buddhist stories and discuss it
The end!


Saturday, November 13th

11am to 3pm

Basic Urban Beekeeping Course
W 68th St (near Central Park West)
NYC
$250
For more info and to register:
http://www.nyc-bees.org/classes.html

Will be continued on Sunday,, November 14th as well. Urban beekeeping techniques can certainly be translated to suburban settings. Sing to the tune of NY, NY…If they can DO it there, they can do it ANYwhere.

10pm

The Hotline
Gunther’s Tap Room
Main St
Northport
631-754-9659
For more info:
http://www.thehotline.net/Site/Welcome.html

CSA member, John Morina, is the drummer for The Hotline. They rock out doing blues, funk, soul, rock…check out the website for a taste and then see them live to experience the real deal!


Sunday, November 14th

6pm

Slow Food Pot Luck
East Northport
$5 Donation
For more info:
Carolyn
Email: morgy5@aol.com

Getting together and sharing good food is at the heart of what Slow Food is all about. Bring a home made dish to share (appetizer, salad, main course or dessert).
For more info about Slow Food and becoming a member:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/



Wednesday, November 17th

12:30pm

Jamie Oliver Book Signing
Borders
100 Broadway (between Wall St & Pine St)
NYC
For more info:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/StoreDetailView_566


Saturday, November 20th

UUFH Services Auction
109 Browns Rd
Huntington
For more info:
Look on the tables on your way into the CSA

Some of the things being auctioned off thru Green Thumb Farm CSA – Huntington are…
1. Seasonal Basket of Plenty from Green Thumb Farm including a cookbook, Honey, and t-shirt
2. Romantic Dinner and BBQ package of Steaks, Hamburgers and Hot Dogs from Dines Farm
3. A year’s pass for two to the Cinema Arts Centre – Cinema Co-Directors Dylan Skolnick and Charlotte Sky are longtime CSA members


Sunday, November 21st

2pm

Healthy Planet Dinner/Lecture Series
16th Annual Turkey Free Thanksgiving Potluck!
Sweet Hollow Hall
Melville
For more info and reservations:
Call 631-421-5591
e-mail: info@healthy-planet.org
http://www.healthy-planet.org/Series/index.asp

Featured speaker will be Howard Lyman, the Mad Cowboy…made famous when he helped Oprah Winfrey when she was sued for saying on tv how she’d never eat a Hamburger again after knowing how they were made and what was in them.


Sunday, November 28th

2pm

Let’s Eat: Food on Film presents…
Colony – The Plight of the Honeybee
Cinema Arts Center
423 Park Ave
Huntington
More info TBA

Film and discussion with Beekeeper Rich Blohm and Green Thumb Farm’s own Beekeeper, Mary Woltz. Apitherapy presentation by Frederique Keller, a licensed acupuncturist who incorporates classical homeopathy and bee venom therapy as well as utilizes honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee bread. Meade tasting. It’s a day to celebrate honey bees- our most precious pollinators

Sunday, December 5th

Green Thumb Farm
Rt 27
Water Mill, NY

Our CSA farm’s farmstand’s last day of operation till May 2011! There might be some pretty good deals to be had.


Tuesday, December 7th

7 to 9pm

New York City Beekeepers Association Meeting
Seafarers and International House
123 E 15th St (between Irving Pl and 3rd Ave)
NYC
To close out the year, bee expert and author Dr. Larry Connor will join NYCBA on Tuesday, December 7 for a talk on "Bee Sex in the City." Mini-Louboutins for your bees will not be provided, but Dr. Connor will review the basic reproduction of bee colonies, the development and mating of queens, and their mating behavior. A question and answer period will follow the talk. For further information about Dr. Connor, please visit www.wicwas.com.

Saturday, January 15th

9am to 5pm

NOFA-MA Winter Conference
Worchester Tech High School
Worchester, MA
For more info and to register:
http://www.nofamass.org/conferences/winter/index.php

Keynote speech by Michael Phillips, author of The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist. This guy is the go to person for organic Apple growing in the northeast. If you have any interest in growing Apples, it would be very worthwhile to make the trip and attend this. There is also an all day seminar on Herbs for Family Health by master herbalist Nancy Phillips of Heartsong Farm Healing Herbs. I think I’m going to the Apple seminar. Anyone interested in the Herb one and we can share notes afterwards?


Friday, January 21st to Sunday, January 23rd

NOFA-NY Winter Conference
Saratoga Springs, NY
For more info and to register:
https://www.nofany.org/events/winter-conference

Many workshops, many excellent teachers, much partying, much good food.


Friday, January 29th and Saturday, January 30th

NOFA-NJ Winter Conference
For more info:
http://nofanj.org/winter_conference.htm


March 5th

NOFA-CT Winter Conference
Manchester, CT
For more info:
http://www.ctnofa.org/



9. Dried Beans, Anyone?

CSA member, Haley Wiggins also gave me this article…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/magazine/17food-t-000.html

Cayuga Pure Organics has sold to NYC CSAs in the past. I’ve met people from the company/farm and inquired and it may be possible to get them for next year if there’s an interest and if someone (could be me) is interested/able to handle the ordering, etc.

This is their website…
http://www.cporganics.com/live/

This is a restaurant I know that uses their Beans and their Freekeh (roasted green Spelt berries)…everything here is organic/local/vegan (they had to, to keep the prices down) and the dishes are all $10 and under…
http://eatgreenpoint.com/



10. Scholarship for young people who might want to be farmers…

Deadline is November 19th so it might be too late for this year (or not) but maybe next year or at some point in the future. Spread the word to anyone who might be interested in this.

For more info scroll to the bottom of this page…
http://www.nyfb.org/membership/subpage.cfm?ID=49



11. It’s time to weigh our food!

Yup! It’s that time of year. Sounds easy right? Put food in the scale and weigh it, right? Not exactly .

A. Bring reading glasses if you need them OR have the person by the scale read it for you

B. Please follow the instructions given by the person(s) at the scale. There may be more than one food item that needs to get weighed at the same time on the same scale. It may not make sense to you or seem necessary but our farmer has asked us to do so. Will be glad to explain if you want to know the specifics.

C. Most important…If you can’t get an exact weight (it happens), DO NOT GO OVER THE WEIGHT POSTED ON THE CSA WALL CHART!!!!
I can’t emphasize this enough. All we need is a few people thinking that it’s no big deal to be a smidge over the amount and….it becomes a big deal! Just think about it…1 oz…what’s that? Two Green Beans? So what???? Ok…we have 82 CSA members and if 32 of them go over by that 1 oz that adds up to 2 pound and it may mean that one or two people don’t get ANY Beans at the end of the night. Serves them right for coming late, huh? That’s not how the CSA works. Everyone paid the same amount to receive the same amount of food so it’s up to each one of us to make sure that happens.

D. Please stand directly in front of the scale and make sure the red line (weight indicator) has not “disappeared” behind the colored tape on the readout part of the scale. If you stand to either side of the scale…you can still see the red line but you’re going to go over the correct amount (it’s the customer’s equivalent of the story about the butcher that keeps their finger on the scale to skew the weight).

E. There may be a plastic bag in the scale…if there is, don’t take it with you! We use it to keep the vegetables from falling out of the bowl and, believe it or not, keep the weight consistant. Different plastic bags weigh different amounts. So, weigh it in the bag that’s in the scale and then dump the food into your own bag/basket/carrier. Thanks!

F. Please don’t drop the scales…the top sometimes sticks to the bottom and lifts it up when you’re getting your food out of the measuring bowl and so the bottom then drops on the floor and breaks…just be aware and please be careful…thanks!



12. Holiday time is around the corner…anyone looking for some new cookbooks for gifts (to get or to give) this year?

If you’re going to buy a cookbook, I always recommend this one (seen on many 10 Best Lists by food professionals/chefs)…
How to Cook Everything – Mark Bittman
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-21886-how-to-cook-everything.aspx

From the same author comes…
How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian – Mark Bittman
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-20842-how-to-cook-everything-vegetarian.aspx

Quick and Easy Recipes – Mark Bittman
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-9420-mark-bittmans-quick-and-easy-recipes-from-the-new-york-times.aspx?affiliateid=10097

Bittman sees the light (my guess is he was diagnosed with heart disease and/or diabetes) and joins the food revolution…
The Food Matters Cookbook: Lose Weight and Heal the Planet – Mark Bittman
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-25499-the-food-matters-cookbook.aspx?affiliateid=10097

Alice’s latest…
In the Green Kitchen – Alice Waters
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-24520-in-the-green-kitchen.aspx?affiliateid=10097

Recipes from the great, and sadly defunct, magazine…Taunton Press’ Kitchen Gardener…
Cooking from the Garden: The Best Recipes from Kitchen Gardener
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-24679-cooking-from-the-garden.aspx?affiliateid=10097

Daikon is right on the cover…
Kansha: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions – Elizabeth Andoh
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-25237-kansha.aspx?affiliateid=10097

If you eat meat, might as well learn from an expert…
Meat – James Peterson
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-25236-meat.aspx

File under…if that don’t beat all! A Buddhist weight loss cookbook by none other than,,,
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life – Thich Nhat Hanh
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-24364-savor.aspx?affiliateid=10097

Looks interesting…Fresh from the Farm: Great Local Foods from NY State…
http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Farm-Great-Local-Foods/dp/0789320312

This is a great website for cookbooks in general and you can get some AMAZING deals in the sale section like this…
The Kitchen Garden Cookbook – Sylvia Thompson - ONLY $5.98!!! Cooking AND gardening info.
http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-14349-the-kitchen-garden-cookbook.aspx?affiliateid=10097

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