Thursday, December 16, 2010

Happy Autumn!

The last day of the CSA is today, December 16th. Though today is the last CSA pickup, if applicable, you’ll be getting emails in the next week or two regarding any unfinished CSA business. 2011 contracts will be emailed to current members in January. New inquiries will be emailed contracts 6 weeks after you get yours to give current members a head start. As usual, there will be a limited number of memberships available for the “Spring” session (April & May) and then more members (and those who didn’t get into the Spring session) can be accepted in June for the rest of the season.

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.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO WEIGH OUT YOUR FOOD CAREFULLY.

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, we can fill the CSA up next year and not have to contemplate everyone working more hours, or putting a limit on how many non-working CSA members the CSA can sustain.

This email includes…
1. HELP!!! Your CSA does need you this week!!! We need THREE (3) people from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30pm to 7:30pm…anyone who’s completed their hours are welcome to participate!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. Notes from the Farm
4. BRING BAGS!
5. What you actually got last week
6. Tragic death comes to the LI sustainable farming community…
7. New Farmer’s Market at Sweet Hollow Hall starting this Saturday?
8. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
9. It’s time to weigh our food!


1. HELP!!! Your CSA does need you this week!!! We need THREE (3) people from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30pm to 7:30pm…anyone who’s completed their hours are welcome to participate!

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

If you didn’t get a postcard today stating you’ve completed 12 hours at the CSA…you haven’t.

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 (except the Black Turtle Beans BUT there is a basic info sheet for it)

December 16, 2010
Week #35

1. Kale: Lacinato, Red – 1 bunch
2. Beans, Black Turtle (dried)
3. Jerusalem Artichokes
4. Radishes, Winter: Black Spanish, Daikon, Misato (Watermelon)
5. Beets: Chiogga/Red
Total: 5 (?)



3. Notes from the Farm

December 2010

This is our last newsletter of the year and overall, it was a good growing season for us – some things, as always, doing better than others.

Our biggest support comes from our CSA members who enjoy and look forward to our seasonal bounty. From Strawberries and Peas in the spring to Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes and Green in the fall, we raise it all…over 350 varieties of vegetables, though some never make it to our CSA members (due to some crops being too delicate to travel at all like Summer Squash Blossoms, some not even making it to our farmstand…our crops can and do succumb to too much heat/insects/cold/drought/mold/drowning…or in some case too little heat/cold/moisture/dryness/insects, or some crops can just not being plentiful enough to get to our CSA members)…maybe next year.

So, our thanks go out to all our members for being part of the solution for sustainable eating, health and living…local, certified organic, small family farming.

Our last deliveries are this week. We will start up again spring 2011. It will be our 16th year of doing CSAs (14 for Green Thumb CSA – Huntington). We hope all our member will return and see what bounty nature has in store for us next season. Thanks again for all your wonderful support!

Organically yours and Season’s Greetings!
Farmer Bill (Halsey)



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. What you actually got last week

December 9, 2010
Week #34

1. Sweet Potatoes – 2 lbs - $5.00
2. Collard Greens – 1 bunch - $3.25
3. Turnips: Golden Globe OR Japanese Red, OR Rutabaga – 1 ½ lbs (1 bag) - $3.25
4. Garlic – ¼ lb - $2.50
5. Cauliflower: Green OR Romanesco – 1 head - $2.50
6. Squash, Winter: Nepali Farsi * - 1 - $2.00
Total Items: 6
Total Amount: $18.50

Herb Share
Dec 1A
Arugula AND Peppers, Hot (dried)

*SAVE THE SEEDS – Why? Farmer Bill brought the seeds for these back from a 3 month hiking/camping winter trip to Nepal. He planted them at the farm and has been growing them ever since. He needs us to save the seeds to continue to grow them as he can’t buy them ANYWHERE! He could go back to Nepal to find them but with 3 young children, I think his travelling days are over for a while longer.

DO NOT SAVE THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SEEDS…however, if you feel compelled to  …DO NOT MIX WITH THE NEPALI FARSI WINTER SQUASH!!!!! Label correctly if you do…don’t just write Winter Squash. They don’t want a hybrid and that’s what would happen if these guys grew near each other.

How to save these seeds…
1. Scoop out the seeds and place in a bowl of water and rub off ALL of the orange gunk (botanical word for…pulp and/or membranes  ). If you don’t get all of it off, it can be make the seeds get moldy/nasty and then not be able to be used as they are now diseased and must be discarded

2. Place on a cookie sheet, cutting board, or a piece of cardboard (NOT on paper towels as the towels may contain non-organic chemicals/dyes…whatever…Farmer Bill asked us not to do it), spread out in a single layer and let air dry for at least 7 days (do not expose to heat to speed up the process…it will kill the seed)…every day stir them about and re-spread in a single layer to help dry evenly and faster

3. When dry, store in a PAPER BAG or paper envelope or wrap in paper towels…plastic will make them get moldy (even though they appear dry they may not be)…and label them “Farsi”

Scroll to the bottom to see what they should look like…very clean!!!
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/wintersquash.html



6. Tragic death comes to the Long Island sustainable farming community…

What a mystery and how sad!
http://easthampton.patch.com/articles/report-industrial-accident-at-quail-hill-farm

There is a Trust being established for the children (ages approx 3/12 and 7 months) so if anyone wishes to make a donation….
http://www.peconiclandtrust.org/quail_hill_farm.html

There are 800 tractor deaths a year on average. I wonder…would Josh be alive if he had used the check list in this LONG article about Tractor Safety? Or was it a mechanical failure in which nothing could have been done to prevent this?
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae200

And who knew there was such a gruesome yet interesting website??? Numerous other tractor deaths, etc, on farms in here…
http://weeklytoll.blogspot.com/



7. New Farmer’s Market at Sweet Hollow Hall starting last Saturday?

Did anyone go check it out?

According to Larry of Dines Farm, there’s a winter farmer’s market starting Saturday, December 11th at Sweet Hollow Hall in Melville.

It will be bi-weekly (monthly?).

Dines Farm will be participating at this market and therefore will not be delivering to the UUFH this winter.

HOWEVER, I’ve heard nothing about this in the media so far and am not convinced…A) this market will open by this weekend and B) this market will be financially viable to last thru the winter.

I’ll keep y’all posted as I get information.

Just found this online and they give the start date as January…
http://www.resprout.com/2010/11/long-island-winter-farmers-market-coming-january-2011/

CSA member Amy Hirschfeld saw a notice in the paper North Shore Today for the LI Winter Market starting on December 11th.



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/


Friday, December 17th

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!


Monday, December 20th

5pm to 7pm

Food Equity Fundraiser
Oheka Castle
135 West Gate Dr
Huntington
$150
For more info:
Katie Kelly 516-873-0230
http://www.sustainableli.org/event/food-equity-fundraiser/

Cocktails in Support of Food Equity…an elegant evening hosted by Sustainable Long Island in celebration of local efforts to increase access to fresh, affordable food in low income communities.

For the past two years Slow Food Huntington has worked with Sustainable Long Island as they have launched initiatives such as the wildly successful youth-run farmers’ markets in low-income communities. During this event, Sustainable Long Island will be honoring the work of Ann Rathkopf and Bhavani Jaroff in establishing the Huntington Chapter of Slow Food, and also the work of Joseph Gergela III of the Long Island Farm Bureau. There will be food, fun, and festivities during this cocktail party, with a brief program. Ticket price includes a one year membership to Slow Food USA.

Please join us in supporting Sustainable Long Island’s ongoing work for food equity in our Long Island communities.
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/


Friday, April 15th

10am

FARM SummIT!
SUNY Old Westbury
Old Westbury, NY
Details TBA

Featured speaker scheduled is Joel Salatin from Polyface Farm.



9. 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 pounds 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 consistent. 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!

###

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Happy Autumn!

Dines Farm not coming this week! Dines Farm will be at the CSA on closing day, December 16th.

The last day of the CSA is December 16th. 2011 contracts will be emailed to current members in January. New inquiries will be emailed contracts 6 weeks after you get yours to give current members a head start. As usual, there will be a limited number of memberships available for the “Spring” session (April & May) and then more members (and those who didn’t get into the Spring session) can be accepted in June for the rest of the season.

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.

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. HELP!!! Your CSA does need you this week!!! We need FOUR (4) people from 3:30pm to 5:30pm…anyone who’s completed their hours are welcome to participate!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. CSA member Ann Rathkopf being honored for establishing a Slow Food chapter in Huntington (see below #8 December 20th)
4. BRING BAGS!
5. What you actually got last week (and the week before)
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. New Farmer’s Market at Sweet Hollow Hall starting this Saturday?
8. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
9. It’s time to weigh our food!
10. Help small farmers by calling your member of Congress…and spread the word!


1. HELP!!! Your CSA does need you this week!!! We need FOUR (4) people from 3:30pm to 5:30pm…anyone who’s completed their hours welcome to participate!

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

If you didn’t get a postcard today stating you’ve completed 12 hours at the CSA…you haven’t.

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 EXCEPT for Romanesco (however cook like Broccoli so Broccoli sheet is attached)

December 9, 2010
Week #34

1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Collard Greens
3. Garlic
4. Romanesco* OR Cauliflower, Green – 1 head
5. Squash, Winter: Pharsi** – 1
6. Turnips: Japanese, Red & Golden OR Rutabagas – 1 bag
Total: 6 (?)

Herb Share
Dec 1A
Arugula (maybe) AND Pepper, Hot (dried)

*Cook like Broccoli…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli

**SAVE THE SEEDS – Why? Farmer Bill brought the seeds for these back from a 3 month hiking/camping winter trip to Nepal. He planted them at the farm and has been growing them ever since. He needs us to save the seeds to continue to grow them as he can’t buy them ANYWHERE! He could go back to Nepal to find them but with 3 young children, I think his travelling days are over for a while longer.

DO NOT SAVE THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SEEDS…however, if you feel compelled to  …DO NOT MIX WITH THE NEPALI FARSI WINTER SQUASH!!!!! Label correctly if you do…don’t just write Winter Squash. They don’t want a hybrid and that’s what would happen if these guys grew near each other.

How to save these seeds…
1. Scoop out the seeds and place in a bowl of water and rub off ALL of the orange gunk (botanical word for…pulp and/or membranes  ). If you don’t get all of it off, it can be make the seeds get moldy/nasty and then not be able to be used as they are now diseased and must be discarded

2. Place on a cookie sheet, cutting board, or a piece of cardboard (NOT on paper towels as the towels may contain non-organic chemicals/dyes…whatever…Farmer Bill asked us not to do it), spread out in a single layer and let air dry for at least 7 days (do not expose to heat to speed up the process…it will kill the seed)…every day stir them about and re-spread in a single layer to help dry evenly and faster

3. When dry, store in a PAPER BAG or paper envelope or wrap in paper towels…plastic will make them get moldy (even though they appear dry they may not be)…and label them “Farsi”

Scroll to the bottom to see what they should look like…very clean!!!
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/wintersquash.html



3. CSA member Ann Rathkopf being honored for establishing a Slow Food chapter in Huntington (see below #8 December 20th)

Deadline for purchasing tickets for this event is Friday, December 10th!



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. What you actually got last week (and the week before)

December 2, 2010
Week #33

1. Sweet Potatoes – 2 lbs - $5.00
2. Lettuce: Lollo Rossa – 1 head - $2.25
3. Kale: Russian, White – 1 bunch - $3.25
4. Broccoli Raab/Rabe/Rape – 1 bunch
5. Thyme OR Savory ** – 1 bunch - $2.25
6. Squash, Winter: Nepali Farsi * - 1 - $2.50
Total Items: 6 (?)
Total Amount: $18.00

*SAVE THE SEEDS – Why? Farmer Bill brought the seeds for these back from a 3 month hiking/camping winter trip to Nepal. He planted them at the farm and has been growing them ever since. He needs us to save the seeds to continue to grow them as he can’t buy them ANYWHERE! He could go back to Nepal to find them but with 3 young children, I think his travelling days are over for a while longer.

DO NOT SAVE THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SEEDS…however, if you feel compelled to  …DO NOT MIX WITH THE NEPALI FARSI WINTER SQUASH!!!!! Label correctly if you do…don’t just write Winter Squash. They don’t want a hybrid and that’s what would happen if these guys grew near each other.

How to save these seeds…
1. Scoop out the seeds and place in a bowl of water and rub off ALL of the orange gunk (botanical word for…pulp and/or membranes  ). If you don’t get all of it off, it can be make the seeds get moldy/nasty and then not be able to be used as they are now diseased and must be discarded

2. Place on a cookie sheet, cutting board, or a piece of cardboard (NOT on paper towels as the towels may contain non-organic chemicals/dyes…whatever…Farmer Bill asked us not to do it), spread out in a single layer and let air dry for at least 7 days (do not expose to heat to speed up the process…it will kill the seed)…every day stir them about and re-spread in a single layer to help dry evenly and faster

3. When dry, store in a PAPER BAG or paper envelope or wrap in paper towels…plastic will make them get moldy (even though they appear dry they may not be)…and label them “Farsi”

Scroll to the bottom to see what they should look like…very clean!!!
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/wintersquash.html


**Savory info…
http://www.apinchof.com/savory1075.html
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/savsum24.html
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/savory
http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/columns/gilbert/savory.htm


November 24, 2010
Week #32

1. Sweet Potatoes – 2 lbs - $5.00
2. Turnips, White – 1 ½ lbs - $3.00
3. Rosemary – 1 bunch - $2.25
4. Cauliflower, Green – 1 head - $2.50
5. Fennel – 1 bunch - $3.25
6. Lettuce: Leaf, Green OR Leaf, Red – 1 head - $2.25

Total: 6
Total Amount $18.25



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. New Farmer’s Market at Sweet Hollow Hall starting this Saturday?

According to Larry of Dines Farm, there’s a winter farmer’s market starting Saturday, December 11th at Sweet Hollow Hall in Melville.

It will be bi-weekly (monthly?).

Dines Farm will be participating at this market and therefore will not be delivering to the UUFH this winter.

HOWEVER, I’ve heard nothing about this in the media so far and am not convinced…A) this market will open by this weekend and B) this market will be financially viable to last thru the winter.

I’ll keep y’all posted as I get information.

Just found this online and they give the start date as January…
http://www.resprout.com/2010/11/long-island-winter-farmers-market-coming-january-2011/



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/


Thursday, December 9th

7:30pm

Kings of Pastry
Cinema Arts Centre
423 Park Ave
Huntington, NY
$9 – Members/$13 – General Public (includes reception with desserts provided by La Bonne Boulangerie)
For more info:
631-423-FILM
www.cinemaartscentre.org

“Intriguing, Mouthwatering, Irresistible.” - Los Angeles Times

Sixteen contenders seek the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, France's highest honor in the art of patisserie, employing vast amounts of sugar, butter and eggs - not to mention adrenaline - to create fantastical, delicious creations. Filmmakers D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (The War Room, Monterey Pop) secured exclusive access to shoot this never-before-filmed event. It's a suspenseful quest for artistic perfection - brimming with passion, sacrifice, disappointment, and joy - to become one of the Kings of Pastry.

In Person: Filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus

Friday, December 10th

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!

8pm

Terra Madre Day
Cinema Arts Centre
423 Park Ave
Huntington, NY
$10 Suggested Donation

Video presentation, stories from our Terra Madre Delegates and Pot-Luck celebration,
Come celebrate our local food community and be a part of the movement! Slow Food Huntington delegates will share stories from this year’s Terra Madre world meeting, which brought 6,000 activists, chefs, farmers, policy makers, students, and other food producers together in Turin, Italy. Short film presentation and slides. Pot-luck reception - please bring a dish to share - great music, and conviviality.

This is just one of 1,086 celebrations of Terra Madre Day happening across the globe. To learn more and for an interactive map of the other events: http://www.slowfood.com/terramadreday/welcome_eng.lasso click on “what’s going on, where” to see the complete list.

Monday, December 13th

6:30pm

NOFA-LI Chapter Holiday Gathering
Love Lane Kitchen
240 Love Lane
Mattituck
$35 per person (Cash Bar)
RSPV by December 9th
Call: 631-298-8989
Email: farmer@gardenofeve.com

All NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) members welcome!
For more info and to join NOFA-NY:
https://www.nofany.org/


Monday, December 20th

5pm to 7pm

Food Equity Fundraiser
Oheka Castle
135 West Gate Dr
Huntington
$150
For more info:
Katie Kelly 516-873-0230
http://www.sustainableli.org/event/food-equity-fundraiser/

Cocktails in Support of Food Equity…an elegant evening hosted by Sustainable Long Island in celebration of local efforts to increase access to fresh, affordable food in low income communities.

For the past two years Slow Food Huntington has worked with Sustainable Long Island as they have launched initiatives such as the wildly successful youth-run farmers’ markets in low-income communities. During this event, Sustainable Long Island will be honoring the work of Ann Rathkopf and Bhavani Jaroff in establishing the Huntington Chapter of Slow Food, and also the work of Joseph Gergela III of the Long Island Farm Bureau. There will be food, fun, and festivities during this cocktail party, with a brief program. Ticket price includes a one year membership to Slow Food USA.

Please join us in supporting Sustainable Long Island’s ongoing work for food equity in our Long Island communities.

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/


Friday, April 15th

10am

FARM SummIT!
SUNY Old Westbury
Old Westbury, NY
Details TBA

Featured speaker scheduled is Joel Salatin from Polyface Farm.



9. 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 pounds 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 consistent. 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!



10. Help small farmers by calling your member of Congress…and spread the word!

Local and Regional Food at Risk
Call Your Representative

Food Safety Legislation passed by the Senate and to be considered by the House as early as this week is in trouble. Big Ag is out in force, lobbying House members to ditch provisions that are friendly to small and midsize farms. They know that if they can impose expensive and one-size-fits-all food safety rules, they can stop the growing local food movement in its tracks. Lawmakers are dealing with significant misinformation and confusion and our hard won amendments may be lost. We must send a loud and clear message about where we stand.
Call Your Representative Today!

Urge them to pass the Senate Bill with the Tester-Hagen Amendment Intact

It’s easy to call: Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code. Click on your Representative’s name, and then on the contact tab for their phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Representative’s office: 202-224-3121.

The message is simple: “I am a constituent of Representative ___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to pass the Senate version of the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) with the Tester-Hagen Amendment intact. We need a food safety bill that cracks down on corporate bad actors without erecting new barriers to more local and regional food sourcing. Regulation that is scaled appropriately for small and mid-sized farms and processors is vital to economic recovery, public health, and nutritional wellbeing.”

Background:

Read our latest report: A Sustainable Agriculture Perspective on Food Safety.

What’s in the Tester-Hagen Amendment?

(1) The amendment clarifies existing law which says that farmers who direct market more than 50% of their product to the consumer at the farm or at a retail location off the farm such as a farm stand or farmer’s market need not register with FDA. This clarification is especially important for off-farm retail locations such as farmers markets.

(2) It provides a size appropriate and less costly alternative to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Plans (HACCP) for farmers who:
• Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants, and
• Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000, and
• Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 275 miles.
Farmers who qualify must provide documentation that the farm is in compliance with state regulations. Documentation may include licenses, inspection reports, or other evidence that the farm is in compliance with State, local, county, or other applicable non-Federal food safety law. The farm must also prominently and conspicuously display the name and address of farm/facility on its label. For foods without a label then by poster, sign, or placard, at the point of purchase or, in the case of Internet sales, in an electronic notice, or in the case of sales to stores and restaurants, on the invoice.

If there are no state regulations or if the farmer prefers a different option, the farmer must provide FDA with documentation that potential hazards have been identified and that preventive controls have been implemented and are being monitored for effectiveness.

(3) It provides alternatives to the produce standards for farms that:
• Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants, and
• Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000, and
• Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 275 miles.
The farm must prominently and conspicuously display the name and address of farm/facility on its label. For foods without a label then by poster, sign, or placard, at the point of purchase or, in the case of Internet sales, in an electronic notice, or in the case of sales to stores and restaurants, on the invoice.

Also in the Senate Bill:

(1) An amendment sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to provide for a USDA-delivered competitive grants program for food safety training for farmers, small processors and wholesalers. The training projects will prioritize small and mid-scale farms, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, and small food processors and wholesalers. The grant program will be administered by USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

(2) An amendment sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) to reduce unnecessary paperwork and excess regulation required under the preventative control plan and the produce standards sections of the bill. FDA is instructed to provide flexibility for small processors including on-farm processing, to minimize the burden of compliance with regulations, and to minimize the number of different standards that apply to separate foods. FDA will also be prohibited from requiring farms and other food facilities to hire consultants to write food safety plans. The Bennet amendment applies to all small farms and processors, not just those who direct market within 400 miles of their farms.

(3) An amendment sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for farms that engage in value-added processing or that co-mingle product from several farms gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to either exempt farms engaged in low or no risk processing or co-mingling activities from new regulatory requirements or to modify particular regulatory requirements for such farming operations.

(4) An amendment championed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to strip the bill of wildlife-threatening enforcement against “animal encroachment” of farms is also in the manager’s package. It will require FDA to apply sound science to any requirements that might impact wildlife and wildlife habitat on farms.

(5) An amendment proposed by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will not require small farmers to meet extensive traceability and recordkeeping if they sell food directly to consumers or to grocery stores and allows labeling that preserves the identity of the farm to satisfy traceability requirements. The amendment also prevents FDA from requiring any farm from needing to keep records beyond the first point of sale when the product leaves the farm, except in the case of farms that co-mingle product from multiple farms, in which case they must also keep records one step back as well as one step forward.
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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Happy Autumn!

Dines Farm not coming this week! Jay is in Florida on a well needed holiday post-Thanksgiving and Mary would have had to drive down from the farm to meet up with Larry so Larry could get to Huntington with the meat & eggs. IF our orders were large enough that it made financial sense for them to come down it would have happened. Since the Nyack greenmarket is closed for the year, our small orders aren’t enough to make sense to come down. I understand regardless of what happens next week (my guess is they won’t be coming next week either…though I could be wrong) Dines Farm will be at the CSA on closing day, December 16th.

The last day of the CSA is December 16th. 2011 contracts will be emailed to current members in January. New inquiries will be emailed contracts 6 weeks after you get yours to give current members a head start. As usual, there will be a limited number of memberships available for the “Spring” session (April & May) and then more members (and those who didn’t get into the Spring session) can be accepted in June for the rest of the season.

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. Many years ago there actually was a woman who joined for the last two weeks of the CSA AND put all her hours in within the two weeks so it’s not so farfetched to keep this in the email!

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. HELP!!! Your CSA does need you this week!!! We need FOUR (4) people from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and FOUR (4) people from 5:30 to 7:30pm…anyone who’s completed their hours welcome!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. Armchair Activist – GMO Sugar Beets…Just Say NO! Do it before December 6th.
4. BRING BAGS!
5. Son of a Farmer Interview
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Online cooking school
8. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
9. It’s time to weigh our food!


1. HELP!!! Your CSA does need you this week!!! We need FOUR (4) people from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and FOUR (4) people from 5:30 to 7:30pm…anyone who’s completed their hours welcome!

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

If you didn’t get a postcard today stating you’ve completed 12 hours at the CSA…you haven’t.

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 EXCEPT for Savory

December 2, 2010
Week #33

1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce – 1 head
3. Kale – 1 bunch
4. Broccoli Raab/Rabe/Rape – 1 bunch
5. Thyme OR Savory ** – 1 bunch
6. Squash, Winter: Nepali Farsi *
Total Items: 6 (?)

*SAVE THE SEEDS – Why? Farmer Bill brought the seeds for these back from a 3 month hiking/camping winter trip to Nepal. He planted them at the farm and has been growing them ever since. He needs us to save the seeds to continue to grow them as he can’t buy them ANYWHERE! He could go back to Nepal to find them but with 3 young children, I think his travelling days are over for a while longer.

DO NOT SAVE THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SEEDS…however, if you feel compelled to  …DO NOT MIX WITH THE NEPALI FARSI WINTER SQUASH!!!!! Label correctly if you do…don’t just write Winter Squash. They don’t want a hybrid and that’s what would happen if these guys grew near each other.

How to save these seeds…
1. Scoop out the seeds and place in a bowl of water and rub off ALL of the orange gunk (botanical word for…pulp and/or membranes  ). If you don’t get all of it off, it can be make the seeds get moldy/nasty and then not be able to be used as they are now diseased and must be discarded

2. Place on a cookie sheet, cutting board, or a piece of cardboard (NOT on paper towels as the towels may contain non-organic chemicals/dyes…whatever…Farmer Bill asked us not to do it), spread out in a single layer and let air dry for at least 7 days (do not expose to heat to speed up the process…it will kill the seed)…every day stir them about and re-spread in a single layer to help dry evenly and faster

3. When dry, store in a PAPER BAG or paper envelope or wrap in paper towels…plastic will make them get moldy (even though they appear dry they may not be)…and label them “Farsi”

Scroll to the bottom to see what they should look like…very clean!!!
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/wintersquash.html


**Savory info…
http://www.apinchof.com/savory1075.html
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/savsum24.html
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/savory
http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/columns/gilbert/savory.htm


3. Armchair Activist – GMO Sugar Beets…Just Say NO! Do it before December 6th.
A Not Sweet Holiday Treat: USDA Proposing Interim Planting of Illegal, Genetically Engineered Sugar Beets: Tell USDA To Say No! Farmers and Consumers Will be at risk

https://secure3.convio.net/cfs/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=349&JServSessionIdr004=xqugj6c3c1.app306a

Spread the word!!!



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. Son of a Farmer Interview

Eric Herm is a West Texan who’s returned to the family cotton farm and wants to change things…no GMOs, not spraying pesticides or herbicides…but his dad is still alive and skeptical and so he’s written a book and here’s his website...
http://www.sonofafarmer.com/

CSA member Dylan Skolnick heard and interview with Herm and thought I’d like it so I’m sharing it with y’all…
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2010/nov/23/son-farmer-child-earth/

*File this under…ya learn something new every day – when you open a bag of GMO seeds, you need to WEAR GLOVES when handling GMO seeds…apparently it’s on the label. Who knew?



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. Online cooking school…

Looked interesting…not a personal indorsement…online video cooking school…$15 month, $99 a year, 1st 7 days free!
http://rouxbe.com/?l=t



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/


Friday, December 3rd

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!



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.

Monday, December 13th

6:30pm

NOFA-LI Chapter Holiday Gathering
Love Lane Kitchen
240 Love Lane
Mattituck
$35 per person (Cash Bar)
RSPV by December 9th
Call: 631-298-8989
Email: farmer@gardenofeve.com

All NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) members welcome!
For more info and to join NOFA-NY:
https://www.nofany.org/


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. 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 pounds 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 consistent. 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!

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