Happy Autumn!
Anyone go to the CSA Fall Tour & Pumpkin Picking this year? Email me comments 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.
Anyone else still interested in Honey??? I ordered 4 extra (that aren’t yet paid for), and Farmer Bill says he as about 10 more, in case anyone didn’t order yet or wants more than they ordered. They make great holiday presents and that time of year is fast approaching! If you’re interested, leave CASH ONLY at the CSA sign-in desk.
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). Just read that in addition to being antibacterial and antiviral, Honey can be an effective cough suppressant, more than most over the counter medicines and without the side effects or taking pharmaceuticals!
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for THREE (3) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. It’s time to weigh our food!
4. Jicama and Sensopai Info From Last Week’s CSA Share
5. BRING BAGS!
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
8. Click on this…armchair activism!
9. CSA member, Meg White, finds local food article on CNN website…
10. File under no good deed goes unpunished…
11. CSA Blogger who’s farm is our farm!
12. Steven Colbert as “Steven Colbert” testifies to Congress about migrant farmworkers…
1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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 list this week
October 28, 2010
Week #28
1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce: Leaf, Red
3. Beans: Romano – 1 bag
4. Chives OR Mizuna – 1 bunch
5. Broccoli
6. Tomatoes, Mini – 1 pt
Total Items: 6 (?)
3. 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!
4. Jicama and Senposai Info From Last Week’s CSA Share
Jicama
Wiki…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%ADcama
more info…
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/healthnutrition/foodrecipeactivity/food/jicama.htm
You can juice it!
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-jicama.htm
every one of these darn things has a little different piece of informations…
http://www.foodreference.com/html/art-jicama-history-facts.html
Fascinating! Just in time for the Day of the Dead on November 1st…
http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Pachyrhizus/index.html
How simple is this?
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/jicama-appetizer/Detail.aspx
Similar…
http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2010/06/02/raw-food-recipe-for-spicy-jicama-fries/
Kid friendly…
http://www.starchefs.com/kids/abcs/html/abcs_j.shtml
Easy-peasy…
http://www.examiner.com/low-carb-in-national/low-carb-jicama-hashed-browns-recipe
Love Chowhound…
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/491652
Senposai
I find this fascinating. Farmers are extremely hard-working busy people, often solitary, often not so verbal. And somehow, many end up planting the same new peculiar thing without having read about it or talked to other farmer’s about it. It’s like some collective consciousness thing…
They were getting this last year in Bed Sty!
http://conucofarm.blogspot.com/2009/05/senposai_08.html
From a CSA in Pennsylvania!
http://www.anchorrunfarm.com/sm_db_item.php?id=10&featuretype=veggie
Couldn’t figure out what CSA she belongs to (though I have emailed her and found out it’s one in Pennsylvania but not the one above) but we’re clearly not alone!
http://www.mealsformoderns.com/2010/10/ricotta-gratin-of-senposai-potatoes-and.html
more recipes…
http://www.wildfrontiermusic.com/senposai.htm
and another one…
http://vegetablematter.blogspot.com/2009/10/farro-pasta-with-goat-cheese-eggplant.html
one with Japanese Eggplant…
http://vegetablematter.blogspot.com/2009/10/spicy-tofu-with-asian-greens.html
If you like it you can order the seeds…
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/senposai.html
or from here (best seed company in the northeast)…
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/SeedsItem.php?id=3218&SeedName=senposai
This is the guy to thank for growing Senposai in the USA…
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/seedpodweevil.html
Think I’ll get this book…
http://books.google.com/books?id=sLr7AtqDDeYC&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=senposai&source=bl&ots=Op_7xqjCXd&sig=ODjU11B7mYFq-gk55cw41a1UuCw&hl=en&ei=CXzBTLHKOcOC8ga7ioGCBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCYQ6AEwBTgU#v=onepage&q=senposai&f=false
And of course, CSA godmother Elizabeth Henderson was growing this in 1999!!!
Even though she’d been farming since the mid 1980’s, this was the first season since she divorced from her husband/co-farmer/business partner and had to get her own farm…
http://www.gvocsa.org/web/newsletters/newsletter_1999_jul.html
5. 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!
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. 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, October 28th
12pm
Bobby Flay Book Signing
Borders
1260 Old Country Rd
Westbury
For more info:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/StoreDetailView_52
6pm to 10:30pm
2010 Hungerthon Kickoff Concert
Hart Rock Café Times Square
1501 Broadway (at 43rd St)
NYC
$95
To order tickets:
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=2015
For more info call:
Sue Leventhal 212-629-3224
Featuring The Persuations, Garland Jeffreys, Jen Chapin, Tom Chapin and hosted by Vincent Curatola from The Sopranos….and many more!
To learn more about the charity started by Huntington’s own Harry Chapin…
http://www.whyhunger.org/
Friday, October 29th
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, October 31st
6 to 9:45pm
Boorito 2010
Chipotle
Wherever they’re located (Huntington, Farmingdale, Hicksville on LI)
www.chipotle,com/boorito
Come into any Chipotle after 6pm dressed as a horrifying processed food product (think snack foods, cheese goo, weiners) and they will give you a Burrito, Bowl, Salad or an order of Tacos for $2.00!!!
The money (up to $1,000,000) will go to benefit Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution!
Take a photo of your horrifying processed food costume inside or in front of a Chipotle on Halloween and submit it online on or before November 8th and be entered into a costume contest where the top prize is $2,500!
Monday, November 1st to 3rd
Women in Sustainable Agriculture Conference
Fairlee, VT
$100 to $150 (includes 5 meals and all sessions and materials)
For more info and to register:
http://www.uvm.edu/wagn/?Page=conference/index.html&SM=conference/sub-menu.html
Happens once every 5 years!
The 2010 Women in Sustainable Agriculture Conference will bring together farmers, ranchers, educators, agricultural service providers and activists to to build production and business skills, share educational and organizational strategies, and forge new connections all aimed at expanding the success of women in sustainable agriculture. This conference will celebrate farm women's accomplishments, and through your participation set the stage for even further success.
Tuesday, November 2nd
7 to 9pm
New York City Beekeepers Association Meeting
Seafarers and International House
123 E 15th St (between Irving Pl and 3rd Ave)
NYC
Jeoparbee! The live, TV-style game show will be hosted by Howland Blackiston, author of "Beekeeping for Dummies" and past president of Back Yard Beekeepers Association.
Contestants and audience members will get a chance to win valuable prizes while learning from Howland about bees and beekeeping. Prizes will be awarded for our contestants and one
lucky audience member. This is a meeting combining fun and beeknowledge, so join us and bring your friends and family!
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!
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, 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/
8. Click on this…armchair activism!
Click on this!!! Petition to protest using tax dollars to fund disinformation about pesticides in food…
http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1906&utm_source=natorganicsactionfull&utm_medium=email&utm_content=image&utm_campaign=food
We have the right to know what’s in our cleaning products (no matter what the corporations think)! Click here to register your opinion…
https://secure.consumersunion.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2213
Stop Genetically Raised Salmon from getting into the marketplace…unlabeled of course…and CLICK HERE…and spread the word!!!
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4942
Stop Nestle from taking local Oregon PUBLICLY OWNED spring water, labeling it and selling it…
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4285
UH-OH!!! Recalled eggs that had Salmonella are being USED to make powdered and liquid egg mixes…YUCK!!! Click here to stop this practice…
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4714
9. CSA member, Meg White, finds local food article on CNN website…
Nice! Check out the video and slide show…nice chicken tractor!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/17/gsif.farm.fresh/index.html#cnnSTCText
10. File under no good deed goes unpunished…
How many vegetables can one have before it becomes “offensive” ????
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-16-georgia-farmer-sued-for-growing-too-many-vegetables/
11. CSA Blogger who’s farm is our farm!
Grist blogger, Jennifer Prediger, is a member of the Cobble Hill CSA in Brooklyn and ONE of the farm that services them is Green Thumb Farm. They also have a separate Fruit Share from another farm (they’ve been thru several fruit farms over the years), Dines Farm is there on Tuesdays (their pickup day), and they have a Winter Share of frozen vegetables from yet another farm. I can’t imagine that’s an accurate picture of her share. It seems like a sampling of what she got as opposed to everything (there’s too few Beans in that photo). Farmer Bill has never seen this because he doesn’t “do” computers let alone the internet. However, I will email this to their website (hosted by his nephew) and his brother-in-law, Steve Storch (biodynamic guru ). Check out the latest entry and click on her name to get past ones…
http://www.grist.org/article/food-2010-10-08-urbivores-dilemma-week-18-tomatillo-cilantro-hot-peppers
12. Steven Colbert as “Steven Colbert” testifies to Congress about migrant farmworkers…
Someone conservative pundit said this was offensive to migrant workers but they must not have realized the Hispanic man he was sitting next to was the head of the United Farm Workers and HE was cracking up and there WITH Steven Colbert as they worked on this together…
http://www.grist.org/article/food-2010-09-24-colbert-to-congress-what-would-jesus-do-about-immigrant/
###
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Happy Autumn!
Is anyone missing the inside bottom of a reusable bag? I have a green fabric-like square that’s about 8 x 11 inches. It will be on the CSA Sign-In table and after that I’ll give it to the UUFH lost and found.
I don’t know about you but I am THRILLED!!! Attached to your email this week (along with the usual info for informing possible new CSA members…even at this late stage of the game) are Veggie Tip Sheets from the organization Just Food in NYC. Look familiar? They should. Now you can print these out and start your own CSA notebook/cookbook. Have I been holding out on you guys? Nope. I’ve only been waiting numerous years (gave up counting) for Just Food to get a computer disk that could be copied. It’s a long story. Ask if you want to hear it. For those of you with an Herb Share this week, I don’t know what the Herbs are yet and those sheets will be sent with the next CSA email. Please keep in mind that this disk doesn’t have all the sheets for what we get. For example, I’m hoping farmer Bill has sheets for the two vegetables that are new to the CSA this year that we’re getting this week (see below). So if you can’t figure out what they are or what to do with them…well, that’s what the internet is for!
If you like Jicama…you can thank CSA member Fritz Lang. He asked me if the farm grew it. I didn’t think you could in our climate so I put the bug in Farmer Bill’s ear and several years later…it’s here!
Anyone else still interested in Honey???
I ordered 8 extra in case anyone didn’t order yet or wants more than they ordered. They make great holiday presents and that time of year is fast approaching! If you’re interested, leave CASH ONLY at the CSA sign-in desk.
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). Just read that in addition to being antibacterial and antiviral, Honey can be an effective cough suppressant, more than most over the counter medicines and without the side effects or taking pharmaceuticals!
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. It’s time to weigh our food!
4. Notes from the Farm
5. BRING BAGS!
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
8. Click to win a new gas stove, or cash, and help children…
8. Do you use Agave? Read this!
10. Do you eat Salmon? Check this out…
11. Not so much fun facts (but a few happy ones at the end)…
1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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!)
October 21, 2010
Week #27
1. Jicama (first time ever at the CSA – root vegetable)
2. Lettuce
3. Beans: Green or Cranberry (shelling)
4. Sentosai (first time at the CSA – cooking green)
5. Radishes
6. Eggplant
7. Squash, Winter: Butternut
Total Items: 7 (?)
3. 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!
4. Notes from the Farm
October 15, 2010
We had our annual fall farm tour and Pumpkin picking last Saturday and it was a beautiful day to visit the farm. I would like to thank everyone and their families who took time to visit us. It’s a great opportunity for you to see the farm and talk to me about what’s going on with farming, organics and CSA. The next chance to visit the farm is Strawberry picking in June 2011 so mark your calendars!
As the weather becomes cooler, our crop selection is slowly changing. Our summer crops are ending and the fall crops have begun. Winter Squashes: Butternut, Acorn, Carnival and Delicata have all been harvested and are being stored in the barn for distribution over the next two months. Our Sweet Potatoes are all out of the ground and curing in our greenhouse. In addition, our field crops in the cole family are beginning…Broccoli, Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Kales and Brussel Sprouts. Lots of green s of many types and root crops will all be coming in the next two months!
Organically Yours,
Farmer Bill (Halsey)
5. 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!
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. 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, October 21st
7pm
No Impact Man
Sustainable Institute at Molloy College
Farmingdale
FREE but RSVP required
To RSVP:
http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/calendar.cfm?calendarID=446&month=10
Free food! (local snacks, popcorn & beverages) Networking! Good environmental movie that talks about eating local/organic! Co-sponsored by the Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI).
Friday, October 22nd
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, October 24th
12:30 to 3:30pm
Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow Park
Suggested Donation: $15, under 10 years old $10
For more info and to reserve a spot…
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
If you’ve never experienced Wildman Steve Brill and you like eating locally and/or organically…this is a must! You will leave with interesting things to cook for dinner, and may start to look differently at the “weeds” that come up in your backyard. You MUST read his website carefully and follow the instructions if you are to maximize your experience by dressing properly and bringing what you need to bring on this adventure. I’ve been told he’s corny…well, that’s true…but he’s also brilliant, and knows about eating and foraging in the wild like nobody’s business. Since he’s a fairly recent father, the event is a family friendly experience.
3pm
Healthy Planet Dinner/Lecture Series
Copper Wok Indian Fusion Eatery
16 W Marie St
Hicksville
$25 General Public/$20Members
For more info and reservations:
Call 631-421-5591
e-mail: info@healthy-planet.org
http://www.healthy-planet.org/Series/index.asp
Feature speaker Dr. Michael Greger will lecture on “The Latest in Human Nutrition: 2010”.
Sunday, October 31st
6 to 9:45pm
Boorito 2010
Chipotle
Wherever they’re located (Huntington, Farmingdale, Hicksville on LI)
www.chipotle,com/boorito
Come into any Chipotle after 6pm dressed as a horrifying processed food product (think snack foods, cheese goo, weiners) and they will give you a Burrito, Bowl, Salad or an order of Tacos for $2.00!!!
The money (up to $1,000,000) will go to benefit Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution!
Take a photo of your horrifying processed food costume inside or in front of a Chipotle on Halloween and submit it online on or before November 8th and be entered into a costume contest where the top prize is $2,500!
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, 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.
8. Click to win a new gas stove, or cash, and help children…
Click here to have Frigidaire donate $1 to Save the Children and enter to win $50 or a new gas stove…
http://www.maketimeforchange.com/index.html
9. Do you use Agave? Read this!
Pregnancy Alert!!! Think twice about using Agave…
http://www.sacredchocolate.com/agave-blues-david-wolfe
10. Do you eat Salmon? Check this out…
Sign petition for healthy sustainable Salmon!
http://www.whywild.org/sign-bill-rights
and this one too…
http://www.whywild.org/take-action/chefs-letter
Salmon buyer’s guide…
http://www.whywild.org/resources/buyers-guide
11. Not so much fun facts (but a few happy ones at the end)…
Farm Facts…why we need more farmers, to support the ones we have, and why they need to be organic!
Re-printed from Miranda Productions.com
Only 0.2% of U.S. population is producing most of its food. The average age of U.S. farmers is currently fifty-six.
US Census Bureau
We suffer a net loss of 32,500 farms a year. 88% of average farm household income is derived from off-farm.
PrairieFire for Rural Action
U.S. farmers apply nearly 45 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers each year. From 1990-1994, food processors and manufacturers showed an annual average return on their investment of 17.9%. Farmers during the same period showed a 1.98% return on their investment.
PrairieFire for Rural Action
In 1971 a new tractor cost $20,000 and wheat was $1.71 a bushel. In 1994 a new tractor of the same horsepower cost $100,000 and a bushel of wheat was $2.66.
Des Moines Register 7/16/94
Soil loss costs the U.S. economy around $44 billion a year. Worldwide, the number is well over $200 billion.
Dr. David Pimentel, Science magazine
Every pregnant woman in the world today has chemicals in her body that disrupt the endocrine system. These are transferred to the fetus as it grows. She also has measurable concentrations of endocrine disruptors in her milk that are transferred to the infant.
ERICE Statement 5/30/96
The World Resources Institute reports that, measured by traditional methods, the average farm shows an $80 per acre profit. If we calculate in all the costs of soil loss, water contamination, and environmental degradation caused by conventional farming practices, the average farm would show a $29 per acre loss.
Food in supermarkets travels an average of 1300 miles between production and consumption.
Out of every dollar Americans spend for food, ten cents goes to Phillip Morris, and six cents goes to Conagra.
PrairieFire for Rural Action
In a USDA study of twelve common food crops, from 35% to 80% of all samples tested had residues from one or more pesticides. This was after the samples had been washed, peeled and cored. In these residues were 12 different carcinogens, 17 different neurotoxins, and 11 different endocrine disruptors.
Environmental Working Group
Tree bark gathered from ninety sites around the world, from the tropics to the treeline, bears traces of chemicals related to DDT, lindane, chlordane, aldrin, and to 18 other pesticides and fungicides. Some chemicals used decades ago are still affecting the environment, often thousands of miles from where they were sprayed.
Associated Press 9/30/95
4.7 billion pounds of pesticides are annually applied to food crops worldwide. 1.25 billion pounds of pesticides were used in the U.S. in 1995, an all-time high.
EPA draft document June 1996
Assault rifles kill an estimated 250 people each year and pesticides kill an estimated 10,400 people each year, yet assault rifles have been banned while the use of pesticides is expanding.
Environmental News Weekly
Every spring, 18,000 pounds per day of herbicides wash down the Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Environmental Working Group
Between 1950 (the beginning of the Chemical Age) and 1988, the incidence of all forms of cancer increased by 43.5%, adjusted for age. Mortality rates from cancer rose by 2.9%.
Environmental News Weekly
In the United States, despite the use of pesticides, 35% of potential crops are lost to insects, diseases, and weeds. In 1945, before synthetic pesticides came into use, crop losses were 33%.
Dr. David Pimentel, Cornell University
Sales of U.S. organic products increased from $2.31 billion in 1994 to $2.8 billion in 1995. This is a 22% increase, and the sixth year in which sales have grown by more than 20%.
Natural Foods Merchandiser survey, June 1996
The USDA states that total organic cropland is approximately 1,127,000 acres in 1996, up from an estimated 550,267 acres in 1991. The number of organic farmers almost doubled between 1991 and 1994, increasing from 2,841 to 4,060.
###
Is anyone missing the inside bottom of a reusable bag? I have a green fabric-like square that’s about 8 x 11 inches. It will be on the CSA Sign-In table and after that I’ll give it to the UUFH lost and found.
I don’t know about you but I am THRILLED!!! Attached to your email this week (along with the usual info for informing possible new CSA members…even at this late stage of the game) are Veggie Tip Sheets from the organization Just Food in NYC. Look familiar? They should. Now you can print these out and start your own CSA notebook/cookbook. Have I been holding out on you guys? Nope. I’ve only been waiting numerous years (gave up counting) for Just Food to get a computer disk that could be copied. It’s a long story. Ask if you want to hear it. For those of you with an Herb Share this week, I don’t know what the Herbs are yet and those sheets will be sent with the next CSA email. Please keep in mind that this disk doesn’t have all the sheets for what we get. For example, I’m hoping farmer Bill has sheets for the two vegetables that are new to the CSA this year that we’re getting this week (see below). So if you can’t figure out what they are or what to do with them…well, that’s what the internet is for!
If you like Jicama…you can thank CSA member Fritz Lang. He asked me if the farm grew it. I didn’t think you could in our climate so I put the bug in Farmer Bill’s ear and several years later…it’s here!
Anyone else still interested in Honey???
I ordered 8 extra in case anyone didn’t order yet or wants more than they ordered. They make great holiday presents and that time of year is fast approaching! If you’re interested, leave CASH ONLY at the CSA sign-in desk.
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). Just read that in addition to being antibacterial and antiviral, Honey can be an effective cough suppressant, more than most over the counter medicines and without the side effects or taking pharmaceuticals!
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. It’s time to weigh our food!
4. Notes from the Farm
5. BRING BAGS!
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
8. Click to win a new gas stove, or cash, and help children…
8. Do you use Agave? Read this!
10. Do you eat Salmon? Check this out…
11. Not so much fun facts (but a few happy ones at the end)…
1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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!)
October 21, 2010
Week #27
1. Jicama (first time ever at the CSA – root vegetable)
2. Lettuce
3. Beans: Green or Cranberry (shelling)
4. Sentosai (first time at the CSA – cooking green)
5. Radishes
6. Eggplant
7. Squash, Winter: Butternut
Total Items: 7 (?)
3. 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!
4. Notes from the Farm
October 15, 2010
We had our annual fall farm tour and Pumpkin picking last Saturday and it was a beautiful day to visit the farm. I would like to thank everyone and their families who took time to visit us. It’s a great opportunity for you to see the farm and talk to me about what’s going on with farming, organics and CSA. The next chance to visit the farm is Strawberry picking in June 2011 so mark your calendars!
As the weather becomes cooler, our crop selection is slowly changing. Our summer crops are ending and the fall crops have begun. Winter Squashes: Butternut, Acorn, Carnival and Delicata have all been harvested and are being stored in the barn for distribution over the next two months. Our Sweet Potatoes are all out of the ground and curing in our greenhouse. In addition, our field crops in the cole family are beginning…Broccoli, Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Kales and Brussel Sprouts. Lots of green s of many types and root crops will all be coming in the next two months!
Organically Yours,
Farmer Bill (Halsey)
5. 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!
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. 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, October 21st
7pm
No Impact Man
Sustainable Institute at Molloy College
Farmingdale
FREE but RSVP required
To RSVP:
http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/calendar.cfm?calendarID=446&month=10
Free food! (local snacks, popcorn & beverages) Networking! Good environmental movie that talks about eating local/organic! Co-sponsored by the Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI).
Friday, October 22nd
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, October 24th
12:30 to 3:30pm
Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow Park
Suggested Donation: $15, under 10 years old $10
For more info and to reserve a spot…
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
If you’ve never experienced Wildman Steve Brill and you like eating locally and/or organically…this is a must! You will leave with interesting things to cook for dinner, and may start to look differently at the “weeds” that come up in your backyard. You MUST read his website carefully and follow the instructions if you are to maximize your experience by dressing properly and bringing what you need to bring on this adventure. I’ve been told he’s corny…well, that’s true…but he’s also brilliant, and knows about eating and foraging in the wild like nobody’s business. Since he’s a fairly recent father, the event is a family friendly experience.
3pm
Healthy Planet Dinner/Lecture Series
Copper Wok Indian Fusion Eatery
16 W Marie St
Hicksville
$25 General Public/$20Members
For more info and reservations:
Call 631-421-5591
e-mail: info@healthy-planet.org
http://www.healthy-planet.org/Series/index.asp
Feature speaker Dr. Michael Greger will lecture on “The Latest in Human Nutrition: 2010”.
Sunday, October 31st
6 to 9:45pm
Boorito 2010
Chipotle
Wherever they’re located (Huntington, Farmingdale, Hicksville on LI)
www.chipotle,com/boorito
Come into any Chipotle after 6pm dressed as a horrifying processed food product (think snack foods, cheese goo, weiners) and they will give you a Burrito, Bowl, Salad or an order of Tacos for $2.00!!!
The money (up to $1,000,000) will go to benefit Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution!
Take a photo of your horrifying processed food costume inside or in front of a Chipotle on Halloween and submit it online on or before November 8th and be entered into a costume contest where the top prize is $2,500!
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, 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.
8. Click to win a new gas stove, or cash, and help children…
Click here to have Frigidaire donate $1 to Save the Children and enter to win $50 or a new gas stove…
http://www.maketimeforchange.com/index.html
9. Do you use Agave? Read this!
Pregnancy Alert!!! Think twice about using Agave…
http://www.sacredchocolate.com/agave-blues-david-wolfe
10. Do you eat Salmon? Check this out…
Sign petition for healthy sustainable Salmon!
http://www.whywild.org/sign-bill-rights
and this one too…
http://www.whywild.org/take-action/chefs-letter
Salmon buyer’s guide…
http://www.whywild.org/resources/buyers-guide
11. Not so much fun facts (but a few happy ones at the end)…
Farm Facts…why we need more farmers, to support the ones we have, and why they need to be organic!
Re-printed from Miranda Productions.com
Only 0.2% of U.S. population is producing most of its food. The average age of U.S. farmers is currently fifty-six.
US Census Bureau
We suffer a net loss of 32,500 farms a year. 88% of average farm household income is derived from off-farm.
PrairieFire for Rural Action
U.S. farmers apply nearly 45 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers each year. From 1990-1994, food processors and manufacturers showed an annual average return on their investment of 17.9%. Farmers during the same period showed a 1.98% return on their investment.
PrairieFire for Rural Action
In 1971 a new tractor cost $20,000 and wheat was $1.71 a bushel. In 1994 a new tractor of the same horsepower cost $100,000 and a bushel of wheat was $2.66.
Des Moines Register 7/16/94
Soil loss costs the U.S. economy around $44 billion a year. Worldwide, the number is well over $200 billion.
Dr. David Pimentel, Science magazine
Every pregnant woman in the world today has chemicals in her body that disrupt the endocrine system. These are transferred to the fetus as it grows. She also has measurable concentrations of endocrine disruptors in her milk that are transferred to the infant.
ERICE Statement 5/30/96
The World Resources Institute reports that, measured by traditional methods, the average farm shows an $80 per acre profit. If we calculate in all the costs of soil loss, water contamination, and environmental degradation caused by conventional farming practices, the average farm would show a $29 per acre loss.
Food in supermarkets travels an average of 1300 miles between production and consumption.
Out of every dollar Americans spend for food, ten cents goes to Phillip Morris, and six cents goes to Conagra.
PrairieFire for Rural Action
In a USDA study of twelve common food crops, from 35% to 80% of all samples tested had residues from one or more pesticides. This was after the samples had been washed, peeled and cored. In these residues were 12 different carcinogens, 17 different neurotoxins, and 11 different endocrine disruptors.
Environmental Working Group
Tree bark gathered from ninety sites around the world, from the tropics to the treeline, bears traces of chemicals related to DDT, lindane, chlordane, aldrin, and to 18 other pesticides and fungicides. Some chemicals used decades ago are still affecting the environment, often thousands of miles from where they were sprayed.
Associated Press 9/30/95
4.7 billion pounds of pesticides are annually applied to food crops worldwide. 1.25 billion pounds of pesticides were used in the U.S. in 1995, an all-time high.
EPA draft document June 1996
Assault rifles kill an estimated 250 people each year and pesticides kill an estimated 10,400 people each year, yet assault rifles have been banned while the use of pesticides is expanding.
Environmental News Weekly
Every spring, 18,000 pounds per day of herbicides wash down the Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Environmental Working Group
Between 1950 (the beginning of the Chemical Age) and 1988, the incidence of all forms of cancer increased by 43.5%, adjusted for age. Mortality rates from cancer rose by 2.9%.
Environmental News Weekly
In the United States, despite the use of pesticides, 35% of potential crops are lost to insects, diseases, and weeds. In 1945, before synthetic pesticides came into use, crop losses were 33%.
Dr. David Pimentel, Cornell University
Sales of U.S. organic products increased from $2.31 billion in 1994 to $2.8 billion in 1995. This is a 22% increase, and the sixth year in which sales have grown by more than 20%.
Natural Foods Merchandiser survey, June 1996
The USDA states that total organic cropland is approximately 1,127,000 acres in 1996, up from an estimated 550,267 acres in 1991. The number of organic farmers almost doubled between 1991 and 1994, increasing from 2,841 to 4,060.
###
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Happy Autumn!
CSA member, Vickie Muller (member of the Holistic Moms Network chapter in Oyster Bay), lost her mother last week. If anyone wishes to express condolences, please email me and I’d be glad to forward them to her.
Last day to order Honey!!!
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by check/money order (made out to Halseys Green Thumb) or cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). Just read that in addition to being antibacterial and antiviral, Honey can be an effective cough suppressant, more than most over the counter medicines and without the side effects or taking pharmaceuticals!
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. It’s time to weigh our food!
4. BRING BAGS!
5. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
6. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
7. How to use Honey for allergies
8. CSA article in this past Sunday’s NY Times magazine which was “The Food Issue”…
1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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!)
October 14, 2010
Week #26
1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce
3. Beans: Black Eyed Peas OR Romano
4. Tat Soi
5. Leeks
6. Daikon
Total Items: 6 (?)
3. 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!
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. 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.
6. 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, October 15th
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!
Thursday, October 21st
7pm
No Impact Man
Sustainable Institute at Molloy College
Farmingdale
FREE but RSVP required
To RSVP:
http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/calendar.cfm?calendarID=446&month=10
Free food! (local snacks, popcorn & beverages) Networking! Good environmental movie that talks about eating local/organic! Co-sponsored by the Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI).
Sunday, October 24th
12:30 to 3:30pm
Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow Park
Suggested Donation: $15, under 10 years old $10
For more info and to reserve a spot…
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
If you’ve never experienced Wildman Steve Brill and you like eating locally and/or organically…this is a must! You will leave with interesting things to cook for dinner, and may start to look differently at the “weeds” that come up in your backyard. You MUST read his website carefully and follow the instructions if you are to maximize your experience by dressing properly and bringing what you need to bring on this adventure. I’ve been told he’s corny…well, that’s true…but he’s also brilliant, and knows about eating and foraging in the wild like nobody’s business. Since he’s a fairly recent father, the event is a family friendly experience.
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.
7. How to use Honey for allergies
The theory is that the honey (made by bees living near the source of your allergens) could stimulate your immune system and act as the equivalent of allergy shots.
TO BE DONE WITH YOUR DOCTOR’S APPROVAL AND KNOWLEDGE…
A. Seek out Honey from within a 10 mile radius of where you live (don’t have allergies so have no idea how far this would be…if you want to find someone local, contact the LI Beekeepers Association)
B. Get Honey that was collected/produced during the time of year when your allergies are at their worst
C. A month before your normal allergy season begins, take one teaspoon three times a day OR one tablespoon twice a day
D. Track your symptoms and see if this helps
E. Not sure how long (or at what amount) you’re supposed to keep eating the Honey for (didn’t say in the piece I read)
8. CSA article in this past Sunday’s NY Times magazine which was “The Food Issue”…
My guess is the author was a member of the Quail Hill CSA in Amagansett…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/magazine/10lives-t.html?ref=magazine
###
CSA member, Vickie Muller (member of the Holistic Moms Network chapter in Oyster Bay), lost her mother last week. If anyone wishes to express condolences, please email me and I’d be glad to forward them to her.
Last day to order Honey!!!
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by check/money order (made out to Halseys Green Thumb) or cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). Just read that in addition to being antibacterial and antiviral, Honey can be an effective cough suppressant, more than most over the counter medicines and without the side effects or taking pharmaceuticals!
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
2. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
3. It’s time to weigh our food!
4. BRING BAGS!
5. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
6. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
7. How to use Honey for allergies
8. CSA article in this past Sunday’s NY Times magazine which was “The Food Issue”…
1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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!)
October 14, 2010
Week #26
1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce
3. Beans: Black Eyed Peas OR Romano
4. Tat Soi
5. Leeks
6. Daikon
Total Items: 6 (?)
3. 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!
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. 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.
6. 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, October 15th
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!
Thursday, October 21st
7pm
No Impact Man
Sustainable Institute at Molloy College
Farmingdale
FREE but RSVP required
To RSVP:
http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/calendar.cfm?calendarID=446&month=10
Free food! (local snacks, popcorn & beverages) Networking! Good environmental movie that talks about eating local/organic! Co-sponsored by the Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI).
Sunday, October 24th
12:30 to 3:30pm
Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow Park
Suggested Donation: $15, under 10 years old $10
For more info and to reserve a spot…
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
If you’ve never experienced Wildman Steve Brill and you like eating locally and/or organically…this is a must! You will leave with interesting things to cook for dinner, and may start to look differently at the “weeds” that come up in your backyard. You MUST read his website carefully and follow the instructions if you are to maximize your experience by dressing properly and bringing what you need to bring on this adventure. I’ve been told he’s corny…well, that’s true…but he’s also brilliant, and knows about eating and foraging in the wild like nobody’s business. Since he’s a fairly recent father, the event is a family friendly experience.
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.
7. How to use Honey for allergies
The theory is that the honey (made by bees living near the source of your allergens) could stimulate your immune system and act as the equivalent of allergy shots.
TO BE DONE WITH YOUR DOCTOR’S APPROVAL AND KNOWLEDGE…
A. Seek out Honey from within a 10 mile radius of where you live (don’t have allergies so have no idea how far this would be…if you want to find someone local, contact the LI Beekeepers Association)
B. Get Honey that was collected/produced during the time of year when your allergies are at their worst
C. A month before your normal allergy season begins, take one teaspoon three times a day OR one tablespoon twice a day
D. Track your symptoms and see if this helps
E. Not sure how long (or at what amount) you’re supposed to keep eating the Honey for (didn’t say in the piece I read)
8. CSA article in this past Sunday’s NY Times magazine which was “The Food Issue”…
My guess is the author was a member of the Quail Hill CSA in Amagansett…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/magazine/10lives-t.html?ref=magazine
###
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Happy Autumn!
CSA farm tour this weekend!
Like dogs? Today is REALLY the last chance to see the movie My Dog Tulip at the Cinema Arts Centre (showtime is at 1:30pm). It’s a unique, charming, adult (intimate canine relationships are discussed in detail!) story of a man and his dog which pretty much NO ONE is going to the Cinema to see. The theory why people aren’t coming is because it’s animated so people think it’s a cartoon and therefore…who the heck knows! CSA members Dylan Skolnick and Charlotte Sky (Cinema Arts Centre co-directors) highly recommend it to all friends of the furry four footed canine companion.
Honey Time Again!
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by check/money order (made out to Halseys Green Thumb) or cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). The last day to place an order will be October 14th.
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
2. Notes from the Farm
3. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
4. It’s time to weigh our food!
5. BRING BAGS!
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
`
1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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. Notes from the Farm
October 1, 2010
September is over, our summer crops are winding down, and our fall crops are beginning. Look for many varieties of greens over the next two months including Bok Choi, Pak Choi, Red Choi, Tat Soi, Senopasi (new this year), Red Komatsuma (new this year), Mizuna, Purple Mizuna (new this year), Red Mustard, Southern Green Mustard, three types of Broccoli Raab, Arugula, Swiss Chard as well as many types of Lettuces and Radicchios. There will Be Kales, Broccolis, Cabbages and Cauliflowers toward the end of the month. Still much to look forward to!
All the rain in the past two weeks have about ended our Tomato crop. They had been so water starved, and then with so much rain, even the green ones have begun to split. Still, it’s been so much better than our last two year of Tomato harvests. That’s farming!
It’s also time to plan our Annual CSA Fall Farm Tour and Pumpkin Picking! We have moved the date forward one week to Saturday, October 9th. This gives us time in case of severe weather to reschedule the date. Reservations are required. Call the farm at 631-726-1900 between 9am and 4:30pm. It’s a riding tour on a wagon pulled by a tractor lasting about one hour. Tours will start on the hour from 10am to 2pm. Seating is limited on each tour so reservations are a must! The tour is free to all our CSA members and immediate family members (if you are sharing your CSA share, only ONE person/family is allowed to come and you/they must sign up using the name of the person on the CSA contract…if there’s any confusion, contact suzanne). We’ll see the farm, some farm animals, and end with picking a Pumpkin in our fields. This is the last opportunity to see the farm this year so we hope all our CSA member can come on out and visit us.
Organically ours,
Farmer Bill (Halsey)
3. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
October 7, 2010
Week #25
1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce
3. Beans: Green and/or Romano and/or Yellow/Wax and/or Lima
4. Greens, Mustard
5. Squash, Summer
6. Chives OR Dill – 1 bunch
7. Radicchio
Total Items: 7 (?)
Herb Share – October 1A
Sage AND Sorrel
4. 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!
5. 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!
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. 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, October 8th
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, October 9thth
10am to 3pm
Green Thumb CSA Member’s Annual Tractor-pulled Hayride & Pumpkin Picking Farm Tour
Water Mill
FREE
For reservations call: 631-726-1900 (between 9am and 4:30pm)
It’s a riding tour on a wagon pulled by a tractor lasting about one hour. Tours will start on the hour from 10am to 2pm. Seating is limited on each tour so reservations are a must! The tour is free to all our CSA members and immediate family members (if you are sharing your CSA share, only ONE person/family is allowed to come and you/they must sign up using the name of the person on the CSA contract…if there’s any confusion, contact suzanne). We’ll see the farm, some farm animals, and end with picking a Pumpkin in our fields. This is the last opportunity to see the farm this year so we hope all our CSA member can come on out and visit us.
Thursday, October 21st
7pm
No Impact Man
Sustainable Institute at Molloy College
Farmingdale
FREE but RSVP required
To RSVP:
http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/calendar.cfm?calendarID=446&month=10
Free food! (local snacks, popcorn & beverages) Networking! Good environmental movie that talks about eating local/organic! Co-sponsored by the Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI).
Sunday, October 24th
12:30 to 3:30pm
Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow Park
Suggested Donation: $15, under 10 years old $10
For more info and to reserve a spot…
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
If you’ve never experienced Wildman Steve Brill and you like eating locally and/or organically…this is a must! You will leave with interesting things to cook for dinner, and may start to look differently at the “weeds” that come up in your backyard. You MUST read his website carefully and follow the instructions if you are to maximize your experience by dressing properly and bringing what you need to bring on this adventure. I’ve been told he’s corny…well, that’s true…but he’s also brilliant, and knows about eating and foraging in the wild like nobody’s business. Since he’s a fairly recent father, the event is a family friendly experience.
###
CSA farm tour this weekend!
Like dogs? Today is REALLY the last chance to see the movie My Dog Tulip at the Cinema Arts Centre (showtime is at 1:30pm). It’s a unique, charming, adult (intimate canine relationships are discussed in detail!) story of a man and his dog which pretty much NO ONE is going to the Cinema to see. The theory why people aren’t coming is because it’s animated so people think it’s a cartoon and therefore…who the heck knows! CSA members Dylan Skolnick and Charlotte Sky (Cinema Arts Centre co-directors) highly recommend it to all friends of the furry four footed canine companion.
Honey Time Again!
To order biodynamically raised Honey from Farmer Bill’s daughter who lives upstate NY near the St. Lawrence River (the same we got last time)…please bring in an envelope with your name on it, the number of jars of Honey you want and the amount in the envelope, and leave it at the Sign-In desk at the CSA. You can also email me to make sure I know it’s there. The Honey is $10 per one pound container and you can pay by check/money order (made out to Halseys Green Thumb) or cash. Last time is was in Honey Bear plastic squeeze bottles and it will be the same this time (unless we get surprised and get them in glass like we did the time before). The last day to place an order will be October 14th.
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. Attached to this email is the contract for new CSA members, the CSA brochure AND a CSA fee sheet for the rest of the season. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives who might be interested in joining the CSA this season! 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 needs you!! We’re looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
2. Notes from the Farm
3. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
4. It’s time to weigh our food!
5. BRING BAGS!
6. Order Certified Organic Plants/Seedlings (grown at Green Thumb Farm) for your garden this season…
7. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
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1. Your CSA needs you!! looking for TWO (2) people to work from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and ONE (1) person from 5:30 to 7:30pm!
If you were sent an email from Judi or me, you are scheduled to work this week. If not, you’re not.
IF you can work, please 1) respond to this email, 2) call 631-421-4864 and leave a message before 1pm OR 3) just show up a little before 5:30pm and offer to help out. 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. Notes from the Farm
October 1, 2010
September is over, our summer crops are winding down, and our fall crops are beginning. Look for many varieties of greens over the next two months including Bok Choi, Pak Choi, Red Choi, Tat Soi, Senopasi (new this year), Red Komatsuma (new this year), Mizuna, Purple Mizuna (new this year), Red Mustard, Southern Green Mustard, three types of Broccoli Raab, Arugula, Swiss Chard as well as many types of Lettuces and Radicchios. There will Be Kales, Broccolis, Cabbages and Cauliflowers toward the end of the month. Still much to look forward to!
All the rain in the past two weeks have about ended our Tomato crop. They had been so water starved, and then with so much rain, even the green ones have begun to split. Still, it’s been so much better than our last two year of Tomato harvests. That’s farming!
It’s also time to plan our Annual CSA Fall Farm Tour and Pumpkin Picking! We have moved the date forward one week to Saturday, October 9th. This gives us time in case of severe weather to reschedule the date. Reservations are required. Call the farm at 631-726-1900 between 9am and 4:30pm. It’s a riding tour on a wagon pulled by a tractor lasting about one hour. Tours will start on the hour from 10am to 2pm. Seating is limited on each tour so reservations are a must! The tour is free to all our CSA members and immediate family members (if you are sharing your CSA share, only ONE person/family is allowed to come and you/they must sign up using the name of the person on the CSA contract…if there’s any confusion, contact suzanne). We’ll see the farm, some farm animals, and end with picking a Pumpkin in our fields. This is the last opportunity to see the farm this year so we hope all our CSA member can come on out and visit us.
Organically ours,
Farmer Bill (Halsey)
3. What you’re getting at the CSA this week (subject to change without notice…farming is like that!)
October 7, 2010
Week #25
1. Sweet Potatoes
2. Lettuce
3. Beans: Green and/or Romano and/or Yellow/Wax and/or Lima
4. Greens, Mustard
5. Squash, Summer
6. Chives OR Dill – 1 bunch
7. Radicchio
Total Items: 7 (?)
Herb Share – October 1A
Sage AND Sorrel
4. 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!
5. 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!
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. 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, October 8th
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, October 9thth
10am to 3pm
Green Thumb CSA Member’s Annual Tractor-pulled Hayride & Pumpkin Picking Farm Tour
Water Mill
FREE
For reservations call: 631-726-1900 (between 9am and 4:30pm)
It’s a riding tour on a wagon pulled by a tractor lasting about one hour. Tours will start on the hour from 10am to 2pm. Seating is limited on each tour so reservations are a must! The tour is free to all our CSA members and immediate family members (if you are sharing your CSA share, only ONE person/family is allowed to come and you/they must sign up using the name of the person on the CSA contract…if there’s any confusion, contact suzanne). We’ll see the farm, some farm animals, and end with picking a Pumpkin in our fields. This is the last opportunity to see the farm this year so we hope all our CSA member can come on out and visit us.
Thursday, October 21st
7pm
No Impact Man
Sustainable Institute at Molloy College
Farmingdale
FREE but RSVP required
To RSVP:
http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/calendar.cfm?calendarID=446&month=10
Free food! (local snacks, popcorn & beverages) Networking! Good environmental movie that talks about eating local/organic! Co-sponsored by the Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI).
Sunday, October 24th
12:30 to 3:30pm
Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow Park
Suggested Donation: $15, under 10 years old $10
For more info and to reserve a spot…
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
If you’ve never experienced Wildman Steve Brill and you like eating locally and/or organically…this is a must! You will leave with interesting things to cook for dinner, and may start to look differently at the “weeds” that come up in your backyard. You MUST read his website carefully and follow the instructions if you are to maximize your experience by dressing properly and bringing what you need to bring on this adventure. I’ve been told he’s corny…well, that’s true…but he’s also brilliant, and knows about eating and foraging in the wild like nobody’s business. Since he’s a fairly recent father, the event is a family friendly experience.
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