Green Thumb Farm Huntington CSA

Happy Spring!

Hope y’all had a nice Arbor Day last Friday!

The most important thing to say after saying that the CSA opens at 3:30pm and ends at 7:30pm, is to BRING BAGS TO PACK YOUR FOOD! We pack our own.

The next is…put this phone number in your cell phone…631-385-1079…it’s the hall phone of the UUFH (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington) and it’s ESSENTIAL CSA info. If you’re running late and won’t get to the CSA till after 7:30pm…you need to call this number and let us know to wait for you or pack a bag for you and put it on the “bench” afterhours pickup location…more on that at another time. If there’s a choice one week and you REALLY want it, you might want to call before you get to the CSA and have someone pack a bag for you with that choice item in it. There are many other reasons people will use this number. Sometimes it’s to get in touch with someone who’s at the CSA (family/friends/other CSA members) as it’s more reliable than cell phones as the cell phone reception in the UUFH is not great and in many cases non-existent. That said, do NOT call this phone number any other time but Thursdays between 3pm (we’re there a little early setting up) and 8pm (we can be there till 8pm still cleaning up and putting things away). Otherwise, you might get some person from the UUFH, or the daycare center that is also in the building, and they will probably have no idea what you’re talking about and probably won’t be able to help you.

Third would be…we could use a LOT more CSA members! If each of us (we’re now 30) managed to find seven more members our farmer would be VERY happy. However, even one more member each would be a help and if THEY got one more member…you get the idea. Even ideas of where to leave CSA brochures or posters, and where to do lectures about CSA would be helpful. So far this season I participated in the 1st LI CSA Fair, the LI Small Farm Summit, and a health fair at the Vitamin Shoppe in Melville, and gave a lecture to the Holistic Moms Network about eating local. I said I would do this last year and didn’t so, I’ll be walking the streets around the UUFH and leaving brochures with a cover sheet that’s an invite to visit the CSA in people’s mailboxes. The exercise will do me good  ! Any and all suggestions would be appreciated and considered. Another thing that was talked about last year and not done that will be done this year is putting an a paid ad in The Beacon, the newsletter of the UUFH, for several issues.

This week’s email includes…

1. Your CSA does not need you this week, however…
2. Click here to help change the world!
3. Bags and you!
4. Storing produce without using plastic!
5. This week’s list…subject to change without notice (farming is like that)
6. Mother’s Day is coming up…
7. Fun, Cool & Interesting Stuff to Do (new events added weekly)
8. Another way to look at Leeks
9. Calling all artists (or spread the word if you know any)…
10. What you actually got last week – 4/26/12
11. File under…Oh dear!
12. And now for something completely different…


1. Your CSA does not need you this week, however…

You can ALWAYS stop by the CSA a little before 3:30 or 5:30 to offer to help in case someone doesn’t show up (or is late) without letting anyone know…life happens! 

If you didn’t get a confirmation email from Judi, you’re not scheduled to work this week.



2. Click here to help change the world!

Don’t let them cave to the pesticide lobby!
http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1961&tag=201202AFFActionHPSide

Save funding for seniors and mothers so they can buy produce at greenmarkets (only $20 for seniors and $24 for mothers – not per week or per month but PER YEAR)…
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-u-s-senate-restore-the-cuts-made-to-wic-and-senior-fmnp-in-new-york-state



3. Bags and you!

The short story is make sure to bring bags to pack your CSA food as the CSA does not provide them.

Suggestion…put bags (paper/plastic/cloth) in EVERY vehicle you own. Put them in the glove compartment, trunk, wherever, and make sure to replenish them when the supply is running low or you’re out of them. That way it will be hard to forget them.



4. Storing produce without using plastic!

Submitted by CSA member Kenny Friedman…
http://myplasticfreelife.com/images/Berkeley%20Farmers%20Market%20Tips%20for%20Storing%20Produce.pdf

Report back how these methods do or don’t work for you! The first thing I noticed on quick glance was they didn’t tell you to cut the stem ends of the Asparagus (as you would with cut flowers) before putting them in water.



5. This week’s list…subject to change without notice (farming is like that!)

Week #2
May 3, 2012

1. Lettuce
2. Spinach
3. Scallions
4. Collard Greens
5. Mizuna – greenhouse*
6. Tat Soi – greenhouse*
7. Sorrel

Total Items: 7 (?)

*grown in their greenhouse, not in the fields (it’s too early for that)



6. Mother’s Day is coming up…

If you’re going to give Flowers, consider using Organic Bouquet…
http://www.organicbouquet.com/



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

Thurday, May 3rd

Noon

Ban Fracking Day of Action
Port Washington Town Docks
Port Washington
FREE
For more info and to register for this event:
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/salsa/event/common/public/index.sjs?event_KEY=74006


Saturday, May 5th

Climate Impacts Day
It’s time to connect the dots between climate change and extreme weather.
Click here to search for an event near you (or create one and register it here)…
http://www.climatedots.org/


Sunday, May 6th

11am to 4pm

New Amsterdam Market
100 Peck Slip (between Beekman St & Peck Slip)
NYC
For more info:
http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/
For more info about this week’s special event & to get tickets, as well as the list of regular vendors…
http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/2012/05_06.html

This week’s special event, in addition to the regular market, will be 5 internationally themed food truck vendors featuring sustainably and humanely raised meat.


Wednesday, May 9th

4pm to 5pm

iEat Green
http://prn.fm/shows/lifestyle-shows/i-eat-green/

iEat Green is hosted by Slow Food Huntington’s Bhavani Jharoff. Listen to this internet radio show either live or if you miss this show, you can listen to it on the archives and it’s available for downloading on iTunes for your iPhone.

This week’s guest is Richard Oppenlander, author of the new book Comfortably Unaware. Dr. Oppenlander is a sustainability and wellness advocate, writer, and speaker committed to improving the health of our planet, bringing an eclectic combination of experiences regarding this topic spanning the past 40 years.

Thursday, May 10th

6:30pm

GMOs and Eco-Labeling: Getting more of the Story
CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College
2180 3rd Ave (119th St)
NYC
$40 General Public
For more info and to register (must register by May 7th and payment will NOT be taken at the door):
http://www.gnyda.org/Public/Events.aspx

I’d go if I could but it’s a Thursday so I’ll be at the CSA.

They’ll be having a raffle for a gift card to the restaurant Northern Spy Food Co. (farm-to-table in NYC).

Panelists Include:

Dr. Michael Hansen Senior Staff Scientist, Policy and Advocacy Division, Consumers Union

Dr. Urvashi Rangan
Director, Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group, Consumer Reports

Daniel B. Ravicher
President and Executive Director, Public Patent Foundation “PUBPAT” and Lecturer in Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Patty Lovera
Assistant Director, Food & Water Watch

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Carolyn Dimitri
Research Associate Professor of Food Studies, NYU


Saturday, May 12th

9am

Brooklyn Food Conference
Brooklyn Tech High School
29 Fort Greene Place
Brooklyn
FREE ($8 lunch ticket available if you pre-pay for it)
For more info and to register:
http://bkfoodconference.org/

Featured speakers will be Bryant Terry, chef/author of The Inspired Vegan, and Lucas Benitez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. There will be workshops on fracking, food issues, movies to watch, cooking demos, children’s activities, and free childcare. I’m sure a great time will be had by all who attend. I went to the last one and it was amazing and I’ll be going again this time.


Sunday, June 3rd

4pm

Edible and Medicinal Food, and Herb Walk with Ellen Kamhi, RN, the Natural Nurse!
Old Westbury
$10 Members/$20 General Public
For more info, and to register and get directions:
Call 516-238-3616

Slow Food Huntington and iEat Green are co-sponsoring this event. It will be followed by a potluck in the garden.


Wednesday, June 13th

7:30pm

Let’s Eat: Food on Film presents…The Harvest/La Cosecha – with special guest, filmmaker U. Robert Romano
Cinema Arts Centre
432 Park Ave
Huntington
$10 Members/$15 General Public (includes reception)
For more info about the film and to watch the trailer:
http://theharvestfilm.com/
For more info about Slow Food Huntington:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slow-Food-Huntington/111833608364

Executive Producer (and actress) Eva Longoria presents an award-winning documentary which provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of children who struggle to dream while working 12 – 14 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed America. Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labor as migrant farm workers, sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families survive. The Harvest/La Cosecha profiles these three as they journey from the scorching heat of Texas’ onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards and back south to the humidity of Florida's tomato fields to follow the harvest. This series is co-curated with Slow Food Huntington.



8. Another way to look at Leeks

Most recipes call for only using the white part of the Leek and the green bits are relegated for soup stocks (chop up and put in freezer bags in fistful sizes to throw in soups…where you could put in cheesecloth bags to remove or not because either you’re going to scoop out all the bits for broth or leave them in and eat them). However, in Chinese cooking they use pretty much the whole thing. Last night after the CSA I zipped into Flushing and got “Stir fried smoky pork with green Leeks” and there they were…more green bits of the Leek than white. We’re a very wasteful food culture and it’s a great thing to learn how other cultures use perfectly good bits of food to make delicious dishes!

There is a separate variety of Leeks you can grow that is different from the Leeks most Americans are acquainted with but I tell you…when I’m in Flushing going to Chinese restaurants where we’re the only European people eating and English is a 2nd language, the Leeks in our dishes look like the ones we got last night so I’d say go for it…I thought you’d need to blanch the Leeks first to get them a little tender but they don’t do it in any of these recipes so try it without and see how it goes…
Chinese vs European Leeks…
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/ig/Chinese-Vegetables-Pictures/leek_photo.htm
And then it gets confusing…though they are saying Chinese Leeks are the same as Garlic Chives, Garlic Chives (which we usually get at the CSA…yum!) are VERY different from Leeks and not sure how close they are to Leeks…Chinese or otherwise (other than all being in the Allium family)
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/chinleekchin.html

I’m sure you can also use Garlic Chives with any of these recipes…
Chinese recipe – Leeks and eggs…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daBxDJi1vRY
Malaysian recipe - Bean Curd with Leeks
http://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-recipe-stir-fried-bean-curd/2/
British recipes so some minor measuring conversion required…
Chinese recipe – Leeks with vegetables…
http://www.noobcook.com/stir-fry-leeks-with-vegetables/
Chinese recipe – Leeks with tofu and shrimp…
http://imbinitchy.blogspot.com/2008/01/cooking-series-stir-fry-chinese-leeks.html



9. Calling all artists (or spread the word if you know any)…

From the Nassau County Soil & Water Conservation District: Community Garden & Environmental Program Fundraiser

When: Thursday, June 14th, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm


Where: The newly restored barn at the Fairgrounds at Old Bethpage Village Restoration

Art competition and networking party to raise money to build community gardens & support environmental programs.

The cost for entering the contest is $20. The fee includes the application fee, entry to the party, and makes you eligible to win one of the $1,500 in prizes. All art must reflect the natural environment. And since the artwork is being placed in a silent auction you you can also bring a guest to the party for free.



Artists receive 30% of what their piece sells for, get to put out brochures and business cards, and are eligible for prizes. If the piece doesn't get purchased for the minimum bid you get it back.

If you just want to be a part of the fun at the party it is $25 to enter if you RSVP by June 1st or $35 after this date.



To sign-up for the contest or party please email Art4SoilandWater@gmail.com or contact board member Jaime Van Dyke Doran at (516) 677-5853.


Old Bethpage Village Restoration
1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, NY 11804


10. What you actually got last week – 4/26/12

April 26, 2012
Week #1

1. Leeks – 1 bunch - $3.50
2. Jerusalem Artichokes – ¾ lb - $3.00
3. Greens, Turnip – 1 bunch - $3.00
4. Asparagus - .5 lb - $2.75
5. Mizuna (greenhouse) – 1 bunch - $2.75
6. Lettuce/Radicchio Mix – ½ lb - $3.50
7. Turnip Raab * – 1 bunch – free
*See Broccoli Rabe Veggie Info Sheet

Total Items – 7
Total Amount - $18.50 (we pay $17.50 per week to our farmer for the food we get every week so today we’ve gotten $1.00 extra, in addition to a free bunch of Turnip Raab)



11. File under…Oh dear!

Child’s “unhealthy” lunch taken away and replaced with “healthier” Chicken Nuggets…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/school-lunch-guidelines-p_n_1278803.html



12. And now for something completely different…

A joke from Joanne Chang (baker and chef or Meyers and Chang in Boston)…

What do vegan zombies eat?
Graaaaaains!!!

###