Week #17 August 14, 2014

Happy Summer!

This week, the 2014 CSA season is either half over or there’s half left (are you a pessimist or an optimist  ?), as it’s week 17 out of our 34 week season!

This week’s mystery…Did anyone by chance last week take TWO pints of Tomatoes instead of ONE pint because there were 2 different colors? Maybe you (or someone picking up for you) thought you were supposed to take one of each color? If so, please let me know so we can solve the mystery of the missing pint of Tomatoes. There was one for each CSA member before everyone showed up to pick up their food, and at the end of the night we were one pint short. Any thoughts about this, please let me know!

Planting a garden this year? Get certified organic Herb (many varieties), Vegetable (many varieties) and Flower (some…ask!) plants grown at your farm, Green Thumb Farm! To order plants, call the farm at 631-726-1900 between 9:30am and 4pm any day of the week/weekend and have a credit card on hand for payment. They will be delivered with the next available CSA delivery! I’m hearing from the people who bought these plants so far that they’re doing GREAT!!!

If you’d like to visit our farm (Green Thumb Farm in Water Mill) on days besides our CSA Pumpkin picking in October, the farm stand is now open 7 days a week until Sunday, December 7th. Tell them at the farm stand that you’re a CSA member and it’s sure to bring a smile!

Seriously…put this phone number (631-385-1079) in your cell phone, on your fridge, or wherever you put phone numbers you’re glad to have when you need them! It’s the hall phone of the UUFH to be used only on Thursdays from 3pm to 8pm. We’ve already had a few people who wished they had it and didn’t, and others who had it and found out how handy it can be! 

This email contains…

1. Your CSA doesn’t need you this week!
2. WE WEIGH!!!
3. This week’s list…
4. Our certified organic Flower Shares are here! Are you on the list?
5. What you actually got last week
6. Any animal lovers out there?
7. Leonard Lopate of NPR and Melissa Clark (food writer/NY Times) talk about what to do with CSA vegetables…since they’re both CSA members!
8. Eat meat (or not eat meat and want to have more reasons not to)? Read this!
9. Change the world with a click, or a tap, or a swipe! 
10. And now for something completely different…


1. Your CSA doesn’t need you this week!

However, you can always show up at 3:30pm or 5:30pm and ask if we still need help just in case someone didn’t show up!

Also, keep in mind that if you don’t get an email telling you that you’re working on a particular week…you’re not scheduled to work (but if you have any questions, get in touch with Judi and/or suzanne).



2. WE WEIGH!!!

It’s time to weigh our food!

A. Check the wall chart before taking any food so you know what you’re taking and how much to take…assume nothing and ask questions! 

B. Bring your reading glasses or ask someone to help if you can’t see the numbers on the scale clearly.

C. PLEASE DO NOT GO OVER THE AMOUNT STATED on the Wall Chart. Please err on the under side of the weight posted…NEVER over. It may not seem like much to you but we have 51 members and if every person is off by ONE OUNCE (for crying out loud! It’s only an ounce!!!) …that means we’ll be short over THREE POUNDS of produce and some CSA members won’t get the food they paid for. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want it to be you!

D. IF you are asked to weigh more than one food item at the same time…please follow the directions given to you and weigh in the order you are asked (you might not think there’s a good reason to be doing this but our farmer does and that should be enough of a reason right there…if you want a further explanation – ask suzanne…there is a method to the madness )



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

August 14, 2014
Week #17

1. Lettuce - Romaine
2. Swiss Chard
3. Cucumbers
4. Beans, Snap
5. Tomatoes
6. Eggplant
7. Squash, Summer

Total Items: 7


Basil Shares (maybe, maybe not)

Flower Share #7 (maybe, maybe not)

Herb Share – Aug 1A



4. Our certified organic Flower Shares are here! Are you on the list?

Did you take a look at the Flower Shares the other week? Amazing, right?

Do you now want one (or two)?

The way to get them now is to let me know ASAP either at the CSA, or by phone or email (by Wednesday midnight latest for me to try and get the word to the farm) and let me tell you how much the CSA share will be and you can pay cash or by check.

The Flowers come to the CSA when they’re ready so it’s not necessarily for 10 consecutive weeks.

If you’re sharing with someone and you buy a Flower Share and they show up when your share partner is picking up you can either pick your Flowers up from them, or have them pay you for the Flower for that week or each of you get a Flower Share and then…you can figure it out! 

Also, keep in mind that one person can have more than one Flower Share. A number of us (I’m one of them) get 2 Flower Shares because they are just that nice!!! 



5. What you actually got last week

August 7, 2014
Week #16

1. Lettuce: Leaf, Red – 1 head - $2.75
2. Peppers, Sweet: Green AND/OR light Green – 2 - $.75
3. Cucumbers – 3 - $1.75
4. Broccoli * – ½ lb – weigh first with Beans on top
5. Beans, Snap: Green - ½ lb (Broccoli + Beans up to 1 lb total) - $3.50
6. Tomatoes, Mini: Red OR Sungold – 1 pt - $4.50
7. Squash, Summer: Costata Romanesco, Golden, Kousa, Patty Pan (Green/Yellow), Yellow, Zucchini – up to 2 lbs - $3.75
8. Eggplant: Purple Rain OR White – 1 - $1.75

Total Items: 8
Total Amount: $18.75
(We pay $18.50 per week for our CSA share. Our farmer has give us $.25 more this week than the $18.50 which we paid for so, the total so far is $7 more than what we’ve paid so far this season)

*
Soak Broccoli in salty water for about 10 minutes before eating/cooking so if there are any wormy critters amongst the Broccoli, they will expire and float to the top…unless you don’t mind eating bugs (see #7) for the extra protein.
Other points of view on the same topic…
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2011/06/the-best-way-to-get-worms-out-of-home-grown-organic-broccoli/
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/536919
more soaking time will leach good stuff so don’t bother more than 10 minutes, and can’t be bothered using 2nd vinegar soak…
http://www.ehow.com/info_8731911_broccoli-cleaned.html
Moral dilemma alert!!! What do you do if you don’t want to kill the caterpillars? Someone suggested buying pesticide sprayed Broccoli because there’s no worms on it BUT you’ve killed those worms with the pesticides used so you’re still killing critters. It’s just out of sight. Plus you’re ingesting pesticides which could help kill you too! File under…huh (and circle of life)!

Flower Share #7
Zinnias



6. Any animal lovers out there?

Feel free to spread this info to any and all possibly interested people. CSA member and animal lover (cats and rabbits are her area of expertise  ), Bettina Barbier, shares this message…

My friends at Lewis Oliver Farm have just about the cutest problem ever. Unfortunately, what happens to domestic bunnies who are let loose by uneducated people isn't so cute. This little guy or gal (sex not known at this time) needs a foster or forever home. And the farm could use volunteers to help catch the other rabbits still on the loose in the neighborhood where they caught this one.

You can contact the farm by clicking on the pictures at the link below and going to their page (and see a VERY cute photo of a healthy handsome bunny that’s in need of a home)…
https://www.facebook.com/LewisOliverFarm/photos/a.309423925737272.88169.127732360573097/867653373247655/?type=1&theater



7. Leonard Lopate of NPR and Melissa Clark (food writer/NY Times) talk about what to do with CSA vegetables…since they’re both CSA members!

These CSA members (don’t know which ones they belong to and haven’t listened to this broadcast to see if they tell you) talk about…using your CSA vegetables!
http://www.wnyc.org/story/the-leonard-lopate-show-2014-07-31/



8. Eat meat (or not eat meat and want to have more reasons not to)? Read this!

Submitted by CSA member Andrew Rudin…10 things people have no clue are inside meat…
http://www.healthfreedoms.org/10-things-people-have-no-clue-are-inside-meat/#

Eat local, eat organic, know where your food comes from (there’s nothing like the informed consumer)…



9. Change the world with a click, or a tap, or a swipe! 

Feel free to spread this info…

A. Tell the USDA and President Obama to stop Dow Chemicals GMO Agent Orange crops!
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12645

B. This petition has 39,000 signatures, the goal is 60,000 and the deadline is August 15th!
Tell President Obama to not let the USDA undermine the integrity of organic food and agriculture (to not shift the power to determine the future of organics to agribusiness lobbyists)…
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/president-obama-dont-let-usda-undermine-governance-and-integrity-organic-food-and-agriculture/9q8kG08S



10. And now for something completely different…

Jerry Seinfeld talks about food…
http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/08/jerry-seinfeld-single-shots.html?om_rid=AADNgX&om_mid=_BT48WsB87oQuox

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