Happy Summer!
Thanks to everyone who responded to CSA work shout-outs this
week. We’re good to go. So if you didn’t hear back saying you’re working…you’re
not (but you can always stop by at 3:30pm and 5:30pm to ask if we need help in
case of “you never know” J ).
CSA weather report…possibly HHH (hazy, hot, humid) and
breezy
HURRICANE ALERT!
We’re not having a hurricane YET but please read this now…
This is hurricane season and will be followed by the
possibility of snow and ice before the CSA ends for the season. So, please be
aware…
- If you don’t get any emails on any given week, show up
to the CSA at the usual time and place, and if you’re able…show up to
offer to work at 3:30pm or 5:30pm in case there’s a need. The reasons for
non-communication could be A) computer problems (storm or no), B) power
outages, and C) the X factor (unknown at the present time but…stuff
happens).
- Keep in mind that the farm will show up and deliver
food like the post office talks about…rain, sleet, etc., so your CSA share
will be at the Cinema Arts Centre waiting for you, unless there’s several
feet of snow (or a serious ice storm or flooding) and no one is able to go
anywhere. We’ve had food delivered during Sandy, and during snowstorms.
Parking Alert!
From now till August 23rd there will be cars
lined up from 2pm to 4pm at the end of the initial driveway of the building.
It’s parents picking up children from summer camp at the YMCA. If you want to
avoid it, come after 4pm. OTHERWISE, if you’re trying to get to the upper
parking lot around the other side of the building, be careful!
DO NOT LEAVE MESSAGES FOR THE CSA WITH THE CINEMA BOX
OFFICE STAFF!!! We don’t always get the messages…at all (people
forget…and it’s not their job), and the Box Office staff doesn’t always give
correct info. Ask to be transferred to the Café to speak to someone at the CSA.
If not, the CSA will not be responsible if your food isn’t left at the Box
Office to be picked up, or for anything else you might have wanted to
communicate to the CSA staff.
The list…this is a general list and you’ll be sent another
email within the next week with the detailed list after I get it (which isn’t
till the day of the CSA…the list is subject to change without notice because
farming is like that! J .
However, most of the time it’s accurate and if it’s not…usually only one food
item will be changed)…
CSA words to live by…when trying any new food that
you’ve never eaten before…START SLOW! Read up about it (make sure
it doesn’t interfere with any medications you might be taking or any health
conditions you might have), see what traditional/conventional ways it’s
prepared (cultures that have been eating certain foods for many years basically
have a good idea what they’re doing and we can learn from that), try a small
portion, see how your body/digestive system reacts, and proceed from there.
Then try preparing in different ways and see what you come up with, and feel
free to ask for suggestion/info/recommendations!
Veggie info sheets added as needed. This is the link to the: Veggie Info Sheets. Print out, put in a notebook and you end up with a cookbook at the end of the CSA season. Also there are good tips on storage, prep, and nutrition.
Paraphrased wise words by a nutritionist that I read and
don’t remember where I read it or who said it, BUT it’s pretty smart info
regarding eating seasonally in our part of the globe…
Spring… is all about detoxing (what we get
from the CSA at this time is a lot of green things that are really good to help
clean us out from whatever we accumulated during the winter)
Interesting piece about spring greens (out of the 14 listed,
we get 12 of them with our CSA…watercress nutritionally and botanically similar
to Peppercress) and detoxing…
Summer is all about being hydrated (the
popular summer foods are all full of water…Tomatoes, Lettuces, Summer Squashes,
etc.)
Fall/winter is all about storing energy (we
get all the dense vegetables…Sweet Potatoes, Winter Squashes, etc…. that are
energy powerhouses to fuel us through the winter) to get you through the winter
to make it to…Spring!
Week #9
August 2, 2018
- Lettuce – 1 head
- Cucumbers* – 2 lbs.
- Onions** – 1 bunch
- Carrots*** – 1 bunch
- Tomatoes, Mini**** - 1 pt.
*On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
**On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
***On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
****On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
Flower Share - #7
Maybe…maybe not J
This email includes…
- What you need to know
- It’s time to weigh our CSA food!!!
- Click Activism – changing the world one click at a time
- CSA food better and cheaper than supplements…
- Cocaine in the water!
- Events…both near and far
- Mental health (or the lack of it) in the food industry
- What you actually got last week
- And now for something completely different…
Anything in these emails not directly related to the
functioning of the CSA feel free to take or leave at your discretion, and
anything related to health issues always consult with your physicians before
taking any actions.
1.What you need to know (will be either new info to first
time CSA members, or reminders/old hat to returning CSA members)…
Before you leave the house…BRING BAGS
to pack up your food (CSA members are responsible for packing up their own
shares) – canvas/plastic/paper…bring whatever suits your fancy. The CSA does
NOT provide bags for CSA members. If someone is picking up food for you, please
remind them to bring bags with them.
Time – 3:30pm to 7:30pm
IF you need to pick up later than 7:30pm, call the Cinema
Arts Center Box Office between 3pm to 7:30pm at 631-423-7610 xt. 0 (make sure
to ask to speak to someone at the CSA) and we can pack a bag for you and leave
it at the Box Office but it MUST be picked up before the Box Office closes
(call the Box Office to check the time…lately it’s been somewhere between 10pm
and 11pm). If not, it won’t be there on Friday.
Place – Sky Room Café in the Cinema Arts
Centre at 423 Park Ave, Huntington (if otherwise, you’ll be informed)
Parking – park in the lot all the way around
at the back of the building by the day care center (you’ll see a fenced in
playground area with a sandbox)
When you arrive at the CSA –
- Check in at the sign-in desk
- Read the Wall Chart that tells us every week what we’re
getting, how much we’re getting, and what the farm charged us for it…some
weeks it’s take one of everything but SOME WEEKS IT’S NOT!!! So you have
to make sure you read the Wall Chart every week, and not assume anything.
You can also ask your fellow CSA members that are working at the CSA that
day what the story is (they should have name tags on).
Before you leave the CSA – Make sure you have
everything on the list! If you get to talking with people, have kids with you,
etc., it can be easy to get distracted, but if you arrive home and find out you
don’t have everything that was on the list, you’re out of luck because at
7:31pm the food is donated to a local food organization that’s waiting to pick
it up and get on their way.
We send a 2nd email with the list for the week
and the Veggie Info Sheet attachments that you’ll get because of a) concern if
I send one email with attachments it might end up in junk/spam and you might
not be in the habit of looking for it there yet, and b) modern communications
technology not being all it’s cracked up to be so trying to hedge success rate
in getting info out to you.
2.It’s
time to weigh our CSA food!
- Please
be aware that it may take a little more time for you to collect your CSA
share when weighing is part of the experience, so plan accordingly.
- Check
the CSA Wall Chart that our farmer brings in every week before taking any
food so you know what you’re taking and how much to take…assume nothing
and please feel free to ask questions!
- Bring
your reading glasses or ask someone to help if you can’t see the numbers
on the scale clearly.
- 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 42 CSA members this week, and if every person is over
by ONE OUNCE (for crying out loud! It’s only an ounce!!!) …that means we’ll be
short over 2 1/2 POUNDS of produce and 1 or 2 CSA members (and one of them
could be you) won’t get the food they paid for.
- IF
you are asked to weigh more than one food item at the same time (and you
probably will at some point in the CSA season)…please follow the
directions given to you, and weigh in the order you are asked (you might
not think there’s any good reason to be doing this but our farmer does,
and that should be enough of a reason right there but if you want a
further explanation – ask someone working at the CSA or contact
suzanne…there is always a method to the madness J )
A.Stop foreign meat from being labeled “Product of USA”…
B.Tell the EPA to ban 3 pesticides that threaten endangered
species…
4.CSA food better and cheaper than supplements…
Of the foods mentioned in this article, our CSA provides all
of them…
5.Cocaine in the water!
If you care about the environment…don’t do drugs (or as little
as possible)…both illegal and legal drugs get into our drinking water simply by
people urinating (may be gross…but true!).
Not only does it get back into the water supply and we drink
them, but it’s effecting other living creatures in the environment and my guess
is they don’t have the advance detoxification system that our bodies do…
See Events listings (August 11th) for something
you (or your friends/relatives/co-workers/neighbors) can do to help…shed the
meds.
6.Events…both near and far
Monday, July 23rd to Sunday, August 12th
Oprah & Deepak Energy of Attraction Manifesting Your
Best Life
Online meditation course
FREE
To register…
Not food related BUT if one is more relaxed, you will digest
your food better! J
Thursday, August 2nd
10am to 11am
iEat Green with Bhavani online radio show
Progressive Radio Network
Always interesting guests. You can also check out the
archives for other shows.
10am to 4pm
LI Summer Veg Fest
Walt Whitman High School
301 West Hills Rd
Huntington Station
FREE (suggested donation of $5)
Food trucks, live music, kid’s activities, raffles. This is
a benefit for the LI Farm Sanctuary.
44th Annual NOFA Summer Conference
Hampshire College
Amherst, MA
For more info and to register (register by August 1st
if you want to purchase meals in advance…it’s cheaper if you do)…
NOFA (the Northeast Organic Farmer’s Association) is the
organization that’s been certifying farms organic before the USDA got involved
(and will probably do so if something ever happens to the federal program). The
member states are CT, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, and VT, so there’s a NOFA-NY chapter.
They have 2 yearly conferences. The summer one includes all 7 member states and
in the winter (usually January) each state has their winter conference. This one
is a LOT easier to attend.
Check out the program section of the website to see if there
are workshops you’d like to attend. There’s dancing and parties at night,
movies to watch, a swimming hole if you know where to find it ( J ), and a good time is had by all. It’s
for families, singles, seniors and college age folks. The food served is all
organic and Saturday night it’s all local and organic. The foods offered can
accommodate anything from vegan to paleo, and are served buffet style in the
school’s cafeteria.
The two keynote speakers this year are Rowen White, founder
of Sierra Seeds (located in California but she’s actually from NY and a member
of the Mohawk community of Akwesasne), and Eric Holt-Gimenez, Executive
Director of Food First.
There’s a children’s conference with workshops for kids aged
5 to 12, and childcare is available for 2 to 4 year olds.
10am to noon
CSA Monthly Meeting
Cinema Arts Centre
Sky Room Cafe
423 Park Ave
Huntington
For more info…
631-421-4864
10am to 10:15 – gathering
10:15am to 10:45pm - Good Eats (Tomatoes) – recipes
seen in the DVD given to those that attend
10:45pm to noon - meeting
This month’s episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown will be
all about Tomatoes (first bulk deliveries scheduled for next week) and will
include . This month’s meeting topics will include the ever popular challenge
of how to increase CSA membership, how to increase participation in farm tours,
planning for future meetings and restaurant outings, and any other input that
might come up about the CSA, the food we get, etc.
10am to 1pm
Shed the Meds
South Huntington Public Library
145 Pidgeon Hill Rd.
Huntington Station
Bring in any expired, unwanted, unused medications (and
covered hypodermic needles), and keep in mind to NEVER flush them down the
toilet or wash down the drain.
Monday, August 13th to Sunday, August 19th
Addiction Summit
Online conference
FREE
To register…
In addition to the more obvious drugs and alcohol, this also
includes food and technology addictions. Some of the speakers I know about are
Dr. David Perlmutter (holistic neurologist) and Dr. Joel Fuhrman (holistic
family MD creator of nutritarian diet…vegan based).
6:30pm
CSA Culinary Extravaganza – August - local edition
Chop’t
8285 Jericho Tpke (in the Woodbury Commons)
Woodbury
For info about Chop’t…
To RSVP (leave name and number in your party):
Respond to this email
Leave a voice message at 631-421-4864
This month’s featured eatery is Chop’t. Options from vegan
to paleo and gluten-free. Why Chop’t? Organic Tofu, grass fed Beef,
antibiotic-free Chicken, organic iced Green Tea, uses local produce and other
foodstuffs (veg from Satur Farms out east and Hot Bread Kitchen Bread from NYC
amongst many other local farms/food businesses) and reasonably priced for what
you’re getting.
You can choose from their pre-selected options (I always go
with those), or make up your own…and you can eat it chopped (I always go for
chopped) or not…your choice. I’ve eaten many things on the menu so feel free to
ask if you have any questions (but still have a bunch left to try…and they have
periodic specials).
1pm to 4pm
Wild foods tour with Wildman Steve Brill
Sunken Meadow State Park
1 Sunken Meadow Pkwy
Kings Park
$20 – Adults/$12 – under 12 years old
To register and for more info…
Steve Brill is a rock star of food foraging. Will be on the
lookout for Beach Plums, Sea Rocket and Honey Mushrooms! The tour may, or may
not, be co-led by Steve’s 14 year old daughter, Violet, and whether she’s there
or not, it will be kid friendly.
10am to 4pm
10th Annual Organic Apple Festival
Rodale Institute
Kutztown, PA
$10 parking fee per vehicle (suggested donation)
For more info:
Pick your own organic Apples, wagon tours, kid’s activities,
live music, lecture, and much more!
Annual CSA Pumpkin Picking Farm Tour
Green Thumb Farm
Water Mill
FREE
Last time to get a behind the scenes tour of our farm and
talk to our farmers (Got a garden? Got questions? These are the guys to ask J ). More info to come
LI Food Conference
LIU Post
Northern Blvd.
Brookville
More info as available
A project of the Long Island Food Coalition (connected to
the North Shore Land Alliance).
7.Mental health (or the lack of it) in the food industry
In the age of #metoo and other hard looks into the darker
sides of life, here’s a helpful website for those in the food industry who are
interested in being healthy mentally and physically…
The reading list looks great and there are articles on folks
from farmers, chefs, line cooks, as well as front of the house staff and
bartenders. The issues range from drug addiction, eating disorders, sexual
harassment and suicide (farmers have the highest suicide rate of any
occupation…consider visiting our farm in June and October and show some
love…they really appreciate seeing the people who enjoy the fruits and
vegetables of their labor).
Pass it on if you know anyone in the food industry who you
think would find this helpful for themselves, or for co-workers, or for food eatery/beverage
owners and their employees.
8.What you actually got last week
Week #8
July 26, 2018
- Lettuce: Romaine* – 1 head - $3.25
- Squash, Summer: Costata Romanesco, Yellow, Zucchini** –
2 lbs. - $5.25
- Onions*** – 1 bunch - $3.75
- Mustard Greens**** – 1 bunch – $3.50
- Beans, Snap***** - 1 lb. - $3.75
Total Items: 5
Total Amount: $19.50
(We pay $20 per week for our CSA share…some weeks we get a
bit more and it adds up over the course of the season. This week we got $.50
less BUT we got those extra Beets last week so no big. So far that total is
$7.75 which doesn’t sound like much, but…just wait and see! We seem to always
get at least one CSA share’s worth of food every year that we don’t pay
for…some years two, and some between one and two…it’s all good! J )
*On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
**On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
***On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
****On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
*****On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
Flower Share - #6
Statice (everlasts)
Herb Share – July 2B
Basil, Opal* AND Sage**
*On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
**On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
9.And now for something completely different…
Fish cooked with molten glass at restaurant in Sweden…
Hope the glass is recycled after they’re done, and the
newspaper doesn’t have any toxic inks used in it or is in the paper itself
(there’s a decent chance there is). Personally, I’d pass on this one J .
###
