Thursday, August 30, 2018

Thursday, August 30, 2018 Week #13


Happy Summer!

CSA weather report…HHH and heat alert till 8pm (don’t leave your CSA food in the car!)

It’s this type of weather that makes me think of our farmers and how hard they work for us. I’ve asked about working in this weather and if they work half days when either the temps or the “real feel” temps get over 100 degrees, and the answer is…no, we drink a lot of water (and I was told they do take breaks and take cover in whatever shade is available). Food in the field does not wait for the weather to get nicer. Some farmer workers, unfortunately and tragically, aren’t treated as well as ours are…

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…
  1. 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).
  2. Keep in mind that the farm will show up and deliver food like the post office talks about the weather…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 Hurricane Sandy, and during snowstorms.

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 #13
August 30, 2018

  1. Soy Beans*
  2. Eggplant**
  3. Peppers, Sweet***
  4. Tomatoes, Mini**** - 1 pt.
  5. Leeks – 1 bunch*****
 Total Items: 5

Flower Share – Week #10
Zinnias

*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…


This email includes…

  1. What you need to know
  2. It’s time to weigh our CSA food!!!
  3. Click Activism – changing the world one click at a time
  4. Chicken alert and how to keep safe when buying chicken - vegans should read this too!
  5. Bitter Melon in the media this week…
  6. Events…both near and far
  7. Another reason to buy/eat certified organic foods…
  8. What you actually got last week
  9. 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 houseBRING 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
  1. Check in at the sign-in desk
  2. 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!

  1. 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.

  1. 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!

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

  1. 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.

  1. 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 )


3.Click Activism – changing the world one click at a time

A.Click here to help get glyphosate (Monsanto’s carcinogenic Roundup) out of our food!

B.Tell Nancy Pelosi to help stop Congress from trampling the right of communities to restrict pesticides…


 4.Chicken alert and how to keep safe when buying chicken - vegans should read this too!

Vegans aren’t excluded from food poisoning from poultry, and most food poisoning incidents happen at home…not eating out…

Also, anyone got any kosher chicken from Empire in the fridge or freezer? There’s a food safety alert about it here…

  
5.Bitter Melon in the media this week…

Filipino cooks call Bitter Melon - Ampalaya…
  

6.Events…both near and far

Thursday, August 30th

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.

 Monday, September 3rd to 10th

IBS & SIBO SOS Summit
FREE online conference
For more info and to register…

Explore a holistic approach to dealing with IBS and SIBO (and you know vegetables and fruits are probably going to be part of the solution).

 Monday, September 3rd

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.
  
Saturday, September 15th

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!
  
Thursday, September 20th

11am to 3pm

Dix Hills Garden Club presents…
The Gold Coast Revisited – The Gatsby Era
Woodbury Country Club
884 Jericho Tpke
Woodbury
$45
For more info, to RSVP, and to purchase tickets…
Nancy 631-271-8068
Christine 631-678-3211

Schedule
11am – doors open
12pm to 3pm – flower show arrangements and horticultural displays

CSA member Karen Rubino is a member of the Dix Hills Garden Club and wanted to let us know about this event with the featured event being a standard flower show. There will be a 3 course lunch (flier didn’t make it clear when lunch will be but if you call you can get the info) beginning with crudites, wine/soft drinks/coffee/tea are included, there will be live music, raffle baskets, 50/50 raffle, and a “sweets & treats” table.

 Saturday, October 20th

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
  
Saturday, November 3rd

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.Another reason to buy/eat certified organic foods…


If you want to read the original article…

  
8.What you actually got last week

Week #12
August 23, 2018

  1. Lettuce: Leaf, Red – 1 head - $3.25
  2. Squash, Summer: Costata Romanesco, Eight Ball, Patty Pan, Yellow, Zucchini* and/or Bitter Melon** – up to 2 lbs. - $5.25
  3. Peppers, Shishito*** – ½ lb. bag - $4.50
  4. Tomatoes: Orange/Red/Yellow and/or Paste/Roma: Red/Yellow**** - up to 2 lbs. - $5.75
  5. Cantaloupe***** - 1 - $3.25
 Total Items: 5
Total Amount: $21.00
(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 an extra $1. So far that total is $11.75 which may not 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 )

Herb Share – August 2B
Cilantro AND Sorrel

*On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…

**read separate Bitter Melon email for info before eating/cooking

***On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…1 in about every 10 Shishito Peppers are hot, so I’d read both the Bell and Chili Pepper Veg Info Sheets for this one (hot and sweet Peppers are varieties/cultivars of the same plant - Capsicum annuum)…
Basic recipe from vegetable wrangler and cookbook author Deborah Madison…
and more…

****On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…

****On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…


Week #11
August 16, 2018

  1. Lettuce: Leaf, Green – 1 head - $3.25
  2. Eggplant: Italian, Black* – 1 - $1.75
  3. Leeks** – 1 bunch - $4.50
  4. Cucumbers*** - 4 - $2.00
  5. Tomatoes, Mini: Cherry, Red**** - 1 pt - $5.25
  6. Cantaloupe***** - 1 - $3.75

Total Items: 6
Total Amount: $20.50
(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 an extra $.50. So far that total is $10.75 which may not 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 )

Flower Share – Week #9
Gomphrena (everlast)

*On the list of the world’s 100 healthiest foods…
And I thought this was an Asian variety till I saw this online…

**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…

  
9.And now for something completely different…

Take the quiz and find out what’s your “spirit vegetable”…

Mine’s the Onion! What’s yours? J

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