Happy Summer!
Cinema Arts Centre has power…YAY! Hope you do but if not,
read below about what doesn’t need refrigeration this week (or ever 😊)!
VERY IMPORTANT…when using Cinema bathrooms,
please make sure to flush the toilets and hold down the lever to
make sure it’s a complete flush, or flush again if needed.
CSA Weather Report…warm.
IF it’s raining/thundering and we need to line up
outside (hasn’t happened yet but it could)…the deal is 3 people units
(individuals/couples/families) in the CSA at a time, 3 people units in the
theater lined up and socially distanced in the lobby, and everyone else lined
up in their cars (will have a car parked where y’all should be parking behind).
If you poke your head in the theater, our CSA “hall monitor” 😊
will let you know what’s what.
Important…if you send anyone to the CSA to
pick up food for you, please tell them to BRING BAGS!
This email includes…
- What you need to know
- CSA Safety Protocol
Update/Reminder
- What doesn’t need
refrigeration this week (or ever…or if you have a power outage)…
- If you haven’t watched
this yet, it’s really worth checking out…Food safety and COVID-19
- Bulk Tomato Share starts
next week…you can still get in on it!
- Got kids or grandkids?
This could be fun, tasty AND educational!
- 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 physician(s) before
taking any action.
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.
Time – 3:30pm to 7:30pm
Place – Sky Room Café in the Cinema Arts
Centre at 423 Park Ave, Huntington
Parking* – park in the 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)…*except when it’s raining (read the CSA Weather
Report above)
When you arrive at the CSA –
- Check in at the desk with our friendly CSA worker
- 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 that day what
the story is for the day (they should have name tags on).
- When you enter the CSA area, start at Table #1 at the
left side of the table and work your way to the right, then to Table #2,
Table #3, Herb Share table (if you have one), Flower Share table (if you
have one), and then out the back door to the Cinema garden by the upper
parking lot stairs. We’re arranging the food so if you only have one bag
with you and you follow this, the heaviest things are on the bottom of the
bag, the lightest are on the top, and the wettest things aren’t going to
get the things that need to stay dry the most very wet. Plus, it makes
social distancing easier, and we have only one entrance and one exit being
used.
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 be distracted and if you get 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.
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.
CSA words to live by…when trying any new food 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!
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 physician(s) before
taking any action.
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 Curly Cress/Peppercress) and detoxing…
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2012/03/detox-with-spring-greens.html
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 #10
August 6, 2020
- Peppers, Sweet* – check CSA Wall Chart for details
- Beets** – 1 bunch
- Eggplant*** – check CSA Wall Chart for details
- Potatoes**** – check CSA Wall Chart for details
- Tomatoes, Mini***** – 1 pt.
- Cucumbers****** - check CSA Wall Chart for details
Total Items: 6
Flower Share – Week #7???
*Sweet Peppers (Bell Peppers) are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50
**Beets are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods (good
info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49
And so are the Beet Greens if we get them…
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=151
***Eggplant is one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods (good
info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=22
****Potatoes are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods
(good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48
*****Tomatoes are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods
(good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=44
******Cucumbers are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods
(good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=42
2. CSA Safety Protocol Update/Reminder
- Doors to the Cinema Arts Centre are now being kept closed because it’s
hot out! There are health risks to heat exposure… https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/heat_health.html
When temps become milder, they will again be kept open. We’re washing our
hands upon entry (which takes care of having touched the door handle), and upon
leaving the exit door can be pushed open with other body parts besides one’s
hands 😊.
- Please wear a mask/face
covering when entering the Cinema Arts Centre to pick up your CSA share
Covid-19 face coverings frequently asked questions
and info…
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-19-face-covering-faq.pdf
- Please limit your time
at the CSA to a minimum amount (wash hands, check in , get your CSA Share,
and skedaddle), unless you are scheduled to work. If you wish to socialize
please do so outside, or exchange contact info and continue the
conversation by text, email, Skype, Zoom, etc. 😊. It’s a useful thing to
have at least two CSA member’s contact info in case you need someone to
pick up your CSA share, or pick it up and stash it if you’re away for a
bit.
3.What doesn’t need refrigeration this week (or ever…or
if you have a power outage)…
Tomatoes – NEVER put in fridge (unless you’ve cut into one
and then it needs to be in the fridge) and avoid plastic and check daily
Potatoes – NEVER put in fridge (cool, dry, dark place in
paper, not plastic, and NOT near Onions, Bananas, Apples, Tomatoes or Melons
…will cause Potatoes to rot quicker)
Cucumbers – happy not in fridge (store in paper, not plastic
and away from above things which make them rot faster)…check daily
Eggplant – happy not in fridge (store in paper, not plastic
and away from above things which make them rot faster)…check daily
https://www.thekitchn.com/the-best-place-to-store-eggplant-is-not-in-the-refrigerator-174191
Beets – Beet Greens need to be cooked right away, Beets can
last a few days in a cool location in a paper bag (avoid plastic)…check daily
Peppers (Sweet or Hot) – room temp for a number days…store
in a paper bag and check daily
What do I have against storing stuff in plastic? 1) not good for the environment and to be avoided if at all possible (it can also leach nasty things like the hormone disruptor BPA into the food you’re storing it in), and 2) plastic is hygroscopic which means it attracts water from its environment, which means if you’re storing it in the fridge or in the kitchen it keeps food wet, which means it will make food rot faster…not a good thing.
4.If you haven’t watched this yes, it’s really worth
checking out…Food safety and COVID-19
One of our CSA members told me that after watching this, it
made them feel better about going grocery shopping.
Watch writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (son of a Harvard University
geneticist and immunologist, grandson of a chemist, and author of Food Lab:
Better Home Cooking Through Science), talk about COVID-19 and food safety…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkvw9lZ3v3I
And read in more detail here…
5.Bulk Tomato Share starts next week…you can still get in
on it!
Starting next week for the next few weeks, our farmer will
be bringing in Bulk Tomato Shares for those who’ve already ordered BUT there’s
still time to get in on it (last delivery date is September 10th).
The cost is $45 for 20 lbs. of certified organic Roma/Paste
Tomatoes from our farm, Green Thumb Organic Farm.
What are you going to do with all those Tomatoes? You’ll
appreciate them all winter long after you’ve canned (as Tomato sauce or whole),
frozen or dehydrated them, rather than buying tasteless Tomatoes out of season
all winter long (or not eating any till they’re in season again).
The easiest thing in the universe (the sort of recipe I say
that dead people can make 😊 ) is to freeze them
whole. Here’s the instructions…
https://food.unl.edu/freezing-raw-tomatoes-or-without-their-skins
And here’s articles about freezing food in glass jars if you
want to avoid freezing in plastic bags/containers…
https://www.smarticular.net/en/how-to-freeze-food-in-glass-jars-and-without-plastic/
https://www.treehugger.com/how-freeze-food-glass-jars-4858453
6. Got kids or grandkids looking for things to do this
summer? This could be fun, tasty AND educational!
A.This is an online cooking school for children from K to
middle school recommended by Dr. Mark Hyman (author of Food Fix: How to save
our Health, our Economy, our Communities and our Planet…one bite at a time).
AND they have a virtual summer camp program for cooking and another one for other
activities…
https://www.icookafterschool.com/
B.The NY based Coalition for
Healthy School Food (great group founded by Long Islander Amie Hamlin) is also
doing online summer classes (vegan cooking, animal rights, food politics, yoga
and more) for kids from elementary school to high school… https://healthyschoolfood.org/summerclasses/
C.And starting July 13th
there’s two hands-on farming programs at Crossroads Farm (certified organic
farm by NOFA-NY) in Malverne for children aged to 4 to 6 & 7 to 11. For
more info and to register… Ages 4 to 6… https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crossroads-farm-sunshine-days-summer-2020-tickets-112660745322
Ages 7 to 11… https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crossroads-farm-young-farmers-program-summer-2020-tickets-112495326550
7.What you actually got last week
Week #9
July 30, 2020
- Peppers, Sweet: Bell, Green AND Bell, Purple* – 1 of
each color…2 total - $1.50
- Onions** – 1 bunch - $4.25
- Lettuce: Romaine – 1 head - $3.75
- Squash, Summer: Costata Romanesco, Cousa, Eight Ball,
Gold, Yellow, Zucchini***– 2 pc. total - $2.00
- Sage**** – 1 bunch - $3.75
- Radicchio: Chiogga – 1 head - $4.50
- Cucumbers: Kirby AND Slicing***** - 1 of each variety…2
total - $1.25
Total Items: 7
Total Amount: $21.00
(We pay $20 per week for our CSA share…some weeks we get a
bit more, some a bit less. This week, it’s $1 extra. Doesn’t sound like a lot,
but it adds up over the course of the CSA season. Our total amount extra that
our farmers have given us so far is $10.25. We seem to always get at least one
CSA share’s worth of food every year that we didn’t pay for…some years two, and
some between one and two…it’s all good! 😊)
*Sweet Peppers (Bell Peppers) are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50
**Onions are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods (good
info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=45
***Summer Squash are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods
(good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=62
****Sage is one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods (good
info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=76
*****Cucumbers are one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods
(good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=42
8.And now, for something completely different…
Flash from the past! I don’t remember ever seeing these
Donald Trump commercials for Pizza Hut and McDonald’s, do you?
You are what you eat???
Events…both near and far
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 physician(s) before
taking any action.
Monday, July 20th to Sunday, August 9th
NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) Summer
Conference (online event)
$100 – Members/$125 – General Public
For more info and to register…
https://nofasummerconference.org/
And to become a member (worthy organization and very
reasonable for the membership benefits you get…I just renewed my membership 😊)…
https://nofany.org/support/become-a-member/
NOFA is the group that certifies our farm (Green Thumb Farm)
organic, and they’ve been doing it long before the federal government got
involved. It’s a great organization. Normally , the conference is held in
Massachusetts and all the NOFA member state members (NY, NJ, CT, MA, VT, NH, RI)
all get together at the summer conference (average attendance is between 1,000
and 2,000 people). In the winter, each state has its own winter conference. The
food is great (local/organic/everything from vegan to paleo), the parties are
fun (organic booze and live music), and there’s something for everyone from
kids and families to singles and seniors, and everyone in between. This year
it’s online for the first time and so am sure it will still be worth attending.
Just looked over the speakers and there’s a lot of new
names, and a number of people I’m familiar with. One person I’m always happy to
hear is Elizabeth Henderson, founder of one of the first CSA farms in the
United States and author of the CSA “bible”, Sharing the Harvest. Another is
Lee Reich (who I’ve taken workshops with and visited his “farmden” upstate NY).
If you’re interested in growing fruit in your yard/garden…he is the
man…seriously. There’s more people I’m familiar with but will stop here. Those
two are enough for me to attend, and I’m sure there’ll be lots of other great
workshops to attend.
Thursday, August 6th
10am to 11am
IEatGreen radio show
To listen to the show live (or listen to the archived
programs)…
Hosted by Long Islander Bhavani Jharoff. Older shows can be
accessed in archives.
Friday, August 7th
6pm to 7pm
Green Inside and Out
WUSB-FM/90.1 FM
Long Islander Beth Fiteni us the host. Rotates with Healthy Planet radio with Huntington resident Bob DiBenedetto.
Saturday, August 8th to Saturday, November 21st
7:30am to 12:30pm
Huntington Farmer’s Market – G & G Long Island Farmer’s
Market
228 Main St. (Elm Street parking lot)
Huntington
Not the same organizer who’s been at this location for the
past ??? years, but the organizer that’s been hosting the Winter Market in
Huntington since Huntington first had a Winter Market. Possible there might be
up two certified organic farms…Golden Earthworm and Natural Earth Farm.
8am to 12:30pm
Northport Farmer’s Market
Main Street (Cow Harbor Parking lot)
Northport
https://northportfarmersmarket.org/
The one certified organic farm here is Sang Lee Farms.
Saturday, August 8th
12pm to 1pm
Food Chain Radio
https://metrofarm.com/food-chain-radio-3/
Host Michael Olsen always has interesting guests on the
issues of food, food politics, health, and related topics. Check out the
archives.
Tuesday, August 11th
10am to 11am
Green Street Radio
WBAI-FM/99.5FM
To listen live or check out the archives…
https://www.wbai.org/program.php?program=365
Join Long Islanders Doug & Patti Wood (founders of the
Port Washington Farmer’s Market…the only all organic greenmarket in New York
State), in their weekly show featuring conversations on health and sustainable
living.
7pm - Volunteers/8pm – Food Distribution
Community Solidarity Food Share Distribution
Fairground Ave & E. 6th St.
Huntington Station
For more info and to sign up to be a volunteer (though you
can also just stop by)…
https://communitysolidarity.org/foodshares/huntington
This is the group that Green Thumb CSA – Huntington has partnered with for the last number of years to donate produce remaining at the end of the night from our CSA.
Monday, August 10th to Sunday, August 16th
Healing Chronic Stress and Disease (online event)
FREE
For more info and to register…
The people I’m familiar with here are Kelly Brogan, MD
(holistic psychiatrist), Roger Jahnke, OMD (does workshops at the Open Center
in NYC about Qigong), Sonia Choquette (an often Open Center instructor), Joan
Borysenko (author of Fried: Why You Burn Out and How to Revive), and Tara Brach
(psychologist, meditation teacher and author of Radical Compassion: How to Love
Yourself & Your World).
Tuesday, August 18th to Wednesday, August
26th
Exhausted (online event)
FREE
For more info and to register:
Want to get from overwhelmed to at least “whelmed”? 😊 This might be what you’re looking for if you’re feeling physically, mentally, emotionally and/or spiritually exhausted. Watched the trailer and so far I’ve seen Dr. Mark Hyman (functional medical doctor), Dr. David Perlmutter (holistic neurologist), Dr. Kellyann Petrucci (naturopath), and Michael Breus (sleep expert), and many others.
###
