Happy Summer!
Thanks to first year CSA Member Laurie Thomas
for taking the eye drop sample off my hands and saving it from going to waste
(and it was even a brand she uses! 😊).
Important…if you send anyone to the CSA to
pick up food for you, please tell them to BRING BAGS and a FACE
COVERING!
This email includes…
- What you need to know
- Food safety and
COVID-19…
- Emergency situations at
the CSA (hurricanes/electronic communication glitches/etc.)
- Click activism – you
don’t have to do much, or spend any money, to help make a positive change
in the world!
- Flower Shares anyone?
- 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.
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…and a FACE COVERING.
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)
When you arrive at the CSA –
- Please wear a face covering when entering the building,
and proceed to the restrooms to wash your hands with soapy water (more
effective than hand sanitizers…COVID hates plain soap…NOT
anti-bacterial…the most)
- Check in at the desk with our friendly CSA worker (if
there are more than 3 people/couples/families of CSA members in the CSA,
you may be asked to wait in the hallway…socially distanced…before
entering)
- 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).
Before you leave the CSA – Make sure you have
everything on the list (like the story of the 3 bears…not too much, not too
little, but just right 😊)! 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 after the CSA closes for the evening, the food is
donated to a local food organization (Community Solidarity…see Events email for
more details about them). And if you accidentally took too much, please get in
touch ASAP (email or phone) so the food can be returned to its rightful owner
in short order.
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.)
Week #10
August 5, 2021
- Celery* – 1 bunch
- Tomatoes, Mini** – 1 pt.
- Eggplant: Japanese*** – 1 pc.
- Beans: Snap (Green): Romano**** – 1 bag
- Lettuce – 1 head
- Peppers, Sweet: Green AND Purple***** - 1 of each color
(no substitutions 😊)
- Squash, Summer****** - 3 pc.
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=14
If you don’t already…EAT THE LEAFY TOPS! 😊
Good in salads, smoothies, etc….
https://foodprint.org/blog/how-to-use-celery-leaves/
https://www.thekitchn.com/celery-leaves-deserve-far-more-attention-the-vegetable-butcher-219994
**Tomatoes are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=44
***Eggplant is one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=22
****Green Beans (Snap Beans…same thing) are
one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=134
*****Peppers, Sweet (Bell Peppers are one
variety of Sweet Peppers and so they’re all good) are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=76
******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
2.Food safety and COVID-19…
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…
3.Emergency situations at the CSA (hurricanes/electronic communication glitches/etc.)
- It’s hurricane season! Farmers are more hardcore than
postal workers so your food will be at the CSA between 3:30pm and 7:30pm
on Thursdays, pretty much no matter what. Hurricane Sandy didn’t stop the
CSA. We were at the Unitarian Fellowship in Huntington and there was no
power and there were tree limbs around the property BUT I checked out the
building to make sure there was no danger in being in the building or
entering the property, and with flashlights brought by me, we had our CSA.
If there’s no emails…show up anyway. If there’s some problem/issue with
the food arriving there should be a note on the door of the Cinema letting
you know what’s up (if we’re not already in there waiting for you). In a
storm situation…please bring a flashlight/lantern. It could be helpful for
you and those of us at the CSA. Again…show up and 3:30pm and 5:30pm if
there were no emails and offer to work if you’re able and available. And
if you feel it’s not safe/wise for you to venture out, know that any food
left at the end of the CSA will be picked up and donated by the gang at
Community Solidarity. They have NEVER missed a food distribution day even
in snow and ice storms (regardless of the weather…hungry people will still
be hungry if there’s no food to eat).
- Electronic communication is FAR from perfect. IF you
get no CSA emails or responses to your emails…come to the CSA anyway. It
could be a problem with my laptop, etc. Stuff happens.
- Anything else that might come up (these days…who
knows??? 😊)…no emails, come anyway
and will do our best to keep everyone informed as best we can (look for
notes on front door of Cinema if nothing else). The CSA has always
happened every week during our 20+ seasons…(lifted from the postal worker
motto 😊) - Neither snow nor
rain nor heat nor gloom stays these farmers & CSA crew from the swift
completion of their appointed rounds…to get you your CSA Shares!
- As farmers recover from the
Covid-19 crisis, they need support. That’s why I just urged my Senators to
co-sponsor the Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act. Please join me!
https://bit.ly/2V0UsvL?source=email&
- Please tell the USDA to
ensure that organic farming protects ecosystems…
https://secure.everyaction.com/W0jbS6CARUeR5GW3b7lvxQ2
If you’re interested in starting a Flower Share, reply to
this email or let someone know at the sign-in desk at the CSA.
The Flowers show up when they’re ready and at the moment (if
we get them this week) there are still 8 weeks left which would cost $72 ($9
per bunch per delivery)
While the farm has put a hold on new Flower Share members,
we’re starting a “wait list” and will let them know so they can give us an idea
of when (and if) they’ll open up the Flower Shares again.
6.What you actually got last week
July 29, 2021
- Potatoes: Adirondack, Blue/Adirondack, Red/Yukon* – 1 ½
lb. bag - $5.75
- Beets: Golden** (if we get Beet Tops…they’re edible!
See below for info and recipes) – 1 bunch - $4.50
- Collard Greens*** – 1 bunch - $4.50
- Beans: Snap (Green): Romano**** – ½ lb. bag - $3.25
- Lettuce: Romaine***** – 1 head - $3.75
- Sage****** - 1 bunch – from last week – didn’t get put
on the truck - $3.50
- Squash, Summer: Gold, Patty Pan, Yellow (didn’t write
down all the varieties…sorry…you could email me with what I missed)*******
- 3 pc. - $1.75
Total Items: 7
Total Amount: $27.00
(We pay $20 per week for our CSA share…some weeks we get a
bit more, some a bit less. This week, it was $7.00 more (partially from the
Sage that missed the truck last week). So at the moment we’ve already gotten
$20.75 more than we paid for. This adds up over the course of the CSA season,
and 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! 😊)
Flower Share – Week #6
Zinnias
*Potatoes are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48
**Beets are one of the world’s 100 healthiest
foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49
Beet Greens are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=151
***Collard Greens are one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=138
****Green Beans (Snap Beans…same thing) are
one of the world’s 100 healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=134
*****Romaine Lettuce is one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=61
******Sage is one of the world’s 100
healthiest foods (good info and recipes)!
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=76
*******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
7.And now, for something completely different…
What other countries think American food is…
Wonder who makes these decisions? Requests from customers or
watching to see what commercials are on American tv???
Thursday, August 5th
10am to 11am
IEatGreen radio show (new live shows start Sept 1st)
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, July 30th to Friday, August 6th
NOFA Summer Conference: Cultivating the Grassroots Organic
Movement (online)
$45 to $250 (suggested price $125…and there are scholarships
available)
For more info and to register…
https://nofasummerconference.org/
Looks like we’ll have to wait another year for an in-person
conference BUT at least we have this. What’s NOFA? The Northeast Organic
Farmer’s Association and it’s the group that certifies our farm (Green Thumb
Farm) as an organic farm (which they did long before the federal government got
involved). If you’re a gardener, an eater (aren’t we all? 😊)
or someone interested in healthy living, this conference has something for you.
Some of the speakers I’m looking forward to hearing are
Elizabeth Henderson (one of the founders of the CSA movement in America), Lee
Reich (the fruit whisperer), and Steve Gilman (long time NOFA member/farmer and
a wise guy…in the non-mob sense of the word 😊).
And if nothing else…consider joining the NY chapter of NOFA
(NOFA-NY) to support certified organic farming in New York…
https://nofany.org/about-us/become-a-member/
Membership starts at $45 and you get a lot for what you pay
(bulletins, free and exclusive admission to NOFA events – Field Days, newspaper
subscription, discounts on seeds & books – I LOVE Chelsea Green publishing
company, etc., and other stuff). Not sure if the yearly winter NOFA-NY
conference this year will be in person or not BUT with membership you do get a
discount on registration, and if it’s in person with rooming costs.
Friday, August 6th
6pm to 7pm
Natural Alternatives
WUSB-FM/90.1 FM
Rotates with Healthy Planet radio with Huntington area
resident Bob DiBenedetto, and Dr. Eugene Zampirone of Dr. Z Naturally.
Saturday, August 7th
7:30am to 12:30pm
Huntington Farmers Market
228 Main St. (Elm Street parking lot)
Huntington
Runs till some point in November.
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.
11am to 12pm
Stirring the Pot…with Florence Fabricant and Pierre Thiam
Guild Hall (virtual event on Zoom)
East Hampton
$8 – Members/$10 – General Public
To purchase tickets…
Join Florence Fabricant of the NY Times Dining Section as
she interviews chef/restaurateur, Pierre Thiam talking about African food and
the ancient grain, Fonio (which I can’t wait to try some day soon…served at his
restaurant Teranga in Harlem). Q & A will follow.
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
8:15pm – Drive-thru distribution
Huntington Food Share
Community Solidarity
Fairground Ave. & 6th St.
Huntington Station
FREE
For more info…
https://communitysolidarity.org/foodshares/huntington
To volunteer…
https://communitysolidarity.org/volunteer
Or to make a donation (they REALLY need a new truck)…
https://communitysolidarity.org/donate/funds
Community Solidarity (formerly Long Island Food Not Bombs)
is an amazing group, doing much needed good works. These are the folks our CSA
donates food to (and have for the last several years). If you’d like to
volunteer, make a donation (they REALLY, REALLY need a new truck), or have need
of their services (or know people who might)…get in touch/get information via
their website (listed above).
They also need/accept donations of the following…Bicycles,
Books, Clothing, Flowers (good for general mental health…taking care of the
mind AND the body), Food, Medical Care (is there a Doctor or Dentist in the
house? 😊), Plants/Seedlings, School Supplies, Toys
and more. For details on donating items, please go to the Home Page, scroll to
Donate, and read the appropriate listing (and scroll to Material Goods to see
the topics not initially listed)…
https://communitysolidarity.org/
Here’s founder Jon Stepanian’s TED Talk (TEDxNYU) on
Community Solidarity and Hunger Relief…
https://www.ted.com/talks/jon_stepanian_community_solidarity_hunger_relief
Sunday, August 15th
11am to 12pm
Stirring the Pot…with Florence Fabricant and Dorrie
Greenspan
Guild Hall (virtual event on Zoom)
East Hampton
$8 – Members/$10 – General Public
To purchase tickets…
Join Florence Fabricant of the NY Times Dining Section as
she interviews James Beard award-winning cookbook author, Dorrie Greenspan,
about baking and her specialty…cookies!
Saturday, October 2nd to Sunday, October
17th
Cider Week New York
For more info (there’s a lot going on) and tickets (some
events require tickets, some not)…
The one location participating on Long Island is Wolffer
Estate Vineyard (not organic…ah well ☹)…otherwise, NYC (Brooklyn,
Manhattan & Queens), and other parts of NY State. Wonder if any of the
participating ciders are certified organic? Or biodynamic? Or sustainable? Or
at least “natural”? Hmmmm….. 😊
Times available – TBD
Green Thumb Farm’s Annual CSA Pumpkin Picking Tour
Green Thumb Farm
829 Montauk
Water Mill
RSVP (will give info when reservations open up)
FREE
Take a hay ride around YOUR farm (you’ll see a different
part of the farm than you did if you went to the June Strawberry picking tour),
and pick some certified organic Pumpkins (good enough to eat…or carve 😊)!
This is a CSA Member exclusive (for current CSA Members
only…if you’re sharing a CSA Share with someone and the CSA Member won’t be
attending, you need to register under the CSA Member’s name…no offense, but as
far as the farm goes – you don’t exist! 😊)!
Recommend eating after (or before if the timing is right) at
the following places…(by me…take ‘em or leave ‘em 😊)
- Barrow Food House in Riverhead – 11:30am to 9:30pm – no
reservations (where I’ll probably go afterwards, but if it’s a madhouse
and I don’t want to wait…or can’t even get near there, will try #2 and
then #3)
Farm to table (farm belongs to the
dad of the chef and is down the road) have had 2 Soups, 2 Salads, Roast Beef
Sandwich, Fried Chicken Sandwich (OMG), side of Greens, Almond Torte Dessert
and everything was good enough for us to want to try everything on the menu
(only complaint was my side of Sugar Snap Peas needed to be de-strung…spitting
out bits of undigestible fiber…ugh…minor complaint but in this sort of place
they could/should do better)
- Farm Country Inn in Riverhead – 11:30am to 11pm – can
make reservations (never been…hear it’s decent…overlooks river)
https://www.farmcountrykitchenli.com/
- Pita House in Medford – 11am to 11pm – not far off the
LIE at exit #64/Rt. 112 heading south - shouldn’t need reservations, not
sure if they take them (long time fave…Turkish AND Turkish grocery store
next door)
https://www.longislandpitahouse.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=gmb&utm_campaign=gmb
- Hamptons Coffee Company – 5:30am to 6pm (right next to
Green Thumb Farm farm stand…have eaten here…didn’t love it, but couldn’t
be more convenient, happy to have this option, and would go again)
https://www.hamptoncoffeecompany.com/
EWG’s Clean Con 2021
To register for notification when tickets go on sale…
https://www.ewg.org/cleancon/?ms=WEB_EWG_BannerCTA
Join scientists, healthy living experts and marketing
innovators in exploring the chemicals that are in our personal environment, and
how we can embrace habit-changing behaviors to live a cleaner, healthier life!
Will learn about the body burden of these toxic chemicals, what “clean beauty”
truly means, and how to make better choices when it comes to food and water.
If you want to check out last year’s event to get an idea of
who the speakers might be and what they may be discussing…
https://www.ewgcleancon.org/home
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