Thursday, September 30, 2021

Huntington CSA Thursday, September 30, 2021 Week #18

 Happy Autumn!

 CSA weather report…cool and cloudy (unless it’s not 😊)

 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… 

  1. What you need to know
  2. Food safety and COVID-19…
  3. Tomatoes…UPDATED info you may or may not know!
  4. Emergency situations at the CSA (hurricanes/electronic communication glitches/etc.)
  5. What you actually got last week
  6. 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…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)

  1. 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)
  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 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.

 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.

 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! 😊 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 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!

 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 #18

September 30, 2021 

  1. Celery Root (Celeriac) – 1 pc.
  2. Squash, Winter: Acorn - 1 pc.
  3. Peppers, Sweet/Hot: Shishito – 1 bag
  4. Lettuce – 1 head
  5. Mizuna – 1 bunch
  6. Tomatoes, mini - 1 pt. 

Total Items: 6

 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…

https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/03/food-safety-and-coronavirus-a-comprehensive-guide.html#covid-on-food

  

 3.Tomatoes…UPDATED info you may or may not know!

 Our CSA food can be (depending on what exactly it is) either MORE hardy, or MORE delicate, than the food we would get at a grocery store.

 More hardy…it’s fresher. Most produce in the grocery store is around 6 weeks old when you get it (organic or not).

 More delicate…the food grown by our farmers is not grown for shipping properties (ex. – if you throw it against a wall, how well will it hold up 😊). It’s grown for things like flavor (what a concept! 😊), adaptability to our growing region, and preserving heirloom varieties of food (like the Costata Romanesco Summer Squash we get… https://greenbeanconnection.wordpress.com/2016/04/03/costata-romanesco-italian-heirloom-zucchini/ ).

 That said, the large Tomatoes are on the delicate side. The minis we get are hardier than the large Tomatoes for some reason (had my Red Grape Tomatoes on the counter till I finished them today…5 days later).

 For ages I’ve been told that fresh, local Tomatoes do NOT belong in the fridge EVER because chilling them turns off a flavor enzyme and makes them not taste as good…and you don’t need to. So I am going to say something I NEVER thought I would say in a million years…

 If your Tomatoes are ripe when you get them home, leave them on the counter for no more than a day or two (and check daily) and if you have any left…

PUT THEM IN THE FRIDGE!

 If the Tomatoes aren’t ripe, leave them on the counter till they are (shouldn’t be more than a day or two), and then get them in the fridge ASAP.

 I’m always willing to learn and have discovered that the answer to the question of whether to fridge or not to fridge, isn’t as cut and dry as I thought. And here’s why…

https://www.seriouseats.com/why-you-should-refrigerate-tomatoes

 Also, any Tomatoes that aren’t either Green or Red will be more delicate (IMHO 😊)…Yellow being the most delicate, followed by Orange and any other color you might come across.

   

4.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).

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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!

 

 5.What you actually got last week

 Week #17

September 23, 2021 

  1. Cabbage: Green – 1 head - $4.25
  2. Black Eyed Peas OR Edamame - 1 bag (.4 lb.) - $2.75
  3. Okra: Green and Red – 1 bag (1/2 lb.) - $3.75
  4. Tat Soi – 1 bunch - $4.25
  5. Basil – 1 bunch - $4.00
  6. Tomatoes: Orange, Red and/or Yellow - 2 lbs. (up to and not over) - $6.00

 Total Items: 6

Total Amount: $24.75

(We pay $20 per week for our CSA share…some weeks we get a bit more, some a bit less. This week, it was $3 more. So at the moment we’ve already gotten $46.75 (2 CSA Shares + 😊) 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 #???

Gomphrena

 Herb Share – Sept 2B

Arugula AND Parsley, Flat Leaf

 

 6.And now, for something completely different…

 This is just CRAZY!!!

 In this South Asian/Indian puppet show, recipes are prepared in miniature, using traditional cooking methods, and look delicious (and the closing credit just nailed it for me 😊)…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxsMs_IuFlU

 

Thursday, September 30th

 

10am to 11am

 

IEatGreen radio show

To listen to the show live (or listen to the archived programs)…

http://prn.fm/

 

Hosted by Long Islander Bhavani Jharoff. Older shows can be accessed in archives.

 

 

Friday, October 1st

 

4pm to 8:30pm(?)

 

LI AgriCULTURE: Celebrating Local Foods with the Power of Film

Seasons of Change on Henry’s Farm (outdoor movie screening)

Fink’s Country Farm

6242 Middle Country Rd.

Wading River

FREE (but need to get free tickets)

To get free tickets and for more info…

https://prod3.agileticketing.net/WebSales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=706772~31a96320-4160-4f8e-a5f9-05c4f03c9c01&epguid=4e90d4ea-c6e5-40b3-9fc2-5fd0073268f4&

 

VERY family friendly (corn maze, pumpkin picking, hay ride, feed the animals, candy apples…animatronic Chickens!), but no pets allowed on the property unless they’re service animals. Post-film Q & A. Live music and more! Bring a picnic (or eat before coming), blanket or chairs, and not a bad idea to bring along or put on some bug spray/stuff for dusk mosquitoes.

Watch the movie trailer (looks like a great documentary about an organic farm)…

https://vimeo.com/359182242

Not organic, but a family farm that has a 3rd generation family member running it…

http://finksfarm.com/

 

6pm to 7pm

 

Natural Alternatives

WUSB-FM/90.1 FM

https://www.wusb.fm/

 

Rotates with Healthy Planet radio with Huntington area resident Bob DiBenedetto, and Dr. Eugene Zampirone of Dr. Z Naturally.

 

 

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)…

https://ciderweeknewyork.com/

 

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….. 😊

 

 

Saturday, October 2nd

 

7:30am to 12:30pm

 

Huntington Farmers Market

228 Main St. (Elm Street parking lot)

Huntington

 

Runs till some point in November.

 

Noon 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, October 5th

 

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

 

 Saturday, October 16th

 

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 😊)

 

  1. 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)

https://barrowfoodhouse.com/

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)

 

  1. Farm Country Inn in Riverhead – 11:30am to 11pm – can make reservations (never been…hear it’s decent…overlooks river)

https://www.farmcountrykitchenli.com/

 

  1. 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

 

  1. 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/

 

 

Tuesday, October 19th to Thursday, October 21st

 

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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