Our second annual PLG CSA farm trip is coming up soon!

Where and When
Date: Saturday September 27th
Leave PLG: 10 am
Arrive at Farm in Salem, CT: 12:30 pm
Return to PLG: TBD (probably around 7 pm)

Activities
We will be going on a walking tour of the farm. Please be prepared for tall grass and muddy areas. In case of a forecast of rain, please also bring rain gear. If you are a photographer, please bring you camera!

Food
The farm will be preparing hamburgers and hot dogs (meat and veggie versions) for us at a small cost. Please also plan to bring a potluck dish to share. We will also need to bring hot dog and hamburger buns, condiments, beverages, and plates and napkins. We expect about 40 people.

You will also be able to purchase pork and beef while at the farm. Please visit woodbridgefarmonline.com for prices.

This is a great opportunity to meet the farmers, get a feel for how a biodynamic farm operates, and see where all of our beautiful food comes from!

If you plan to attend, please email Dara with the following information:

- Your full name and if you will be bringing someone along.
- Do you have a car? If so how many seats are free?
- If you do not have a car how many seats do you need?
- What food item do you intend to bring for the picnic?

Member tip: pickle workshop and festival on Sept 14th . Thanks Gabby!

Throughout history, on every continent, humans have been pickling as a way to preserve food in times of plenty and to ensure proper nourishment long after harvests have been exhausted. Today, refrigeration and a global food system have made pickling all but disappear from our kitchens and memory. Luckily we are slowly coming back to our senses — literally. Fresh, seasonal food is back in vogue and so is preserving it! This workshop covers the basics of the art of pickling and shows you just how simple it is to transform any vegetable into a mouth-watering delicacy.

The workshop will be conducted by food and media educator Martha Ma. Martha is Founder and Executive Director of Nani Ola Productions, which uses multimedia to promote local and sustainable agriculture, clean healthy eating, environmentally and socially conscious lifestyle, media awareness and active citizenship. Martha is also a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, and a Community Chef with Just Food.

Martha will discuss the history of pickling, explain basic fermentation and how it works, and address the health benefits of fermented foods. Then she will demonstrate four different pickle recipes and techniques, including sauerkraut, kimchee and miso pickles, and a vinegar-based pickle using produce from the farmer’s market. Light refreshments will be served and samples of Martha’s pickles will be available.

After Martha’s presentation, the program hosts will lead the group to the Eighth Annual NY International Pickle Day on Orchard Street between Grand and Broome Streets in Manhattan’s old Pickle District.

Here are the workshop details…

THE PLEASURES OF PICKLING
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2008 from 12 - 3 pm
Cost: $25 Members, $30 nonmembers; limited to 20
Location: Culinary Center at the Whole Foods Bowery, 95 East Houston

There’s a fascinating profile on our fruit farmer in NY Magazine. I’ve never met Amy Hepworth, but I’d love too… she sounds like quite a character! In addition to describing how Amy and her partner took over the farm after her father left, the article also gives a great example of Hepworth’s techniques for “minimal treatment”, which I know has been a common question from many of our members.

Surprisingly, not everything that comes from her farm is organic. Her reservations about the “organic” label are not just semantic—many nonconformist farmers think the word has lost its alternative resonance—but scientific. She does not take an absolutist’s position on chemicals, for instance, arguing that today’s “gentle” synthetics are unlike pesticides of the DDT days, when growers sprayed willy-nilly any “shit that worked.” Hepworth chooses how to grow based on what’s best for the soil. In many instances, the best option is organic, but in others, it’s not. In her view, it’s sometimes better to use a small amount of something synthetic than a huge amount of something natural.

Consider a disease called apple scab. “One organic control is five pounds of sulfur per acre every time it rains,” Hepworth explains. “Twelve to sixteen times a year.” Sulfur kills other things, not just apple scab. It can also coat apples with residue, and, when she was using it, Hepworth suspected that it harmed her earthworm population. She switched to a synthetic, noncarcinogenic fungicide that treats apple scab specifically. “It does the job in small amounts,” she says. “Six ounces per acre. I used it three or four times last year.”

Click here to read the full article!

Here’s what we’re expecting from Woodbridge Farm this week:

1. Potatoes
2. Onions
3. Zucchini
4. Cucumbers
5. Peppers and/or Eggplant
6. Corn
7. Salad Greens and/or Arugula
8. Swiss Chard
9. Beans and/or Edamame
10. Tomatoes
11. Basil

Thanks to everyone who came out to our BBQ last Saturday, and especially to Kimberly and Vince for hosting the party in their back yard! It was great to see everyone and try all the delicious food people prepared, including 3 (yes, three!) different types of fruit cobblers/crisps.

Here are the links to my recipes for Roasted Beets and Peach Blackberry Crisp. If you have a recipe you’d like to share, please send it in!

ABC News ran a story last week highlighting Stoneledge Farm and the Carnegie Hill CSA, and featuring our buddy Paula from Just Food. They traveled out to the farm with members for a garlic picking day, spent time at their distribution, and visited a couple of members’ home as they prepared their share. The story mentions how the recent cases of contaminated produce (jalepenos tainted with salmonella this summer, and e. coli linked to spinach a couple of years ago) have encouraged more people to look for alternative food sources. They also touched on the risk/reward aspect of CSA, which we have been talking a lot about lately. Click here to watch the clip.

This week we’re expecting the following veggies from Woodbridge Farm:

1 - Potatoes
2 - Celery
3 - Lettuce
4 - Basil
5 - Kale and/or Swiss Chard
6 - Beans
7 - Cucumbers
8 - Zucchini
9 - Tomatoes

Our first ever PLG CSA picnic is coming up on August 9th. We’ll be gathering in Prospect Park on Saturday August 9th from 1-4 pm. Come on out to meet other members, share a favorite recipe, and have some fun in the park!

Not sure what to bring? Check out Mark Bittman’s list of 101 20-Minute Dishes for Inspired Picnics. There are some great ideas here including beet salad, cold peanut noodles, and lots of other recipes that would work with our CSA fruits and vegetables.

Stay tuned for more details on the exact location, and look for a signup sheet or evite coming soon.

Here’s what we’re expecting from Woodbridge Farm this week:

1. Mixed Salad Greens
2. Bunched Herbs and/or Edible Flowers
3. Basil
4. Beets and/or Turnips
5. Garlic
6. Kale
7. Tomatoes
8. Zucchini
9. Cucumbers
10. Beans

One of New York City’s CSA farmers, Benjamin Shute of Hearty Roots Farm, was featured on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC earlier this week. Benjamin talked about his experience as a relatively new farmer and the importance of Community Supported Agriculture to making farming possible and profitable. Hearty Roots supplies a few of our neighboring Brooklyn CSAs in East Williamsburg, Greenwood Heights, and Bay Ridge. You can listen to full show here.

via Just Food