Sustainable Hastings/Stoneledge Farm CSA

hello everybody -

many thanks for holding down the fort last week in my absence – i look forward to seeing you all again this week.

i don’t have the sign up sheet w/ me so don’t know who’s on deck this wednesday – i’ll try to retrieve that info & send it out tomorrow.

& now…

Week # 13 What’s in the Bag

Dear CSA Member,

By far, this season has been the most challenging we have ever faced. It seems that each week, just as we think things are finally quieting down, Mother Nature throws another unexpected twist our way. We are not alone, though. Every farmer in this Catskill Mountain, Hudson Valley region has been struggling along, vegetable, fruit and even the farms that make and sell hay.

Part of the balance that farming holds is the promise of next season. We are already making plans for next year. We will be investigating high tunnels for early tomato production. Some of the vegetable trials this year have worked out well and we will incorporate them into our regular crop plan. We are interested in hearing from members as well if there are other crops or varieties that you would like us to consider.

This season moves along week to week and we are thankful for the many crops that have been so productive even with all of the harsh conditions. The peppers have been outstanding. They will again be plentiful in your share. I won’t try to separate all of the different varieties out, but send a mix and a total you should take.

The cold and wet have moved some of the fall greens to an earlier harvest date for us. This week Kale will be in your share. The Carrots are sweet and the Basil just beautiful.

I have written a brief description of the farm visit and have posted it on the farm web site, Upcoming Events link. We have just found out that Jimmy of the Capital City Coffee Roasters will be coming and brewing some of our Farmer to Farmer coffee for members to enjoy. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone at the farm.

Enjoy the vegetables-Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Carrots-1 bunch
Escarole-1 head
Sweet Peppers-5
Hot Peppers-take them if you like. They are easy to freeze to use this winter. Cut, put in zip lock freezer bags and pop in the freezer. When you are making that big pot of chili this winter, they will be welcome.
Kale-1 bunch
Basil-1 bunch
Onions-2
Tomatillo-1 pound

Fruit Share-this is the last week for the peaches, nectarines and donuts
1 bag Nectarines, Peaches
1 box of Donut Peaches and Pluot Plums

hello everybody.

thanks for being so great at returning containers & rubber bands – some have asked if there is other stuff we can recycle w/ Stonelege.
the word from the farm is that any color rubber band’ll do but they gotta fit around a wrist comfortably – so no small &/or fat ones.

as for the containers just the ones we’ve seen made of paper is what they can reuse. thanks for asking.

something new:
thank you to meredith for instituting a swap area at our csa!

going forward there will be bin(s) with extra items* available to take and a place to leave an item(s) from your share that you do not want – that someone else may want.

* as we have been getting extra of some items from the farm and Fessenden House, San Andres Episcopal Church, and Hastings Youth Advocates can accommodate up to 4 bins of food between them – any thing over this will be offered to the csa.

reminders:
volunteers for this wednesday:

Robin Joseph 10:15-1p
Claudia Heitler 10:15-noon

any takers for afternoon shifts?

our blog is at: http://sustainablehastingscsa.wordpress.com/

p.u times: 11a-1p 3:30-6pm

and now…

Week #10
What’s In the Bag

Dear CSA Member,

A wonderful week of sunshine. The fields are drying out and it feels
like maybe we are over the rainy season. We have started to pick a
few new vegetables this week, Edamame (edible soy beans) and the first
Baby Carrots.

The Edamame stalks are a bit dirty from all of the rain beating on the
soil but we shouldn’t wash them before we crate them. Just pull the
pods from the stalk and rinse them in cold water. Blanch for 3
minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pop the beans from the pods when they
are cool enough to eat. Our Edamame beans never get very large, but
they are tender and delicious.

We thought that Baby Carrots would be welcome. The skins are so
tender that all you need to do is to wash them, take off the ends and
use raw or cook.

A word about our upcoming Farm Visit. The date is September 12 from
11-3. Please bring your own place settings and a dish to share. We
will celebrate our farm and CSA with a huge pot luck lunch. The dish
you bring only needs to be what one recipe would make and it is
helpful if you label the dish. We will have the roaster going with
local pork and corn on the cob along with what ever local fruit is ripe.

Each year we also invite other local farms to participate. We have
maple syrup and honey for sale and the other farms will also have
their products available as well.

We plan on digging carrots and potatoes if the weather permits. It is
a wonderful time to visit the farm, take a walk around the fields and
really get a look at how your vegetables are grown. Hope you can make
the trip.

Enjoy the vegetables and fruit, Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Swiss Chard-1 bunch
Edamame Soy Beans-1 bunch
Scallions-1 bunch
Red Ace Beets with Greens-1 bunch
Baby Carrots-1 bunch
Eggplant-will send specifics on Tuesday
Peppers-will send specifics on Tuesday
Summer Savory-or as people around here call it, Summer Thyme-1 bunch (ez: isn’t that punny?)

Fruit Share-
1 bag of Yellow Peaches and Nectarines
1 basket of White Donut Peaches.
Donut Peaches look like they have been flattened, but that is how they
grow. Very sweet.

hope nobody’s floated away! my rain barrel over-floweth!

reminder to volunteers for this wednesday:

10:15-noonish – Anne MacDonald & Colleen Kapklein
noonish-1ish – Meredith Rusoff
5:30-6:30 – Doug Cronk
(any takers for 3:30-5:30?)

reminder for rubber bands – if you’re not using them Stoneledge will! bring ‘em with you on wednesday.

now the news from Deb:

Week #9
What’s In the Bag
Dear CSA Member,

I think that we knew in our hearts that it was a matter of time, but
continued to do everything we could to keep our tomatoes and potatoes
free of blight. The unrelenting rain and cold weather have been ideal
conditions for the fungus that is Late Blight to thrive. After the
blight was first discovered on transplants in the western part of the
state, it has moved quickly across the state fueled by the perfect
weather conditions. Last week the Late Blight hit our fields and we
needed to take down all of the tomatoes and remove the vines of the
potatoes.

There will be no tomatoes this year. We consulted with the Cornell
Vegetable Specialist for our area and we were advised to remove and
destroy all of the plant material from the tomato crop and take down
all of the potato vines. I can’t put into words how disheartening the
whole process has been. The Vegetable Specialist said that there is
barely a farm without blight in our area, conventional or organic, but
it is little comfort.

We know how much members look forward to tomatoes of summer and have
worked at our tomato crop for months. Seedings were started in March,
transplants planted in May, all of the tomato plants were staked in
June. We had three different plantings because we planned to have an
extended harvest and all three needed to be removed from the fields.
All of the stakes that we have used will need to be disinfected and
the twine destroyed. The blight is not supposed to overwinter, but
we needed to take every precaution to insure that we have future
harvests of potatoes and tomatoes.

The potatoes are underground and as long as we removed the vines early
enough, the harvest should be fine. Pete bush hogged the vines as
close to the soil as possible. The next day we received 4 inches of
rain and some of the potatoes on the top of the hills were exposed.
We have been picking those potatoes all day, again in the rain.

For a more positive note, we have beautiful vegetables this week again
in abundance in your share. This is the advantage to having such a
diversified farm.

I would also like to let members know that we are still planning on
the Member Farm Visit the second Saturday in September. We have been
a bit reluctant to make many plans because this summer a good day is
one that is just heavy rain without thunder and lightning and the
cellar hasn’t flooded. I will send more information next week about
the farm visit.

Enjoy the vegetables-the share is beautiful-Deborah, for everyone at
Stoneledge Farm

Fennel-1 bulb-I wasn’t sure how to use Fennel and so I looked up a
recipe. The recipe said to take out the core, slice finely, squeeze a
lemon on top and add 1/4 cup olive oil. Let sit and then use as a
side dish or add to a salad with the fennel olive oil as a dressing.
It is delicious.
Cucumbers-
Spinach-1 bunch
Peppers-
Eggplant-1
Scallions-1 bunch
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage-1 head
First of the season Potatoes-2 pounds
Thai Basil-1 bunch

Fruit Share
1 bag of Peaches, Nectarines, Formosa Plums
1 basket of Apricots

a few housekeeping notes before ‘what’s in the bag’.

- as some of you may have noticed the harvest at wednesday pick up has, on occasion been slightly different from the list we receive on sundays. stoneledge harvests our shares on tuesdays – given the variables involved in farming, 48 hours can make a difference, thus there may be slight differences in what’s in the bag. as in last week we received 5 slicing cucumbers but no boothby blondes, and no black currants but blueberries – and as you’ll see below some numbers are not in yet.

- as we are now in our 8th week and hopefully we’re all into a routine with regard to wednesday pick up. if you forget to pickup before 6pm your shares will go with donations to the food pantries. if an emergency arises on wednesday and you can call or email before 3pm we can arrange to hold your share till thursday midday. (212-247-5988- my home – rings in hastings)

-just a note regarding the garlic harvest on july 18th. it was canceled . they had to harvest the garlic on friday due to forecast of rain for saturday.

and now the word from our farmers:

Week #8
What’s In the Bag
Dear CSA Member,

Our 2009 Organic Certification inspection was conducted last night.  Each year our certifying agency, NOFA NY Certified Organic, LLC sends an inspector to the farm.  They examine our records, receipts, seed, fertilizer, amendment  purchases, inspect the greenhouses, fields and equipment and interview us personally about our practices. There are specific criteria that a farm needs to meet to be Certified Organic and it is a process that we need to work at, record and adhere to every day.   We will proudly be Certified Organic another year as we met all of the organic standards and criteria.  It is not an easy or uncomplicated task to meet the certification requirements. Each year as more materials, seed sources and information become available for the organic farmer, we feel that we can do a better job farming organically.

The Vegetable Share has an Italian flair this week: Escarole, Basil, Fennel, and Eggplant.  The Summer Spinach and Lettuces are still producing beautifully with all of the cool temperatures and rain.  All Certified Organic and  grown for you.

Enjoy the Vegetables -Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Lettuce-1 head
Scallions-1 bunch
Escarole-1 head
Basil-1 bunch
Fennel-1 bulb
Summer Squash-2 pounds
Cucumbers-not sure
Eggplant-1
Summer Savory-1 bunch
Spinach-1 bunch

Fruit Share-
1 Basket of Peaches-there will be a couple of White Peaches with mostly Yellow Peaches
1 Bag of Plums