It feels like summer with this weather, and this week’s box feels a bit like summer too – full of green! We hope you have been loving the squash for the last two weeks…but not having to fire up the oven anytime soon sounds like a great plan!

SAVE THE DATE!
Bring your family and friends to visit the farm on Sunday, October 15th from 11am-4pm. You’ll have an opportunity to tour the fields, learn how we grow your food, watch cooking demonstration, enjoy kids’ activities and more!  Details were sent to you in the farm’s September newsletter.

2017-2018 Winter Share

We have received the Winter Share information from Golden Earthworm and are sharing some of the details with you. The same information will be in the agreement form which we will send out in a separate email, on our facebook page, website, upcoming newsletters and will have hard copies available at our pickups starting in October. We will be able to sign you up at our pickups as well – payment by cash, check or credit card. Our winter share pickups are indoors in the town hall basement next to the loading dock. Hours are from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm – shorter in the winter.

The Winter Season CSA consists of Certified Organic root vegetables and hearty winter greens. There will be four deliveries, approximately every month from December through March. We also offer add-on Non-Organic Apple and Cider shares from Briermere Farm.  Our FAIR & SIMPLE PRICING – $28 per box!

ORGANIC VEGETABLE WINTER SHARE – $112 – Bigger boxes this year!
Each box will contain 15+ lbs of the following crops grown on our farm and sourced from other local, organic family farms. (Actual crops depend on availability): Potatoes, Watermelon Radish, Purple Top Turnips, Parsnips, Rutabaga, Carrots, Beets, Leeks, Winter Squash and Cabbage.  If we have a warm December, the first box may include greens from the fields.  Exact contents to be determined.
4 deliveries @ $28 per box = $112

NON-ORGANIC BRIERMERE FARM APPLE SHARE – $29
4 pounds of apples per delivery.
4 deliveries @ $7.25 = $29

NON-ORGANIC BRIERMERE FARM CIDER SHARE – $23
4 deliveries @ $5.75 = $23

PICK-UP DATES 

Delivery 1 – December 14

Delivery 2 – January 11
Delivery 3 – February 8
Delivery 4 – March 8

Composting update

Queens Botanical Garden Public Food Scrap Drop-Off Pilot Program: We were informed that the program is on the the verge of launching their on-site public food scrap drop off at QBG (open all garden hours). The http://queensbotanical.org/ is located at 43-50 Main Street, Flushing.

The QBG Public Food Scrap Drop-Off needs you! If you’re a compost champion based near Flushing, we’re recruiting participants for the upcoming launch of our new public food scrap drop off at Queens Botanical Garden! Simply fill out this Google Form and stay tuned for an email or phone call once we’re ready to launch our pilot group. Thank you, and happy composting!

If you don’t follow us on social media, please do. But more importantly, if you are on social media and posting about your share, please help some hashtag campaigns we support: #ShareYourShare and #JustDelivered are a Just food initiative to spread the word about CSAs in NYC. And #MyFlushing is a grassroots effort to highlight the awesomeness, vibrancy, and diversity of Flushing.

We want to thank our volunteers and site supervisors last week for a job well done!

A big shout out to Larry Leung for filling in as early site supervisor and to Jerry and Joyce Molach and Martha Ma for filling in as early shift volunteers! If you are able to give more than your minimum 4 hours, please do! We still have a lot of shifts needing coverage for the fall.

We need site supervisors for the early and later shift tomorrow evening if anyone is able to fill in please let us know.

This week’s volunteers are:

Shift 1 (4:45-6:30 PM)

Site Supervisor – none, Cindy Yao, Judy Hu 

Shift 2 (6:30-8:15 PM)

Site Supervisor – none, Judy Hu, Linda Liu

School has started! We are still looking for some high school volunteers for the fall if you know any teens with a service commitment to fill.

They’re here! Our new CSA tote bags are always available for sale at pick-ups. The new bags are only $5! 

​​NOTE: If you’re not planning to buy a bag, please bring a bag with you to take your veggies (and other products) home.

Dairy & egg & meat shares:

To those with milk (goat or cow) or egg shares: please bring your [rinsed] milk jars back, as well as your empty egg cartons, so Goodale can re-use them.

Fruit shares:

Fruit shares will continue for those that get them. One bag of apples/pears per share.

We will have replacement bags of fruit for the members who received damaged/bruised fruit and requested it.

Lewis Waite delivery this week.

We have a new assorted small batch S & V Jams  $8 / jar.

No vendor this week. 

Notes to all:

Please remember to sign in! Occasionally a volunteer is distracted and forgets to insist, please try to remember yourself. Signing also reminds everyone exactly what you get which streamlines the process.

And please let us know if you can’t pick up your share. We will do our best to work out a plan for an alternate pick up time for you, but even if you are definitely are forfeiting, please just drop a line (email, text, phone call, Facebook message, etc). We cannot hold/save your share for you if we do not hear from you by 7:59 – and yes we do check email and answer the phone all throughout pick-up hours.

Upcoming Events

Check out our (or Just Food’s) Facebook for more cool upcoming JF events or any local events.

And please, let us know if you have a food related local event coming up you’d like us to mention!

This week in the shares:

Arugula–  The picture above was taken this morning from Field 3 as we prepared to harvest arugula with our mechanical harvester.  The arugula leaves are very tender, so be sure to wash them gently and eat right away!
Storage: In an airtight (plastic) bag in the refrigerator. Uses: Raw When to use: Now!

Bok Choi – A favorite of many….I’ve used it in stir-fries for years, but just starting eating it raw in salads and I love it!  It’s a member of the cabbage family so it’s packed with nutrients.
Storage: On the counter. Uses: Cooked. When to use: Within a week

Japanese Salad Turnips – We haven’t had these turnips in the shares since June, so remember that you can eat both the tops AND the roots!  Saute the tops with olive oil and garlic.  Eat the bottoms raw sprinkled with salt, or cook them too.  You can’t go wrong either way.
Storage: In an airtight (plastic) bag in the refrigerator. Uses: Raw/Cooked. When to use: Within a week.

Cauliflower – We wait all season for the cauliflower and here it is!  Do you know why the heads stay white?  The leaves form a cover over the heads to shade them from the sun!
Storage: In an airtight (plastic) bag in the refrigerator. Uses: Raw/Cooked. When to use: Within a week.

Red/Yellow or Green Colored Peppers – It’s taken a while for our peppers to turn from green to yellow or red in the field.  Patience pays off and we’ve harvested a few special ones for you this week!
Storage: In an airtight (plastic) bag in the refrigerator. Uses: Raw/Cooked. When to use: Within 5 days

Plum Tomatoes – The tomatoes are the very last variety of the season. Enjoy these while they last!
Storage: On the counter. Uses: Raw/Cooked. When to use: Now!

Collards OR Napa Cabbage – These items are in rotation this week.  Collards are best cooked or used as a wrap! and the Napa Cabbage can be enjoyed either raw in salad or cooked too!
Storage: In an airtight (plastic) bag in the refrigerator. Uses: Raw/Cooked. 

Eggplant – Item in Rotation! – The eggplant plants don’t produce fast enough to harvest them for everyone on the same week.  So we will harvest them as they are ready on the vine and give them out to group by group.  Everyone will receive an eggplant by the time the season ends.  We keep careful track of who receives what.
Storage: In an airtight (plastic) bag in the refrigerator. Uses: Cooked. When to use: Within a week.
When to use: Within 5 days.