Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Salad Turnips – 1 bunch
Baby Bok Choi – 2 pieces
Spinach – 1 lb. bag
Arugula – 1/2 lb. bag
Toscano Kale – 1 bunch
Long Red Peppers – 2 pieces
Green Bell Pepper – 1 piece
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.
Fruit Share
1 bag mixed Cortland Apples and Bosc Pears Ripen pears on the counter. Bosc pears are ripe when they are fully brown (no green). Small black spots on the pears are superficial and will not affect the taste or quality of the fruit. You can wash or cut it off.
STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: All veggie items this week!
CSA SMACKDOWN
Calling all iron chefs! On Oct. 5th we’re planning our very own cooking competition! You’ll get a share box and some simple ingredients. The winning team will get to battle for cooking supremacy in the city-wide Just Food CSA Smackdown! If you and a friend want to enter or have questions, Contact Us ASAP! Read more about the Smackdown via Just Food…
Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival ~ Sunday, October 20th ~ 11am-3pm
This year’s Harvest Festival promises to be a delicious and fun outing! Please take a moment to fill out this sign-up form. We’ll do our best to provide transportation to and from the farm. Read more about the festival…
NEWS FROM THE FARM
I’ve been waiting months to say this… We have a gorgeous harvest of greens for you this week! A full pound of tender Spinach, Turnips (with greens that can be cooked like spinach!), Toscano Kale, Bok Choi and the most delicious melt-in-your-mouth Arugula! Bon appetit! -Maggie
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
Slow Food USA is a non-profit, member-supported organization founded in 2000 to counteract the culture of fast food. Slow Food stands against the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.
Their programs support alternatives to the industrial food system by promoting sustainable agriculture, supporting small-scale food producers and preserving traditional foods and knowledge. They are seeking your support in their annual membership drive. Click Here to Find out More!
Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Celery Root – 2 pieces
Baby Bok Choi – 1 bunch
Scallions or Leeks – 1 bunch
Arugula – 1/2 lb. bag
Eggplant – 2 pieces
Long Red Peppers – 3 pieces
Cherry Tomatoes – 1 pint
Sweet Potatoes – 1.75 lbs.
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.
Fruit Share
1 bag mixed Bartlett Pears & Gala Apples
Let’s Go METS!
Next Thursday, September 26th, is Farm-to-Table Night with the METSat Citi Field. Join other CSAs in Promenade Reserved seats for only $15 per ticket! Game starts at 7:10pm. The METS are excited about bringing CSA communities together for a night of fun and to raise awareness about the “eating local” movement. We realize this is a pickup night, but those who are interested can make alternative arrangements to pick up before the game. To purchase tickets, or if you have questions, Contact Us!
CSA SMACKDOWN
Calling all aspiring Iron Chefs! Sunnyside CSA has been invited to compete in the city-wide Just Food CSA Smackdown! We’re looking for 2-person teams to compete in our own round of the Smackdown on the weekend of Sept. 28/29 or Oct. 5/6. We’ll provide a share box, some basic ingredients, and you provide the magic. The winners will advance to a semi-final round in late Oct. and then to a city-wide final round in November. If you would love to put your cooking chops and culinary knowledge to the test, Contact Us ASAP!
Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 20th ~ 11am-3pm
This year’s Harvest Festival promises to be a delicious and fun outing! Please take a moment to fill out this sign-up form. And we’ll do our best to provide transportation to and from the farm. Read more about the festival…
A few friendly reminders & updates:
STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: Celery Root, Baby Bok Choi, Scallions, Arugula, Peppers On the counter: Sweet Potatoes FRUIT: Ripen pears on the counter, then refrigerate.
NOTES FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM
Continuing our update from last week, here are a few notes on this week’s share…
Sweet Potatoes! – These are different from the sweet potatoes you are familiar with. They are freshly harvested from the soil the day before you receive them and are not yet cured. The skins are very delicate and they should not be refrigerated. The typical post-harvest process of heating the potatoes for 7-10 days hardens the skins and prepares them for storage. We will cure future harvests, but we wanted to give this special first harvest right away. We are giving out a variety of sizes right now because we are digging the crop daily. Some are large, some are babies, but all taste great. In general these sweet potatoes will cook faster than older ones, so you’ll have to adjust your cooking times accordingly.
Red Long Peppers – It has been quite a wait for these to turn from green to red, but here they are! Our first red sweet peppers in many, many years. Peppers suffer from cold injury at the temperatures of a normal household refrigerator, but they will stay in ok shape for a few days. 45-60F is best, but should be in a plastic or wax bag so they don’t dehydrate. Hopefully you cannot resist eating them right away and won’t have to worry about storing them.
Baby Bok Choi – Our lovely greens are beginning to return now, and we have a good sized bunch of baby bok choi for everyone. This is true baby bok choi with a light green stem. The whole thing is edible!
Baby Arugula – This is beautiful arugula. We have washed some of it, depending on the picking conditions, but we recommend that you re-wash at home before you eat it. It has a short shelf life due to its delicate leaves, so be sure to handle gently and eat it as soon as possible.
Celery Root – A fascinating vegetable that many of you may not be familiar with. Strange looking, great smelling and excellent if prepared correctly. We have included recipes to assist you in succeeding with this oddball but super vegetable!
The tomatoes are not finished quite yet! We are taking a little hiatus due to the very slow ripening occurring with the colder weather. We do expect to harvest more tomatoes in small quantities over the next few weeks. The weather will decide this, as tropical warm season crops dislike cold weather and growth rates decline.
Here’s to a wonderful upcoming fall harvest for all! – Farmer Matt
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Nicola Potatoes – 1 quart
Butternut OR Acorn Squash OR Zucchini
Leeks – 1 bunch
Parsley – 1 bunch
Green Bell Peppers – 2 pieces
Long Red Peppers – 2 pieces
Tomatoes – Beefsteak, Plum or Cherry
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.
Fruit Share
1 bag Pears
1 bag Gala Apples Ripen pears on the counter, then refrigerate.
STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: Parsley, Leeks In the fridge: Peppers On the counter: Butternut Squash, Tomatoes In a cool, dark place: Potatoes
Veggie Box Videos #1
We debuted a new video series featuring local chefs that give tips and demos on what to do with your CSA vegetables! Up first: Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, chef and owner of Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City! In just a few minutes she whips up three delicious dishes with a few veggies for your eating pleasure.
A CROP UPDATE FROM YOUR FARMERS
As we enter the second half of the CSA season, here’s a quick crop update… Be forewarned that this update details the loss of several summertime crops. Our fall crops are doing marvelously and you can see photos of the beautiful fields below…
Cherry Tomatoes – Typically we are able to give out a full portion of orange cherry tomatoes to each member for a few weeks. This year some unusual things have occurred in the cherry tomato patch. Back in June when we had all the rain the lower 1/4 of the field flooded for a short period of time. All the plants in this section died shortly afterwards. Over the next few weeks, the remaining plants began to develop a disease called bacterial speck. While the plants eventually rebounded and are in decent shape now, the yields have been minimal. We hope to include more cherry tomatoes in the shares soon, but we will have to see how long the warm weather holds out.
Eggplant – For 2 or 3 years our eggplants have been wiped out by Colorado potato beetles. This year we moved them to the farm in Jamesport where there is less potato beetle pressure in hopes of having a successful crop. After a couple of times handpicking and spraying the beetles we were successful at eliminating their colonies and now have a nice planting of eggplant. Since we’ve had such trouble in the past we were cautious about planting a full CSA-sized planting and this is why we have only have enough to give out to some groups each week or two. Everyone will eventually receive the same amount of eggplant. Now we are having some problems with verticillium wilt and perhaps another unidentified disease so occasionally an eggplant makes it into the box which is not up to snuff. Let contact the farm if you receive a bad eggplant and we will happily replace it.
Garlic – Our garlic did very well this year. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of it. There were shortages of Certified Organic garlic seed last fall and we only planted about 1/3 the amount we normally plant. We know you all love garlic and we’re doing everything we can to get our hands on as much seed as possible for next season.
More updates to come next week. In the meantime, check out the beautiful fall crops growing in our fields. Everything is looking great and we’re looking forward to a bountiful harvest over the next few months!
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
Save the Date: Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 20th
This year’s Harvest Festival promises to be a delicious and fun outing! If enough people are interested, we’ll organize a bus trip, as we did last year! Stay tuned for more info. Save the date! October 20th ~ 11am-3pm
Introducing a new video series by Sunnyside CSA featuring local chefs giving you tips and demos on what to do with your CSA vegetables!
Up first is Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, chef and owner ofManducatis Rustica in Long Island City! In just a few minutes she whips up three delicious dishes with a few veggies for your eating pleasure.
Watch it, share it, spread the word!
If you know of local chefs who you think would be perfect for this project (and would want to get on camera for us), contact us.
Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Green Beans – .75 lb bag
Butternut Squash- 1 piece
Parsley – 1 bunch
Lettuce Mix – .5 lb bag (not washed)
Long Green Peppers – 2 pieces
Eggplant – 1 piece
Tomatoes – 4 lb. Bag
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.
Fruit Share
1 bag Bartlett Pears
1 bag Yellow Peaches
STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: Green Beans, Zucchini, Parsley, Lettuce Mix In the fridge: Peppers On the counter: Butternut Squash, Tomatoes FRUIT: Ripen peaches in a paper bag on the counter, then refrigerate. Ripen pears on the counter, then refrigerate.
Tomato Share Mania!
Yes, beefsteak tomato shares came and went—and fast! While we can’t make promises plum tomato shares will happen, if they do, we can promise to let you know in the most fair way possible—EMAIL! If you are interested in tomato shares, please keep an eye on your email and act fast! Remember, join the Sunnyside CSA Yahoo Group to receive our emails!
Veggie Box Videos #1
We debuted a new video series featuring local chefs that give tips and demos on what to do with your CSA vegetables! Up first: Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, chef and owner of Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City! In just a few minutes she whips up three delicious dishes with a few veggies for your eating pleasure.
Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras
Deadlines to order your next delivery of Lewis Waite products start tonight and go til, Monday, September 9th for delivery on Thursday, September 12th. Note the NEW ORDER DEADLINES. Please be sensitive to the busy farmers and order on time. Late orders may not be filled! Place your order now!
NOTES FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM
Even though Labor Day has come and gone, today’s share reflects our summer bounty: squash, salad, beans, tomatoes, and my personal favorite garnish, parsley. The tomatoes may be a varying degree of ripeness, and we will have a mix of red and orange beefsteak varieties. The red tomatoes should be a deep shade of red when they are ripe, and the orange should be a bright almost neon color. Unripe tomatoes can be left on the kitchen counter to ripen. Many of the tomatoes will have cracks due to the moisture and rain, but they should still be delicious!
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
Save the Date: Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 20th
This year’s Harvest Festival promises to be a delicious and fun outing! If enough people are interested, we’ll organize a bus trip, as we did last year! Stay tuned for more info. Save the date! October 20th ~ 11am-3pm
STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: Scallions, Eggplant In the fridge: Peppers On the counter: Spaghetti Squash, Tomatoes, Garlic Cool, dark place: Potatoes
NOTES FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM
Last week’s heat has helped the tomatoes turn a corner. We now have ample supply of tomatoes and hope to have at least 6lbs for everyone this week! The rest of the contents may be a bit mixed this week. We may not have enough eggplant, spaghetti squash or bell peppers for everyone this week but we’ll be sure to make it up in the weeks to come. Even the fruit share is likely to change as the week goes on, so please keep checking our newsletter for updates to this week’s share.
Also, if you are yearning for even more tomatoes, we do have some delicious seconds available. Keep in mind that they can only be picked up at the Jamesport farm location and/or our farmers markets. Please contact the farm for more information.
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
Save the Date: Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 20th
This year’s Harvest Festival promises to be a delicious and fun outing! If enough people are interested, we’ll organize a bus trip, as we did last year! Stay tuned for more info.
Save the date! October 20th ~ 11am-3pm
Chef Demos are Back!
Have you been wondering how to use all those cucumbers we’ve received in the past two weeks? Wonder no more—CSA Chef demos return to this week‘s pickup! Chef Daphne will be on deck with some ideas for your share. Stop by for some yummy samples and tips between 5pm and 7pm.
A few friendly reminders & updates:
STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: Scallions, Fennel and Green Beans In the fridge: Cucumbers and Peppers On the counter: Tomatoes, Acorn & Sweet Dumpling Squash ** see note below about squash!
NOTES FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM
What a great share this week! **A quick note on the winter squash… They should be stored on the counter, but eaten within 1-2 days. We’ve had some disease issues with these plants and have noticed that many of the squash have been rotting prematurely. So be sure to eat them right away!
Baby farmer is just starting to eat solid foods and as of last night, his favorite is the sweet dumpling squash! I would have to agree—it is absolutely delicious! The best way to prepare the winter squash is to wash the skin well and cut in half lengthwise with a knife. Scoop the seeds out of each half and place face down in a baking dish with a few tablespoons of water. Bake, uncovered in a 350F oven until the flesh is soft. Depending on the size and variety, this takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
Save the Date: Golden Earthworm’s Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 20th
The farm has set the date for this year’s Harvest Festival, and though it’s not until October, we would like to start gauging member interest. We’ll have a signup sheet at this Thursday’s pickup, so if you’re interested in attending, be sure to put your name down- with enough member interest, we’ll organize a bus trip to the farm, as we did last year! Stay tuned for more trip info.
Golden Earthworm Veggie Share*
Yellow Baby Watermelon – 1 piece
Green Beans – 1/2 lb. bag
Cucumbers – 8 pieces
Baby Leeks – 1 bunch
Green Bell Pepper – 2 pieces
Tomatoes – 2 pieces
*Contents of the share may fluctuate over the week.
Fruit Share
Yellow Peaches – 1 bag
Donut Peaches – 1 bag (Ripen peaches in a paper bag on the counter, then refrigerate)
Lewis Waite Farm CSA Extras
Deadline to order your next delivery of Lewis Waite products is Mondy, August 26th for delivery on Thursday, August 29th. Note the NEW ORDER DEADLINES. Please be sensitive to the busy farmers and order on time. Late orders may not be filled! Place your order now!
A NOTE FROM GOLDEN EARTHWORM FARM STORAGE TIPS In a bag in the fridge: Green Beans, Leeks In the fridge: Cucumbers, Watermelon, Green Bell Pepper On the counter: Tomatoes
A quick note about the tomatoes… The cool, and now wet, weather, is affecting both the quantity (slowing the ripening process) and quality (many have developed cracks) of our harvest. If you do receive a tomato with cracks, it is most likely just cosmetic and can be easily cut out without losing much of the flesh. We’re hoping that along with the sun and warmer temperatures forecasted for later this week, our tomatoes will start ripening faster and we’ll have many more to distribute in the coming weeks!
CONNECT WITH YOUR FARM
Golden Earthworm welcomes you to explore their website to learn more about our farm and the wonderful things you can do with your weekly share.
If you have questions or concerns about your share, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. That is one of the benefits of knowing where your food comes from!
We are collaborating with fellow CSA member and founder of EZeating, Chef Tara Wood, to highlight a few recipes that use veggies from our CSA deliveries. She has collected a series of delicious recipe suggestions, so keep you eyes peeled over the next few weeks for new ways to eat your way through summer. Enjoy this recipe with this week’s Swiss Chard and Garlic!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 bunch kale, chard, collards, or turnip greens, etc., about 1 pound, tough stem centers removed (if any) and discarded, greens chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Roughly 1/2 cup dry white wine or water
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Heat a large sauté pan hot on medium-high heat and add the pine nuts. Toast them until they are fragrant and begin to brown. Pay attention as pine nuts burn easily. Stir or toss the nuts frequently. Once they are toasted, remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add the olive oil to the pan and swirl it around. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds; the pan should already be hot, so it won’t take long for the garlic to begin to brown. Add back the pine nuts, add the raisins and the greens and mix well. Sauté, stirring often, until the greens wilt and begin to give up some of their water, anywhere from 1-2 minutes for spinach to 4-5 minutes for collards or kale.
3. Sprinkle a little salt and red pepper flakes on the greens. Add the white wine (can substitute water)—use a little more wine if you are cooking collards, a little less if you are cooking spinach. Toss to combine and let the liquid boil away. Once the liquid boils off, remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.
