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Become the Sunnyside CSA Chef!

We are excited to offer a new volunteer opportunity for the 2012 season!  Just Food, our CSA’s umbrella organization, is running workshops to teach CSA members how to conduct cooking demonstrations about local, seasonal eating and cooking; fruit and vegetable identification; and food storage and preparation.

This would be the perfect way to fulfill your 2012 season volunteer requirement if you are a good cook who would like to learn more about local, seasonal eating and how to use the fruits and veggies you receive every week in your CSA share—and are excited about sharing this knowledge with your fellow CSA members.

The specifics:

  • You must be able to attend a training session at the Whole Foods at 95 E. Houston Street on either Saturday, June 2 OR Saturday, June 9, 9am to 5pm.
  • Sunnyside CSA will cover the training fee; we ask that you cover a $15 materials fee.
  • Together with Sunnyside CSA’s volunteer coordinator, you would schedule at least 3 demonstrations of your new skills over the course of the 2012 season, to take place during our Thursday evening pick-ups. If needed, you will be provided with a volunteer assistant during the demonstrations.
  • Sunnyside CSA will provide the equipment and food needed for your demonstrations.

To apply:

  • Please download the CSA_Chefs_App_2012, fill out the application and send it to Sunnyside CSA’s volunteer coordinator via email at volunteer [at] sunnysidecsa.com by May 5.
  • Please note that your application must be approved by our core group before it is sent to Just Food, so please DO NOT send the application directly to Just Food. It must be received by our volunteer coordinators by May 5 if you wish to be considered.
  • Questions? Contact us!
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Sign Up for Dairy, Flower and Pickle Shares

We are excited to work with Milk Not Jails and Partners Trace Farm to offer dairy, flower and pickle shares this year! Check out the details below and sign-up for the shares at Sunnyside Community Services on Tuesday, April 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Milk, yogurt and pickle samples will be available at sign-up. Yum!

Dairy Shares from Milk Not Jails

We will be offering milk and plain yogurt from Milk Not Jails. The milk will be from small local farms, low temperature pasteurized and non-homogenized. Visit the Milk Not Jails website to learn about how your purchase will help the rural upstate economy.

The dairy season will run the entire 26 week CSA season. You may choose as many containers of milk and yogurt as your household is likely to consume in a week.

  • Half gallons of milk (available in whole, low-fat and fat-free) will be $130, which works out to $5 per half gallon.
  • Quarts of milk (available in whole, low-fat and fat-free) are $78, which is $3 per quart.
  • 32 oz containers of plain yogurt (available in whole and fat-free) will be $104, which is $4 per container.

Monthly a la carte ordering will be available from Milk Not Jails during the season as well. Milk and plain yogurt will be available, along with flavored yogurt, half and half, butter, heavy cream, ice cream and cheese. More information will be sent at a later time, but you do not need to have a dairy share to order a la carte. A la carte orders and payments will be through the Milk Not Jails website and pick-up will be at Sunnyside Community Services.

Lauren Melodia, the founder of Milk Not Jails, will join us on Tuesday to answer questions and share milk and yogurt samples.

Flower Bouquets and Pickle Shares from Partners Trace Farm

We will be offering flower bouquet shares and pickle shares from Partners Trace FarmPartners Trace is a 6 acre farm based in New Paltz started by Amoreen Armett and Tierney Dearing Medick. Deliveries will probably start in June.

The flowers and greenery in the bouquets will be heirloom and native plants, not treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers. A 10 week flower share will be $160 and consist of a European style hand tied bouquet. Amoreen and Tierney say they really like the creativity of assembling the bouquets for the flower share.

10 week pickle share will be $100 and consist of a 16 oz jar of pickles every week. The produce is grown by Partners Trace and they happily accept suggestions for pickles and will introduce new varieties based on customer demand. We will have samples of three varieties at sign-up: simply dill; orange zest, pink peppercorns and chili pepper; and beets with ginger and allspice.

Want a Share But Can’t Come to Sign-Up?

If you would like a dairy, flower or pickle share but can’t come to sign-up on Tuesday, April 10, please email special_products [at] sunnysidecsa.com or Contact Us with your name and what products you’re signing up for. Or download the contract and mail it and your check to:
Sunnyside CSA
PO Box 4383
Sunnyside, NY  11104

Don’t delay! We must receive your check and contract by April 15th!

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Donate A Raffle Prize!

Happy Spring! As we gear up for another bountiful season, Sunnyside CSA is seeking raffle prize donations and we need your help! At vegetable pick-ups and events throughout the season, we will host a series of raffles to support our subsidized share program. Any prize you donate will help us continue to offer fresh, organic, local produce to those with limited incomes.

A few raffle prize donation ideas: Ball game or Broadway tickets, Weekend get-away packages, Museum admission passes, or Goodies from local businesses–massage treatments, dinner-for-two, or family events.

All proceeds from the raffle will go towards our subsidized share program.

If you are interested in donating a prize for the raffle, please email events [at] sunnysidecsa.com or Contact Us.

Thank you in advance for your kind donation!

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Milk Shares! Flower Shares! Pickle Shares!

We are considering partnering with a new group that offers a dairy share (milk, yogurt, and more) as well as a flower share, and a pickle share! All of these shares have a base minimum we need to meet in order to join, so we need YOUR INPUT to know what to do. If there’s enough interest in any/all of these, we will forge ahead- but if we don’t get much of a response, we’ll have to pass on the offers, which is too bad, because I, for one, would LOVE a milk share.

To get your feedback, we’ve created a very short survey here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6V8GJHH

If you’re interested in any of these shares, please fill out the survey and let us know what you’d want. This is open to anyone, even if you don’t have a vegetable share! Indicating interest does not mean you are committing yourself to paying for a share- we understand you probably want a little more details about what it is you’re getting before writing a check- but please only tell us you’re interested if you’re serious about getting a share. We need the results to be as accurate as possible before making a decision.

Thanks!

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2012 Open Sign-Ups in March!

The 2012 Sign Ups are Here! Tuesday, March 6 at SCS between 6-8pm. Bring a checkbook- it’s first-come, first serve! You can download a contract and read about the share plans right here on the site in the CSA Details tab. If we don’t sell out, Thursday March 8 will be our second open sign up, same time and place.

We’ll also have a Lewis Waite Farm tasting on the March 6 signup, so come taste some amazing food and discover what you can be ordering through our partnership with Lewis Waite!

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Find a 2012 CSA Share Partner

This page is for folks who are looking for a share partner in  2012. If you’ve got a share but need a partner, or have no share but want to split one, leave a comment with your contact info!

Please READ the previous posts before writing your own, and contact the person! Otherwise, everyone is posting and no one is responding.

To avoid getting spam, write your email out something like this:

bob – at – gmail.com

You can also leave comments on out facebook page!

Good luck!

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Annual Town Hall / 2012 Returning Members Sign Up!

Town Hall Meeting
Please come to our annual town hall meeting where you can meet our farmers, chat with the core group, have your opinion heard and get more involved overall with the 2012 year. You’ll also hear the results of our year-end survey. This is our only meeting of the year, so please attend- it’s our one chance to discuss the CSA openly as a group. There are several open positions within the core group, so anyone and everyone interested in the CSA’s direction is encouraged to come. Another great reason for attending is…

2012 CSA Sign Ups
All returning members in good standing are eligible for this early-bird sign up happening at the Town Hall Meeting. If you want to ensure a spot in next year’s veggie share, this is your chance. After this, our signups will be open to everyone, first-come / first-serve- so save the date! We will send another email soon with the contract and 2012 share details.

Town Hall Meeting & 2012 Sign Up:
Wed Jan 18, 7-8:30pm @ Sunnyside Community Services (43-31 39th St.)

Year-End Survey
Let your voice be heard by filling out our survey, which is instrumental in knowing what directions you want this CSA to head in. Without your feedback, we can’t improve! If you’re a CSA member, please fill out this quick survey by Sunday, January 15th.

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2011 Season End Survey

Happy New Year, CSAers!

Hope you all enjoyed a great holiday.

Although the new year has begun, we are still wrapping up the 2011 season and making plans with our farm for the 2012 season.
Please help us out by taking our annual season-end survey. The survey is open until Sunday January 15, but we would love to hear from you sooner.

We will announce the results at our annual town hall meeting on Wednesday January 18th.

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Winter Shares (2011-12)

Winter Share Signups are Here! Also in this issue… Oysters, Turkeys, and Soap!

Hiya, folks- we will be having our winter share signups this coming week during our regular Thursday pickup from 5-8 pm. Because of the increasing interest in the winter share, and the limited availability of the shares, we’ll be doing things a little differently, so please read carefully:

We have two winter share plans available. The delivery schedule is the same, only the products are different. The first is our Golden Earthworm plan, which is much the same as last year’s, although the size is slightly smaller due to the weather (15-18 lbs. each month, rather than 15-20 lbs. as it was last year.) These are root vegetables grown this fall, plus some greens from their greenhouse. They also offer an apple share and a cider share, as they’ve done in years past.

The second plan is from Winter Sun Farms, which is actually a group of farms from the area who freeze their produce throughout the summer so you can eat it in the winter. If you stopped by their table this week at the pickup, you would have seen some really fresh-looking veggies packaged for easy delivery. Each package tells you the exact farm it came from, and you can read the details of that farm on their website.

Space is limited on both plans, so if the number of applicants exceed the number of shares, we will hold a lottery among the members. To make this process as painless as possible, please do the following:

  • Decide which of the plans you are interested in. You can choose all the shares, if you would like.
  • Write separate checks for each plan you are interested in. We need separate checks for: Golden Earthworm Winter Vegetable Share, Golden Earthworm Cider and/or Apple Share ( if you want both of these, you can pay for them with one check) and Winter Sun Farms Vegetable Share. Please indicate on each check which plan the check is for.
  • Bring your checks to the signup on Thursday, November 3rd. Please note: you can’t sign up without a check! This is important!
  • If we have to run a lottery for the shares, we will cash your check if you get a spot, and rip up the check if you didn’t. (We’ll let you know either way, of course!) There is no limit to the apple and cider shares, which is why those need to be on a separate check (you’re automatically guaranteed a share if you sign up for either of these, so that check WILL be cashed regardless.)

WINTER SHARE PICK-UP SCHEDULE

Thursdays: Dec. 15, Jan. 5, Jan 26, Feb. 16, March 8.

GOLDEN EARTHWORM WINTER VEGETABLE SHARE

Approximately 15-18lbs of mixed root crops and greens (see list below)

$28.60 value per delivery

5 deliveries

$143 Total Price

Winter Share vegetables may include any of the following: Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Beets, Potatoes, Watermelon Radish, Kale, Spinach & Arugula and maybe some other surprises. We hope to have greens in 4 out of the 5 shares.

GOLDEN EARTHWORM WINTER APPLE SHARE

3lbs mixed apple varieties

$4.25 value per delivery

5 deliveries

$21.25 Total Price

GOLDEN EARTHWORM WINTER CIDER SHARE

1/2 gallon fresh-pressed cider

$4 per 1/2 gallon per delivery

5 deliveries

$20 Total Price

WINTER SUN FARMS VEGETABLE SHARE

-includes 7 items per pick-up–usually 6 frozen items, and 1 fresh (greenhouse pea shoots)

-includes (depending on harvest) broccoli, sweet corn, mixed peppers, green beans, pureed butternut squash, kale, blueberries, raspberries, and even edamame!

5 deliveries

$165 Total Price

-See sample share contents here

-See some of the farms we work with here

-Most of the farms we work with are certified organic or non-certified organic.  Each package has a label which includes the name of the farm at which it was grown–this helps us to keep the connection between farmer and consumer.

OYSTERS!!!

This winter we will be offering oysters once a month from Widow’s Hole Oyster Company.  These are fresh, raw oysters raised 100 miles off the Long Island coast. Pick up days (weather permitting) will be December 13, January 17, February 7, March 6, April 10 and May 15 (these coincide with Lewis Waite pickup dates.)  The cost will be $12/dozen- that’s a buck an oyster! You can order as many as you’d like, but we are asking folks to commit to at least 1 order per delivery date to ensure meeting our minimum with the fishermen.

We will begin sign-ups and have more information at the next pick-up. We’re still figuring out the ins and outs of this, so if you have any questions, please email special_products@sunnysidecsa.com

For more info on the oysters, their website is http://widowsholeoysters.com

THANKSGIVING TURKEYS

The deadline for ordering Thanksgiving turkeys from Lewis Waite is November 7.  Pick up will be November 17. If you’ve never ordered from this amazing farm, here’s how:

http://sunnysidecsa.com/the-facts/#lwf

SOAP

The deadline for ordering from Kalliste Soap Shop is November 3.  Pick up will be November 17.  To order, go to http://www.kallisteshop.com/Products/Gourmet-Soap-Bars.html and type “CSA” as the discount code when ready to check out.  CSA members will get a 50% discount on their soap bars!

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Oyster CSA in Sunnyside

OYSTERS!!!
This winter we will be offering oysters once a month from Widow’s Hole Oyster Company. These are fresh, raw oysters raised 100 miles off the Long Island coast.

When: Pick up days (weather permitting) will be December 13, January 17, February 7, March 6, April 10 and May 15 (these coincide with Lewis Waite pickup dates.)

Cost: $12/dozen- that’s a buck an oyster! You can order as many as you’d like, but we are asking folks to commit to at least 1 order per delivery date to ensure meeting our minimum with the fishermen.

How: We will begin sign-ups and have more information at the next pick-up. We’re still figuring out the ins and outs of this, so if you have any questions, please email special_products@sunnysidecsa.com
For more info on the oysters, their website is http://widowsholeoysters.com