Category: *In the box

photo: Ulla Kjarval

Letter from the farm:
Despite last week’s hurricane, we have managed to pull together a relatively diverse share for everyone this week! We hope to distribute corn to everyone at least one time. Some of you received it last week, some this week, and hopefully the rest of you will get it next week. You’ll notice that there are worms in the ears. This is normal for organic corn! (Conventional corn is heavily sprayed with toxic insecticides to keep the corn silk worm out.) Just cut off the tip of the ear where the worm is and the rest is perfectly fine to eat!

Don’t forget to eat the tops of the beets! You can cook the beet greens just like spinach– either sauteed or gently steamed. They’re delicious!

**The red tomatoes need to ripen for a few days on the counter until they reach a uniform, deep red. Please be sure to wash the tomatoes before eating. We have been spraying them with an organically-approved copper spray to protect against late blight infection. The copper spray will wash off with a little soap and water.
Maggie

Vegetable Share
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, 1 pint
Red Beets and Greens, 1 bunch
Baby Leeks or Scallions, 1 bunch
Red Tomatoes, several pieces
Green Beans, 1 bag
Cilantro, 1 bunch
Corn or Acorn Squash, 5 pcs / 1 pc

Fruit Share
tbd

Herb Share
Chives
Thyme

Lewis Waite Farms
This is a LWF pick up week.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

photo: Ulla Kjarval

Letter from the farm:
The farm fared relatively well from Hurricane Irene. We will provide a full update on the state of the crops in next week’s newsletter.

**The red tomatoes need to ripen for a few days on the counter until they reach a uniform, deep red. Please be sure to wash the tomatoes before eating. We have been spraying them with an organically-approved copper spray to protect against late blight infection. The copper spray will wash off with a little soap and water.
Maggie

Vegetable Share
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, 1 pint
Long Green Pepper or Green Bell Pepper, 1 piece
Red Tomatoes, 5 pieces
Cucumbers, 2 pcs
Zucchini
Baby Leeks , 1 bunch
Baby Arugula, 1 bag
Basil, 1 bunch
Surprise Item!

Fruit Share
tbd

Herb Share
Cilantro
Lemon Thyme

Lewis Waite Farms
This is a LWF pick up week.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

photo: Ulla Kjarval

Letter from the farm:
This week marks the half way point of the CSA season and we have a spectacular harvest to celebrate! As we’ve mentioned before, our summer crops were delayed a few weeks, so they’re all coming in now. This will probably be the last week of peppers — so cut them up and freeze them if you need them for recipes this fall. Our pepper plants are dying of a root disease caused by excessively wet conditions.

The tomatoes are finally coming in well, but it has been a lot of work to get them to this point! Late blight was detected on tomato and potato crops here in Suffolk County and we’ve had to be diligent about our organic spray regemin to prevent it from taking hold. Some of you may remember back to 2009 when pretty much all of the organic farms in the Northeast lost their tomato crop. We managed to save many of ours back then, and this year we were on top of it right away to ensure a good harvest. That said, the plants are definitely weaker than they are in a healthy year, so we’re harvesting as much as we can, while we can!

Maggie

Vegetable Share
Shallots, 1.25 lb.
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, 1 pint
Long Green Peppers, 1 piece
Green Bell Pepper, 1 piece
Red Tomatoes, several pieces
Green Beans, 1 bag or Zucchini, 2 pieces
Baby Carrots or Baby Arugula
Baby Watermelon, 1 piece
Nicola Potatoes, 1 quart
Cantaloupe Melon, 1 piece

Fruit Share
tbd

Herb Share
Pineapple Sage
Thyme

Garlic Share
Garlic

Lewis Waite Farms
Don’t forget to place your order by Sunday for next week’s LWF delivery.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

photo: Ulla Kjarval

Letter from the farm:
What a lovely summer selection of produce we have this week! Green beans, red tomatoes, baby watermelon. The summer crops have been a bit behind schedule due to the cold and rainy start to the season, but they’re coming in now, so enjoy!

We are thankful for all of the rain! It allowed us a few days to slow down (just a bit) and gave the plants a much needed drink. We are thrilled to report that none of our fields flooded — meaning that we are doing a good job of keep the soil porous and non-compacted. We have a new tool that we’re using this season to help loosen the soil several feet under the ground! Most tools can loosen the soil down several inches, but the deeper you can get the better. It takes a powerful tractor and a powerful tool to do this work and this is the first year we’ve been set up to use it.

Maggie

Vegetable Share
Eggplant, 1 piece
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, 1/2 lb.
Long Green Peppers, 2 pieces
Bell Pepper, 2 pieces
Red Tomatoes, 2 pieces
Green Beans, 1 bag
Baby Watermelon, 1 piece
Walla Walla or Red Onions, 1 quart

Fruit Share
White Peaches – 1 bag (gentle! they bruise easily)
Yellow Peaches – 1 bag

Herb Share
tbd

Garlic Share
Garlic

Lewis Waite Farms
This is a LWF pick-up week.
If you missed last week’s deadline for LWF, you can place you order now for the next delivery.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

photo: Ulla Kjarval

Letter from the farm:
This week is our big push to seed all of our root crops for the fall and winter. We’re seeding acres of carrots, beets, and other cold weather crops that we’ll be able to harvest from October onwards. It looks like we have a good stretch of clear weather for the next few days to get everything done. Farmer Matt has been heading back to the farm every night after dinner for the past few weeks to prepare the fields and make beds for this seeding. There just aren’t enough hours in the day(light) to get everything done, so it’s a good thing that our tractors have headlights on them for nighttime tractor work!

Also! The tomatoes are finally coming in — a bit later than usual, but better late than never! This week we have cherry tomatoes and we hope to have some big red beefsteaks to give out in the share by next week. Our watermelons and cantaloupes are ripening quickly in this heat, so those should be making an appearance in the share next week as well. Some of you have asked about cucumbers… Well, we lost the first few plantings due to poor germination & wet weather that kept us from getting them into the fields on time back in June, but our final planting looks good and should be ready to harvest in about 3 weeks. The potatoes in the share this week are called Nicola, and are one of our favorites! They have a beautiful yellow color, lovely textured flesh and delicious flavor!

Maggie

Vegetable Share
Nicola Potatoes, 3 lb. bag
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes, 1/2 lb.
Long Green Peppers, 2 pieces
Bell Pepper, 2 pieces
Swiss Chard, 1 bunch
Parsley, 1 bunch
Asian Eggplant, 2 pieces
Lettuce, 1 head

Fruit Share
White Peaches & Donut Peaches – 1 bag
Yellow Peaches & Nectarines – 1 bag

Herb Share
Basil
Thyme

Garlic Share
Garlic

Lewis Waite Farms
If you missed last week’s deadline for LWF, you can place you order now for the next delivery on August 18th.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

photo: Ulla Kjarval

Hello Neighbors, and welcome to August!
Lots of goodies for you this week, including the start of our garlic share, for those who are participating.

Letter from the farm:
We experienced severe thunder storms last night with hail! Luckily most of our crops seem to have survived– but some of our new bean plants were severly whipped by the wind.

More beautiful weather is forecasted for the next week or so. We got enough rain during the storms to give us a little break from irrigating, which is a blessing during the hot summer months!
Maggie

Vegetable Share
Red Potatoes, 3 lb. bag
Long Green Peppers, 2 pieces
Bell Pepper, 1 piece
Cippolini or White or Walla Walla Onions, 1 bunch
Chives or Carrots, 1 bunch
Garlic, 2 pieces
Baby Batavian Lettuce or Baby Romaine Lettuce, 1 head
Zucchini, 2 pieces

Fruit Share
donut peaches – 1 bag
white peaches – 1 bag

Herb Share
Garlic Chives
Parcel (Parsley and Celery combo)

Garlic Share
Garlic

Lewis Waite Farms
Pick up your orders today!
If you missed this week’s deadline for LWF, you can place you order now for the next delivery on August 18th.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

Hello Neighbors!

Sorry for the radio silence these past couple of weeks. It wasn’t intentional, but our web host had different plans for us.

The farm has enjoyed some hot and dry weather. Perfect for growing zucchini. I’ll likely be using our bounty to make the zucchini baba ganoush pictured above (if I can get up the nerve to turn on the oven).

Notes from the farm:
Potatoes are ready! These are one of our favorite crops to grow — not only delicious, they’re extremely fun to harvest. You dig into the soil and find dozens of beautiful potatoes right under the surface. Since the potatoes you’re getting in your share this week are so fresh, the skins are very thin and the potatoes are delicate and susceptible to scuffing and damage. We recommend that you keep them in the fridge and use them within the week. No need to peel! Gently wash the skin and you’re ready to go!

Vegetable Share
Baby Cabbage, 1 head
Red Potatoes, 1 bag
Swiss Chard, 1 bunch
Long Green Peppers, several pieces
Onions, 1 bunch
Arugula or Purslane, 1 bunch/bag
Baby Leeks, 1 bunch
Basil, 1 bunch
Zucchini, several pieces

Fruit Share
Blueberries
Peaches

Herb Share
Chives
Spearmint

Lewis Waite Farms
If you missed the last LWF pick-up, be sure to place your order by Sunday July 31st for delivery on Thursday August 4th.
Click here to order.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

Letter from the farm:

Wow, what a terrific box this week! It’s great, because I never know what’s coming up in the share until I get the picking list from Matthew on Monday, so I can be surprised along with you! If you haven’t had radicchio before, this is the week to try it! It’s delicious both raw in a salad (best paired with a shaving of hard cheese like parmesan to balance out the bitterness), or grilled or sauteed. We’ve been grilling up our zucchini this past week, and then slicing and tossing in pasta salads. This Smitten Kitchen recipe is one of our new favorites. I hope everyone had a great long holiday weekend! Maggie

Vegetable Share
Green Romaine Lettuce, 1 head
Green Batavian Lettuce, 1 head
Swiss Chard, 1 bunch
Scallions, 1 bunch
Onions, several pieces
Beets or Carrots, 1 bunch
broccoli, several pieces
radicchio, 1 head
Zucchini, several pieces

Fruit Share
First come, first served. Choose from Blueberries, Gooseberries or Currants.

Lewis Waite Farms
If you missed last week’s LWF pick-up, be sure to place your order by Sunday July 17th for delivery on Thursday July 21.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

Hello neighbors!

As you know, farming is temperamental business. This means that sometimes the share forecast we get from the farm on Tuesday or Wednesday is outdated by the time we get our vegetables on Thursday.  But the last minute changes always yield vegetables so gorgeous and delicious (how about last week’s beautiful kale?) that we forget all about that subbed out veg.

That said, I admit I’ve been pining for radishes since French breakfast radishes were replaced by Japanese salad turnips. Lucky for me, there are local farmers markets to supplement our weekly boxes. I picked up these extra spicy radishes at the Saturday market in Kingston, NY. Enjoyed them raw, tempering their heat with some sweet sugar snap peas.

Be sure to click through for storage tips and recipes.

Vegetable Share
Green Romaine Lettuce, 1 head
Red Batavian Lettuce, 1 head
Toscano Kale, 1 bunch
Scallions, 1 bunch
Onions, 1 bunch
Golden Beets, 1 bunch
Zucchini, 1 piece

Fruit Share
Raspberries

Lewis Waite Farms
It’s a Lewis Waite pick-up week.
If you missed this one, be sure to place your order by Sunday July 17th for delivery on Thursday July 21.

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.

Hello neighbors!
Another gorgeous CSA shot from Dennis. I must admit the first week’s strawberries left a little to be desired, but last week’s were delicious! Hope all you fruit sharers are enjoying! And vegetable sharers, weren’t those red onions gorge?

Be sure to click thru for storage tips and recipes.

Vegetable Share
Red Boston Lettuce, 1 head
Red Romaine Lettuce, 1 head
Fennel, 1 bunch
Scallions, 1 bunch
Kohlrabi, 1 bunch
Red Beets, 1 bunch
Kale, 1 bunch

Fruit Share
Raspberries!

*As always, please keep in mind that the list is subject to change, depending on what’s going on at the farm.