THE BEET: VOLUME 17; WEEK 7
FULL SHARE & YELLOW HALF SHARE PICK UP TONIGHT
Pick up today: 5pm - 7:30pm at PS 56 on the corner of Gates and Downing
This Week's Share
- Lettuce
- Swiss chard
- Peas
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Radishes
- Green onions
- Cucumbers
- Squashes
Letter from Windflower Farm
Delivery #7, Week of July 16, 2018
Notes from the farm.
Good news - it rained! Not enough, but enough for this week.
The well drillers were here on Friday - a father and son both named Clarence. When I told the elder Clarence that the well they dug for us ten years ago was still giving us over 65 gallons a minute he nodded his head and laughed and attributed the success of the well to the mysterious workings of his dowsing rod. “The water is there, you just have to know how to find it,” he said, pointing to the dusty ground. “Some people believe in the rod, some don’t,” he added.
The younger Clarence, who did most of the talking, identified a site on the top of our back hill as a promising well location. It’s convenient because it is where our son, Nate, might like to build a cabin one day, but, to me, the location is not an intuitive one. Because surface water is found at the bottom of hills, and not the top, it seems logical that subsurface water should be found at the bottom, too. But Clarence explained that while gravity, which is the primary force governing the location of surface water, is also at work under ground, the vast network of cracks and fissures and dams in the bedrock below our feet play a role that cannot be guessed at above ground. “We don’t know if we are standing on a porous substrate that allows water to flow freely downward or if there is impervious rock just a couple of feet below us that has dammed water at higher elevations” he explained.
He pointed out that our first well – the 65 GPM well, which is on high ground – was dug to a depth of 480 feet. And he said that he dug a well for my neighbor in the valley below us to a depth of 350 feet and still found just 12 gallons of water. “We found a high elevation pool over at your place, but you never know.” The cost of the well, he said, would be $10/foot. Plus the cost of well casing and the auger bit. And there would be the pump, the pressure tank and the generator. “All together, we can do it for under $10,000, maybe under $8,000.”
Then Clarence said he’d be back with his dowsing rod once we’ve cleared a way through the hedgerow large enough to accommodate his drilling rig. When he returns, I’ll try very hard to believe in his dowsing rod.
Have a great week, Ted
BYOB = Bring Your Own Bags!
Please remember to bring bags with you when you come to pick up your share.
And if you have spare plastic bags at home, bring them along too! We need donations to keep our bag supply topped up for anybody arrives without them.
Thank you!
Volunteering Update
Thank you to all our members who have volunteered these past several weeks for helping to kick off the season on such a high note! We appreciate your time, energy, and hard work, and we could not have done it without you.
If you haven't done so already, be sure to sign up for your CSA volunteer hours for the season as spots are filling up quickly! You can sign up using the following link - http://signup.com/go/ovJPPsq. Friendly reminder to all our members to kindly keep the commitments you sign up for on the volunteer site and prevent last minute cancellations to the best of your ability.
We have had a few instances of members removing their names from the volunteer schedule on short notice, which can leave us short handed on pick up nights. In the event that you can no longer make your shift, we encourage you to utilize the Clinton Hill CSA forum to swap volunteer hours or give other members an opportunity to sign up for your shift. In order to ensure there's enough room on the schedule for those who haven't already signed up for hours, we ask that members sign up through the website to fulfill your hours rather than volunteering without being on the schedule. Thank you all for your continued support!
Note: This week we can use 1-2 additional volunteers for the early shift (4-6pm). If you are able to help out, please sign up using the above link.
Colby
Volunteer Coordinator
volunteer@clintonhillcsa.org
Tomatoes Galore
It's that time of year when every meal seems to involve tomatoes! The Kitchn has a fabulous collection of tomato recipes, from toasts to tarts, sauces to salads. Here's a nice cooling one for hot summer nights. Enjoy.
Asian-Inspired Tomato Gazpacho
Serves 4
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped (5 to 6 medium tomatoes)
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 medium red onion, roughly chopped
1 slice white or country bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
Salt and pepper
Add the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bread, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and fish sauce to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Chill 30 minutes before serving.