THE BEET: VOLUME 18; WEEK 1

 

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

  • Romaine lettuce

  • Red Russian kale

  • Swiss chard

  • Koji

  • Green onions

  • Red radishes

  • A potted herb


Welcome to The Beet!

This newsletter is your weekly guide to all things CHCSA-related: veggie updates, news from Ted and Jan Blomgren at Windflower Farm, storage tips, recipes, food articles, neighborhood news, and more. 

We'd love your contributions, so don't hesitate to get involved! If you have any Beet submissions—recipes, articles, local events, even babysitting services—please feel free to send them to newsletter@clintonhillcsa.org

Have a wonderful season! 

First Pick-Up


To celebrate the first pick-up of 2019, we've got a few extras in store...

  • Clinton Hill CSA tote bags! If you pre-ordered, it's time to collect your tote and put it straight to work. Don't forget your $10 in cash! If you didn't pre-order, not to worry - you can purchase one for $10 on site.

  • We will have an FAQ sheet to help you ease your way into the new season, plus storage tips, recipes, and a "spotlight" on unusual veggies! Many thanks to Outreach Coordinator Chelsea Frosini for putting all these together.

  • Your CHCSA Core team will all be on hand, so make sure to introduce yourselves!


Letter from Windflower Farm

Delivery #1, Week of June 4th, 2019

Greetings from the entire staff at Windflower Farm. Thank you for purchasing a share of our 2019 harvest - your support means a great deal to us. Your first share of the season will be arriving on Thursday of this week. It will be modest in size. These are early days in a season that has been unusually cold, gray and wet. As the season goes on and temperatures warm, your shares will fill out. For now, we hope you enjoy some salad crops.

This week’s share: Romaine lettuce, Red Russian kale, Swiss chard, Koji, green onions, red radishes and a potted herb.

We harvested red ’Rover’ radishes and spring onions today for your first delivery. And, afterwards, we put our new produce washer through a trial run. The stainless steel gadget was made by a Mennonite family in Lancaster County, PA, and I picked it up earlier this spring. I’m no longer surprised by the kinds of businesses I find behind barn doors in Lancaster County. There is a good deal of resourcefulness there. When I showed up at the shop just outside Ephrata, I found two teams of horses and a pair of buggies parked out front, and an open shed containing a couple of steel-wheeled utility tractors. But behind the large white sliding doors of the shop was a state of the art C & C machine designed to cut intricate parts out of large sheets of stainless steel. I’ll post an image of the machine in action on our Instagram page (@Windflowerfarm). Tomorrow, we’ll harvest your greens - heads of Romaine lettuce and bunches of ‘Red Russian’ kale, Swiss chard, and ‘Koji’ – and we’ll also run them through the washer.

Next week, you’ll get scallions, radishes, kohlrabi, kale, chard, arugula, garlic scapes and a potted herb.

Egg shares will start this week, fruit shares should start in a week or two with our own organically grown strawberries, and flowers shares will start in two to three weeks.

We hope you enjoy your first share of the season.

Best wishes, Ted and Jan

Work Shift  


Your CSA depends on YOU to help make it run smoothly. All Clinton Hill CSA members with full vegetable shares are required to complete two two-hour work shifts during the season. Members with half vegetable shares work one two-hour work shift. Sign up for your 2019 work shifts by click here!

For those who find volunteering on site to be a problem, we may have other opportunities for you; please email volunteer@clintonhillcsa.org for more information.

Extra Shares and Share Swaps 

If you want to add an extra share—fruit, or eggs—or make changes to one you already signed up for, you can do so until June 15 by emailing our treasurers: treasurer@clintonhillcsa.org

If you cannot pick up your share on a given week, a friend or family member can always pick it up in your absence. They just need to give your name at the desk when picking up. Or try posting on our social media pages to find a member willing to swap with you: we're onfacebook as well as Instagram and Twitter! @clintonhillcsa

Recipe: Sautéed Greens

Here's a recipe from the Core's Head Coordinator, Ruth Katcher, to help you turn all those leafy greens into something delicious. At a basic level it simply involves greens, oil, and alliums, but there's a lot of room for improvisation.

If you give this a try, don't forget to share and tag us on social media! We're on Instagram and Twitter @ClintonHillCSA, as well as facebook, and you can find Windflower Farm on Instagram too (@windflowerfarm). 

Veronica