THE BEET: VOLUME 18; WEEK 8
FULL SHARE & GREEN 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
Assorted Tomatoes
Genovese basil
Green oakleaf lettuce
Red Russian kale
Assorted orange, candy striped and red beets
Broccoli
Slicing cucumbers
Zucchinis or yellow ‘Zephyr’ squashes
Red onions
And, if not overly buggy, our own organic sweet corn
Fruit: our blueberries
In addition to the contents of this week’s share, all kinds of things are beginning to mature in our fields, including peppers, fennel and celery, which you should see next week.
Letter from Windflower Farm
Delivery #8, Week of July 29th, 2019
What’s new on the farm?
Our sweet corn season has been impacted by the unusually cold and wet spring in a way we did not anticipate. We farm in an area where dairy farming predominates. And the chief crops among dairy farmers here are hay and field corn. Lesser crops include alfalfa, oats and soybeans, but the first two are the crops that the dairy economy is built on. The spring planting season was disastrous for many dairy farmers because it was so wet they simply could not plant corn during the corn planting window. On many farms, soils did not become dry enough to work until the end of May, and by then a planting of corn would not have matured. (This year, a year in which flooding in the Midwest has reduced the corn crop and sent prices skyward, most local dairy farmers will have to buy field corn. Imagine that: you are running a business that already functions at the narrowest of margins and now even that margin vanishes.) In looking for the next most valuable crop to grow, dairy farmers have turned to soybeans.
Sweet corn is planted in successions. A continuous supply of sweet corn requires planting on a more or less weekly basis from mid May through mid July. It’s a forgiving schedule—if one planting doesn’t work out because rainfall prevents a timely planting or pests cause severe losses, the next planting might still be fine. Risk is spread over time. What, then, does this have to do with our sweet corn crop? Because there is no field corn in the fields neighboring ours, the insects (corn borers) that overwintered in those fields and would have ordinarily infested those plants have instead descended on our sweet corn crop. Today’s harvest is likely to be a little buggy, but we’ll do our best to eliminate ears with signs of damage. I hope to report that our second and successive plantings will be free of bugs.
Best wishes, Ted
Save the Date...
...for this year's farm visit, which will be taking place the weekend after Labor Day, September 7 and 8.
It's a chance to meet Ted, Andrea and the rest of the team, learn more about how the farm works, and see where your eggs come from! So mark your calendars, and look out for more details coming soon.
At The Core
Sarah Chinn, Distribution Coordinator
What’s your name?
Sarah Chinn
What’s your job on the CSA core and what does that job entail?
I’m distribution co-ordinator for the first third of the season. With the members doing their work shifts, I receive our shares from the delivery truck and set them up in the school cafeteria (that’s actually a lot of smaller jobs: arranging bins, writing the boards, hanging the banner, putting out sign-in sheets, assigning tasks to members working etc). I’m the person members see when they come to pick up their shares, so I also try to answer any questions, connect members with our treasurer or volunteer co-ordinator, and just be a welcoming presence!
How long have you been part of the CSA? On the core?
I’ve been a member of the CSA since 2003 and on the core since 2004.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in London and moved with my family to New York when I was 15. I’ve lived in New York on and off (mostly on) since then, and in Brooklyn for 30 years.
What do you do in your real life?
I teach American Literature at Hunter College, CUNY, and I’m also chair of the English department there.
What’s your favorite part of belonging to the CHCSA?
Being distribution manager, you see all the members coming in to pick up their shares. It’s great to welcome new members and old, and I especially love seeing kids grow up in the CSA, like mine did — they were a year old when we joined and now they’re going into their senior year in high school!
What’s a veggie you love? How do you cook it?
It’s so hard to pick just one! I love eggplant — I char it over the gas flame, then mash the flesh up with garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil. If I’m feeling fancy, I add some pomegranate seeds. It’s a delicious dip or side dish. I also love the potted herbs we get — we plant them in pots and use them all season long.
Veggie you’re not crazy about? How do you use it?
Swiss chard. I love greens, but just don’t like chard. To be honest, it’s usually a swap box item for me, but at a pinch I’ll blanch it and add it to a batch of pesto, mostly to disguise it in something I love to eat.
Something no one would guess about you?
Every now and then I go to an underground dance party that moves around Manhattan and Brooklyn. I go by myself and just lose myself in the crowd— it’s a great stress reliever!
If you were a fruit or vegetable, what would you be?
I’d be a butternut squash. I prefer cooler weather, I’m versatile, I can be sweet, but I’m hardy.