THE BEET: VOLUME 20; WEEK 1
Welcome to the 2021 Clinton Hill CSA Season!
FULL SHARE & GREEN HALF SHARE PICKUP TONIGHT
218 Gates Avenue between Classon and Franklin
(IMPACCT Brooklyn at the Gibbs Mansion)
5:00 to 7:30 pm
Welcome back!
We're thrilled to have you with us as we begin our 20th season!
This newsletter is your weekly guide to all things CHCSA-related. Every week, you'll receive share updates, news from Windflower Farm, food storage tips, recipes, articles, neighborhood news, and more.
We'd love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to reach out! If you have any Beet submissions - recipes, articles, event announcements, etc - email us at information@clintonhillcsa.org
Please check your email settings and allow all emails from @clintonhillcsa.org email addresses, so we are able to stay in touch!
Your CHCSA Core team will be on hand tonight, so make sure to introduce yourselves!
Have a wonderful season!
-The CHCSA Core
Important information for your first pickup
This season, we'll be operating from 218 Gates Avenue between Classon and Franklin (IMPACCT Brooklyn at the Gibbs Mansion), due to ongoing renovation at PS 56. This year's location is only two blocks from PS 56, and three blocks from JACK Theater. We will be set up outdoors, behind the building. Look for our banner on the fence, and walk up the driveway to the back patio!
Distribution takes place Thursdays from 5 to 7:30pm - please try to be on time! All food leftover at the end of distribution will be donated to IMPACCT Brooklyn.
Your vegetable share will come pre-packed in a sturdy cardboard box. For the time being, we will be sending boxes (and egg cartons!) back to the farm to be reused. You can return your box when you pick up your next share, or pack your share into bags at pickup and leave the box with us.
If you are unable to pick up your share, a friend or family member can always pick it up for you - they need to give your name at check in. You can also send a message to our half share group if you'd like to swap weeks (please remember - if you respond to a post about switching weeks, be sure to reply only to the original poster, not the entire group)/
If you think you might have symptoms of COVID-19, or have recently been exposed, try to have someone else pick up your share. If that's not possible, send us a message at information@clintonhillcsa.org - we will do what we can to make sure your share gets to you.
At this time, we ask that all members please continue to wear masks during pickups!
We count on volunteers to make the CSA work! Please remember to sign up for your 2021 work shifts! Households with full shares are required to work two two-hour shifts per season, and households with half shares are required to work one two-hour shift. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your work shift obligation, please email volunteer@clintonhillcsa.org
For a complete list of FAQs, plus lots of other information, check out our website!
This week's share
Romaine lettuce ('Coastal Star')
Red Russian kale
Arugula
Red radishes
Bunched green onions
Potted basil
Fruit: strawberries, possibly (see Ted's letter)
Egg shares begin this week, and we *may* get fruit shares this week. Mushroom shares begin next week, and the first maple share delivers June 24th!
The News from Windflower Farm
Distribution #1 - Week of June 7, 2021
Greetings from Windflower Farm! I hope that you and yours are healthy. Thank you on behalf of everyone here for purchasing a share in our 2021 season. We hope you enjoy the experience.
During the first few weeks, shares are always light - spring is often slow in coming to the upper Hudson Valley, and, this year, it's been a roller coaster ride. For now, it's salad season. Next week, you'll get Dinosaur kale, garlic scapes, bok choy, kohlrabi and more lettuce and arugula. Sweet spring turnips and our first squashes and zucchinis will come along soon. Strawberries are getting underway and will be in all fruit shares on Tuesday, and in indefinite numbers of shares on Thursday.
Keeping your share longer than just a day or two takes a few simple steps. First, remove your share from the bag it came in. Please try to reuse the bag if you can. It will make for a good trash bag liner if nothing else (we cannot take it back, but we'd be happy to take our boxes back). Second, rinse everything, particularly the greens, in cold water. Third, spin or gently shake the greens to remove excess water. Finally, place the contents of your share in a perforated bag in the refrigerator. The crisper drawer is made for this, but the bottom shelf will do.
What's new on the farm?
Today's field work was focused on roots and tubers. Much of the staff were engaged in planting sweet potatoes. The slips arrive from North Carolina bare-rooted, jammed 1000 to a box. We plant them out one at a time into mulched beds, and in weather like this, they wilt instantly. We irrigate them as soon as we can after setting them out, and usually find them standing straight up soon afterwards. We should have them all planted by Tuesday. The cold sweet potato soup I had for lunch today reminds me of why we grow this crop.
My day was spent hilling potatoes. It's gratifying work if you're a vegetable farmer. A couple of years ago, I purchased an Italian machine that perfectly envelopes the emerging tubers in a hill of newly composted soil, dislodging and burying any weeds in the same step. This week, we'll finish planting the year's sweet potatoes and eggplants, and plant second and third successions of sweet corn, red and green cabbages, collards, kales, and a variety of lettuces.
I hope you have a great week!
Ted
Recipes
We receive so many different varieties of greens throughout the season, and there are so many ways to enjoy them! Here are a few of our favorite simple recipes for greens season: basic sautéed greens, with lots of room for improvisation, grilled romaine for outdoor cooking, a vegan caesar dressing to keep in the fridge, and a favorite kale salad, with optional levels of involvement required in each step.