Volume 23, Week 17
Full share &🍏 green🍏half shares
218 Gates Avenue between Classon and Franklin
(IMPACCT Brooklyn at the Gibbs Mansion)
5:00 to 7:30 pm
Share your favorite recipes!
It’s that time of year again - submit your favorite seasonal recipes featuring CSA ingredients, and be entered into a drawing to win some culinary-inspired prizes! You may also see your recipe featured on our social media or here in the Beet!
Week 17 News
Check the Beet in the coming weeks for announcements regarding winter share! Dates, prices, and extra shares will be posted soon!
The waitlist for the 2025 summer season is now open! If you have friends or neighbors who are interested in joining the CSA, invite them to sign up for the waitlist! Please note: current members will be offered priority registration next spring, and do NOT have to sign up for the waitlist.
Meet the Clinton Hill CSA Core Group!
Curious how the CSA is run? One of the ways that the CSA keeps costs down is by being fully volunteer run! Member shifts at at distribution are essential, and we have a core group that steers the planning and execution of the season. Each week for the remainder of the season, we’ll feature a member of the core group that steers the CSA and tell you what they do!
Meet Clare!
Role in the CSA: This is my first season in the core group. I'll be the Distribution Manager for the last several weeks of the season.
Favorite vegetable: I get so excited when eggplant season rolls around. If we get all the ingredients at once, I'll make ratatouille. Otherwise, I'll use my eggplants in a pasta alla norma.
Something you wouldn’t guess about me: I'm a Brooklyn native and currently live just about a mile from where I grew up.
This week’s share
Summer squash or zucchini
Lettuce
Mixed greens
Red onions
Tomatoes
Sweet peppers
Carrots and herbs (parsley, dill, or basil) - all from Denison Farm
Fruit: apples from Yonder Farm
Extras: bread, eggs, coffee
News from Windflower Farm
Distribution No. 17, Week of September 23, 2024
Every October for the last 23 years the “Landscapes for Landsake” fine art sale has been held to benefit the Agricultural Stewardship Association, the organization behind local farmland and forest conservation efforts. Check it out at landscapesforlandsake.com.
Forever chemicals (PFAS) are again in the news. Sludge has never, ever been applied here at Windflower Farm! Before forever chemicals became an issue, we were aware that the material contained a variety of heavy metals, and that it would not be something we'd ever want to use. Sludge is not permissible under National Organic Program rules, which we abide by as a certified organic farm.
What’s new on the farm?
We’ve reached that point in the season when things have begun to fall apart. It’s not me that I’m talking about – it’s our equipment. In preparing beds for cover cropping yesterday, a new bolt on the disc would shear every half acre or so. Every one of its bearings will have to be replaced this winter. The tiller, which we use as a final step in seedbed preparation, is awaiting the parts for a complete rebuild. Someone allowed the gearbox to run out of gear oil. I won’t say who that could be, but I’m having trouble maintaining eye contact with Kage, our mechanic, when he reminds me of my responsibilities as the owner of this fine piece of Italian machinery. Three of our four golf carts are on blocks in the repair bay, needing rest from the everyday work of ferrying the team back and forth on our hilly farm. The John Deere 6400 continues to smoke and needs an engine overhaul. That project alone will keep Kage busy much of the winter.
The four-row Mechanical 5000, our ancient transplanter, probably needs to be decommissioned. I’ve been scouring the used equipment sites for a replacement. I’ve found a good looking six-row Ferrari for sale in Quebec, which would be the only Ferrari I’d ever own in this life. Just today, the starter on the irrigation pump went. The pallet jack doesn’t work as it should. Our water wheel transplanter, our sprayer, our Allis Chalmers G tractor, and our old Farmall 140 also need work. Thank goodness Kage serviced every one of our tractors last spring or we’d be in real trouble. He has just come to me with the thought that we might need him to be on repairs two days a week rather than one. No kidding! The tomato barn, which is fast becoming the sweet potato barn, will by Thanksgiving become the repair barn. If you’ve wondered what we do all winter, now you know.
Best wishes, Ted
Recipes
Late summer Squash Salad from CSA member Cindy Rucker!
Ingredients:
1 delicata squash, sliced 1/3 inch thick and de-seeded
Olive oil/salt
3 cups arugula
3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 small pear, thinly sliced (any pear can work here but Bosc and Asian pears are great with this)
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (or pepitas)
Vinaigrette:
2 tsp lemon zest
1 small garlic clove, grated
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs vinegar (apple or red wine works best here)
3 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
Parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup good olive oil
Preheat the oven to 365 while preparing the other ingredients. Coat the squash in olive oil and salt, then place on a sheet pan in a single layer and roast until cooked through and browned a bit, about 30 minutes.
Layer all ingredients on a platter starting with the arugula. I like to do arugula, pear, squash, goat cheese, vinaigrette drizzled across, pine nuts on top for a little crunch.
To make the vinaigrette: add all ingredients except oil to a small jar and shake. When everything is combined, add olive oil and shake until emulsified.