Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

The good news is that so-called hurricane Earl was barely a rainstorm on the East End, so our fields of lettuce, fall greens, and tomatoes were spared what we expected to be a thrashing. We hope everyone had a good labor day weekend and now we’re gearing up for fall and the “fall festival” season at the farm. You’ll start seeing the appearance of winter squashes in your share, we grow quite a number of very different ones. Over the next two months you will get: butternut, buttercup, kabocha, red kuri, sweet dumpling, acorn, and other squashes. You can take a minute to check out pictures of the abovementioned ones online so you’ll be all set to ID your squash when you get it! Some varieties are very sweet, some less so (use in soup or pie or add more maple syrup when you bake it!). The good news is that we had a good squash year this summer, unlike last year when it was so wet and the various mildews triumphed.

Share items for Sept 7/8, 11:

Tuesday pickup: Roslyn & Ansche Chesed: Remember: these sites will pick up Tues Sept 7, Wed Sept 15, but TUES Sept 21 and TUES Sept 27 due to Jewish holidays

2 large heirloom tomatoes

1 large red tomato

1 head lettuce

1 bag mesclun lettuce

1 head bok choi

1 bu sweet salad turnips

.5 lb string beans

2 peppers

1 bag Arugula

Wed/Sat pickup: all other sites:

2 large heirloom tomatoes

1 large red tomato

1 bu sweet salad turnips

1 pt cherry tomatoes

1 buttercup squash

1 head lettuce

1 head bok choi

2 peppers

1 bag mesclun lettuce

1 bag Arugula

1 bunch celery

Fruit share:  2 lb plums, 6 apples, 6 pears

Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, etc.

Yes we are happy about the rain. Glad at least a few of you are too. Thanks to those who have sent messages of rain empathy! At the farm, we’re starting to think about the fall. At our farm market we do the whole pumpkin thing (i.e. u pick, etc.) so we are bringing in a huge crop of Red Kuri winter squash (beautiful!) and wondering if they’ll get eaten or sold as decorations! Apparently people don’t understand that a squash can be both…. whenever they find out that they’re edible, they make a face and put it back. But don’t worry, the CSA will get it’s share of these for eating (and decoration)

Share items for August 25,28:

3 ears corn

 2 red tomatoes

 2 large heirloom tomatoes (great white, Cherokee purple, mortgage lifter, brandywine)

 1 medium heirloom tomato

 2 small garlic

 2 red, yellow, or green peppers

 1 bag mesclun

 1 bag arugula

 1 bunch/plant basil

Possible: .5 pint cherry tomatoes. If they are not there it means they’re not in the share

Fruit share:  1 Garden of Eve grown organic watermelon, AND 6 peaches white or yellow, AND either 6 nectarines OR 6 pears (depending on location)

 Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, etc.

Just wanted to say that we are really pleased so far with our weekly vegetable and egg share.  Thanks for all the delicious food!

Share items for August 18, 21:

corn

red tomatoes

heirloom tomatoes

garlic

purple, white, or green peppers

zucchini OR cucumbers (not sure which yet)

bunch/plant basil

carrots

potatoes

Fruit share: one large Garden of Eve-grown organic melon, and 2 lb white peaches and 2 lb nectarines

Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, dill, etc.

New this week: note our biodegradable plastic flower sleeves, with handles for ease of carrying! And they are colorfully colored! We hope you like them and that they extend the life of your flowers, and make your life easier.

Tour the Farm Sunday Aug 15, 11am-1pm

We’ll walk the fields, visit the chickens to collect eggs, and taste-test the growing veggies as we go! There are lambs, chickens, bunnies, and turkeys to visit, as well as our 50 acres of fast growing veggies. Our livestock guard dogs are back to work, the honeybees active, and the butterflies going crazy. BBQ lunch (organic hot dog and veggie burger, chips and natural soda or juice) will be available for $10, bring a bag lunch if you prefer; we’ll also have sandwiches, snacks and sodas for sale at our Organic Farm Market. Bring lots of water, sun protection and clothes you can get dirty. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members from all locations free, all others $10. farmer@gardenofevefarm.com or 631-722-8777. More info and photos are on our website at www.gardenofevefarm.com .

Share items for August 11, 14:

Note: there was no fennel or peppers in the share last week, for any CSA locations. They were on an early share list, but were not able to be harvested in time to include in the share. The dry weather has pulled much of our resources away from harvesting and planting, to just moving irrigation pipe and trying to water the crops we already have in the ground. It’s been close to another 3 weeks without rain.

On the positive side, the heirloom tomatoes are coming in strong, with (hopefully) no sign of late blight in our area. Now that we are later in the sweet corn season (which started in mid July), the earworms pick up steam and get into a larger percentage of the ears. That is just a fact of life of organic production, as contrasted with conventional farmers who are spraying highly toxic chemicals on their corn every three days or so. We have heard stories of members not taking our organic corn at the CSA distributions because they are afraid of a few small worms – this makes us sad. We work very hard to bring you super sweet corn for you to enjoy, it is  a highlight of our season and we hope it is a highlight of yours. Thanks to those of you who have sent encouraging comments on this subject. We are happy when you are happy. So this week we are going through nearly every corn ear before we distribute it, and are snapping off any affected tips, or shucking the corn entirely to make sure it is clean, and then distribute it in bags. So if you get a slightly shorter ear, or even a worm, this is why.

Also, we have noticed that the sungold tomatoes don’t seem to be lasting as long as they usually do- they seem more fragile this year, crushing more easily. We are not sure why. It may have something to do with the heat. In any case, if you get a mixed container, just wash it out at home and discard anything broken, the good ones will still be fine. Please know we don’t ever intend for you to receive anything damaged obviously, we spend hundreds of man-hours each week going through the produce, culling, and packaging it so it arrives at your CSA in good shape. However sometimes our best efforts are thwarted.

Heirloom tomatoes being harvested this week are Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and Great White. These are three of our favorite varieties. Great White in particular is a little-known, low-acid, very delicious tomato. Yes they are delicate!! If you come near the end of distribution, there will be some which are damaged, split, etc. Again we do our best culling but they do get damaged en route (by each other, in the crates), that is why you can NOT buy them ANYWHERE in stores. If you get a damaged tomato cut it up and roast it it will be delicious. I made a pizza from these last week. Also Emeril has a great “roasted tomato and zucchini gallette” in  his new cookbook. With goat cheese and puff pastry! How can you beat that?

6 ears corn

.5 pint sungold cherry tomatoes

3 large mostly heirloom tomatoes

3 small red tomatoes

2 purple, white, or green peppers

1 small head savoy cabbage

1 large bunch/plant basil

1 lb mixed zucchini (green and/or yellow)

1 lb Cucumbers, white and/or green

1 bulb fennel

Fruit share: one large Garden of Eve-grown organic melon, and 10 peaches

Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, lemon basil, dill, etc.

Share items for August 4, 7:

 corn

sungold cherry tomatoes

2 purple peppers

1 head savoy cabbage

1 large bunch/plant basil

mixed zucchini (green and/or yellow)

Cucumbers, white and/or green

new potatoes

1 bulb fennel

Fruit share: one large Garden of Eve-grown organic cantaloupe, one organic Garden-of-Eve grown Crenshaw melon, and half-pint organic blackberries

Flower share: hydrangeas (wed),  dill flowers, zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, etc.

I also agree, a weekly share list in advance would be helpful. Or a current list of our most recent share…what is the name of the celery-like vegetable we received last Saturday? Thanks, e

Happy 4^th of July weekend! On the farm it has been extremely hot and extremely dry. Lettuce is bolting, as well as some of the broccoli we planned to give you over the next few weeks. Upcoming in the next few weeks: beets, radicchio, cherry tomatoes! The garlic will be ready to harvest in a week or two as well, and we’re planting our final winter squashes and cut flowers which will be harvested at the end of the season – can you believe it?

 Share items for June 30 & July 3:

 2 lbs zucchini (green, yellow or Sunburst squash, also known as pattypan)

3 lb Cucumbers

1 head lettuce

1 bu kale or Swiss Chard

1 bu Dill

1 head Broccoli

1 head Napa Cabbage

1 bu sweet salad turnips

Fruit share: 3 pints Long Island blueberries, possibly 1 pint cherries

Flower share: zinnias, snapdragons, amaranth, cosmos, sweet peas.

What is the long, thin, green, curly thing in the box today at Mount Sinai? Thanks!