Hellgate CSA Blog - Astoria, NY

Sign-up for the 2008 season has begun! An email went out today - please contact us if you were a member in 2007 but you didn’t get a notice about rejoining this season. Here is the content of the email:

Hello 2007 Hellgate CSA members!

We are now opening registration for the 2008 season for last years members! The season runs from June 10th through November 25th, and includes vegetable, fruit, herb, basil, and tomato shares.

If you’re on the waiting list you’ll be contacted at a later date so stay tuned!

On the recommendation of a fellow CSA member (and reminded by the mailing I got today), I thought I’d mention a great resource in Astoria, Build It Green. They are a salvage/reuse organization in western Astoria, located at 3-17 26th Ave. One of their biggest selling points, in my view, is that they are an electronics recycling center. They have lot of other things to offer, too, especially if you are doing some remodeling.

You can sign up for their newsletter, or subscribe to their RSS feed (I do both). Here’s a sample from their most recent newsletter:

December Inventory Specials

- Reclaimed Oak Flooring - no nails - $1/sqft

- Antique Furniture - Ranges from $200 - $1500 per piece

- Cream color cabinet set w/corian top - $1250

- Nice Wine colored couch - $175

- 2 Brand New Viking Refrigerators and Wine Cooler - Reduced to $3750 each

- Lots of 2 x 4’s and 2 x 6’s - All between $1.50 and $3.00

- New furniture section - Great deals all around

- Picture frame trim - 8ft-12ft - $0.50 each!!

- Acme Whole House Roof Fans - $75.00 Only!!

- Passage Door Knobs - Only $3.00

Electronics Recycling Update

We’d like to thank everyone for making our electronics recycling partnership with the Lower East Side Ecology Center a smashing success! We’ve had an overwhelming response, and are ecstatic to see our blue bins overflowing instead of our landfills! Often we are asked whether or not hard drives are wiped clean, and we can say that yes, your personal information is destroyed with every recycling job. Keep’em coming and thanks for making recycling a priority!

Household Battery Recycling

Build It Green! has ordered a Big Green Box, for household battery recycling, and will put it out in the coming weeks. Residents (no businesses sorry) can drop off AAA, AA, C, D and 9 volt batteries any time during our business hours. When you drop off, you can also donate towards the cost of the box. Lets keep hazardous chemicals out of our ecosystem!

So, check ‘em out! Their business hours are Tues-Fri 10-5 and Sat 10-5.

Build it Green NYC
3-17 26th Ave
Astoria, NY 11102
718-777-0132

Our growing year this past season was a mixed bag - some crops did very well and some not as much. However, in general we felt we had a good season with plenty of variety over the weeks. We brought in many staples which people seemed to enjoy, especially tomatoes, beans and squashes. Unfortunately, we had some weeks without lettuce (which we like to bring in weekly), shortages of sweet potatoes, and our cucumbers and strawberries were less robust than in years past.

But that’s organic farming! When you’re growing seasonally - we grow over 150 types of crops - some things are going to be better than others.

We hope all our members enjoyed their selections and will return to the CSA for the 2008 season. We thank you all for your support and helping our family farm continue producing and selling certified organics.

Organically yours,

Farmer Bill

From Slow Food NYC:

Sunday December 16
11am – 4pm

New Amsterdam Public: WINTERMARKET

Seasonal, sustainable ingredients sourced regionally from within 500 miles of New York City will be available for purchase and include the following: Wild and Foraged Plants, Fresh and Cured Fish, Grains, Vegetable, Legumes and Fruits, Freshly Butchered Meats, Cheeses, Honeys, and Preserves, Seasonal Baked Goods, Wines and Ciders from New York State Cooks pioneering the use of regional, sustainable food will provide tasting samples of seasonal dishes easily made at home with the ingredients available at WINTERMARKET and New York City Greenmarkets at this time of year.

Nancy from Lewis Waite Farm sent us the delivery schedule for the winter, as well as some info about new orders — they’ve added two farms, and are getting a new batch of grass-fed beef that will be there in time for December orders.

We still need volunteers for the monthly winter distributions, so PLEASE let us know if you’re available for any of these dates. Thanks!

Also remember that you do not have to be a member of the Hellgate CSA to order meat/dairy.

For delivery on December 18, 2007, the order deadline is December 13, 2007
For delivery on January 22, 2008, the order deadline is January 17, 2008
For delivery on February 26, 2008, the order deadline is February 21, 2008
For delivery on March 18, 2008, the order deadline is March 13, 2008
For delivery on April 22, 2008, the order deadline is April 17, 2008
For delivery on May 20, 2008, the order deadline is May 15, 2008

Manx Station Farm is located in Cambridge NY and raises Boer Goats and Belted Galloway cattle. The Kid, Goat products shown on the website ordering list are Glen and Vicki Rowse’s offerings. They have 3 cuts available initially and hope you’ll try and enjoy these new items. The goats are rotationally grazed in grass season, as are his beef cattle, and they have a wide array of goat colors, beards, and personalities in their herd. Their farm is about a mile from us and set on top of the hill. They also have horses, a few chickens running around, a beagle, a poodle, a Dalmatian, and a few barn cats.

Gillis Acres Farm also raises about 50 registered Alpine goats which Ave Maria and Brian Gillis milk for yogurt, cheeses, and milk. Their milk and fresh cheeses are made from pasteurized milk and the aged cheeses are made from raw milk like our other cheese producers. They are also about 2 miles from our farm and rotationally graze the goats on pasture and browsing areas and they eat their own organically grown hay in the winter months. See these new items under the Cheese, Goats Milk heading on the website list. She does need a week’s notice before each delivery to be sure she has enough pasteurized milk on hand, so hopefully we can estimate accurately a couple of days before the order deadlines. Order these items early please, if possible.

Our new batch of grass-finished beef should be here on Thursday for the December CSA deliveries. We will list the wonderful new steaks and roasts on the website as soon as possible! We have quite an assortment. We hope you’ll enjoy these steaks and new roasts.

Just a reminder that if you ordered meat and dairy, you will pick it up with your share today.

Just a note to say thank you to all of you that volunteered this season. Of course, volunteering is part of your CSA contract, but we’d like to thank you just the same. The CSA can’t survive without your work as volunteers.

A big load of thanks to the Hellgate CSA Core Group, too: Jayme Wood, Laura Mello, Matt Mills, Samantha Mills, Alia Ganaposki, Margot Leverett, Julia Kocich, Harlan Harris, and Susan Vasconcelos. They all put in lots of hard work as site coordinators, membership coordinators, accountants, website managers, event managers, and kept everything organized in various ways. Their work is deeply appreciated. Many thanks!

And finally, a huge thanks to our farmers, Bill Halsey at Green Thumb Farm, Amy Hepworth and Geri Greco at Hepworth Farms, and all the amazing farmers upstate and beyond via CSA Pastures.   Everything was terrific this year!

We look forward to seeing some of you next season. But remember, Meat and Dairy will still continue throughout the winter and spring, which is a very good thing; pickup location will be Freeze Peach. Keep tuned to the blog for updates throughout the off-season regarding veggies, herbs, fruit, and more.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt, and serve immediately.

Are you a member of Facebook?  If you are, consider “becoming a fan” of the Hellgate CSA there!  Or, join Facebook and see what it has to offer.  Stay in touch during the cold months with your fellow CSA members, and enjoy Facebook’s spin on things.  Hope to see you there!

Thanks to CSA member Samantha M. for passing on this recipe:

Mashed Potatoes with Turnips

2 lg. turnips, peeled and cut into chunks
4 lg. potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. of butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper

Cook turnips, covered, in small amount of boiling salted water for 10 minutes; add potatoes and onion; and cook until vegetables are tender, 15 or 20 minutes. Drain well. Mash vegetables with butter, salt, and pepper. Serve hot.

Makes 4 1/2 cups.