Feeling a bit overloaded by the bulk of lettuce in our spring boxes? Happens every year. Here are some quick recipe ideas to get you past that plain old salad:

Lettuce Soup: Wilt briefly with in chicken or veg stock, add some sour cream or yogurt, blend to smooth, season with salt and top with croutons and celery seed or an herb. (Try sprinkling those garlic scapes on top!)

Lettuce Boats: Double up your lettuce boat then fill with a protein (chicken, beef, fish, beans) and add your filling. Some ideas: rice, radishes, Japanese turnips, sprouts, sour cream, herbs, (sauteed) garlic scapes and a sauce. (Try satay, some miso, chipotle, curry, etc).

Lettuce Pesto: Blend it up with some olive oil, something nutty (pine nuts, walnuts, toasted pumpkin seeds, etc) and Parmesan. Use it as a sauce on a protein– chicken, fish, beef, or hey, a salad dressing on more lettuce! (Or freeze it in ice cube trays then transfer to a plastic bag for storage. Use it on a cold winter day when you’re dreaming of lettuce.)

Grilled Lettuce: Those heartier hearts are delicious brushed with olive oil, grilled and spritzed with lemon.

Braised Lettuce: Braise it in cream for something decadent.

Lettuce Stir Fry: Add it as a veggie in your stir fry mix. So…. think the classic Pad Khee Mao (aka drunk man noodle) with broad noodles, basil, protein and lettuce as one of your veg.

Recycling On-Site:
We all love to recycle, but we were a bit overloaded last season. Please do NOT bring plastic berry cartons  (cardboard okay). Unfortunately, we do not have the space to store these and they WILL BE TOSSED. Instead, donate them to a child for a fun craft project (snapping turtles?)– heck, teach a craft project to our members ;) Use them as plant starters, or recycle them yourself.

Compost On-Site:
We Accept:
Fruit and vegetable scraps
Coffee grounds and filters, Tea bags
Bread, rice, pasta and other grains (no sauce)
Egg shells

We DO NOT Compost:
Meat and fish
Cheese and other dairy products
Fats, oils, greasy food
Animal waste
Plastic bags or rubber bands

Please empty your plastic bags and/or containers of compost into the collection receptacle at the side door to ARROW community garden before picking up your share!

Questions? Contact the Western Queens Compost Initiative at: wqnscompost@gmail.com

About the WESTERN QUEENS COMPOST INITIATIVE:
We are committed to recycling residential food waste from our community into wonderful nutrient-rich compost.

This season, we will be collecting food waste from CSA’s, Greenmarkets, Community Gardens, and Bike Tours. The compost created will be used to grow food and beautify our green spaces.

All share members are required to volunteer for one shift. This helps keep our costs down while increasing community. Please email Liz at notorious(at)notoriousradio(dot)com with:

(1) Your First Three Choices of Dates
(2) If you have any physical issues
(3) If you have volunteered in previous years (so we can schedule newbies with returning members)
(4) If there will be more than one of you from your share, please let me know how many
(5) If you cannot be physically there, if you have any outside interests/skills to use towards your hours (ie. Two Coves compost project, event planning, non-profit work, accounting, low-income, etc). Please provide your IDEA on how to incorporate your skills too– ie, an actual event you would like to plan, etc.

General Rules: Please arrive no later than 3:30pm, you should be home by 8pm. Bring clothes that can get dirty. You only need to volunteer ONCE. Lastly, we do volunteer hours BY SHARE which means one or all of you can volunteer, just let us know how many. You will receive detailed instructions on opening and closing procedure when you receive your confirmation email and you will receive them again when I send out the reminder email the Monday before your shift. PLEASE MARK THIS DATE IN YOUR CALENDAR. The Astoria CSA is volunteer-run, and the veggies come in if we have one or four people there to unload them.

NEW FOR 2010: Your time in and out WILL BE RECORDED and can hurt your chance to re-register or purchase add-ons in the future.

GENERAL:
Astoria CSA is every Thursday, 4:30 to 7:30 PM, June 3, 2010 to November 18, 2010 with a Thanksgiving delivery Monday, November 22. Pick up is at ARROW Community Center: 35-30 35th Street, Astoria. Please be ON TIME. Steinway Food Pantry arrives at 7:45 PM to pick up leftovers.
There are NO extras/make ups if you miss a pick up. If you don’t want to miss your veggies and can’t make a pick up, please send a friend/ neighbor to pick up in your place (see below for more info).

Thursdays: Please bring bags to carry your vegetables and any paid extras home in. Enter ARROW through the doors at the far left and sign in with a CSA member at the door. Provide the main shareholder’s name. Make sure to grab a ticket to pick up any of your add-ons (garlic, herbs, fruit). Beer, wine or CSA Pasture have separate check-ins once inside.

HELP! I CAN’T MAKE A PICK UP:
We cannot hold your share past 7:30 PM. A friend, neighbor or relative may pick up for you during the season. You do not need to notify us. He/She will also use the main shareholder’s name (let them know this!). Please explain if you split a share how it works, or if there are any add-ons that need picking up and how/ what to split. Astoria CSA is not responsible for splitting shares.

RECIPES:
Part of the fun of a CSA is that you receive whatever is in season. It’s like Iron Chef– you don’t pick what you want! We encourage all our members to try everything– even if you didn’t like it once, try a new recipe! Talk to people on site to find out what they do with it. We have a vegetable bible on site with lots of great recipes and the farm (www.goldenearthworm.com/recipes/) has recipes posted.

VEGGIE EXCHANGE:
Take One/Leave One- If you really don’t like a vegetable in the Vegetable Share we have ONE “Take One/Leave One” Box on-site. Meaning, if you don’t like an item in your box you may exchange it out for an equal item (example: you may exchange all your tomatoes for the same amount of beets received in the share– For example: If you receive 5 tomatoes that’s ONE item, not 5 to exchange. Please be considerate of those that pick up after you!!!)

BEER FROM BIERKRAFT:
Beer deliveries from Bierkraft begin Thursday, June 10. Beer is delivered every other week. More beer? We have our regular beer share but if you need a few extra growlers for a party, some cheese, or other item, please give Bierkraft a call and let them know you’re with Astoria CSA. There is NO MONEY exchange on site, but you may place a phone order and charge it to your credit card: www.bierkraft.com or (718) 230-7600

CSA PASTURE:
CSA Pasture is our meat and dairy provider. Please get the dates on your calendar. During the season, drop off is Thursdays at ARROW. To order your meat and produce, visit this link: www.csapasturedmeatandpoultry.com
Please email info(at)astoriacsa(dot)com for info on how to create an account. Only members of Astoria CSA may order.  Payment is by weight, confirmed when the order is packed the day before delivery. Your final invoice will be E-mailed to you the day before your order arrives. Included will be instructions for paying by check or PayPal. There are many pages of items to order; make sure you browse the site fully!

Delivery                        Order Deadline
June 24, 2010             June 18, 2010
July 8, 2010                 July 2, 2010
July 22, 2010               July 16, 2010
August 5, 2010           July 30, 2010
August 19, 2010         August 13, 2010
September 2, 2010    August 27, 2010
September 23, 2010  September 17, 2010
October 7, 2010         October 1, 2010
October 21, 2010       October 15, 2010
November 4, 2010     October 29, 2010

New Members: Looking for how to register? The registration on this site is down! Head to:

http://www.astoria-csa.com

to register. The site will be available Thursday, March 18 around 6:00 PM. Don’t forget to join us for our New Member Q&A and opportunity to meet the farmers! Thursday, March 18, 6:15-7:45 PM
@ ARROW Community Center, 35-30 35th Street, Astoria.