This Weeks’ Share

Please note, contents of the boxes can change, visit Golden Earthworm’s website for their newsletter, the most up to date harvest information and more recipes and farm news. To help your veggies last as long as possible, visit our storage tips page.

• RED BEETS | Qty: 1 bunch
  Yes, we realize that we’ve been sending you our delicious beets 3 weeks in a row, but we just can’t resist…they’re too beautiful this year! We’ll rotate them out of the mix starting next week, so enjoy just one more week.
• DILL | Qty: 1 bunch
  A delicious, delicate herb that I love to use in summer salads.
• ZUCCHINI | Qty: 5 pieces
• ROUND or YELLOW ZUCCHINI | Qty: 1
• PARSLEY | Qty: 1 bunch
• SWISS CHARD | Qty: 1 bunch
• RED BATAVIAN LETTUCE | Qty: 1 head
  This is probably one of my favorite lettuce varieties that grows well in the summer heat.
• ROMAINE LETTUCE | Qty: 1 head
  I’m thinking a nice refreshing Caesar salad for dinner one night this week….
• CUCUMBERS | Qty. 2

July Food Demo

Beer is good for you

Beet and Red Onion Marmalade

Interested in playdates with other CSA families?

Take Action! Milk Labeling and Safe Fisheries

July Workshop: Food Extravaganza!

Thursday July 24, 6-7:30pm

Learn new ways to prepare local organic vegetables!

Fellow members of the Astoria CSA will demonstrate how they prepare their weekly organic vegetables.

All attendees will receive delicious samples and recipes.

If you would like to volunteer as a cook, please contact Dawn for more information: 646.279.9062 dawnrwilliams@hotmail. The deadline for cooks is July 10th.

“Beer is God’s proof that he loves us and wants us to be happy.”

Ok, so Ben Franklin was a wine drinker and likely never said that. Ben Granger is another story. Ben is the guy sitting on the cooler over by the door each week. He’s from Bierkraft and the cooler is full of growlers of beer. A growler is a 1/2 gallon jug of beer. He’s devised his own method of counter pressure filling the bottles which keeps them fresh longer. Unopened growlers can last up to 6 months, if you have that much restraint. Generally give an open growler about 3 days. An open growler half or more than half full will keep longer than one less than half full, because there is just less room for all the bubbles to escape.

As for the brews that go into them, you can see the current list on the Bierkraft website. If the unfamiliar names have you confused, Ben advises that you call the store at 718-230-7600. Everyone there is knowledgeable about the beers they have and can help you decide which ones you are likely to enjoy based on the kinds of beer you usually like to drink. Growlers are a one time $4 deposit, and you should exchange one for another whenever you order.

Beer is full of vitamins, especially the small batch brews available through Bierkraft, and good for you in moderation. A number of studies have shown that people who have one or two drinks daily are healthier than teetotalers. This doesn’t mean you can be sober all week and then have 14 drinks on Saturday and call it a health regimen. But if you want to include some beer in your life, this is a wonderful way to get beer the way it was meant to be.

Beet and Red Onion Marmalade

from The Angelica Home Kitchen

• 1 pound beets
• 2 cups finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Scrub the beets and cook them in boiling water until tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool them in cold water, peel and cube them. Place the oil in an 8 inch skillet over medium heat and sweat the onions for 5 to 7 minutes (don’t let them brown.) Add maple syrup, rice vinegar, orange juice, lemon juice and cayenne. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook gently for 10 to 15 minutes more. Pour over the beets in a food processor or blender and pulse several times. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Check out our recipes page for lots more beet recipes!

Are you interested in playdates with other CSA families?

Contact Sensho at sensho.wagg@gmail.com to connect with other CSA parents and organic babies to play with! We have lots of kids, lets get them playing with food together!

Take Action! Alerts from:

Monsanto wants you to get less information from your food label—and bureaucrats at a big New York state agency (the Department of Agriculture and Markets) might help them do it.

Don’t let them get away with it!

Some dairy farmers use an artificial growth hormone, produced and sold by Monsanto, to make cows produce more milk. But many retailers, as well as all organic dairies, sell milk products from cows that are not injected with this synthetic growth hormone. You can buy that milk by reading the label.

If Monsanto has its way, this distinction may become a secret kept from most shoppers. Monsanto has tried to eliminate rbGH labels all over the country. Don’t let them succeed in New York.

Tell the New York Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets to stop this foolishness.

The federal government has already said these labels are not misleading. There is no reason for New York to make shopping more difficult for you and your family.

Thank you,
Jean Halloran
NotInMyFood.org
A project of Consumers Union
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703
http://www.notinmyfood.org/

Save Fisheries Petition

I have good news. U.S. environmental law currently requires fisheries to undergo environmental review from scientists and get guidance from the public before making decisions that impact ocean life. This law has helped save endangered sea turtles, rebuild depleted fish populations and more. The bad news is that now the Bush Administration is trying to exempt fisheries from this requirement of strong environmental review.Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to withdraw this flawed proposal, and continue to watch fisheries’ environmental impact » The Bush Administration wants to untie fisheries from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), saying some of its rules are creating “redundancy.” But this proposed rule would hand over too much authority to fishery management councils that have a long history of poor management, and could undo the progress achieved under NEPA for our oceans. Currently NEPA enables saving endangered species, preserving food sources for coastal communities, saving deep sea coral reefs and more. If changes are made to NEPA, they should improve protections for our oceans, not damage them by turning over more control to fishery councils with their history of poor management. Please sign the petition to preserve essential protection of the oceans. Let the National Marine Fisheries Service know that NEPA should still apply to fisheries. Thanks for taking action!Allison Care2 Campaign Team Protect Oceans from Deregulated Fisheries! NEPA — our law that is often considered the “basic national charter for protection of the environment” — requires fisheries to study the environmental impact of their actions, seek out alternative fishing methods and engage the public in decisions. Anything less than NEPA is unacceptable for our oceans. Forward to a friend >> Read the petition >>

Protect Oceans from… Go to Site

Search the Web

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Announcements, Food Policy and Action, Newsletter Archive, Recipes Archive, Weekly Share Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.