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Cromwell Valley CSA Newsletter |
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It's been another great week here at the CVCSA. Everything is growing, even the staff! Everyone has finally arrived and is moved in and getting settled. We're in the midst of Summer planting, Spring harvest and already gearing up for our Fall seedling production. We're off to a slow start harvest wise this Spring. The previous week’s heat and our lack of a well pump meant our cool weather loving crops slowed to a crawl despite our valiant efforts of hand watering. This weeks cool weather and rain (hooray!) are helping things along and we should be expecting harvests to continually pick up until we're in the thick of things come July. The peas are loving the break from the heat and though we may not be looking forward to the everyday harvesting they will need, we are looking forward to their addition in the weekly shares. Also coming are broccoli raab and more radishes. The Spring season here in Cromwell Valley is an interesting season for us to plan. Last year we had cold, rainy weather and this year we have hot, dry weather. Last year things like peas and lettuce thrived in the cool damp weather and this year those same crops are struggling in the heat. We are challenged with planning for all possible Spring weather which in this part of the Mid-Atlantic can |
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(Picture courtesy of Flickr user thebittenword.com.) |
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Farm Update by Andrea Anderson |
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June 12, 2010 |
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Cromwell Valley Park offers a number of fun and educational workshops throughout the season. Learn to cook a new dish, practice gardening techniques, explore nature and more through the park’s family oriented programming. Pull out your calendars, make your reservations and get ready to have some fun! For any programs not indicated as sponsored by CVCSA, you can contact the park office at 410.887.2503 or email info@cromwellvalleypark.org for more information or to reserve your spot. Unless otherwise noted, payment must be made to CVP within 5 business days of your reservation, or the reservation will be yielded to the waiting list. All payments are donations and non-refundable unless CVP cancels the program. Make checks payable to: Cromwell Valley Park Council (CVPC). Mailing Address: Cromwell Valley Park, 2002 Cromwell Bridge Road, Baltimore, MD 21234. For programs sponsored by CVCSA, email info@cvcsa.org to reserve your spot or get more information. Workshop details are below: —————————————— SATURDAY JUNE 26 Come learn about and enjoy the lazy gardener’s favorite plant: rhubarb. Reliable and tasty. Ages 8+ with adult. Reservations required. $3 members/$5 non-members. —————————————— THURSDAY JULY 1 Although we don’t usually see them, roots are a vital part of every plant. Join the CSA as we get “down & dirty” to learn about, root for and even nibble on roots! Ages 4 to 8. Reservations required. For more info visit www.cvcsa.org. Please contact CVCSA directly to make your reservation - info@cvcsa.org. $3 CSA shareholders/$5 non-shareholders. —————————————— FRIDAY JULY 2 Enjoy a summer evening catching fireflies and making s’mores by the campfire - two of childhood’s best memory makers. Bring a bug box and flashlight. Ages 4+ with adult. $3 members/$5 non-members. —————————————— SUNDAY JULY 11 Join the CSA farm staff for an exciting look at the new Russian Honeybee Colonies! Look inside the hives, learn about the biology of honeybees, and for the kids (even those that are just kids at heart!) play some fun bee games! All ages. For more info visit www.cvcsa.org. Please contact CVCSA directly to reserve your spot - info@cvcsa.org. $3 CSA shareholders/$5 non-shareholders. —————————————— STARTING THURSDAY JULY 15 First class of a 3- part series (2nd class Sun. 7/18 at 3 to 7 PM, 3rd class Thurs. 7/22 at 7 to 9 PM). Join Debbie Amster, Holistic Health Counselor, for a food-based cleanse, not a fast, where, through simplified, mindful eating with the seasons, you cleanse your body of toxins, focus your intentions, and awaken to your deeper self. For more information visit www.cvcsa.org. Ages 18+. Registration required. Please contact CVCSA directly to make your reservations - info@cvcsa.org. $160 CSA shareholders/$175 non-shareholders. |
Highlights in this issue:· Farm updates · Food profiles · Board update · Sustainable farming · Recipe |
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Upcoming Workshops |
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Sign up for one of many summer workshops at Cromwell Valley Park or CVCSA and learn while having fun! |
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(Picture courtesy of Flickr user thebittenword.com.) |
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Lentil and Feta Bulgur with Broccoli Raab |
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This recipe is one of my favorite quick, easy and delicious weeknight meals. I’ve adapted it slightly from the original version, which I found in the book, The Flexitarian Diet by Dawn Jackson Blatner. |
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Ingredients · 1 cup water · 1 1/2 cup lentils · 1/2 cup bulgur · 2 oz. reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled · 1/4 cup lemon juice · 2 TBSP chopped fresh dill · 1 TBSP olive oil · 2 cloves garlic, crushed · 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped · 2 cups chopped broccoli raab · Salt and pepper, to taste |
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Instructions Bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Add the bulgur and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff gently with a fork. Stir in the lentils, feta, lemon juice and dill. Cover and set aside. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook about two minutes until fragrant. Add the onions and broccoli raab and sauté until the onions are translucent and the broccoli raab is tender but still slightly crisp. Serve the broccoli raab and onion mixture over the lentil and bulgur mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. As a side dish, this makes about four servings and as a main dish it makes about two servings. |
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be dramatically different. We select crops that are cold tolerant and hardy and we also select fast growing "warmer" loving crops and in the end it's mother nature who selects the first harvests. It was great meeting so many of you at the Potluck and first Tuesday pick-up and I look forward to seeing you all on and around the farm every week. Don't forget that the farm interns are the friendly faces you see in the Apple House every week, so feel free to introduce yourself and pick their brains. They're the driving force behind the season and the ones with their hands in the soil all day, every day. They're enthusiastic, hard working and looking forward to a great season interacting with the membership. We couldn't do this without them and they certainly make my days (and nights) easier (and laughter filled). In previous seasons we've included a projection of what we thought the coming weeks shares would be. This year in lieu of predicting the future we're going to include the previous weeks harvest so you'll have an idea of what we're currently harvesting along with some information about the crops that will be coming up. This weeks harvest was: 1 Bunch of French Breakfast Radish (large and small), Garlic Scapes (8, Large- 4, Small) and U-Pick herbs (Mint, Oregano, Sage). This coming week we are anticipating the addition of peas and broccoli raab. Thanks for a great start to the season. See you in the fields! Andrea Anderson |
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What’s Happening on the CVCSA Board |
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Before I get into the business, I want to share a farm "wonder moment" when I was leaving the Board meeting. As I was the last one to leave, I had to close the gate. When I turned off my car to step up to the gate, I was treated to a light show fueled by a gazillon fireflies. They were in the trees and the grasses flashing away. The female firefly flashes a signal (number of flashes, duration, length of the interval between flashes) to the male. The signals are specific to her sex and species. The male returns the message, and his are also in code characteristic of his sex and species. This is how fireflies hook-up. Of course, nature is a bit more complicated--and brutal--than that. There are firefly femmes fatales. The female plays nicely within her species but becomes carnivorous with other species, breaking the code, falsifying the flash signal and luring the males of other species to devour. Well, at least that's what the Handy Bug Answer Book says about them! In any case, it was a magical light show in the quiet night on the farm and a beautiful way to end the Board meeting. Now, on to the agenda. Our most important issue at the June 2nd Board meeting was the remaining unsold shares. At that time, we still had about 20 shares left to sell. Because we are on a tight budget, it is an important issue. We discussed various ways that we could accomplish this including renewing distribution of flyers, e-mailing current members letting them know we have availability, and strong-arming my sister-in-law into buying a share. We then went over our fundraiser, the plant sale, discussing how it went and what we could do to improve it. The consensus is it went well and that weather is a big factor. (If you recall, it was an unseasonably cool, windy weekend.) However, we are always open to members' input, so let us know if you have any ideas or suggestions. Thanks to everyone that helped make it a success from the farm staff to the volunteers to the customers. It is a lot of work to make it happen. While we were still discussing the budget, we made everyone aware of two new strains on the budget: 1) Jeff, an intern, contracted Lyme's disease (he has recovered), and 2) The well pump died. Heroically, the farm staff has been hand watering, and we have been pricing out what it will require to fix it. Our well is about 500 hundred feet deep, and it seems that we have somewhere between a $2000-$4000 problem. Next, we needed good news, so we went to the farm report. I do not want to take away Andrea's thunder, but things are growing. The strawberries were fantastic, and the first pick-up June 8th was on-track. We then had a report from Helen who is moving our 501c3 forms forward, inching toward our official non-profit status. This will be a slow process, but if successful, it will make us a nonprofit organization in the eyes of the federal government, which will help us in fundraising and other endeavors. Elena, our membership coordinator, explained about a delay in the membership application process, and we think it will be smoother next year. (Thanks for all your patience as we worked out these issues.) There was also discussion about some issues with the web page and electronic communications, which have been on-going. We are working on them and we hope they are resolved soon. Again, thanks for your patience. I can't give much more info because I am still somewhere in the twentieth century and it is all beyond me. I do know they are aware of the shortfalls and working on them. We are working on organizing a Slow Food event in the fall, and we had preliminary discussions about this. We also kicked around other fundraising idea's, all in the early stages. Because we are in a public space, we have to work with the County in planning any events. To this end, I am meeting Thursday (June 10) with the County. I hope to discuss this and some other issues such as grass cutting. At the end of pick-ups, we always have some food left, and as we have little refrigeration for storage, we are planning to donate this food. We were looking for local charities that could pick up the leftovers. Andrea has identified two that meet this criteria, and we are going to finalize that soon. I would like to take this time to inform everyone that the Board meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm at the Sherwood House. It is an open meeting and all members are welcome. There are also open board positions, so if you have the time, we encourage you to come and participate. If you can't attend a meeting but have ideas, get them to us via email. We have already implemented members’ ideas that have improved the CSA. Next month, I imagine you will get a better report from the Board meeting as it will not be me doing it! Now, I will head out and weed the raspberries. . . I am a much better weeder then I am reporter. Jerry Schnick CVCSA Board President |
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Broccoli Raab is in the Brassica family along with cabbage and broccoli. The vegetable probably descends from a wild herb, a relative of the turnip, that grew either in China or the Mediterranean region. It has many spiked leaves that surround a green bud which looks very similar to a small head of broccoli. There may be small yellow flowers blooming from the buds, which also are edible. It is similar in shape to Chinese Broccoli, which we also have growing and coming up in shares this season.
Broccoli Raab is most commonly found in the cuisine of southern Italy and can be prepared a variety of ways but personally suggest simply sautéing it with a little garlic and olive oil. |
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Broccoli Raab by Andrea Anderson |
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(Picture courtesy of CVCSA farmers.) |
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As some of you have read from a post on the CSA Facebook page, I just graduated from college with a degree in Environmental Studies. I learned a lot about a broad range of subjects, and as you can probably conclude, agriculture left an impression. I learned that there are estimates that in the next 30 years we will require about 50-60% more food to feed the human population. This could be a problem at the rate our resources are being used up. One resource in particular, soil, is being depleted at extraordinary rates. Approximately 1,000,000 km2 of croplands are being abandoned each decade because of soil erosion. With this in mind, there must be a shift in the way we farm our produce. The great thing about sustainable farming is that it not only leaves the consumers with a healthy and delicious bite to eat, but it also is good for the environment.
The foundations of sustainable farming get away from the pesticides and insecticides used in conventional practices and lessen the contamination entering water systems. Also, our rotations of crops helps to reduce the amount of erosion by eliminating the need for chemical insecticides and focusing on soil fertility through the addition of organic matter, which improves soil structure along with lowering the overall amount of pests. One other major environmental benefit of sustainable farming is that there is a lot of habitat that is still available for wildlife. While preparing our tomato beds today I scared about 3 or 4 different bird species from the high grass surrounding the field and every once in a while I'll get a glimpse of some small mammals like mice and voles, which are bountiful throughout the fields and have a lower risk of getting eaten by the hawks because of the large amount of vegetative cover.
There are many other benefits of sustainable farming and I'm looking forward to talking to you about it in the upcoming harvests! |
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Farm Intern Patrick Murray Talks about Sustainable Farming |
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What are Strawberries? As many of us know, strawberries are deliciously sweet red berries. Strawberry plants produce their fruit early in the growing season, typically making them one of the first fruits to harvest in the spring (and one of the very first treats for CSA members!). Strawberries are an amazingly popular fruit. According to the University of Illinois, 94% of US households consume strawberries and 53% of 7 to 9-year-olds choose them as their favorite fruit. Their popularity might be in part because they grow in all 50 states and across Canada. Commercial strawberry growers have produced hybrid berries that can be grown year-round and can stand being shipped long distances. (But as anyone who has tasted local strawberries can tell you, this convenience |
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Food Profile: Strawberries By Maggie Beetz |
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(Picture courtesy of Flickr user ~MVI~.) |
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comes at a high price to their quality.) The strawberry plant is the only fruit with seeds on the outside. While strawberry plants grow successfully in home gardens, local farms, and even commercial farms, wild strawberries are also found across the country, mostly thanks to birds. Birds eat the berries and pass the seeds in tact, which flourish in sunlight despite not being buried. History of Strawberries Strawberries have been used around the world for over 2,000 years. The word "strawberry" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "streoberio," though the original meaning of the name is uncertain. The first botanical illustration appeared in 1454 and the very first known mention of the fruit came from a Roman Senator sometime between 234 and 149 B.C. More recently, the strawberry shortcake was first created by the Americans Colonialists who adapted a Native American recipe made from crushed strawberries and cornmeal. Enjoying Strawberries Strawberries are extremely versatile. They can be made into jam, ice cream, pies, smoothies, daiquiris, bread and muffins. Strawberry sauce is not only a delicious topping for cheesecake, but can also top pancakes, waffles and French toast. Raw strawberries are delicious on their own or can be used as a topping for desserts or breakfast items. While many strawberry recipes are for dessert dishes, they can also be made into a salsa or tossed in a salad. For people without a sweet tooth, consider this colorful summer salad which includes a perfect combination of fruits and vegetables: Summer Salad (Recipe by Elena Johnson) Ingredients: Lettuce Onion Tomatoes Strawberries Cucumbers Apple Avocado Almond slices
Instructions: Toss all ingredients together and top with olive oil & lemon juice briskly mixed together with a dab of brown mustard.
Nutritional Value Strawberries are not only delicious, they are healthy too. Strawberries are low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, according to NutritionData.com. They are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and folate. A cup of raw strawberries contains about 49 calories, mostly from sugars. Storing & Freezing The best way to keep strawberries as fresh as possible is to remove any moldy strawberries and store the rest in the fridge in an air-tight plastic container. Keep layers separated by a paper towel. For storing strawberries longer than three days, consider freezing them. Keep them in a sealed plastic bag and they'll be good for months. Wash the berries right before you eat them, instead of prior to storing (according to Strawberries.com). Additional Sources: |
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(Picture courtesy of CVCSA member and Newsletter Editor Ami Spencer.) |