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We got this note from our friends over at the LES CSA:

We are thrilled to announce that Melinda, the farmer, emailed and said that Monkshood will extend the deadline and that they are committed to making LES CSA happen for 2011.

But we absolutely must get more shares, and must reach the minimum by end of May, and much earlier if possible, so that Monkshood can plan properly and still have some vegies to sell at green market.

The LES CSA started just last year, and, from what I’ve heard, had a great season. Since we’re all filled up over here on Grand Street, if you have any friends or neighbors still looking for organic vegetables this year, please send them over to lescsa.blogspot.com.

Thanks to Nivia from Our Lady of Sorrows food pantry and Heather from Woodbridge Farm for joining us last night at Abrons Arts Center — and thanks to the many new CSA members who showed up and shared some Woodbridge cheese. And of course thanks to Rose Ortiz from Abrons who has been such a good host to the CSA for two years now and running.

I hope Heather was able to speak to some of the finer details of running a small organic/biodynamic farm, as well as the economic role CSAs play in keeping such farms running.

And Nivia addressed the other end of the CSA, where our food goes when members don’t show up. Her food pantry is a great help to the less fortunate in our neighborhood, and the vegetables we contribute are some of the only fresh foods her pantry has access to.

All of which I hope drives home the point that belonging to the CSA is not the same as buying vegetables at the store or farmers’ market once a week. There is a broader community we are attempting to build with your cooperation.

As of this morning we have closed our 2011 registration, having reached the share limit allotted by Woodbridge. With more people picking up half shares this year, and a few people joining only for the fruit, we have our largest CSA yet, 120 families strong.

Tomorrow night is our Meet the Farmers event — Tuesday, March 29 at 7:00 pm at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street).

It’s an important evening for new and returning members to find out about life on the farm and ask questions of everyone involved in the CSA (e.g., “What’s this !@#$ cold doing to our crop?”).

We’ve been specially invited to an event uptown this Friday at 6:30, “Is Local Agriculture Good for the Environment: The Hidden Costs of Food in New York City”. (What does specially invited mean? If you tell them that you belong to the Grand Street CSA you’ll get in at the $6 membership price.)

Here’s the blurb:

When it comes to eating sustainably the question of locally sourced agriculture versus importing food is far from settled. Are New Yorkers willing to eat in season only and only what New York has the comparative advantage to produce? New Yorkers penchant for eating out adds for an additional complication. What does that mean for the city’s carbon footprint, given that restaurants are often more wasteful than home kitchens – even those committed to the new ideal of “farm-to-table” production? What are the real environmental costs associated with New York’s food system? Peter Hoffman, chef and owner of Savoy; Gabrielle Langholtz, editor, Edible Manhattan; James E. McWilliams, author of Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly (Little, Brown, 2009); David Owen, author of Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability (Riverhead, 2009); and Jennifer Small, owner and farmer from Flying Pigs Farm evaluate the environmental and social costs and benefits of the city’s food infrastructure.

The Museum of the City of New York is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street.

Please join us on Tuesday, March 29 at 7:00 pm for our very important Meet the Farmers event at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street).

Heather DeWolf, field manager at Woodbridge Farm, will be on hand to answer all your questions about this year’s vegetables. We’ll also have representatives from Henry Street Settlement, Abrons Arts Center, and Our Lady of Sorrows Food Pantry, to round out our CSA distribution system, as well as Grand Street CSA core members who help keep this whole thing running.

If you’re a new member, this event is an important chance to learn more about what you’ve gotten yourself into. But we hope returning members will join us as well to get to know the people who grow our food. We believe the CSA is not just a buying club, but a partnership between our neighborhood and Woodbridge Farm.

We’ll have genuine Woodbridge cheese to taste, and a few bottles of grape-based beverages to wash it down. We hope to see you there!

Returning members and people on our wait list have had their chance, but we still have a few shares available for 2011. If you’re interested in fresh, organic, locally-grown produce for the 2011 season, sign up right now.

It’s probably a good idea for you to read a little bit about us first. And take a look at the shares we are offering this year, so you know what you can sign up for.

You can also whet your appetite by looking through our (nearly) complete sharelog from last year (photos taken by core member Michel Walkley):

But don’t take too much time … shares are going quickly. If you’d like to join for 2011, now is your chance.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

This Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm, core members will be at Roots & Vines (409 Grand Street) to accept checks from returning members and sign up new members from our wait list. Please join us if you have not yet had a chance to put your check in the mail, or if you have any questions before signing up.

If you were a member in 2010, check your inbox — instructions for signing up for the new season just went out.

Returning members are given preference only until February 8, after which we will open up registration to our wait list.

We’re just a few days away from opening our 2011 registration to returning members. In the meantime, we’ve collected information and pricing for our 2011 shares — click over and take a look so you can start to decide what you’d like to get this season.

Unlike last year, when our extras were not available for sign-up until later in the spring, we have our offerings all set and are asking that you sign up for everything all at once. If paying everything at once is too difficult, we offer a 3-month installment plan, details of which will be emailed to you after you register. But please keep in mind that part of the economic mission of the CSA is to get money to our farmers as early as possible, so if you are able to pay for your entire membership up front, we would very much prefer that you do.

Just a quick update to let you know that we are almost ready to start registration for our 2011 season.

• All share prices will remain the same.
• We’ll have the same extras as last year: fruit, eggs, pasta, and cheese. (And maybe something new.)
• Returning members will be able to register starting this week. (You’ll be alerted by email when the registration form is open.)
• New members will be able to register starting Feb. 8. Make sure you are on our wait list to be notified.