Grand Street CSA

Greetings CSA! A few announcements and reminders before our second distribution:

As everyone who has stuck around here since 2009 knows, our early summer berries are very sensitive to rain. This year, our fruit is getting a late start and will NOT yet be available for us tomorrow. What this means: fruit, egg, and pasta shares are delivered together, so none of those extras will be available tomorrow. It’s actually not as much of a tragedy as it sounds … fruit, egg, and pasta shares are priced for 21 weeks, while our vegetable and cheese shares are priced for 23 weeks. Normally, fruit starts a week later than vegetables and takes a week off around the beginning of July; it looks like this year we’ll just get started two weeks later and run straight through to the end of the season.

CHEESE, however, is available, since this comes to us from Woodbridge Farm, the same lovely people who grow our vegetables. We ask that you sign in for cheese (actually all your extras, when they start coming in) separately from your vegetables. If you’re not sure where we’re hiding your cheese, please ask.

SYRUP will be available Tuesday for those who have signed up for it. If you didn’t pay last week, please come prepared to pay this week, either with cash or a check made out to Grand Street CSA.

We have one cancellation for Tuesday’s closing shift (7:00 – 8:30). If you have not yet signed up for your work shifts, please snag this one: goo.gl/dBm3j .

And here’s a good time for a reminder to make sure your work shifts are marked down in your own personal calendars, so that you aren’t surprised by a conflict when your scheduled shift comes around.

Thanks!

Great to see everyone — old members and new — back at Abrons today for CSA pick-up. The afternoon went off without a hitch, except we were a little short of dill there at the end. The farm usually sends us a little bit extra of everything, but please also make sure that you count and measure everything carefully so no one gets shorted.

The syrup tasting was a real treat, and for anyone who hasn’t yet signed up you can still order syrup online. All syrup orders will be fulfilled next week at distribution.

And next week our other extras will be in as well — fruit, eggs, and pasta. See you then!

Heather is on the road … here’s what she’s bringing us today:


  Half Share  Full Share
Dill     4 sprigs  8 large sprigs
Lettuce heads  1 head   2 heads
Mustard greens  3.5 oz   7 oz
Kale     14 oz  28 oz
Radishes  1 bunch  2 bunches

Just a reminder that our CSA season starts Tuesday, May 31. Distribution is at Abrons Arts Center on Grand Street, from 5:15pm to 8:00pm. Please come with your own bag, check in with the member on duty who is holding a clipboard, and then go ahead and measure out your share.

Our Woodbridge farmers write on Facebook that this first week should include the following: lettuce heads, salad greens, radishes, kale, swiss chard, and dill. But they also pass along the following two caveats:

… we sometimes make in-the-moment decisions on harvest days based on quality and health of the plants. So if a last minute change arises, forgive us! We’ll also list crops we’re harvesting, but some might be a choice between crops for your share.

Reminder: fruit, eggs, and pasta start next week, June 7.

See you at CSA!

The weather is warm, the trees are green, and fresh vegetables are on the way.

First distribution for vegetables will be May 31, the day after Memorial Day. We were shooting for May 24, but, as Heather writes on Facebook, a cold spring and frequent rain have pushed their schedule back one week. (Don’t worry, we’ll still get a full 23 weeks.)

In the meantime, please pay the remainder of your membership fee (that’s a message for only a few of you — most of our members are all paid up … thank you!) and remember to sign up for your CSA work requirement. (Anyone who hasn’t received an email from us this week.)

If you’re interested in helping to plan a Second Tuesday event, send a note to info@grandstreetcsa.org. We try to put some sort of special event together once a month, but we could really use your input and your help.

We are looking to organize a few more extras, like grass-fed beef and maple syrup. Both of these would be one-shot deals, not part of the weekly distribution. We’ll have more details soon.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again on May 31!

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.