2015 Season!

Hello everyone,

The Grand Street CSA is open for business for the 2015 Summer season! Here is a link to the registration form: http://bit.ly/1AOcgax
The deadline for signing up is April 1st!
A few things:
– We are going to have a Meet The Farmer Night with Zaid Kurdieh from Norwich Meadow Farms. It will be Sunday, March 8th at 3 pm in the Seward Park Community Room (268 East Broadway). Come and join us and get all your CSA questions answered!
– If you signed up for an Early Bird Share, disregard the amount due in the email confirmation you will receive. We will send you a second email with the adjusted amount.
– At this time, we are asking all members to sign up for two work shifts, but may need to increase this to three, depending on how many members sign up. We will updated everyone once we close registration.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email us at info@grandstreetcsa.org.
Looking forward to seeing you March 8th!
Grand Street CSA Core

Congratulations LES Cooks!

Thank you to our contestants, judges, farmers, and guests for making our third annual CSA Smackdown as success!!

CSA Smackdown Winners Stephanie Schumm & Julie Ulmet
Just Food’s CSA Smackdown winners  Stephanie Schumm & Julie Ulmet of Grand Street CSA


Congratulations to team LES Cooks from Grand Street CSA for their winning dish, 

 

and a big shout-out to all ten CSAs that organized competitions across New York City. 
Check out all the amazing photos of last night’s competition and festivities, 
and look out for the winning recipe which will be posted next week. 

WINTER SHARE

Dear Grand Street CSA Members, present and future,

Sad that the CSA season is nearly over? Dry your tears and read on about Winter Share. 
The Winter season is significantly different from our Regular season, so please read the following information carefully. Feel free to ask questions at distribution. We hope to see you this winter! Register online HERE


The Winter Share

The Winter Share keeps us supporting Norwich Meadows year round and reminds us that local food doesn’t end with the regular growing season. Shares consist of storage crops, like roots and winter greens, dry beans, and a variety of dairy and value-added products from local farmers. Produce is grown in Norwich, New York and Lebanon, New Jersey. The Winter Season is designed to send the farm crucial startup funds to cover the cost of seed, equipment, repairs, materials, etc. Our Winter pickups are from December through May (6 pick-ups). We offer two (3) types of Winter shares: Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian, Vegan Vegetarian, and Omnivore (see descriptions below).

Pickup time:
Winter distribution, like the summer/fall this year, will be Tuesday 5:15pm-8pm at the Abrons Art Center. Pick up will continue to be outdoors except on days weather is too severe for either people or vegetables.

Frequency:
Winter Share is every three to six weeks for a total of 6 pick-ups.  The dates scheduled* are as follows:

    •    12/16, 1/27, 3/10, 3/31, 4/21, 5/12

*In cases of severe weather, members will be notified as soon as possible of changes in the distribution date.
As during our regular season, due to lack of storage, missed pickups cannot be compensated or refunded.  Leftovers will be donated to Our Lady of Sorrows Food Pantry and/or St. Mary’s Church immediately after distribution.

Share Options:

Winter share costs $305 and includes a $5 administrative fee. All share items, including produce, added value products (e.g. granola, pickles, tomato sauce), dairy, and meat are from Norwich Meadows Farm and neighboring farms. One (1) share provides enough food for 1-3 individuals depending on your diet, goals and cooking style. Animal products have a higher production cost, so even though the three (3) share types have different weights, they are all equal in value.

The LACTO-OVO VEGETARIAN SHARE   includes produce, dairy and eggs, no meat. This share weighs about 20-25 lbs per pickup and fills approximately 2-3 regular canvas bags. 

The VEGAN VEGETARIAN SHARE  is a vegetarian share without any animal products,  such as eggs, or dairy. This share weighs about 25-30 lbs per pickup and fills approximately 2-4 regular canvas bags. 

The OMNIVORE SHARE includes produce, dairy, eggs, ground beef and chicken. This share weighs about 15-20 lbs per pickup and fills approximately 2 regular canvas bags. 

Variety:  The items in each share change on a monthly basis and are determined by what the farmer and local vendors have available. You can see what our sister CSA Washington Square CSA received over their last winter season here. A typical distribution would look something like the following:

Sample December Omnivore share:
(Lacto-ovo vegetarian share gets additional veggies and no meat)
Potatoes – 2.25 lbs     Carrots – 2.5 lbs     Garlic – 1/3 lb
Winter squash – 1      Onions – 1.5 lbs     Cabbage – 1 head
Eggs – 1 dozen          Chicken – 1/2       Cooking greens – 3/4 lb
1 Preserved product (jar of tomato puree, pickled beets, pickled peppers or pickled green tomatoes)


EXTRASYou may choose to add pasta, apples, and/or apple cider to your share. These items will be available at each pick up. Some extras are included in registration and payment to Grand Street CSA. You will receive a separate email about our Village Fishmonger share and Dairy from Milk Not Jails. These extras require separate registration and payment. 

Please note: Extras are optional, but you must register for a Vegan, Lacto-Ovo, or Omnivore share in order to get extras. Payment must be received by November 19th.

CSA Smackdown!

Dear Grand Street CSA,

It’s that time of year again – Just Food’s Great CSA Smackdown 2014!

This is the chance your inner Iron Chef or Chopped champion has been waiting for … to prepare a delicious dish in 30 minutes using ingredients directly from your CSA share! Our “local” first round of the Smackdown will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, September 21st at the Hester Street Fair, around 3pm.

The winning team will represent Grand Street CSA at Just Food’s Great CSA Smackdown final event at Haven’s Kitchen on October 20thChef Tom Colicchio is already lined up to be one of the judges this year!

To read about contest rules and details (same as last year), please visit Grand Street CSA‘s website.

All ready to slice and dice your way to CSA glory? Go to our registration form here.

Reply to this email with any questions.

Grand Street CSA Core

Shien & Deb

July 15th Pickup

Squash
Cucumber
Parsley
Eggplant
Fava beans
Napa
Greens
Beets
Lettuce
Endives

Milk Not Jails is also coming today.

LOWER EAST SIDE YOUTHMARKET

LOWER EAST SIDE YOUTH MARKET
What is Youthmarket?
 Modeled after Greenmarket, Youthmarket is a unique solution to food access in New York City: GrowNYC purchases produce from Greenmarket farmers and trains young people from under-served areas of the city to operate a farm stand in their neighborhood as their own small business.

Lower East Side Youthmarket Grand Street btwn Pitt and Willett Sts, Manhattan Thursdays,7/11 to 11/21 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

EBT/Food Stamps, Debit/Credit, and WIC & FMNP Coupons accepted.

 The LES Youthmarket provides this bustling, historic community with fresh fruits and vegetables grown by regional farmers. At the same time, the weekly market engages neighborhood youth by teaching them small business skills, nutrition education, and much more.

Market Suppliers: The Youthmarket sources all of its food from Greenmarket Co., a wholesale distribution service offered by GrowNYC. Greenmarkt Co. is designed to bring the freshest, highest-quality regionally grown farm products to the New York City community. Youthmarket’s produce is grown by the following farms:
 Dagele Brothers Farm—Florida,
NY Davenport Farms—Stone Ridge,
NY Hoeffner Farms—Montgomery,
NY Mead Orchards—Tivoli,
NY Migliorelli Farm—Tivoli,
NY Prospect Hill Orchards—Milton,
NY R & M Andrews Farms—Calverton,
NY Reeves Farm—Baldwinsville,
NY Rottkamp Brothers Farm—Glenn Head,
NY S&SO Produce Farms—Goshen,
NY Trapani Farms—Milton,
NY Toigo Orchards—Shippensburg, PA

 Market Partners: Henry Street Settlement

Milk & Wine Next Week

Hello Grand Street CSA Members! As we settle into the season, we wanted to let you know about two upcoming events. The first is that we have once again partnered with Milk Not Jails to have dairy products delivered during the season to our CSA. The first deadline for ordering is July 8th (Tuesday!) for delivery at the July 15th distribution. We will have MNJ deliver to our CSA about once a month this season. Future delivery dates will be: 8/12, 9/9, 9/30, 10/7 and 11/4. The second is a Mead Wine Tasting with Enlightenment Wines at next week’s distribution. You will be able to purchase bottles or sign up for their CSA (Community Supported Alcohol!). See detailed information about both events below. We’re trying to organize more events and tastings this season, if you have any suggestions please feel free to email the Core. See you Tuesday! Grand Street CSA Core 1. MILK NOT JAILS – DEADLINE FOR ORDER JULY 8th – DELIVERY JULY 15th Hello CSA Member, Place an order today for a special, one-time delivery of any of our dairy products to your CSA. In addition to your dairy share items, Milk Not Jails offers greek and flavored yogurts, kefir, cheese and more from the 7 family farms we serve. Deadline to place your order is July 8th at 8pm. Place your order here, and we’ll deliver your farm-fresh dairy to your CSA pick-up the week of July 14th. This year, we’ve added some Catskill creameries that make beautiful cheeses and ferments you cannot find anywhere else in NYC! And don’t forget we have the best price on Ronnybrook yogurt drinks in the city! We’ll be adding more items throughout the season, so please let us know what your hungry for and we’ll work with our dairy farmer network to find it! Don’t see your CSA listed, contact us at milknotjails@gmail.com or (917) 719-6455 with any questions. Thanks, The Milk Not Jails Team MEAD TASTING – JULY 8th Raphael Lyon, head mazer at Enlightenment Wines will conduct tastings of his new seasonal line. Bottles will be available for purchase at retail price, or as part of a “share” of his Community Supported Alcohol membership which includes a mixed case of all the bottles at a significant discount. Individual bottles will be $25-35 each and will be limited to two per member. The 2014 spring share is a seasonal batch devoted to the bursting of life into the landscape, and are ready to drink now. All the wines are made by hand from New York State ingredients in editions of under 500 bottles, without pumps or filters and generally unsulfited and alive. Like all wine they do not need refrigeration unless opened, but must be kept out of direct sunlight. The full share (250$) is 12 bottles, three each of the above wines. And the full website: http://www.EnlightenmentWines.Com

Pick Up Today!!

Hi Grand Street CSA, Below is the list of what we can expect this week from Norwich Farms: napa cabbage greens spring onion radishes dandelion lettuce fava beans squash fennel Also fruit is starting this week! We’re expecting Strawberries and Rhubarb 🙂 As always: Distribution is from 5:15PM until 8PM. Please bring bags for your share. Remember to check in again at our station for eggs, fruit or pasta — the volunteer(s) on duty there will assist you. Be sure to share this email with friends/neighbors who are coming to pick up your share this week. Any questions, just reply. If you can’t get to us during distribution time due to work schedule, vacation or just pure poor planning, feel free to ask a friend or neighbor to do your pickup for you. Please just explain to anyone you send the basics of pick up and remind them to check in under your name first. You may want to arrange this in advance or work out a plan with another CSA member for exactly these last minute snafus. But know if you don’t get to use the food is all well used; the Grand Street CSA donates all leftover produce and extras to the Our Lady of Sorrows Food Pantry who distributes it the very next morning to needy families in our neighborhood. See you Tuesday! Grand Street CSA Core

Pick Ups Start Tomorrow!!!!!

Dear Grand Street CSA: The day we have all been waiting for is almost here-we open our first distribution this Tuesday, June 17th. Please see the email from Norwich below of the produce we will be getting and a few beautiful photos too! Just a few reminders: eggs (full and half-share) and pasta will be at every distribution, starting Tues. Fruit will not start yet. If you ordered fish the first pick-up is the 24th. Please bring extra bags and remember pick-up begins at 5:15PM (and not 5PM as we need time to set-up) and ends at 8PM sharp. All leftovers or shares not picked up are donated that evening to our Lady of Sorrows food panty. Volunteers for opening shift please arrive at 4:30PM. If you want to order Maple Syrup for pick-up on the 24th your order must be in on Monday (tomorrow). A prior email was sent to the entire membership with a link for ordering and the address to where your checks should be sent. If you need that info again please respond to this email. Most of the CSA Core will be in attendance throughout the entire distribution. If you are a returning member–welcome back! If you are a new member (welcome!) we want to provide some simple instructions to you on opening day so you will learn how our CSA operates. We’ll know at check-in if you are new but please just stop and introduce yourself to those of us wearing aprons! See you all Tuesday! Grand Street CSA Core Merrill