A Recipe from the Extras Table!

I tried this chutney the other day and it ended up being incredibly delicious. You'll have a little additional shopping to do, but this recipe should spark some ideas for the freebies on the extras table!

Mint-Cilantro Chutney

• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
• 2 serrano chiles, seeded and sliced
• 1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste

Puree all ingredients in the blender (I had to use a little extra lemon juice and some olive oil to blend it properly.) Spread a thin layer of the chutney on a tortilla or pita with hummus and some of those abundant salad greens for a really great lunch.

- Rob

CSA for June 30th!

Hello All!!
We will be receiving:
Kholarabi
Squash
Cucumbers
Cabbage
Broccoli or Kale
Chard
The extras for this week are
Basil
Parsley
Chard
Mint
I spoke to Levi and he is hoping that anyone that can attend the open house will be there!!! He hopes to meet as many people as possible!!!!
It will develop a great relationship between all of us!!

The rain has been glorious!!! Thank you for your prayers!!
Please email us with any questions or concerns!
Blessings,
Mary

Your questions finally answered

I've had some serious catching up to do as work has been very, very busy and I've had some significant family and volunteer responsibilities recently. Forgive my delay and bear with me on my long responses to some recent questions...

First, I hope you're enjoying the season. I'm loving it. Great food. Great neighbors to talk with each week... I wonder if any of you -- like me -- are starting to feel the (good) burn of a lot of produce to process, learn recipes for, cook, enjoy, and share.

Answers to a few questions that've come up regarding the CSA and pick-up in the past couple weeks:

• You may still pick up until 3. We're just pre-packing shares and releasing volunteers at 2 or earlier. The Myers-Nunn's or one of the committee members will tend the site until 3. Our change to pre-packed shares at 2 allows us to clean the site earlier and to release volunteers (you) an hour to an hour-and-a-half earlier. Please, rest assured you're still welcome until 3.
  
• We are still surrendering shares at 3. Please, feel free to email us if you have an occasional special need that can't be overcome. We've yet to come up with a situation on which we couldn't work with the shareholder. Note, though, that several people tend the email. Emails sent late Friday through Saturday may not be noticed before the surrender happens.
• There have been surrendered shares each week thus far. I hate to let any CSA produce go to waste, but I have limited time to distribute the produce to others or preserve it for my own family. Please know you are welcome to visit the site at 3 to claim surrendered shares. I've had a few non-CSA members stop in recently for surrendered food, but I'm really committed to distribution among shareholders. Please help me out: come on by and pick up your stuff and, if you want more, come back by at 3. We just might have some left!
• By all means, you may have someone else pick up for you. We're more than happy to accommodate your needs. If you are out of town or can't make it, feel free to share your crop with a friend or family member. They'll love you for it!
• This week, the fern-looking thing was fennel. The bulb was kohlrabi. Fresh fennel is new to me, but I'm nuts about kohlrabi. Kohlrabi is one of the many cultivars of wild kale I wrote about in an earlier post (The First Broccoli). It is truly one of the treats of the summer at my house. We eat it raw usually, but I've been thinking of cooking it and making a variation on colcannon this week.

I think that's it. Let me know if I've missed a recent question of yours.

Enjoy your day.

--Christopher

CSA Tip: Use the Forum

The forum established by Gabe Bosslet is starting to get some interesting posts. It's a great place to share recipes and to ask those persistent "What is this and how do I use it?" questions. Already, some kale recipes have been exchanged and some interesting connections have been made between shareholders.

Visit the forum, register, and enjoy. Your participation will make it a better resource for us all. Link is in column at right.

--Christopher

CSA Tip: Use the Free Extras Table

What if you don't like fennel?
Or get too much salad mix? (that's always my problem)

Use the free extras table to share produce you may not use. Simply put it out for another family to enjoy.

I've seen this work well, and folks always appreciate a little more of the things they enjoy. I've even seen folks notice the gift and offer to trade a gifted item for something from their share you may enjoy more than the item you left.

--Christopher

Raw Milk Update

I've seen some interest from the group in raw milk posted about earlier but a couple barriers have come up to participation:

• A person willing to coordinate any raw milk stuff has not emerged.
• I've decided not to offer my home as a pick-up site for milk products.

I've had several conversations with CSA members and others about raw milk and local suppliers. I've learned of another farm (but I'll have to ask someone again about the name!) that is local and may serve as a resource to those of you interested. If you want to be connected, please let me know at irvingtonagriculture@gmail.com.

--Christopher

News from the Farm

When I spoke with Levi this morning, he gave me a few quick updates on the season's crops that I'd like to pass along:

• Early potatoes and corn have not done as well as last year due to the cold start to the season and the lack of rain; however, the later crops seem to be doing very well. We should start to see corn and potatoes within three or four weeks.
• Tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, and watermelon were described as "exceptional crops." Levi expects a great harvest on these items. We'll start to see these items in a couple weeks.
• Due to the cold and the birds, the black raspberries aren't going to be plentiful. Levi says the later red and yellow varieties may be bumper crops, but it's too early to tell for sure. We'll see these berries in August and September.

--Christopher

An Invitation from the Fisher Family

When I spoke with Levi early this morning, he passed along an invitation for the Irvington Community Supported Agriculture shareholders to visit his family's farm for a pitch-in. Levi invites the Irvington CSA group each year. It's a great opportunity to meet your farming family, to get to know other CSA shareholders, and to learn more about where and how your produce is grown. We hope you'll be able to join us!

The details:

Irvington Community Supported Agriculture
Pitch-In at the Fisher Family Farm, Twin Crooks
Saturday, July 14, 2007
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Montezuma, Indiana

Please RSVP to irvingtonagriculture@gmail.com by Wednesday, July 11.

(Driving directions will be printed on postcards and made available at the pickup site this week.)

Please note that pick up times will remain the same on the day of the pitch-in. The Myers-Nunn's will arrange for coverage of the pick-up site if scheduled volunteers need to leave early to travel to Montezuma. Please let us know if you will not attend the pitch-in and can help cover the pick up site from 2 until 3 p.m.

--Christopher

A lot of extras available for order

Good morning, All. I hope you are well.

I spoke with Levi this morning, and he updated me on extras available for order this week. There are quite a few.

We will accept email orders for these, but please put "special order" in the subject line so we are sure to notice your message. Also, we will confirm your order by email. If you don't get a confirmation within 24 hours, please check in with us. We often get a lot of emails when orders are plentiful.

Orders must be in by 5 on Thursday in order to be filled this week.

Available for order this week, delivered on Saturday, June 30:

• Cucumbers (Levi says a lot of nice ones, good for pickling and canning), $25/bushel or $14/half bushel.
• Zucchini, $30/bushel or $16/half bushel
• Zucchini and yellow squashes in smaller quantities at $1/pound
• Popcorn, $1/pound
• Basil, $10/pound
• Parsley, $8/pound
• Kale, $1.40/pound
• Chard, $1.60/pound
• Red beets, $1.30/bunch
• Flower arrangements, $3.50
• Sausage, $2.40/pound (this will come in packages of varying weights, prices determined by actual weight of individual packages)
• Maple syrup, $7/pint
• Eggs, $2.25/dozen
  

Honey is on hold for now. Levi does have an order in for more. It's not a good honey season.

Let us know if we can help you to any of these. Again, please put "special order" in the subject line and order by 5 on Thursday.

Take care,

Christopher

Check out the Irvington CSA forum!

The forum is up and running. There have been some good recipes posted, but we could certainly use some more.

For those of you who have never used a forum before, it is very simple. It is free to register, there is NO obligatory spam e-mail with your registration, and no annoying ads to wade through. It is very easy to maneuver around and reply to postings, and is a good way to share ideas among the group. The more people that use it, the more useful it will be, and the more information people can get to others in the group. It is also a great and easy way to float ideas about the CSA (or any other ideas you can think of).

Simply go to irvingtoncsa.informe.com and click "register" at the top. Save it to your favorites, and everytime you go to the forum it will highlight posts you have not read, etc. Try it out!

--Gabe

CSA for June 16th

Hi Everyone!

This week:

• Snap Peas
• Asparagus
• Lettuce
• Salad Mix
• Squash
• Cabbage
• Chard

Extras:

• Chives
• Mint
• Oregano
• Basil
• Cilantro

Pick Up Time is Changing

70 of our 96 shareholders provided votes on our proposed change to the pick-up times. Thanks for your feedback. You can scroll down to the poll for exact results, but the gist is that the group is okay with the proposal.

As such, please note that each week - beginning Saturday, June 16:

• Pick up will start at noon
• At 2, shares will be bagged and labeled for any shares not picked up
• Shareholders may stop in to grab a bag until 3
• Shares are surrendered at 3 unless we've made prior arrangements for occasional unusual circumstances
• Shareholders may still stop in at 3 to request extras or surrendered shares.
  
• We'll have just one volunteer shift, instead of two each day. We'll need less from you!
• Volunteers shifts will end at 2 instead of 3. Often, things get really, really slow after 1 or 1:30. When that happens, we'll end the shift earlier. The committee member in charge of the day will take it from there.

We'll see you Saturday!

Christopher

Whole, Organic Milk Could Be Available. Interested?

Good day, folks. I hope you are well.

I received a call today from another CSA farmer, Melvin Fisher, who wondered if our group may be interested in whole, organic milk, cream, and yogurt from his farm. I discussed it with him a little, and I told him I'd throw it out for discussion and see what happens.

Here's what I know:

• He said the cows are organic but not certified organic. The rest of his farm is certified. The cows are grass fed and hormone free, etc.
• It is against the law to sell milk like this in Indiana. The loophole he takes advantage of is that you can get milk from your own cow and consume it. As such, those interested in milk have to buy into the herd ($75) and purchase the milk products on top of that. Only those herd owners can order the milk products. When one stops getting milk from him, he will buy back the share. I understand this is pretty common. I've heard of these arrangements before and not from the farmer.
  
• It may be possible for the milk to be delivered on the same day as the CSA veggies for convenient pick up; those getting milk would have to be responsible for any increases in transportation fees we incur, though. If delivery is on a different day, the milk could come on a truck that goes to Avon, Westfield, and Bloomington already, adding an Irvington stop. I would likely not be open to having delivery at my house if delivery and pick up are not on Saturday during the existing CSA times.
• There would be some infrastructure needed. We have refrigeration in my garage, but it really is needed for the eggs, chickens, and such. We may not have room for all of the milk products. We'd have to get coolers or some other thing to supplement.
  
• I would see this as separate from the current CSA. I'd be happy to help you get going, but I don't have time or interest, really, (Just try to get me to drink ANY milk!) to coordinate this. I assume coordination would be similar to CSA but with a smaller group, including registration, communication, getting updates and such from the farmer, placing orders with the farmer, collecting payment, and dealing with unclaimed orders, etc.
  
• If there is a group who is interested, I'll pass along contact information and such so you can start discussions with the farmer.
• I'd be happy to help you with the communication tools we use for the CSA now: blog, email, document sharing, etc. and help you link from the existing CSA resources.
• If there is a group interested, I'll keep you posted on my thinking, but: I do need to do some more thinking regarding my risk on this. I have some reservations regarding the distribution at my house. I know absolutely nothing about safety or other issues involved with these products. While I assume there wouldn't be any safety issues, I don't want to lose my house over someone getting sick or something. Any of the many lawyers in the group want to give me some ideas?

All that said, please let me know at irvingtonagriculture@gmail.com if you are interested. If there's interest and a coordinator emerges, I'll get you on the road!

Christopher

What do I do with all of this kale?

Until the CSA last year, I really thought kale was just something that came under your baked potato at Sizzler. After trying and failing to work with it on my own last year, I tried to hunt down some recipes that would help me make it delicious. Here are links to a few that I am going to try this year.

If you have other ideas, post them in the comments or send us an email so we can post them to the blog!

- Rob

Links from Vegetarian Times Magazine:

• Tuscan-Style Spaghetti with Kale and Cannellinis
• Red Potatoes with Kale, Avocado and Feta (this would probably make one heck of a potato salad if served cold)
• Sesame Noodles with Kale
  

Irvington Farmer's Market is this Sunday!

The monthly Irvington farmer's market is Sunday from 12p-3p in the northwest corner of Ellenberger Park!

2007 Volunteer Schedule

Hi there!

The long-awaited 2007 volunteer schedule is available online. You may view the schedule by clicking here.

Volunteers should plan on being at the pickup site from 11am - 2pm on their scheduled day. If time permits, volunteers will be sent home early. Most of the help is needed at 11am (to unload the truck), and from the main pickup hour of 12-1pm.

The schedule was built with your requested dates in mind when possible. Each 1/2 share should only need to volunteer once for the summer. If you see an error, or need to switch dates with someone else, please contact the "wrangler" at the CSA pickup, or send an email to irvingtonagriculture@gmail.com.

Please remember that volunteering is mandatory for 2007 CSA membership. If you cannot volunteer during the pickup times, there may be other ways that you can contribute. Please speak to the wrangler or drop us a line so that we can work out an alternate solution.

Thanks! See you on Saturday!

-Rob

NEW! CSA forum available.

New Irvington CSA shareholder Gabe Bosslet has set up a forum for the Irvington CSA group. It's a great place to make connections with other shareholders, announce community events, share recipes with the group, etc.

A link is posted in the column at the right. For now: http://irvingtoncsa.informe.com.

Please visit, sign in, and start sharing.

And thanks, Gabe, for your idea and set-up work!

What do I do with all of this Swiss Chard?

I noticed yesterday that a lot of people skipped their Swiss Chard while picking up their CSA. If you can't eat the chard right away, you can freeze it and use it later.

From the University of Illinois Extension website:

Chard leaves freeze well after blanching, but the stems become soggy and rather unappealing. Canned chard does not fare as well producing a product similar to canned spinach.

To freeze:

1. Prepare a sink of cold water. Rinse chard through several changes of water lifting leaves out leaving sand and soil behind. Then separate the stems from the leaves.
2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Drop about one pound of whole leaves in boiling water, cover and blanch for 2 minutes (blanch stems for 3 minutes).
3. Remove chard from water and immerse in an ice water bath for 2 minutes. Drain.
4. Pack in zip-closure freezer bags or freezer containers, leaving no headspace. Label, date and freeze at zero degrees for up to one year.

- Rob

CSA Poll: Pick Up Times

We had some feedback from CSA shareholders volunteering at pick up, and we'd like to know how you feel about it.

Some background: Pick up is scheduled from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.. We're seeing this year that most shares are claimed between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., and we only have a few shares picking up after 2 p.m. Volunteers are left with little to do between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The question at hand: How would you feel if we changed pick up to be between the hours of 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.?

Scroll down to respond to the poll.

If we did make the change, our shareholder volunteers would simply pack any unpicked shares into bags, label them with your share name, and leave them on the tables until 3 p.m. You could still pick up until 3 p.m., but any shares not claimed at 3 p.m. will be surrendered unless we've made special arrangements with you regarding late pick up (just like now).

Volunteer shifts would end at 2 p.m. instead of 3 p.m., and the Myers-Nunn's or a committee member would come simply come and close things up at 3 p.m.

What do you think? Let us know in this poll below. If changes are made, we'll let you know. They would begin in week 5, June 16. Polling closes Sunday, June 10.

--Christopher

2007 Irvington Garden Tour

Don't miss the Irvington Garden Club's Annual Garden Tour, Sunday, June 24, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Advance tickets are available June 10 at:

• Antique Mall of Irvington
• Eddie's Ace Hardware
• Eleven S. Kitley
• Habig's Garden Shop

Tickets are $10 day of tour and $8 in advance.

All proceeds go to beautification projects in Historic Irvington.

Want to know more? Visit the Garden Club website.

Christopher

Special Orders

Special orders are available each week. You may order when you pick up, or you may email us with your order. Orders must be placed by Thursday noon of each week so we can get with the Fisher family to have them filled.

If you order by email, please help us out by putting "special order" or something similar in the subject line. We're getting a lot of email, and we want to make your order a priority. Help us to not miss you...

Special orders available (so far) for order and delivery next week are:

• Eggs, $2.25 per dozen
• Maple Syrup, $7 per pint
• Honey, $8 per quart
• Salad Mix, $2.25 per 1/2 pound
• Oregano, $12 per pound
• Sausage, $3.60 per 1 1/2 pounds
• Lettuce, Green, $1.25 each
• Lettuce, Red, $1.25 each
• Lettuce, Romaine, $1.25 each
• Yellow Squash, $1.00 per pound
• Zuccini, $1.00 per pound
• Flowers, $3.50 per bunch

There's a lot of lettuce available. Remember, this is a short, early crop and it won't come for too much longer. Fill up!

One shareholder reminded me this week of wilted lettuce. Hadn't thought of it in years, but I'm sure we'll be having it at my house this week! Here's a recipe if you want it to help you use the large quantity of lettuces we received in our shares this week. I bet those garlic scapes would be good in place of the green onions called for in the recipe!

Christopher

Thanks, Shareholders! And some answers to your questions.

A big thanks to you all. It looks like we're settling into the season well. Everyone seems to be learning the ropes of pick up, ordering extras, etc. We sailed smoothly this week! All special orders were claimed and paid for; I came home to a clean, organized garage thanks to our helpful volunteers; pickup seemed to go quickly.

A couple shareholders have offered great suggestions that we'll implement right away. Note a couple changes:

• We'll start placing heavier items at the front of the pickup line. That way you won't have to juggle through things to avoid squashing things already in your bags.
• We'll be sure to place special order messages in blog posts rather than a listing on the sidebar. This way, those who use an RSS reader will receive the list in their feed and won't have to click through to the actual blog to learn of special orders.

Do you have a suggestion? Email us.

Some questions have come up recently, too:

• What if I want to sell my produce for one or more weeks?
• What happens to my share if I forget to pick up?
• Can others pick up for me?
• And more...

Here's a link to the 2007 Frequently Asked Questions document that can help with these and other questions you may have. Something not answered there? Please, feel free to email us.

Always, if you have a question or concern, please know we're happy to help. Just let us know.

Christopher

What's that curly thing on the free extra's table?

This week's most asked question: What is this curly thing on the free extras table? They were garlic scapes. The season for these is short. We may have them one more time, but they won't come much more than that. Cross your fingers, because they are just delicious.
At our house, we use the garlic scapes just like we would a chive or scallion. Chopped in a salad, omelet, or such. I may be making a big ol' mac and cheese later, and I was thinking of substituting the scapes for the onion.
I did some Googling this morning and found some great resources on the scapes and their use. From Mary Jane Butter, here's a great description and a couple recipes.
Christopher