Thankfully, if you’re a member of a CSA, you’re always on the winning team. Just look at the latest results:

Nutrition 3 Boredom 0
Flaccidity 1 Freshness 6
Personal Care 4 Factory Farmed 0

Here’s what you can expect to receive in this week’s championship-winning farm share:

Lettuce
Kale
Arugula
Japanese sweet turnips
Broccoli
Green Garlic
Garlic scapes

From June 9, the CSA pickup takes place every Saturday between 8:30am – 10:30am at the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church (on Fourth Avenue between 68th & Senator Streets). Please do be on time, as the pickup ends promptly at 10.30am, and there won’t be any vegetables on the site after this time. If you’re going to be away, or think you might be late, ask a friend to attend the pickup for you to make sure you’re not disappointed!

For all newcomers to the CSA, welcome! Each week when you get to the site, you’ll need to sign our sign-in sheet for each of the shares you’re picking up (vegetables, eggs and fruit). Make sure you bring plenty of bags to take your produce away in, as we do not have any of our own. Of course, we always recommend that you buy a fancy Bay Ridge CSA tote bag – they’re only $10, and if you’re interested, you can email email hidden; JavaScript is required for more details.

The first weeks of the CSA are traditionally a little slow on produce, just because the growing season is still getting into full swing. With the weather we have had recently, that might be a little different this year, but don’t be too concerned if you’re getting a lot of garlic scapes in the first few weeks – the season is usually hugely bountiful as the weeks go on!

Every member has to volunteer to work one pickup during the season, and if you haven’t yet signed up for your date, you can contact Rana at email hidden; JavaScript is required to select your week.

The fruit share, which is operated by Montgomery Place Orchards, will begin on July 7th for those who have signed up. And as ever, we have partnered with Lewis Waite Farm and their network of local producers to offer Bay Ridge CSA members access to healthy, organic, and locally produced products all year round, including breads, meats, cheese, jams, eggs, grains and syrup. You can find more details at the Lewis Waite Farm website at www.csalewiswaitefarm.com.

The Bay Ridge CSA is a great community of people, and we have events both at the farm and in Brooklyn all season long. This blog, and the Bay Ridge CSA website are good ways to keep up with what’s going on – with plenty of recipes with ideas on what to do with your vegetables. You should also join the Bay Ridge CSA listserv at Yahoo, to enable you to exchange recipes and views with other members.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. The whole CSA team is looking forward to seeing you all at the pick-up point over the coming weeks!

Place beets in large bowl; press with paper towels to absorb any moisture. In another large bowl, whisk flour and next 5 ingredients. Mix in beets, then eggs.

Pour enough oil into large skillet to cover bottom; heat over medium heat. Working in batches, drop beet mixture by 1/4 cupfuls into skillet; spread to 3 1/2-inch rounds.

Fry until golden, about 5 minutes per side.

CORNBREAD STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

There are many different ways to stuff an acorn squash —a ll delicious! I ended up making the following:

Make some fun cornbread (fun =w/corn? w/cheese? w/jalapenos?) and set aside.

Halve acorn squash, remove seeds, brush with olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning. Place halves face down on oiled baking sheet for 30 min in 350 degree oven.

Saute an onion, two cloves of the CSA’s aMAZing fresh garlic, two red peppers, and pickled jalapenos in olive oil, and then add a ½ cup of chicken broth to the mixture. Mix in cornbread to make the cornbread stuffing. FYI – I also added an apple to the mixture and I would have added sausage if I had it in the house…

Remove the squash from the oven. Use a wide, flat spatula to turn it over and fill to overflowing with the cornbread stuffing. Bake in oven for another 30 min until squash is tender and stuffing is starting to brown.

TIP: cut a slice on the back of the squash to make it sit flat on the pan.

Kahina’s Algerian Roasted Pepper Salad

1. Roast a few green peppers (in the broiler or on the stovetop as you wish), skin, seed and chop.

2. Add a few chopped tomatoes, some salt, and cover with good olive oil.

3. That’s it! Serve with good warm bread, eat and enjoy!

Thinking of complicating this? Maybe think again. Tara says, “After she made it for me, I tried to recreate it, adding garlic, cumin, and lemon juice, but she steered me in the right direction of simplicity. The green peppers and the tomatoes have a lot of natural acidity that balances the salad perfectly.”

When the farmer was called on Saturday morning (after a communications mix-up caused by various people’s recent vacations), he told us that his business was heavily reliant on sales in the Green Markets around the city. As you may have read in the New York Times recently, business has been way down this summer at those green markets. As a result of this, the farmer has not been able to meet his costs, so in order that his property doesn’t get foreclosed he had to make the quick decision to sell some property and his milking equipment. As a result of this, there will be no more milk – for the CSA or anyone else.

The farmer believes that he will be able to reimburse parties in October. He is incredibly sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment that this has caused. Clearly it’s a situation that demonstrates the perilous nature of local farming in the United States right now, and we’re saddened that another farmer has been forced out of business – something that shows exactly why CSAs are becoming more and more important for small-scale producers of such amazing quality produce.

For those affected by this, we are truly sorry. As the farmer says, we are hopeful that you will be reimbursed within the next few months, and we will keep you updated as and when we hear more.

On another note, there was a recent mix-up involving grapes for people with A week fruit shares, at the August 13th pickup. If you are saying to yourself, “Grape mixup. . .what grapes?” then you are probably one of the 16 A week fruit share holders who did not receive grapes because of a simple miscount of the number of shares necessary to fulfil all Bay Ridge CSA members.

After conversations with Hearty Roots Farms and the Montgomery Orchard, Montgomery Orchard will try to provide an extra helping to those who did not receive their full share on the 13th.  At this point, it is unknown what – or when – that extra helping will be. Moreover, we have no records of who didn’t receive those grapes, so it will be up to the share members’honor to decide whether or not they will receive the fruity reimbursement. We know we can rely on our members to do the right thing!

The ENLP is a 20 year old lunch program, housed within the Zion Lutheran Church on 63rd St and 4th Ave, and run entirely by volunteers which serves lunches to between 60-100 people every Saturday. The Bay Ridge CSA has been partnering with them for 4 years.

The ENLP has always appreciated the vegetables for two reasons. Firstly, the costs of running a Soup Kitchen on a low budget with an increasing number of guests means what we offer is a real and needed help from a budget perspective. And secondly, as we all know, cheap food is often not quality food. Rarely are the homeless and-near homeless able to eat any fresh vegetables, much less local, organic vegetables. The lunch program is run entirely by volunteers and help is always welcome!

This year the CSA has set up two dates in particular for those of you who are interested in helping out.  If you have any time to offer on either August 20 and September 17 between the hours of 9:30am and 1:30 pm, please contact Rana at email hidden; JavaScript is required. You can come for as long you like, but if you can commit to being there for three hours, it could count towards your work shift requirement.  You can expect to prepare and serve the food, and clean up afterwards. Children over 10-12 years of age are welcome.

Another ongoing opportunity for outreach will now be available through the community food pantry at Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church.  This initiative is being coordinated by one of our members, Danielle Bullock.  Though the food pantry is long established at the church, she had the thought that this could be an opportunity for the members of our CSA to contribute to the wellbeing of the greater Bay Ridge Community. Next to the registration table each Saturday, you will find a container in which non-perishables will be gathered.

While certain popular objects will be gratefully received by the food pantry (for example, canned beans, pasta, rice, canned vegetables, oatmeal, peanut butter, tuna, canned fruit, toiletries, etc.), there is also a real need for products that are low in salt and chemical additives – many who come to the food pantry suffer from diabetes and/or high blood pressure.

If you have any questions about either the ENLP or the community food pantry, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us! For general info on the ENLP, you can email David at email hidden; JavaScript is required, or Rana (email hidden; JavaScript is required) to volunteer. For the community food pantry, email Danielle (email hidden; JavaScript is required) or David again.

Any-kind-of-greens PESTO

Ingredients:Your bunch of greens
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
1/3-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup of olive oil (more to the loosen the pesto up)
1/3 cup nuts (walnuts, pinenuts…other nuts might bring out other flavors…Cashews? Toasted almonds?)

Method:Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse it until a smooth paste. Taste it to see if it needs any additional of the above ingredients.
More salt? Add more cheese. Too thick? Add more olive oil.
Too “green” tasting? Add more garlic and cheese. You just really can’t mess it up!

Serve the pesto as a spread on toasted bread or mixed in hot pasta or cold pasta salad.

Thanks to Anna, and keep those recipes coming – just send them to email hidden; JavaScript is required.

SCAPES BRUSCHETTA
1. Take the scapes and put them in a lightly oiled roasting pan,

2. Roast in a hot oven (425 °F) for 35- 45 minutes or until they are
beginning to turn brown. Or grill them over medium flame.

3. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste and fresh olive oil.

4. Toss to guarantee seasoning, cut into bite-friendly pieces, and serve on
a slice of toasted bread slightly covered with goat cheese.

OPTIONAL: add hot pepper flakes if you enjoy some heat.

Remember, if you’re willing to share your favorite CSA recipe with your fellow members, just email email hidden; JavaScript is required, and we’ll publish it here!