Tomato Salsa They Are the Most Colorful Items We’Ve Ever Had

Table of Contents

A Note to Reader:

Refer to the colored section tabs to locate the educational materials of interest to you.

Handout 1 Understanding a weekly share

Handout 2 Learn from others: CSA examples

Handout 3 Build health into CSA

Handout 4 Top ten CSA questions

Handout 5 CSA production at a glance, North Carolina

Worksheet 1 Activity: What products?

Worksheet 2 Activity: Who are my customers?

Presentation & CSA educational slideshow & speaker notes

evaluation Evaluation

Educational Handout 1: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

Understanding a Weekly Share: The Three V's: Volume, Variety, and Value

A family share A family share A couple share Volume: How much food should I include in a weekly share?

Troy Community Farm Case Study, in pictures (Madison, WI): http://troygardens.org/farm.html Used with permission of Troy Gardens (Madison, WI), Farm Manager Claire Strader

CSA season length: 21 weeks June 1 to Oct. 19 CSA share size: Full share, feeds 2 adults, 2 children CSA price: $400.00 ($19 per week)

Please note: Represented below are 2005 share pictures throughout the season, three weeks are not represented, but the majority of the season is, enough to get a mental grasp of what and how to deliver a weekly share. In addition, Troy Gardens CSA is an excellent role model for learning how to present a CSA to customers. For more fabulous details, visit and study their webpage: http://troygardens.org/farm.html

June 19 June 23 June 30

July 7 July 14 July 21

July 28 Aug 4 Aug 11

Aug 18 Aug 25 Sept 1

Sept 8 Sept 15 Sept 22

Sept 29 Oct 6 Oct 13

Case Study (in words): Durham, NC. http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

CSA season length 18 weeks June 6 to Oct. 10 CSA share size Half share, feeds 2 adults CSA price $306.00 ($17 per week)

Please note: This case study farm, assigns a retail dollar value to each item placed in the share box each week.

June 6: Potatoes ($3), Onion bulbs with tops ($2), Carrots ($2), Lettuce ($2), Choose: Plums ($2) or Broccoli ($2), Sweet peas ($3), Choose: cabbage ($2) or spinach ($2)

June 13: Potatoes ($3), Onion bulbs with tops ($2), Carrots ($2), Lettuce ($2), Plums ($2), Basil ($2), Cabbage ($2), Choose: Tomatoes ($2) or Broccoli ($2)

June 20: Potatoes ($2), Cabbage ($2), Lettuce ($2), Carrots ($2), Onions ($1), Basil ($1), Blackberries ($2), Squash ($1), Turnips ($1), Choose: Tomatoes ($2) or Peppers ($2)

June 27: Cabbage ($2), Lettuce ($2), Onions ($1), Peppers ($2), Blackberries ($2), Basil ($2), Squash ($2), Potatoes ($2), Choose: Beans ($1), or Broccoli ($1), or Tomatoes ($1)

July 11: Basil ($2), Flowers ($3), Tomatoes ($2), Squash ($1), Choose: Broccoli ($2), or Cabbage ($2), Peppers ($2), Beans ($1), Cucumbers ($1), Potatoes ($1), Onions ($1)

July 18: Tomatoes ($2), Potatoes ($1), Basil ($2), Flowers ($3), Squash ($1.50), Peppers ($3), Beans ($1), Cherry Tomatoes ($1.50), Cucumbers ($1)

July 25: Flowers ($3), Tomatoes ($2), Potatoes ($1), Basil ($2), Cherry Tomatoes ($1.50), Squash ($1.50), Cucumbers ($1), Choose: Beans ($2), or Okra ($2), Eggplant ($1)

August 1: Watermelon ($3), Tomatoes ($3), Cherry tomatoes ($1.50), Eggplant ($1.50), Squash ($1), Cucumbers ($1), Flowers ($3), Choose: Okra ($2) or Peppers ($2)

August 8: Watermelon ($3), Sprite melon ($2), Squash ($1.50), Cucumbers ($1), Eggplant ($1.50), Basil ($2), Flowers ($3), Tomatoes ($1), Peppers ($1)

August 15: Watermelon ($3), Cucumbers ($1), Tomatoes ($2), Squash ($1.50), Choose: Cherry Tomatoes ($1.50) or Eggplant ($1.50), Flowers ($3), Peppers ($1), Choose: Cantaloupe ($2), or Sprite melon ($2), Basil ($2)

August 22: Watermelon ($3), Cantaloupe ($2), Flowers ($3), Cherry Tomatoes ($1.50), Tomatoes ($2.00), Choose: Eggplant ($2.00) or Okra ($2.00), Squash & Zucchini Mix ($1.50), Cucumbers ($1)

August 29: Watermelon ($3), Flowers ($3), Tomatoes ($3), Squash ($1.50), Beans ($1), Choose: Okra ($2) or Cucumbers ($2), Choose: Eggplant ($1.50), or Cherry Tomatoes ($1.50), Basil ($2)

Sept 5: Watermelon ($3), Flowers ($3), Basil ($2), Choose: Okra ($2), or Squash ($2), Tomatoes ($2), Eggplant ($1), Peppers ($2), Beans ($1)

Sept 12: Watermelon ($3), Flowers ($3), Basil ($2), Tomatoes ($2), Beans ($1), Peppers ($2), Eggplant ($1), Squash ($1), Choose: Okra ($2), or Cucumbers ($2)

Sept 19: Flowers ($3), Basil ($2), Beans ($3), Cherry Tomatoes ($1.50), Peppers ($1.50), Tomatoes ($1), Eggplant ($1), Choose: Squash ($2), or Red Beans ($2), Cucumbers ($2)

Sept 26: Flowers ($3), Beans ($2), Peppers ($2), Cucumbers ($2), Tomatoes ($2), Cherry tomatoes ($1.50), Choose: Squash ($2) or Red Beans ($2), Basil ($2)

Oct 3: Flowers ($3), Beans ($2), Peppers ($2), Eggplants ($1), Cucumbers ($1), Cherry tomatoes ($1.50), Choose: Squash ($2.50) or Okra ($2.50), Tomatoes ($1), Choose: Spinach ($2), or Bok Choy (known as Chinese Cabbage-$2)

Oct 10: Flowers ($3), Beans ($2), Peppers ($2), Eggplants ($1), Cucumbers ($1), Cherry tomatoes ($1.50), Choose: Squash ($2.50) or Okra ($2.50), Tomatoes ($1), Choose: Spinach ($2), or Bok Choy (known as Chinese Cabbage-$2)

Variety: How many different items should I include in a weekly share?

You should include no less than five, on average, seven items is a usual offering per week. During the full flush of the season, include more items, but in smaller portions, for tasting possibilities. Your goal should be to keep your customers excited about what is coming next week, so try your best to rotate the crops in your weekly share.

Insider Tip: Do not repeat the same crop item more than 2 weeks in a row, UNLESS: 1) The crop is used in meal preparation weekly (garlic, lettuce, onions are fine). 2) The crop is an extremely desired item (fruits, sweet corn, tomatoes). 3) The crop is a different cultivar of the crop (Week 1: Lemon basil, Week 2: Italian basil). 4) The crop is extremely perishable and will not keep for a week. In this case, only give the customer enough of the crop to prepare one or two dinners.

Value: What is the economic and social value of my weekly share?

There are several ways you can think about this question, by studying the examples provided in Educational handout 2: Learn from others: CSA examples on the web. It is important for you to figure out the answer on your own. Begin by thinking about and making your own list of why joining your CSA is beneficial to your customers. For help getting started, see: http://www.macsac.org/reasons.html

However you decide to answer the question, the important thing is that you are confident (and humble) in how you arrived at this answer. Your customers will ask for this answer, so be ready to give a sincere and sound answer. Above all, remember that CSA is not just a financial transaction, it is a relationship of trust and friendship that you build with your customers over time, because they have faith in you as their farmer! Choose your CSA customers wisely. The people who are in agreement with your answer will be your best customers and friends! 1 This original CSA decision making handout was developed by Theresa J. Nartea, agribusiness & marketing specialist, NC Cooperative Extension (2007), [email protected] 336-334-7956, ext. 2109. Handout 2 Learn from others: CSA examples

Educational Handout 2: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

Learn from others: CSA farm examples on the web

Below are excellent educational examples that demonstrate how CSA is interpreted by different people. CSA is a unique and complex socio-economic concept and it is important to learn from others, and understand CSA on your own terms, before undertaking the CSA journey. Taking the time to earnestly study these examples is your first step in looking at farming in an entirely exciting and new way! Good luck!

Brook Field Farm CSA (Amherst, MA) http://www.brookfieldfarm.org/

Cane Creek CSA (Cumming, GA): http://www.canecreekfarm.net/csadetails.html

Elysian Fields CSA (Cedar Grove, NC) http://www.elysianfarm.com/

Grown Locally CSA (Postville, IA): http://www.grownlocally.com/

Harmony Valley Farm CSA (Viroqua WI): http://www.harmonyvalleyfarm.com/csa.php

Hilltop Farm CSA (Willow Spring, NC) http://www.hilltopfarms.org/

Indian Line Farm CSA (South Egremont, MA): http://www.indianlinefarm.com/csa.html

Local Harvest, a living directory of small farms across the nation, to find detailed information on CSA farms across the US: http://www.localharvest.org/csa.jsp Numbers of self-listed CSA farms by state of interest (as of February 27, 2007): Georgia: 24, South Carolina: 8, North Carolina: 49, Virginia: 44

Maple Spring Gardens CSA (Cedar Grove, NC): http://www.maplespringgardens.com/CSA.htm

Mariquita Farm CSA (Watsonville, CA): http://www.mariquita.com/csa/csa.html

Seven Springs Farm CSA (Check, VA): http://www.7springsfarm.com/csa/csaprospectus.html

Troy Gardens CSA (Madison, WI): http://troygardens.org/farm.html

Workplace CSA (multiple farms participating) models: RTI-CSA (Durham, NC), http://www.rti.org/csa/ and Duke University Live for Life mini mobile CSA (Durham, NC), http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

Print a comprehensive educational CSA resource list, compiled by Rodale's New Farm: http://www.newfarm.org/features/0403/csa_resource_list.shtml

The Robyn Van En Center for CSA: http://www.wilson.edu/wilson/asp/content.asp?id=804

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association: http://www.biodynamics.com/csa.html

1 This original CSA decision making handout was compiled by Theresa J. Nartea, agribusiness & marketing specialist, NC Cooperative Extension (updated 2007), [email protected] 336-334-7956, ext. 2109. Application Form

Name______

Address______To Contact Us Telephone______E-mail______Community (Check desired season below) Spring/Summer (5/2-7/21) $300 Phone Supported (770) 889-3793 Spring/Summer + flowers $360 Agriculture Summer/Fall (7/25-10/13) $300 E-mail address Summer/Fall + flowers $360 [email protected]

Both Seasons (5/2-10/13) $550 Web address Both Seasons + flowers $670 http://www.canecreekfarm.net I would prefer to pick up my weekly share: Cane Creek Farm ___ Wednesday on farm (10 a.m-7 p.m.) 5110 Jekyll Rd. ___ Saturday on farm (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) Cumming, GA 30040 ___ Saturday Cumming market (7-11 a.m.))

Please sign below and send this form along with a check to Cane Creek Farm for the full amount due to the address on back.

I understand that I am making a commitment to Cane Creek Farm and recognize that there is no guarantee on the exact amount of produce I will receive. I will share both the rewards and the risks of the growing season.

Signed ______“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi

CSA 2007 Season Logistics Crops to expect Two 12-week seasons of fresh produce are The Spring/Summer season offered, with pick up every week: Spring/ will start with crisp cool season summer from May 2 to July 21, and Philosophy vegetables, such as peas, Summer/fall from July 25 to October 13. broccoli, lettuce, green onions, Shares may be picked up on the farm on Community Supported Agriculture greens, and potatoes. By the Wednesday from 10 am until 7 pm or (CSA) brings together community Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm. Shares may end of the season, other delicious crops, members and farmers in a relationship also be picked up on Saturday at the like tomatoes, okra, squash, and corn, will have begun their harvest. of mutual support based on an annual Cumming Farmers’ Market from 7 am to 11 am, when the market is open. Shareholders commitment to one another. The Summer/Fall season will begin with must choose a day for pick up and remain luscious berries and fresh tomatoes, Community members pay the farmer with that day for the season. Please make okra, squash, and corn. an annual membership fee to cover arrangements with a friend, relative or Toward the end of the season, costs of production. In turn, the neighbor to pick up your share if you are it will feature a different set of not able to pick up on your day. A list of produce, including sweet community members receive a share people willing to buy your share for a week potatoes, turnip greens, winter of the harvest during the local growing will be available if there is interest. squash, and the like. season. This mutually beneficial Worker Shares You will receive approximately 10 arrangement assures the community This year we are offering a few worker different items each week. Shares will be member of the freshest, organic shares. Workers must agree to work for a lighter when greens and lettuce are produce and provides financial support full 12 week season in exchange for a 12 abundant and weigh more later in the week season of vegetables and must be for the farmer. season with squashes and tomatoes. available for 4 hours Tuesday or Friday Each week fresh herbs will be freely morning every week of the season. available to subscribers on a pick-your- Mission Workers must be in good physical condition own basis at the farm, and you have the and able to handle strenuous exercise. option of buying a share that includes a At Cane Creek Farm we use methods Please call to schedule an interview if bouquet of flowers each week. A interested in this option. of farming that work with nature to newsletter will tell you what is going on produce healthy food and improve the Payment at the farm, how the crops are doing and quality of the land with which we have will give you a recipe for some of the You may pay in full by check or credit card, produce in your share that week. Each been entrusted. No chemical by filling out the form on the reverse side or year brings a unique pattern of sun and pesticides or fertilizers are used on the by going to the web site at rain, so predicting exact harvest dates or produce. We grow food so as to www.canecreekfarm.net/csadetails.html. If amounts is not possible. you need to pay by installments, please call enhance the health of the plants, our to make arrangements. All payments in full community and the land. are due by March 31. Shareholders are accepted on a first paid/first served basis.

Cane Creek Farm 2007 CSA Share Sign Up Form

Name: Address: Phone Number: E-mail:

I would like to subscribe to the 2007 Cane Creek Farm CSA season! Please fill out the season(s) that you wish to subscribe to below, as well as ordering the flower option if you wish to receive flowers in your share.

Share Type Cost # shares ordered Total Spring/summer season – May 2 - July 21 Vegetables, fruit, and herbs $300 Vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers $360 Summer/fall season – July 25 – October 13 Vegetables, fruit, and herbs $300 Vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers $360 Both seasons – May 2 – October 13 Vegetables, fruit, and herbs $550 Vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers $670 TOTAL AMOUNT DUE by March 31, 2007

I would prefer to pick up at the following place and time. Check one of the following: ____ Wednesday, on-farm (10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.) ____ Saturday, on-farm (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) ____ Saturday, Cumming Farmers’ Market (7:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)

Please send full payment with your application. You may pay by check or credit card. If you need to pay by installments, please call to make arrangements: (770) 889-3793. All payments are due by March 31. Shareholders are accepted on a first paid/first served basis.

To pay by check: Fill out and print this form, enclose a check made out to Cane Creek Farm for the total amount due, and send by mail to: Cane Creek Farm 5110 Jekyll Rd. Cumming, GA 30040

To pay by credit card: Go to http://www.canecreekfarm.net/csadetails.html and follow the credit card payment instructions under “Order Today”. You will be able to order by credit card online using PayPal. Sign Me Up! Vegetable Availability Troy Community Farm Early Mid- Late Vegetable Season Season Season Community Supported Agriculture Aru gula Name Basil Beans Troy Address Beets Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts Phone Cabb age E-mail Ca rrots Cauliflow er Weekly Vegetable Share $400 Cila ntro Cucumbe rs "A-Z csa Cookbook" $ Eggp lant Enjoy great recipes for all the vegetables in your share. Fe nnel Your copy will come with your first vegetable share. Garlic ($15 special price) Herbs Kale the Troy Assistance Fund $ Let tuce Leeks We are seeking funds to assist low-income families Me lons purchasing shares. We welcome donations of all sizes. On ions Friends of Troy Gardens $ Peas Pepp ers Become a member of The Friends of Troy Gardens to Potat oes receive our quarterly newsletter, invitations to events, Pumpk ins and discounts on workshops. Your membership Radis hes supports environmental and leadership programs. Salad Mix Community Start (low income) $15 Harvest $75 Salsa Baskets Scalli ons Transplant $25 Sustain $100 Spin ach Plow $45 Preserve $200 Summer Squash Farm Total Due $ Sweet Potatoes Payment Options Swiss Char d Tomato es Full Payment - enclose a check for the total due. Winter Squash

Extended Payments - enclose 4 checks dated today's date, May 1, M Cherokee Country Club June 1, and July 1. Each check should be made out for 1/4 the total due. Yahara River Troy Community Farm W Cherokee Marsh W heeler R d. es Conservation Park tp or . N 500 Troy Drive Financial Assistance Needed? - contact Claire to find out more d t . R d d . y R

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Lake Mendota . S 3601 Memorial Drive Governor’s r to N www.troygardens.org Island ell D rw downtown a Madison, WI 53704 F Troy Community farm membership Why join Troy community farM? Troy Community Farm grows an abundant selection of How it works: After purchasing a share members visit certified organic produce on Madison’s Northside. the farm weekly to pick up their vegetables. The farm Established in 2001, the farm is the heart of Troy stand is open every Thursday evening from June 1 Gardens, a unique 31-acre urban development mixin g through October 19 from 4:00 to 6:30pm. green-built affordable housing with sustainable agriculture and restored open space. Share Size: We offer one share size which is designed to

o t s feel abundant, but not overwhelming for households of

a r one or two adults. Each share has approximately 6 vegetables per week in the early season and 9 per week

a s h i n g c in the later part. Members are invited to split a share

with friends or to purchase multiple shares to suit their

a s i e w

C needs. Visit our website to see photos of every share cut-your-own flowers and herbs from the 2005 season.

Share Cost: The share price is $400, an average of $19 • Fresh, local, organic produce per week. • Farm stand-type display where members select and pack their own shares of weekly vegetables Where to Pick-up Shares: The farm stand at Troy Gardens is on the 500 block of Troy Drive. Madison Metro • Urban Roots newsletter with farm stories, cooking bus #22 stops at the property. See map on back panel. tips, and detailed recipes During the growing season, farm members visit weekly to pick-up vegetable shares, cut fresh flowers, • Access to the CSA flower and herb garden where and enjoy the gardens, prairie and woodlands that e surround the farm. Members purchase a share in the members harvest their own bouquets y s h a r early spring and receive a selection of fresh, organic l produce grown right here in Madison for 21 weeks. e k • Contact with the farmer and others who help grow the food at every pick-up embers are welcome to help work on the farm, M s a m p l e w learn about vegetable production, and enjoy the • Ability to purchase extras at our community farm summer sun during our workdays every Friday stand, open during every pick-up morning. Members are also invited to get involved in stewardship activities, and spend a music-filled day at Troy Gardens during the Savor the Summer Festival on August 12, 2006. In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 19 6 October 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments Butternut Squash, 1 piece My Favorite Fall

Pie Pumpkin, 1 piece Sweet Potatoes, 1 bag By this time in the season, you have usually heard me cry and moan over the loss of the heat for weeks. Not this Beans, 1 bag year! For me this is has been a most delicious fall. I went for a Leeks, 1 bunch long walk last night before bed, wearing my shorts and tank Beets, 1 Bunch top, savoring that perfect evening air on my skin. Perfect th Kale, 1 bunch evening air on October 5 . Remarkable. I’ve actually been going for walks most evenings for the past couple of weeks. At Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag some point, I recognized that this fall wasn’t going to plunge Choice of Herb, 1 bunch me into the dreary cold quite as quickly as I was expecting and dreading. With that realization, came a desire to wallow in Can you believe beans these last days of heat for as long as they could hold. I loved and tomatoes one more washing off the dirt and sweat from the farm, keeping the time?! We did a couple of windows wide open all night, waking up to crisp air that soon harvests off of our last warmed to summer again. Now the weather radio tells me that bean planting last week, last night marked the end of my wallow. sparse harvests of 7 to 10 pounds total. But our I hear there may be frost over the next couple of nights. experience this year has But really, it’s no matter. The tomatoes are done. They still shown that it’s the third draw us with that fetching red color. But when we approach to and fourth harvests that pick them, we see that they are blemished and rotten beyond really come in heavy. So, hope. We mowed down the last of the summer squash on we went into the bean patch Friday, tired of picking and tossing so many deformed and this week with a vision of dehydrated fruits. Nor did we spare the sweet peppers from harvesting 45 pounds for the blade, though we love them and never got our fill this dry the CSA. And we did it! I summer. The frost cannot harm our crops now. They have think this time it really given all they can and we are taking them down ourselves. and truly is the last bean delivery for the year. In fact, the frost could help some things. Brassicas like Enjoy! kale, collards, and Brussels sprouts are made sweeter by a These romas are also, freeze. When it gets cold, these vegetables stock up sugar in for sure, the last tomatoes their cells to act as anti-freeze. I’m actually hoping that next for the year. It took us a week’s delivery of Brussels sprouts are touched with frost long time to find these out before the harvest. I would love for you to taste the difference there. We wanted to give between the warm-weather sprouts of a week ago and the it a try because when you sweeter cold-weather crop. The chard and collards would be look at the field you can improved with a little extra sugar also. see all this red. But when you get in there to If only I got sweeter in the cold! But I don’t. I only actually pick, you find out shiver. I guess I’m more like a tomato than a Brussels sprout. that it is mostly rotten At least this fall, I cannot complain that the cold came too soon red. These are the very or that I never got a chance to enjoy the heat. It really has last of the good tomatoes. been delicious. I’m ready for the frost. I’m even ready (I We are not going to be suppose, if I really must live through it anyway) for the dark, fooled by that pretty color biting winter. any more! Physicians Plus Offers Cash Rebate for CSA Members

With the new Eat Healthy Rebate program from Physicians Plus Insurance Corp., health plan members can now apply their Good Health Bonus rebate to the cost of a produce share from MACSAC farms! MACSAC is the Madison Area CSA Coalition, and Troy Community Farm is a part of the coalition. Beginning with 2006 shares, Physicians Plus members can receive rebates of up to $100 for single contracts and $200 for family contracts. To receive your Eat Healthy Rebate:

1. Write “P+ Eat Healthy Rebate,” along with your date of birth, on your CSA farm sign-up form. Please be sure your phone number is on the form, too. 2. Send your farm sign-up form and payment to the farm according to the instructions on the form. 3. Send a copy of your form to: Physicians Plus Insurance Corporation, Good Health Bonus, P.O. Box 2078, Madison, WI 53701-2078 4. Look for your Eat Healthy Rebate check from Physicians Plus within 6 – 8 weeks.

Life is better when you eat plenty of locally grown, organic veggies. Physicians Plus just wants to make it even more rewarding. Please visit www.pplusic.com for program details.

You will be receiving a 2006 sign-up form from Troy Community Farm as soon as the new CSA brochure is ready. Look for it in the mail sometime before the end of January 2006.

Recipe Upcoming Potato Kale Soup Jim Harvey, MACSAC member Last CSA Pick-up

4 Tbs. olive oil 1 1/4 teaspoon salt for 2005 2 medium onions (or leeks!), chopped 6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 3/4-inch cubes 10 cloves garlic, chopped 3 cups coarsely chopped kale Is next week! 1/2 Tbs. red chile flakes black pepper Thursday, 13 October

Heat oil in soup pot; add onions or leeks, garlic, chile flakes (to taste), and salt, and sauté until onions are translucent. Add potatoes and enough water to cover by 4 inches. Bring to boil and cook, covered, until potatoes are about half done. Add kale and cook, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Troy Gardens & Purée soup in blender or food processor. Season with pepper to Huitlacoche taste. Makes 6-8 servings. on PBS hhh Tune in to the Wisconsin Gardener on PBS tonight at 7:30 PM to see a segment on huitlacoche at Troy Community Farm. The show will also be repeated on Sunday, 30

Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 18 29 September 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments Carnival Squash, 1 piece Honey! Pie Pumpkin, 1 piece Onions, 1 bag Ever since I first learned about bees and beekeeping, I’ve been in love with those dangerous and delightful little girls. I had my first taste of Sweet Potatoes, 1 bag honey straight from the bee-covered comb over the summer of 2000 when I Carrots, 1 bag was in Santa Cruz, California. (I was an apprentice there for six months in the ecological horticulture program at the university.) It was incredible for Brussels Sprouts, 1 bag me to hold those heavy frames of honeycomb covered in busy bees and Honey, 1 bear sometimes actually dripping with honey. I didn’t know very much about bees at the time, but there was something that kept drawing me to the Choice of Herb, 1 bunch hives. Garlic, 1 head I was required to keep a journal that summer as part of the program that I was in, and I chose the bees as my journal topic. I would sit by the hives and watch them coming and going with their little legs all puffed up There are several new items with pollen, or standing at the entrance fanning cool air into the hive, or just in the share this week. First there is the pie pumpkin. While buzzing in front of the boxes orienting themselves to their home. Then I this sweet pumpkin is intended for would head out to the arboretum to watch them gathering pollen and nectar making pie, it can also serve as a from the flowers. I also took on one of the hives as my own for the summer. decoration until you decide to I would go in and tend the bees once a week, looking for signs of disease, cook it up. It should keep well, watching the larva turn into bees, weighing the honey frames in my hands so there is no hurry. However, until they were full enough to extract the honey. That summer I learned that you will be getting another one bees are as complex as they are fascinating. And I also learned that next week. So if you are anxious amateur beekeeping is something that is well within my capabilities. I to use the pie recipe on the back right away, go ahead! decided that when I returned home, I would look into keeping bees myself. Sadly, onions are new this We got two hives at the farm in the spring of 2004. Since I was week as well. Really you should learning poems by Edna St. Vincent Mallay and Emily Dickinson at the time, have been getting onions regularly I promptly named the hives Edna and Emily. Last summer they both built for a couple of months by now, but up their populations and stored enough honey for themselves for the winter. these and the potatoes were our We never harvested any of their crop, but we did get to taste some of it two biggest crop failures. As you from the comb when we went in to check on them. It was delicious and (I can see, the bulbs are quite small. You will get one more bag thought at least) just a little bit cinnamony. of onions in a couple of weeks. With the early spring and the warm weather this summer, Edna Sweet potatoes are new (who has always been our star hive) was able to put up an extra 12 frames also. This crop did not do as of honey. And Emily (who is smaller and slower) put up an extra 4 frames. well as we hoped either, but still About a month ago, Maggie and I went into the hives to take out this extra we have enough for this delivery (meaning what they produced beyond what they need to survive the winter). and one more. This week’s tubers Then we went to work extracting it from the comb, filtering out the wax, are on the small side, but the fitting it into the little bears, and getting them all labeled. We just finished ones you will get in a couple of weeks will be bigger. The small yesterday! And we are so proud. Even though we did not gather the nectar ones do not keep as well, so you and magically turn it into honey ourselves, we couldn’t be more tickled to get to eat those first. These see all those little golden honey bears lined up together on the table. And will be good for mashing with boy is it yummy! We are so excited to pass some of this magic on to you! butter (skins and all!) or baking Thrilled by our little success, we are already making plan for next with a little olive oil and year. We hope to start one or two more hives and hopefully harvest twice garlic. as much honey! If you like honey, that’s good news for you because it is I know some of you will be unlikely we will ever sell this crop. It will all go to our CSA members. thrilled to see Brussels Sprouts and others of you will cringe. Note: Our filtering system is not perfect. So if you find a little These seem to be a love or hate speck of wax or even a bee leg in your honey that’s why. It helps to vegetable. For those of you who remember that it’s the bees who made the wax and the honey with their love them, you know what to do. own little bodies in the first place. For those that want to love them, take a look at the simple recipe

Recipes Upcoming

No Fault Pumpkin Pie Madison’s Sixth Annual Moosewood Cookbook

3 c. pumpkin puree 1 tsp. ginger Empty Bowls 3/4 c. honey 1 tsp. salt 2 T molasses 4 eggs, slightly beaten 1/4 tsp. powdered cloves 1 can evaporated milk Dinner 3 tsp. cinnamon (or 2 c. scalded milk) This Week! Mix in order given. Pour into pie shell and bake for10 minutes at 450 degrees, Saturday, 1 October then 40 minutes at 350 degrees, or until set. 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Madison Senior Center Variation: For a delicious pumpkin pudding, omit pie shell. Bake filling in buttered baking dish and serve with vanilla ice cream or heavy cream. 330 West Mifflin Street

To make pumpkin puree: Cut pumpkin into large chunks and remove the Free Meal, $15 donation for a seeds. Then either steam or bake the chunks until the flesh is soft. Remove the Handmade Bowl flesh from the skin and puree in a blender with just enough water to make it thick and smooth. Extra puree can be frozen for future use. Local potters create the ceramic bowls, area restaurants donate soup and bread, and Al’s Brussels Sprouts volunteers serve the meal. You are invited to Alan Campbell, Troy CSA Member choose a bowl for $15 and enjoy live entertainment while you eat! 1/2 lb. Brussels Sprouts 2 T olive oil (you have 1 lb. in your share) 1 T butter Proceeds go directly to projects that Juice of 1/2 lemon freshly ground pepper to taste make fresh foods available to low income households, including MACSAC’s Peel off the outermost leave of the Brussels sprouts. Cut a small “x” in the Partner Shares Program. Troy bottom of each sprout by pushing the tip of a paring knife into the stem end. Community Farm has several CSA (If the sprout is really large, just cut it in half instead.) Boil the sprouts in members every year who are assisted water, reduce heat, and cook until tender (10 to 15 minutes). Drain the by the Partner Shares Program. sprouts. In a sauté pan, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Sauté sprouts over medium heat until they begin to brown slightly. Sprinkle with lemon juice and freshly ground pepper.

Green Tomato and Egg Gratin Last CSA Pick-up Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, Inn Serendipity for 2005

1 1/2 cups chopped green tomatoes 3/4 C soft bread crumbs (pull soft 6 hard-cooked eggs, sliced or fresh bread into tiny pieces) It is coming up in just two weeks! 5 tablespoons butter, divided 3 tablespoons unbleached flour Our last pick-up will be on 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk Thursday, 13 October

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Alternate layers of egg slices and tomatoes in a shallow baking dish. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Add bread crumbs: stir well. Melt remaining butter in medium saucepan over low flame. Stir in flour and cook, stirring often, 3-4 minutes. Whisk in milk and cook, 2005 End-of- Season stirring constantly, until thickened. Pour milk mixture over tomato/egg layers. Top with bread crumbs. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. This can be assembled the CSA Survey night before, refrigerated, and baked the following morning for a stress-free brunch. Makes 4-6 servings. If you didn’t get a survey last week, please take one this week. Return it qqq when you come to get your vegetables Troy Community Farm next week or mail it in to the address Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 17 22 September 2005 In the Bag In theMaggie’s Box Comments Butternut Squash, 1 piece Hello there. It’s Maggie, Claire’s trusty farm assistant. I

Delicata Squash, 1 piece know you’ve heard lots about me through Claire’s stories in these newsletters, but you haven’t actually heard from me at all this year. I Potatoes, 1 bag had some inspiration today, so I thought it was about time that I Radishes, 1 bunch shared with you all! Leeks, 1 bunch This evening I did something very unusual. I went to my Red or Green Chard, 1 bunch place of work for pleasure. After I changed out of my work clothes, after I had rinsed the grime of the day away, I decided that I wanted Choice of Herb, 1 bunch to go out to Troy Gardens to collect some mint to make mojitos with Garlic, 1 head a friend later (mojitos are a tasty beverage made with fresh mint, lime, sugar and rum). While I was there, I decided to take my time Can you believe that and try to see the whole place with new eyes. I walked through the this is the 9th consecutive heirloom and seed saving gardens and read about different varieties delivery of tomatoes?! I of flowers and vegetables, taking time to admire the work of my hardly can. We have never colleagues in this creation. Then I walked through the kid’s garden, had such a long run of said hello to the chickens, smiled at the “pizza garden” and enjoyed these delicious fruits. the unique, playful setting Megan has created within that space. And with the warm weather we have had lately, it While I was in community garden central I read through some of the feels like we might still comments in the garden log and savored the different, creative style have tomatoes for the last displayed in each garden plot. pick up on October 13th. We Gardening is so different from farming. In many of the shall see… gardens the goal is to grow as many things as possible in a small The new items in the space, which requires a lot of creativity and prioritizing certain box this week are the favored foods and flowers over others. The result is often a very butternut squash and the unique, beautiful space. Of course, I think that the farm is very leeks. The butternut is a beautiful also, but in a very different way. It’s beauty lies in its hardy, versatile squash which will keep for a long vastness, in its orderly, straight rows and the quantity of food that we time and can be served any are able to reap from the land. It, too, is a relatively small space to which way from baked with feed so many people. I am so proud to tell others how many we feed garlic and olive oil, to from the five acres we grow on--ninety members in addition to mashed with butter, to selling at two markets and wholesale to the Willy St. Co-op. The cubed into a curry, to reaction is usually amazement. And when I stop to think about it, pureed into a pie filling. yeah, it is pretty amazing. It also make great soup. Which leads me back to my experience viewing the land with This is your first fresh eyes. So I stopped to pick my mint from the edible landscape delivery of leeks and your last delivery of potatoes. and went on to the farm to pick myself a bouquet of fresh flowers. We put them together in When I arrived at the CSA garden there was a hummingbird near the this share so that you zinnias and its tiny perfection nearly took my breath away. I could have potato leek soup collected my flowers and some sage and thyme to dry in my kitchen from the farm at least once and then ran into a volunteer who I chatted with for a little while. this year (see the recipe Walking back to my car I ran into a Hmong family picking herbs for on the back). When we their dinner in the Hmong Garden. They convinced me to take a bagged up these potatoes, (continued on the back) we were sad all over again

Recipe Upcoming CSA members Brendan and Brook will be excited to see leeks in their box this week, because they love this soup! Brendan said it was a lot of work, but that Madison’s Sixth Annual it was really worth it. From looking at the ingredients, I can see that he must be right. This is leek soup for the diary lover! The recipe makes a huge amount. You can cut it in half, or you can make the whole thing and freeze Empty Bowls half for later.

Brendan & Brook’s Potato Leek Soup Dinner

1 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 quart half & half Saturday, 1 October 3 cups sliced leeks 3 cups milk 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM 1 medium red onion, chopped 3 Tbs. butter Madison Senior Center 1 large sweet pepper, chopped 1/4 cup flour 330 West Mifflin Street 6 cups potatoes, diced & boiled 1/4 to 1/2 Tsp. white pepper 1/4 cup white wine 1 cup sour cream Free Meal, $15 donation for a 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar 1/2 cup chives Handmade Bowl 1 14 oz. can veggie broth 1/2 cup parsley, chopped 2 veggie bouillon cubes 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese Local potters create the ceramic bowls, area

restaurants donate soup and bread, and 1. Vegetables: In a large soup pot, sauté the celery, leeks, onion, volunteers serve the meal. You are invited to and sweet pepper in 3 Tbs. butter, until the onion is soft and turns choose a bowl for $15 and enjoy live translucent. Add the potatoes, white wine, balsamic vinegar, entertainment while you eat! veggie broth, and bullion. Turn heat to low. 2. White sauce: combine the half & half, milk, butter, flour, and white Proceeds go directly to projects that pepper in a sauté pan. Heat slowly to thicken and stir constantly to make fresh foods available to low keep from burning. income households, including MACSAC’s 3. Add the white sauce to the vegetables. Add the sour cream, Partner Shares Program. Troy parsley, chives, and parmesan cheese. Heat slowly and do not Community Farm has several CSA boil. Serve. members every year who are assisted by the Partner Shares Program.

(continued from the front) sampling of several different herbs home with me and told me how to cook with them. They said if I liked them I could come back and pick more whenever I liked. I was very touched by their Last CSA Pick-up willingness to share and teach me a small piece of their culture. for 2005 I walked back to my car with lifted spirits, feeling refreshed and loving the place where I work. I am so used to It is coming up in just three weeks! being at the farm in work mode, with no time to stop to talk to Our last pick-up will be on passerby or even to fully enjoy the beauty of this place. So I Thursday, 13 October invite you to do the same the next time you come to Troy Gardens to pick up your CSA delivery. If you have a little time, take a walk back through the gardens, maybe even through the edible landscape and the prairie and pick yourself some fresh flowers 2005 End-of- Season and herbs from our CSA garden. Take a moment to enjoy this CSA Survey beautiful place that your food has been coming from each week this season. As the cooler weather and shorter days remind us Please return the attached survey that it’s not going to last much longer, I invite you to enjoy it when you come to get your vegetables while it lasts. Until next year, of course. next week or mail it in to the address Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 16 15 September 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Acorn or Spaghetti Squash, 1 piece Dollars and Pounds

Sweet Peppers, 2 or 3 pieces As the farm has grown over the last few years, Maggie (the Assistant Farm Manager) has taken on more responsibilities both in and out Cucumber, 1 piece of the field. This year, when we decided to add the Sunday Northside Carrots, 1 bag Market to our Tuesday Eastside Market and our Thursday farm stand obligations each week, Maggie and I developed a rotating schedule for Salsa Basket, 1 bag which of us would do each market. It has been great for me not to have to Scallions, 1 bunch be at every market every week. And it has also been interesting to hear Maggie’s perspectives on delights and frustrations of direct marketing. Green Beans, 1 bag To be honest our conversations have been more about frustrations Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag than delights lately. While all our markets started out booming in June and July, especially the new Northside Market, our sales took a severe downturn in August and September. It is so disheartening for us to harvest, This week’s winter go to market, set up our display, and then just stand there with nothing to squash is a choice between do. The customers just are not coming out to shop. We’ve been trying to two very different figure out why. Too hot? Too much food coming from home gardens? A varieties. Acorn squash perception that local food costs too much? seems to be the more A few weeks ago Maggie told me a story about a woman who came familiar of the two. While to the market for tomatoes. She went through several combinations of our I’ve never tried it myself fruits to find three pieces that would cost her as little as possible. She ended up with a half pound costing $1.25. A little while later she came back (because I really never eat to the stand asking for a refund. She said that she found three tomatoes acorns), I hear the best down the way for $.75 and that ours were too expensive. And really she way to prepare these is could probably get them for even less if she went to the grocery store. baked with a little butter Maggie handed her money back and later we started to think about why and brown sugar. The folks should buy our local, organic tomatoes over any other. spaghettis seem to be more It wasn’t too hard to come up with reasons. First ours are certified of a mystery to folks. But organic (simply, that means clean, no chemicals, only food). We had the I really like these, so I only organic tomatoes at the market that day. Second, we know that ours can tell you from first taste better than any tomato she could find at the grocery store. Ours were hand experience that the ripened on the vine, not gassed with ethylene to make them red on the way best way to eat them is to market. Third we know that our tomatoes were grown in a system that with the same sauce you supports healthy soil, healthy farm workers, and a healthy local economy. But those things are pretty hard to see sitting on our market display. For like on regular spaghetti. many folks it really comes down to price alone. To cook the squash, cut it I went home after our discussion in the field that day and found the in half the long way and latest issue of Growing for Market in my mailbox. This periodical is full of steam it in a big pot. information and articles for (mostly) small-scale, (mostly) organic growers. When you can easily pierce The cover story was titled “Are supermarkets cheaper than farmers’ the skin with a fork, it is markets?” Tired of being told that their prices were too high, the authors did done. Scoop out the flesh a study to compare their produce prices to those at the supermarket. They with a big spoon. It will found that when they compared dollars and pounds, their market prices come out in long spaghetti- came in cheaper than even Wal-Mart on the majority of items. And that like strands. Top with was just dollars and pounds. Quality and organic status were not even pesto or marinara sauce and considered. (See the September 2005 issue of Growing for Market for the enjoy with some good garlic whole story.) Now Maggie and I are hot to replicate the study in Madison next bread. Yum. year. We’ll see if we have time. Meanwhile we do our best to educate at You can make your own the farm stand and we love that we have CSA members who already know fresh marinara to go with the value and quality of what they get from us each week. CSA is definitely your spaghetti squash if our favorite form of direct marketing. you sauté some of the

Recipes Upcoming Cranberry Acorn Squash REAP’s Seventh Annual from Molly Bartlett at Silver Creek Farm l Food for Thought Festival Acorn squash is a good keeper, so you can wait a few weeks on this one until the fresh cranberries show up at the farmer’ market. “Eating Well, 1/2 cup fresh cranberries 1 1/2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup 1 small apple, cored and chopped 1 tablespoon melted butter Being Well” 1/4 cup currents pinch salt 1/2 cup orange juice or apple cider 2 acorn squash, cut in half, seeds removed Saturday, 17 September Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cranberries, apples, currants, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm orange juice, honey, butter, and salt in a saucepan. Heat until berries Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. are just tender. Place squash in an ovenproof dish. Fill cavities with off of the capital square fruit. Cover dish and bake until squash is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. With the Friday Night Forum Prizewinner Green Beans Friday, 16 September with Tomatoes and Herbs 7:30 to 9:30 pm from Mara Rosenbloom UW Health Services Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Ave. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 pound green beans, ends clipped, 1 clove garlic, minced beans cut in half Joan Dye Gussow, keynote about 1/4 teaspoon pepper flakes 1 sprig rosemary, leaves torn off the stem 1/2 cup sliced onions 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges “Of Pyramids and Parsnips: 2 teaspoons dried oregano salt to taste or 2 tablespoon salted butter Just Eat Food” 1/2 teaspoon dried ground thyme

Heat olive oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes; sauté until fragrant. Add onions; sauté until translucent, 3-5 Madison’s Sixth Annual minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, the dried spices, and green beans. Stir, cover, and steam-cook beans until nearly done, 10-15 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and tomatoes. Cook very briefly, until tomatoes are Empty Bowls warmed through and beans are done. Season with salt, or if you prefer, melt salted butter over the beans before serving. This recipe Dinner won a prize in the 2002 Food for Thought Recipe Contest in Madison, Wisconsin. Makes 4 servings. Saturday, 1 October 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Madison Senior Center In the Bag (continued from the front) happy to say that I was wrong. While I don’t 330 West Mifflin Street think the flavor on these is quite a s good as it was a week ago, they are still pretty darn Free Meal, $15 donation for a good. If you don’t want to eat them as a side, Handmade Bowl make them into a meal. Just the other night I had them with tofu and cashews. Again start Local potters create the ceramic bowls, area with the chopped scallions sautéed in olive oil. restaurants donate soup and bread, and Add bite sized tofu pieces to brown in the oil. volunteers serve the meal. You are invited to Then add the beans, ends snapped off and beans choose a bowl for $15 and enjoy live themselves snapped in half. Add some tamari, entertainment! just a dash, and let the beans cook just a bit. Proceeds go directly to projects that Finally add some cashew halves. Toss it all make fresh foods available to low together in the pan. Then toss it on your plate income households including MACSAC’s Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 16 15 September 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Acorn or Spaghetti Squash, 1 piece Dollars and Pounds

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 15 8 September 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Carnival Squash, 1 piece Notes on CSA Harvest Day Number 14 for 2005

Cucumbers, 2 pieces We had a hard Wednesday in the field last week. I suppose the story would have been more fresh if I had written about it right after it happened. But Summer Squash, 3 pieces really I think I needed the help of the crew this Wednesday to process it all and get it into story form. So, here it is a week late, but still very present in all our Sweet Peppers, 1 large & 1 small minds. Beets, 1 bunch Wednesday is our CSA harvest day. That’s when we take all the crops from the field, get them washed and bunched and ready to go, and then we Chard, 1 bunch store them in the cooler over night so that they are thoroughly chilled by the Green Beans, 1 bag time you pick them up on Thursday. It’s a busy day for us, and Maggie and I usually have a big crew of 5 or 6 worker shares plus 3 or 4 interns who know Edamame, 1 bunch what they are doing to get the job done. Last Wednesday was a bit different Parsley, 1 bunch however. Three of our worker shares and 2 of our interns were missing. That left us with only about half of our usual experienced crew. And on top of that we had a crew of 20 completely green volunteers coming out to “have a good Your next taste of experience” at the farm. Have a good experience and potentially lend a big winter squash is coming in helping hand. Maggie took responsibility for the CSA harvest crew and I took the form of carnival. These on the volunteer crew. Here’s what happened. squash have a very similar The regular crew worked as fast as we could for the first 2 hours in the morning, getting as much done as possible before the volunteers arrived. By flavor to the delicatas of the time we saw the crowd of yellow-shirted volunteers (including Mayor Dave last week, but these keep and some of his office staff, and a large contingent from Demco) coming down much longer and they are also the field road, we thought we were in pretty good shape. After a short a bit harder to break into. introduction to Troy Gardens and an overview of what we would do that Their shape makes them morning, right away two men with leather gloves offered do to the sweaty work difficult to cut. My of spreading a huge pile of wood chips on our field road. Five other volunteers favorite way to cook them is went off to pick cherry tomatoes for the CSA with our intern Kevin. And the to first cut off the top remaining crew of 13 headed off with me to the winter squash harvest. Maggie (with the stem still and the rest of the regular crew stayed in the wash shed area cleaning and attached) and scoop out the bunching as fast as they could. seeds like you would for a No sooner did we have our system of harvesting, cleaning, and sorting set up than I heard a shout from the squash patch saying “Call 911. We have jack-o-lantern. Then stuff someone down out here.” It was warm, we were working with the scratchy the center with your favorite squash plants in tall weeds, we were hauling heavy buckets. I thought it was a stuffing (mine always joke about having to work hard. Luckily, I went out to investigate before I includes celery and bread returned my own wise crack. In fact, a woman had passed out in the field. cubes and thyme), and bake in When I saw her, her eyes were rolled back in her head and she did not look a pan with a bit of water in good. I immediately called Maggie on the walkie-talkie, knowing she had a cell the bottom. When a fork can phone and could reach it easily from where she was. While I don’t remember easily pierce the skin it is what I said, according to Maggie and the others who heard the call it was, ready to eat. Like the “Maggie, I need you to call 911.” Not very informative. She too thought it was a delicata, you can eat joke, and not a good one. By then the volunteers were yelling across the field carnivals skin and all, but to each other asking who had a cell phone. Maggie heard those yells, figured out it was not a joke, and made the call. if you prefer you can also Things happened fast after that. Sundee and Sarah walked up to Troy just scoop the stuffing and Drive to direct the ambulance back to the farm and to send the fire trucks back flesh together from the skin. to the station. Maggie walked out to the squash while on the phone in order to Of course, if you are not in follow the instructions of the operator as to how to position the woman and cool the mood for stuffing just her down. Luckily, there were some folks on the volunteer crew who were yet, you can just bake the trained in emergency response, and they were already cooling her down with carnival as you would any water and improvising some shade. The woman, Suzanne, was talking at that other squash or even steam point and said this had happened before. She generally seemed calm and it. much better than she had been a few minutes before. I took some folks to clear Chard is another new (continued on the back)

Claire’s Comments (continued from the front) our squash off of the field road just in case the ambulance came all the way out Upcoming to us. And soon enough we heard the sirens and there was the ambulance in our garden with one stray pumpkin squashed under its tires. REAP’s Seventh Annual The EMTs took over at the at point. Maggie hot-footed it back to the l wash shed to keep that crew going. And I took the opportunity to take our first Food for Thought Festival truck load of squash back to my house for storage in the garage. On the way, I dropped off one of Suzanne’s co-workers at her car so that she could follow Suzanne to the hospital. “Eating Well, When I got back to the field, everyone was working hard and we were ready to load the truck with another huge pile of squash. I got into the truck bed for loading and noticed some volunteers way out in the field beyond the squash Being Well” section. OH NO! They were in Camilla’s research plots. As I ran out to them, I wanted to believe that they could not have harvested all of Camilla’s butternuts Saturday, 17 September in the short time I was gone. But I was wrong. Sure enough every last 8:00 am to 1:00 pm butternut was cut from the vine and stacked in a pile. Camilla is researching the effect of cover crop and soil amendment combinations on crop yield. We Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. needed to know exactly how many pounds of squash were harvested from each off of the capital square plant. Disaster. It never occurred to me that they would wander into those plants. The farm boundaries are so set in my mind, but obviously they are harder for volunteers to see so clearly. With the Friday Night Forum At that point I was ready to send everyone home. Maggie and I could Friday, 16 September finish the work ourselves! But I stammered my way through redirecting the 7:30 to 9:30 pm crew and getting things into some kind of order. When we regrouped in the UW Health Services Sciences wash shed, we thanked the volunteers and shared some treats that Amy provided, and said goodbye. As soon as we were alone, Maggie and I sat Learning Center, 750 Highland Ave. down to breathe and eat our lunch. She filled me in on her experience of the morning with a seriously reduced harvest crew and the emergency distraction. Joan Dye Gussow, keynote I told her about the ruin of Camilla’s research plot. And we planned how we could finish the rest of the work ahead of us for the day. At last just us two. “Of Pyramids and Parsnips: Suzanne is recovered. Camilla took the news about the butternuts Just Eat Food” well, because that’s just how she is. The two volunteers with leather gloves did an excellent job on the field road (and they finished before the ambulance had to get through). Maggie and I learned a few more lessons about supervising crews. And I bet that while you ate your cherry tomatoes last week, you had no And take yourself out to eat local foods idea what was going on around them while they were being picked. at area restaurants at the first

In the Bag (continued from the front) Food for Thought recipe from earlier this year. You can also use the beet greens right along with the chard. These Local Night Out! two crop (beets and chard) are actually Wednesday, 14 September botanically the same. Some varieties are grown for the root (beets) and some are grown more for Participating Restaurants: the greens (chard). So both the beet and chard Blue Marlin greens will be very happy together in any recipe. Bunky’s Café This will be the last (and best!) delivery of edamame this year. Remember this is an easy The Dardanelles and delicious food. Just pull the pods from the Eldorado Grill stems, clean them, and boil them in salted water Greenbush Bar for 5 to 10 minutes. The beans are ready when Harvest Restaurant they slip easily from the pods. You can serve Ian’s Pizza by the Slice them as a snack or side dish. Just slip the beans L’Etoile from the pods between your teeth and discard the Lombardinos pod. Or if you have the time, slip all the beans Nadia’s out separately and incorporate them in a rice or Ovations noodle dish. Your bunch of edamame probably has two varieties in it. One will have bronze fuzz Quivey’s Grove Roman Candle Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots Volume 4, Issue 14 1 September 2005

In the Bag In the Claire’sBox Comments Delicata Squash, 1 piece Starting the Wind-Down Salsa Basket, 1 bag This is the time of year when I start to struggle with what I should Carrots, 1 bunch say to you in this column. It’s getting cooler, the farm and field students Scallions, 1 bunch have all gone back to school, the college interns are back in classes, and the Sweet Peppers, 2 small & 1 larger farm has a definite “winding down” kind of feel. Maggie and I are tired. We Cherry Tomatoes, 1 bag have to work up some real enthusiasm to get those last lettuce plants in the Sage or Thyme, 1 bag ground, to seed the fall spinach crop. Planting is just not what we want to Garlic, 1 piece be doing right now. We want to be cleaning out our harvest buckets, putting the towels through one last wash before winter storage, and Slicing Tomatoes, 4 pieces concentrating on tilling our little five-acre farm into cover crop for the winter. But it is just not time for any of that yet. There are still almost two It still feels a little early for winter more months of CSA harvests to go! squash, doesn’t it? Especially since some of Things will start to change in your shares over the next couple of summer’s heat returned this week. But according to the garden’s calendar it is weeks. You will see winter squash every week from here out. (Luckily most right on time, because the squash are ripe. of them keep pretty well so you can save them for later if you are not in the We harvested these delicata squash on mood for winter food just yet. This week’s delicata is the one obvious Friday of last week, and they are ready to exception to that rule.) Leeks will be coming in another week or two. go. This squash is my favorite to eat Tomatoes and tomatillos will fade out. You will start to see salad mix and because it is easy to cut into, quick to cook, so sweet and delicious that it needs spinach again, and the delicious frost-tinged kale, collards, and Brussels no brown sugar, and can even be eaten sprouts are right around the corner. Last week Lisa and I talked about the with the skin. But it is my least favorite to changes in weather that accompany the onset of fall. With the winter grow! The squash in your share this week squash in your share this week, I’m thinking more and more about the are the most perfect ones that we changes in food that we will see as well. harvested, and even these have blemishes that will prevent them from keeping for I’m already starting to feel the changes in attitude. Now that we are very long. I’ve never figured out how to down to a crew of just Maggie, me, eight worker shares, a few faithful grow the perfect delicatas that I crave! volunteers, and some summer interns who will come back to visit now and There’s one more thing for me to research then, and now that we all understand the farm and our jobs pretty well, we this winter. So, eat your squash sooner can take a little more time to chat while we work or sing or even start to than later. One simple way to cook delicata is to cut it open lengthwise and scoop out imagine how we will do things differently next year. Maybe part of the the seeds. Set a couple cloves of garlic in change in attitude has to do with the repetitive nature of our tasks right each half, sprinkle with some olive oil and now. Pretty much all we do is harvest. We are moving through the farm chopped sage or thyme, and bake until a section by section taking out the remaining crops and getting the place fork can easily pierce the skin. Scoop out the flesh, or eat it skin and all (my cleaned up. Isn’t that the definition of “winding down?” And isn’t part of preferred method, but not everyone’s). winding-down slowing down? It feels like that is exactly what we are doing. Everything else in your share this Still, we did get to strip down to our tank tops and shorts this week. week should be an old favorite by now. How crazy to be harvesting winter squash on a warm day! Crazy and The tomatillos are still going strong so you glorious. Every warm day is a thing to be celebrated in the fall as far as I’m can look forward to one or two more salsa baskets, but the tomatoes are concerned. So, as I’m sorting out the garlic seed, cleaning up the onions that petering out. Next week look for beets, took over the garage a few weeks ago in order to make room for the piles of another variety of winter squash, and winter squash, ordering my cover crop seed, slowing down, and looking maybe chard or kale. forward to getting the farm all clean and tidy for next year, I’m also soaking in this summer’s end like a sponge that will never reach capacity.

Recipe Local Food Events

Here’s another way to use tomatillos if you are awash in salsa verde! Announcing . . . Squash & Tomatillo Soup REAP's Seventh Annual from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

18 fresh tomatillos (about 2 lbs.) Food for Thought 4 to 5 cups chopped onions Festival 1 T olive oil "Eating Well, Being Well." 8 garlic cloves, chopped 6 cups peeled and cubed winter squash Saturday, September 17, (remember: no need to peel if delicata, 2-3 lbs. of whole 8:00 am – 1:00 pm on Martin winter squash yields 6 cups peeled and cubed) Luther King Jr. Blvd, off the 6 cups vegetable stock Capitol Square, Madison, WI 3 cups undrained plum tomatoes, chopped (28-oz. can) With the Friday Night Forum, 1 to 2 teaspoons minced chipotles in adobo sauce Friday, Sept. 16, 7:30-9:30 p.m., salt and ground black pepper to taste UW Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Ave. toppings: sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro, more minced chipotles in adobo sauce, avocado cubes, corn kernels, and/or crumbled tortilla Joan Dye Gussow, keynote chips ”Of Pyramids and Parsnips: Just Eat Food” Preheat oven to 450°. Remove and discard the husks of the fresh tomatillos. Rinse and cut in half. Place cut-side up in a single layer in And enjoy local foods at area a shallow baking dish. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes until soft. restaurants at the first Food for Meanwhile, in a soup pot, cook the onions in the olive oil over Thought… medium heat, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, until fragrant. Stir Local Night Out! in the squash, stock, and the tomatoes with their juice, cover, and Wednesday, Sept. 14 bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 25 minutes, until the squash is quite tender. Add the chipotles and the roasted Blue Marlin Bunky’s Café tomatillos. In a blender, puree the soup in several batches and return The Dardanelles it to the pot. Add salt, pepper, and more chipotles to taste, and gently Eldorado Grill reheat if needed. Greenbush Bar Harvest Restaurant Ian’s Pizza by the Slice Serve hot, with some or all of the toppings. Serves 8-10. L’Etoile Lombardinos Nadia’s Ovations Quivey’s Grove Roman Candle White Horse Inn

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 13 25 August 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments Red Potatoes, 1 bag Two takes on Fall Cipollini Onions, 1 bag Sometimes I am so predictable. Especially when the weather Edamame, 1 bundle turns cool, as it did this week. And when the kids leave the farm to go Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag back to school, as they did this week. Now is the time that I write about Sweet Peppers, 3 (only 1 large) the fast approaching fall. For the past two years I have spent this last weekend in August in Tucson, eating prickly pears in the deliciously Collards, 1 bunch intense heat. When I returned from those trips to find the sun a little Parsley, 1 bunch lower on the horizon and to find myself needing the long pants I shed so many months ago, I got sad. This year’s transition into cooler Garlic, 1 piece weather is more gentle because I am not just returned from the sunny southwest. But still, it makes me sad. There are two crops in As many of you have heard before, I was made for summer. I particular that did very love the heat. And if sunburn and sweat are the prices I pay to live and poorly this year. The work in the sun, then I pay happily. Fall is not my season. It marks the first is potatoes. The decline into the dark, dreary winter, the dreaded cold. Now is the time potatoes failed for two key of year when I keep putting on my shorts and tank top under my pants reasons. First they need and jacket, just hoping for a few more days when I can strip down and lots of water, and this feel the sun on my skin once more. year they got precious I know everyone does not feel this way about fall. My best little of that. The second friend Lisa, for instance, has quite a different perspective. Lisa and I is that they were have know each other since college, and while we have similar views on many topics, and many experiences that bind us, the weather is not one mercilessly devoured by the of them. Lisa is visiting from Minneapolis right now, and when I told her Colorado potato beetle. that I was going to write about the fall this morning, she had a very This pest is always different idea of what I would say. For her it is not so much about present, but we usually mourning the summer… manage to keep on top of it Lisa’s Comments: It’s more about reveling in the change of the enough to get a good crop. season. I love winter for those first cleansing snows, the bracing winds This year we spent our that make you feel strong for surviving in the cold, the ice skating, the usual hours handpicking and skiing, coming back to a warm house with cool, rosy cheeks. I love killing the bugs, but they spring for the rebirth of green, every day bringing new sprouts, new would not be destroyed. leaves, new plants, and the smell of warming soil. I love mid-summer They were so prolific and for the vegetables it brings me from my garden and the lushness of the so verocious that after green all around (note that I do not love summer for the heat!) And I they took down the potatoes love fall. and eggplant (their two Right now in the garden, you can really feel the fall coming on. favorite crops) they even Even though the trees haven’t yet started to turn, many of the garden moved on to the tomatoes. plants have begun their die-back. The once vibrant potato plants are I have never before seen now brown sticks, the onion greens have long since fallen and the bulbs potato beetles on the have been taken out of the garden to dry for lasting through the long tomatoes. winter. Most all the leaves are tinged with brown. While there is a As you can see from melancholy air to this change, there is also something profoundly right the size of the potato bag about it for me. In many ways, this crumbling toward fall brings me a in your share this week, sense of comfort: I feel safer for having stored away the food from my the plants just could not garden in canning jars and in bags in the freezer, fodder for the winter. hold out under these There’s something very sweet about putting the garden to bed, conditions. Out of the mulching the garlic, putting cover crops in, tidying up. It’s like patting all

220 pounds of seed that we (continued on the

(continued from the front) Recipe These onions are meant to be small, just not this Tabbouli small. I suggest boiling from The World in Your Kitchen them with the potatoes and tossing them with butter and the fresh parsley. You 1/2 cup bulgur 4 tomatoes will notice that both the a few lettuce leaves 1 cucumber, chopped onions and the potatoes are 4 tablespoons chopped parsley 4 tablespoons lemon juice coming to you with the dirt 2 tablespoons chopped mint 4 tablespoons olive oil still on. We usually 1 onion, finely sliced salt & pepper to taste deliver these crops this way because they keep Soak bulgar 20-30 minutes in cold water to cover. better unwashed. (Washing off the dirt also washes Drain well. Line a salad bowl with lettuce leaves and off the waxy cuticle that spoon in bulgur. Mix in 3 tablespoons of the parsley, helps keep in the the mint, onion, and tomatoes. Wisk lemon juice with moisture.) You probably won’t need to keep these olive oil, salt, and pepper; toss with salad. Sprinkle tiny quantities for very remaining tablespoon of parsley on top. Makes 4 to 6 long, but it made us feel servings. better knowing that you could. Possible Modifications: We saved the collards The lettuce leaves and cucumber are not imperative. to deliver with the potatoes because they go so More parsley is always better! well together (like potatoes and parsley). A simple and classic dish is to sauté some onion and garlic in butter. Add (continued from the front) diced potatoes and cook your summer babies in to snuggle until the next spring. And then until tender. Finally add there’s the comfort of the easing off of work, knowing that rest is the chopped collards and coming, with long hours of knitting and reading in front of the cook until they are woodstove. But in addition to the comforts of the coming on of fall, thoroughly wilted. I’m there is also, for me, a tinge of excitement in the air as it begins to always surprised at just cool. I think this is due to the fact that my life has always revolved how delicious this around the school schedule – grade school, high school, graduate combination is. school, and now a teacher. Because of this, fall has always meant Edamame is back this for me new beginnings, new knowledge, meeting new people, week. This time a new wondering what new friends might come my way. So, although fall variety and a bit bigger is a time of much dying back, the season for me is a very sweet one. bunch. Just remove the Yeah, yeah, Lisa. It sounds good when you call it sweet and pods from the stems, give fill it with hope like that. But really I know my hands will soon be them a quick wash, and boil freezing while I wash carrots; I’ll be waiting through the early them for 5 to 10 minutes in morning hours while the white frost turns back to water on the salted water. Then serve lettuce before I can harvest it; and I’ll be craving tea and cookies just in a bowl with a dash more to get me through. So, for now I’m still putting on my tank top and salt. Slip the tender hoping for the heat. I’ll be looking for the good in this turn of the beans out of the pod season only when I truly have no other hope left. between your teeth. They make a great appetizer or Troy Community Farm snack Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots Volume 4, Issue 12 18 August 2005

In the Bag In the Claire’sBox Comments Melon, 1 piece Singing in the Beans Salsa Basket, 1 bag

Green Beans, 1 bag I think I write about green beans every year. They are definitely one Sweet Peppers, 1 large & 1 small of my favorite vegetables. When they are in season, and we are picking them Carrots, 1 bunch like mad, and we have too many to be able to sell them all, I’ll eat them every day. By the plateful. Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag It takes this level of love for a vegetable in order to go through what Cherry Tomatoes, 1 bag we go through for these delicious green pods. It’s not the tilling or the planting Cilantro, 1 bag or the cleaning that causes the trouble - it’s the picking. We stoop over those Slicing Tomatoes, 4 to 6 pieces rows picking bean after bean for hours: Search through the leaves, find the Garlic, 1 piece beans, visually sort out the ones that are too small and leave them on the plant, sort out the ones that are too big and toss them on the ground, pick the rest one by one, or two by two if you are lucky. Next plant. Change position to This is definitely the last week for control the ache in the hamstrings, the pain in the small of the back. Next melon. I’m still in awe of how many fruits plant. we were able to harvest from these plants. Almost all of the ones I tasted were When we spend so much time with a vegetable, and with each other delicious. I hope that has been true for all in those vegetable rows, we are on the lookout for sources of entertainment of you also. I know what a drag it is to cut and distraction. This year the green bean rows have become our concert hall. into a beautiful melon only to find that it is It started last week when I came to the field overtired and irritable. I was in a overripe or mealy or lacking flavor. I also bad mood and I knew that picking beans was not going to help. But still the know it even happens with our melons job needed to be done, and I needed to motivate the crew to do it well. sometimes! We’ve done our best to select I decided I should sing. First, I asked if anyone on the crew had a song the best, sweetest melons for you this week. I hope that shows up in your they would like to sing. I explained about my being in a bad mood, and kitchen. threatened to sing them a song about lying on a dead lover’s grave if no one It’s a salsa basket week again. else spoke up. None of the teenagers in farm and field volunteered, and the You may have noticed that these are an interns encouraged me to sing about the grave. So, I did. Even though the song every other week item. Our tomatillos are is sad, it did it’s job of both entertaining and distracting. Next, Maggie chimed not producing quite as well as I would in with a song about peace. Then I was up again singing about a poor man’s expect this year - maybe they too are house. Then Camilla sang a bit about the girl from Ipanema in her native suffering in this dry season. We pick them every two weeks and get just enough for Portuguese. Next was my favorite lullaby about being anybody you want to be. you. You won’t, however, find cilantro in Finally, we all joined in to learn Maggie’s peace song. By the end, Maggie and I your salsa bag this week. Instead we are were collaborating on other songs we could learn, and most importantly my giving you a whole bunch thinking you bad mood was gone AND we were done with the beans. could add as much of it as you like to your But it wasn’t just that one day that turned the beans into the concert salsa. hall. It was the next bean picking that did that. Part way through, Manny (the You have green beans again this Farm & Field crew leader) requested a song. Maggie sang us a bluesy religious week (with some purple beans added to many of your bags for fun!) This particular piece with a simple tune. Then she and I converted the lyrics to fit the farm planting we are picking from is such a joy - and we all (or most of us) learned it and sang a round as we finished picking. lots of lovely, delicious beans. After this Fun. week, it will be a little while before you see This past winter I had a goal of learning some songs for just the them again. The next planting coming on purpose of keeping us amused during hard jobs. I only finished a couple of does not look to be in quite as good of them, but now I’m inspired to learn some more this winter. I’ll learn to love shape as this one. (continued on the back) the beans even more when they mean I get to sing for my supper.

(continued from the front) Recipe Sweet peppers and carrots are both new items this week, and I daresay Tomato Salsa they are the most colorful items we’ve ever had. I love sweet peppers, love to grow From Asparagus to Zucchini them, love to pick them, love to eat them, 1 small onion chile pepper to taste and love to sell them. Same for carrots. ½ green pepper 1 tablespoon honey Usually all this love contributes to abundant small bunch cilantro salt to taste harvests on both these crops, but not this year. 3 minced garlic cloves 1¾ pounds peeled, fresh tomatoes I really don’t know what the trouble is for the peppers. They should not Process all ingredients except tomatoes in a food processor. Add mind drought too much. They love the heat. The plants themselves look healthy peeled tomatoes. Process again, and it’s ready to eat. Will keep in and vibrant, but they just are not refrigerator 1 week. Does not freeze well. Makes about 2 cups. producing fruit. The tiny harvest you have in your share this week is all we are getting. Sad. Especially sad because I cannot figure out what the problem is. You can slice these sweet peppers for sandwiches and salads or use them in pasta sauce. Unfortunately there are not enough of them to stuff, which is another way I love to eat them. The problem with the carrots has become much more clear to me. It’s the weeds and the lack of rain, plain and simple. I made some necessary adjustments in our crop rotation this year, and those modifications landed our carrots in an area that has heavy weed pressure. We’ve weeded these beds twice and still CSA Pick-up they are thick with grasses. Very bad. Also, it has been hard for these roots to size without the water they need. We did Volunteers! manage to bunch some lovely orange, yellow, and even some purple carrots for Last week I put out a plea to CSA members to help me out your bags this week. Enjoy their colorful at the farm stand when the Farm & Field youth go back to beauty and do let me know what you think about the flavor differences between the school. Already all but 2 of the 9 shifts I had open are colors. We certainly have formed our own filled! Thanks so much to all of you who volunteered! opinions at the bunching table! Tomatoes and more tomatoes. If you are interested in doing a shift at the farm stand, Cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, and slicing tomatoes again this week. You are there is still time. You would get a chance to meet lots of all going to get tummy aches from eating the CSA members, test your strength hauling full crates of so many of these delicious fruits. You vegetables, and (the best part) fill up your bag with any should know that the plants are starting to extras we have left at the end of the pick-up. slow down. So, let’s enjoy these summer gems while we can. Coming soon: Winter Squash!!! I’m still looking for one volunteer for next Thursday It’s hard to believe but I think we will start the 25th of August, and one for our last delivery on our winter squash harvest next week. the 20th of October. We meet at the farm stand at 3 30 PM fo set p and e sho ld be done ith the Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, suggestions, 1814 Sheridan Drive and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots Volume 4, Issue 11 11 August 2005

In the Bag In the Claire’sBox Comments Melon, 1 piece Herb Business Summer Squash, 3 pieces

Cucumbers, 2 pieces When I first started working for Troy in 2001 and the farm land was still Green or Purple Beans, 1 bag covered in trees, it was our goal that the farm would eventually be able to earn Broccoli, 1 bunch enough money to pay it’s own expenses. I’ve been working toward that goal ever since. While I cannot report that I’ve achieved the goal as of yet, I do want to tell Edamame, 1 bunch you about a little business enterprise that is helping us along the way. Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag In your share this week, you have a bag of either fresh thyme or oregano. Cherry Tomatoes, 1 bag These herb packs are examples of the products we are selling through our new herb business. (As you open your little herb bag, be sure to take a look at the label. Thyme or Oregano, 1 bag The small print under the herb name includes ideas for how to use the herbs, some Slicing Tomatoes, 4 pieces of which include other vegetables from your share this week!) Each week we pack Garlic, 1 piece between 100 and 300 of these bags full of basil, dill, chives, sage, mint, and other herbs. Right now all those herbs are going to the Willy Street Co-op where they sell This is obviously the week for fresh them off of the produce racks. At a wholesale price of $1.50 per pack, we are pasta sauce. Here’s my suggestion: Sauté a making a good income off of this little business. clove or two of garlic in olive oil. Add some Herbs are a product that is especially well suited to Troy. As you know, our rounds of summer squash and let them farm is only 5 acres and will never be any bigger - our land is limited. So, we need brown a bit. Then add the chopped roma wholesale crops that do not take up a lot of space and still bring in a good price. tomatoes and some fresh thyme or The herbs fit this description perfectly, whereas something like sweet corn is oregano. Let the tomatoes cook down and then serve it all over ravioli or any pasta with exactly the opposite kind of product. It takes up a great deal of space and sells for either steamed broccoli or green beans on only about $.33 per ear. the side. It’s a perfect summer meal. While I wish I could take credit for coming up with this brilliant idea for an Or, if you want something even urban farm business, I cannot. Doug Wubben at Drumlin Farm did all the easier, just chop the garlic, squash, and development work, and ran the business himself for several years. This past winter, romas and put them all on a try under the however, he took a job working as the Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Project broiler. Let them brown for a while, then stir, and let it all brown some more. Add the fresh Coordinator, and decided he could not keep up the herb business at the same thyme or oregano right at the end, and again, time. I was both delighted and honored that he wanted to pass the business on to serve over any pasta. I love the roasted Troy. flavor that develops with this preparation. Back in February I started hundreds of herb seeds and planned where the While you are waiting for your sauce herb garden would go. We planted the seedlings in May and have been nursing to roast, you can cook up the edamame and them along ever since. In July we started harvesting full tilt and will keep it up have that as an appetizer. Those of you who through October and into November. Most of the perennial herbs like thyme and have had these fresh soy beans before know how delicious they are. Those of you who are oregano will be fine even after the frost. about to eat them for the first time are in for At first I was a bit anxious about my ability to keep the co-op supplied. a treat! First, pluck the bean pods from the But now I feel confident that we can supply that store and others. Next year I will stem. Then, cook the pods in boiling, salted work on expanding our sales to the Jenny Street Market and Whole Foods. I never water for about 7 to 10 minutes. They are used to be much of an herb grower, but now I love it. It is so pleasant even just to done when the beans are tender and slip out smell them as I work. I’m even getting good at counting up by $1.50 as we make of the pods easily. My favorite way to eat our way to financial self-sufficiency. them is tossed with a dash of salt. I just put the pods between my teeth and slip out the beans. I get the salt from the pod and the delicious, nutty bean at the same time. Toss the pods away with the stem. Edamame is a favorite Japanese appetizer. You have just a taste today, but there will be more in the coming weeks.

Volunteer to do a shift at the Raffle Results CSA Pick-up? Our raffle was very As you know the students from the Farm and Field program have been successful! We helping me out at the farm stand this summer. They are the folks who usually tell you what is in your share and help you identify any raised $4143 to go unfamiliar items (like edamame!). They have been a great help to me, toward our new but next week will be their last shift at the farm stand. They are headed truck. AND Claire back to school already, hard as it is to believe. sold the most raffle So, I’m wondering if any of you would be interested in doing a shift at tickets (261!), which the stand. You would get a chance to meet lots of other CSA members, means she gets the test your strength hauling full crates of vegetables, and (the best part) fill up your bag with any extras we have left at the end of the pick-up. free massage. Thanks to all of you I’m looking for 9 volunteers to work one Thursday each beginning August 25th and ending with out last delivery week who purchased on October 20th. I will meet you at the stand at 3:30 PM for set tickets, donated up. We should be done with clean up by 6:45 or 7:00 PM. prizes, and helped to

Send me a message at [email protected] or call me at 442-6760 to make this raffle such find out more and sign up for a slot! a great success.

Recipe Gazpacho (serves 4-6) The Victory Garden Cookbook

4 large ripe tomatoes 2½ cucumbers 1 large green pepper 10-12 scallions 1-2 cloves garlic Salt ¼ c. red wine vinegar 1/3 c. olive oil 3 c. tomato juice 1 to 1½ c. beef broth or water Hot pepper sauce Worcestershire sauce Freshly ground pepper Plain croutons

Peel, seed, and chop in ¼-inch dice the tomatoes, and 2 of the cucumbers. Wash and trim pepper and scallions and chop into ¼-inch dice. In a mortar, mash garlic and 1 tsp. salt. Beat in the vinegar and oil. Combine this dressing with the chopped vegetables and stir in the tomato juice. Add broth or water, to the consistency you prefer. Season with a dash of hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Chill. Slice ½ cucumber paper thin. Serve gazpacho in chilled bowls topped with cucumber slices and croutons on the side.

Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, suggestions, 1814 Sheridan Drive and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 10 4 August 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments Salsa Basket, 1 bag Tomatoes! Melon, 1 piece Red or Green Cabbage, 1 piece You will not believe this when you first read it, but still, take a minute and digest it, because it is true. We will harvest approximately Summer Squash, 3 pieces one ton of tomatoes at the farm this week. For those of you who are Scallions, 1 bunch not sure exactly what that means, one ton is 2240 pounds. So, if we Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag have a crew of 6 farm and field students, plus 2 interns, plus Maggie, plus me harvesting tomatoes, and we all weigh between 100 and 150 Slicing Tomatoes, 5 pieces pounds, we will all harvest between 1.5 and 2 times our own body Basil, 1 bunch weight in tomatoes. Basically, that’s a lot of tomatoes! I say “will harvest” because we harvest tomatoes twice a week Melon! This is the (Tuesday and Friday) and so far we have only pulled in just over 1000 third year that I have tried pounds. That was on Tuesday. And that amount was up from the to grow melon for the CSA. previous Friday’s harvest by about 300 pounds. Who knows for sure The first year I managed to what we will find this Friday? It could be even more. Imagine waking grow some delicious fruits, up in the morning and thinking: “Today I will harvest over 1000 but I never had enough to deliver. Last year was wet pounds of tomatoes.” It’s enough to make me want to stay in bed. and cold, so we did not get a We do have a pretty good harvesting system though. We all single melon. This is the start out with two buckets, moving up the beds, pulling all the red and year! We have plenty of pink fruit. We remove all the calyxes (stems) so that they do not poke lovely, delicious fruits. You the soft flesh of their neighbors, fill our buckets, and bring them back have your choice of muskmelon, to the truck. That’s were Maggie and I set up the sorting station. We red watermelon, and yellow sort by first and second quality fruits, and we also do some sorting by watermelon this week, and will likely have the same choice ripeness and variety. next week. I recommend that On Tuesday if felt like the tomatoes would never stop. We you eat your melon sooner than have only a limited supply of buckets, so Maggie and I were sorting as later, and that you make sure fast as we possibly could in order to keep the pickers in empty to warm it to room temperature buckets. When we fell behind, the pickers had to cool their heals and before serving – it will be drink some water for a couple minutes (it was HOT on Tuesday) so we sweeter that way. Green salsa is back this could catch up. We also have only a limited supply of tomato crates week. I love that you all and we filled up every single one we could find. Some of them had to enjoy this item so much. For be emptied of their previous (non-tomato) contents. Twice we sent those of you who may have people back to the shed to hunt down and empty more crates. But missed it the last time, just then the truck filled up. When we had loaded it down with 29 crates remove the husks from the each holding over 30 pounds of tomatoes, it was sagging low. I drove tomatillos and wash them. it to the tomato storage area (my home garage), unloaded that batch, Then put them in the blender with the cilantro, the chopped and went back for more. In the end we did not have enough crates garlic, and enough of the and had to store some of the crop right in the picking buckets. pepper to get the heat you By the time we finished, after two and a half hours of solid like. Blend it all together picking, we were hot, sweaty, and tired. But no rest! While most of with a dash of salt. Chop the the crew went off to weed the newest squash planting, Maggie and I onion and mix it in by hand. headed into the melons. It was weedy and viney in there, but we Serve with chips or burritos found plenty of great melons. Dylan joined us as porter, tossing in or whatever you like. We harvested all our empty buckets and hauling out the full ones so we didn’t have to garlic this past Friday. Over disentangle ourselves after every full bucket. The good and bad news 4000 heads! You have the Schedule of Events Savor the Summer 10 AM – 3 PM Kids’ Tent Activities Festival at Troy Gardens 10 AM – Noon Flower Festival

This Saturday!!! Noon Mayor’s Community Gardens Bike Tour

This all day event is not to be missed. 12:15 PM – 1:45 PM Huitlacoche Festival

There will be music, food, flowers, kids’ activities, 12:30 PM – 1 PM Community Mosaic tours, a visit from the Mayor and his Community Project Installation Gardens Bike Tour, and a performance by the Young Shakespeare Players. 2 PM – 3 PM Tours of the Land and Storytelling

3 PM – 4 PM Young Shakespeare Players Performance

4 PM Raffle Drawing

Recipe Pesto Bread Contributed by CSA member Jane Rowe

I inherited this recipe from my late & beloved daughter-in-law Jean Hendon, who was killed in an auto accident on Memorial Day, 2000. She was a great woman and a wonderful baker. The recipe comes from her favorite bread book: The Italian Baker by Carol Field.

The Pesto The Dough This pesto is stronger and more fragrant than most recipes provide because it must 2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast 3 1/4 C. unbleached flour retain its flavor and fragrance through the bread making and baking process. 1 C. plus 2 Tbsp. warm water 2 tsp. salt scant 2 Tbsp. olive oil Cornmeal 1 C. fresh basil leaves 1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic 1/2 C. pesto 1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese 1/8 tsp. salt 1/2 C. olive oil 1/8 tsp. pepper Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large mixing bowl and let stand 2 Tbsp. chopped pine nuts or walnuts until creamy (about 10 min.). Stir in the oil and the 1/2 C. pesto thoroughly. Mix the flour with the salt and add to the yeast mixture, Puree in food processor or blender; measure 1/2 C. for use in this recipe—or stirring until the dough comes together. Knead on a floured surface double the recipe and use 1 C. I always do! until soft, velvety and elastic (about 8-10 min.). First rise. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled (about 1 π hr.). If doubling recipe, use a really large bowl, or even two bowls. Shaping and second rise. Cut the dough in half on a lightly floured surface. Punch each piece down and knead briefly to expel the air. Shape each piece into a round loaf. Place each loaf, seam side down, on an oiled baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Don’t rush it—the dough needs to be fully risen before it is baked. Baking. Heat oven to 450 degrees as dough finishes rising. Place the loaves in the oven and immediately turn it down to 400. Bake 35-45 min., spraying 3 times with water in the first ten minutes, if you wish. Cool completely on racks.

The trick is to hang on to some of this bread long enough to serve it with a soup or stew! It disappears very fast in most households. It makes delicious toast, too, if you can hide some until morning.

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 9 29 July 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Cucumber, 1 piece Looking toward the Future

Cippolini Onions, 1 bag I am pleased to report that the rain has made a difference in Roma Tomatoes, 1 bag some of our crops. The kale most notably. On Friday of last week, Beets, 1 bunch after the first two inches of rain, we weeded all seven beds of kale and collards, added compost around the base of every plant, and mulched Fennel, 2 bulbs every bed. When we started they were looking old and tired and ready Cherry Tomatoes, 1 bag to give up. When we finished with the mulch, they just looked buried. Slicing Tomatoes, 5 pieces Today, after two more inches of rain, they are gorgeous, full of vigor and new green growth. It is an incredible transformation. Batavian Lettuce, 1 head While no other crop has been transformed in quite the same way as the kale, we are seeing improvements in the peppers, summer The tomatoes are here! squash, basil, and leeks. Time will tell the true fate of these crops, but Never before have I been meanwhile my outlook on the situation has taken a marked turn for the able to deliver tomatoes to better. No crop has risen from the dead, but some of the ones that the CSA in July. And so were merely sick are reviving. And the tomatoes are truly booming many of them! This week right now, as you can see in your share. I am definitely feeling you have sungold cherry renewed by this turn. tomatoes which ripen to I am also pleased to report that we had one of the most pleasant days ever on the farm this harvest Wednesday. The air was orange and are the sweetest cool and dry. The crew had worked enough harvests now to be tomato there is. You also confident and efficient in their work. There were no major have romas, those are the disappointments in crop quality. And the soil was the perfect moisture egg-shaped red tomatoes for weeding. which are best used for I love weeding. It is the only farm task that requires absolutely making pasta sauce and no preparation. All we have to do is pick up the hoe bucket, head out salsa. They are known for to the field, and go to work. It’s easy to talk while weeding, easy to feel their lower water content, confident in what you are doing, and easy to see incredible results in a which makes them perfect relatively short amount of time. After the harvest on Wednesday, we for cooking down quickly. weeded, added compost to, and mulched the leeks. It was a very And finally you have satisfying task. slicing tomatoes. These My next most favorite task on the farm, after weeding, is have a great salty bite and mowing down old crops and planting the area to cover. It is so exciting are perfect for salads and to see a whole section of the farm leveled and tilled with just a couple sandwiches. passes of the tractor. And then when the cover crop sprouts from the Half of the slicers in freshly tilled soil a week or so later, I can breath a sigh of relief that your bag are perfect, and that area of the farm is done for the year. The cover crop can grow in half probably have some peace without needing anything from me. It will just quietly do its job degree of “green of smothering weeds and drawing up nutrients from deep in the soil to shoulders.” One of my make them more accessible to next year’s crops. And it is beautiful to projects this winter will see those thick patches of clean, delicious green throughout the farm. be to do some research Next week we will harvest all the garlic and possibly the about why tomatoes get onions. Then I will be able to sow cover on that area of the farm and green shoulders and what begin setting a good foundation for next year. That’s the thing I need can be done to prevent it. to keep remembering about farming – There are good and bad weeks, Meanwhile, those patches of good and bad years; never get stuck in an up or a down; just keep green do not hurt the moving forward enjoying the good days and doing all you can to set a flavor nor the quality of good foundation for a good future. the tomato at all, they are j ihl Proceeds from the Savor the Summer Raffle will Help Buy the Farm a New Truck! . The “check engine” light is glowing on the dash and our truck is running on borrowed time. We need a new one with a better engine and a bigger bed to haul all food from the farm. When you buy tickets for the Savor the Summer Raffle, not only are you increasing your chances of winning one of the great prizes below, you are also helping us raise money to buy a new truck. Raffle tickets are available at the farm stand, so remember to bring some money to the next pick-up and get your stash of chances. The raffle drawing will be held at the Savor the Summer Festival on the 6th of August.

Ticket Prices: 1 for $3, 2 for $5, 5 for $12, 10 for $20, 20 for $30

PRIZES

Troy Community Farm CSA membership ($225 value - Can be Fiskar’s - pruners applied to next year’s share!) Massage East - 5 gift certificates for massages Capitol Kids - $35 gift basket Mallards - 20 baseball tickets Orange Tree Imports -$20.00 Gift Certificate Sponsorship for Rain Gardens LLC - 2 Free consultations Roman Candle Pizzeria - 2 Gift Certificates Bike Fed of WI - Gift pack, $100 value Silver Leaf Design Gallery -Decorative Pillow Just Coffee - Gift pack, $100 value Revolution Cycles - Free Tune-up Friends of Troy Gardens Gift pack Gaston’s - Gift Certificate for $25.00 Friends of Troy Gardens T-shirt (2) Windemere Institute of Healing Arts - 10 massage gift certificates

You can also help your farmer win a free massage by buying your tickets from Claire.

(continued from the front) Recipes combined with the fennel bulbs cut into slices and Tomato Salsa tossed with a Sharon Redinger, Dog Hollow Farm member vinaigrette. Someone prepared this salad for 1 small onion 3 minced garlic cloves salt to taste me this past weekend and 1/2 green pepper chili pepper to taste 1 3/4 pounds peeled, fresh small bunch cilantro 1 tablespoon honey tomatoes it was delicious. Our onions have not Process all ingredients except tomatoes in a food processor. Add peeled tomatoes. and will not size up this Process again, and it’s ready to eat. Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week. Does year, so you have a very not freeze well. Makes about 2 cups. small portion of cippolini onions in your Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil-Olive Sauce share. These onions are Irene Mauro supposed to be small, just not this small. 4 cloves garlic 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil They are traditionally 10 large basil leaves 2 tablespoons pitted green olives boiled to bring out their 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese sweetness and served on 1 pound seeded, chopped tomatoes salt and pepper to taste their own with tarragon. (about 4 medium tomatoes) 1/2 pound pasta I recommend boiling them with the beets and Puree all ingredients except pasta. Cook pasta in lots of salted, boiling water; drain tossing them with the and toss with sauce. Makes 4 servings. chopped cilantro, olive il i d bi Troy Community Farm Claire Strader Send newsletter comments, 1814 Sheridan Drive suggestions, and recipe ideas to: Madison, WI 54704 Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 8 21 July 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Salsa Basket, 1 bag Tears of Mourning, Tears of Hope

Summer Squash, 3 pieces On Wednesday morning, it rained at last. And not just a Scallions, 1 bunch sprinkle but a good, soaking, 1-inch rain. While it definitely could have Red or Green Cabbage, 1 head come at a better time, say two weeks ago, the timing it did choose was at least poetic. Cucumber, 1 piece The morning started out cloudy and cool, but without any hint Batavian Lettuce, 1 head of what was to come. We set out on our harvest as usual, for the most Bil 1 b h part. Only Maggie and I seemed to notice that the harvest list seemed too short. We asked each other “is there nothing else, really?” No The exciting new there wasn’t anything we forgot to put on the list, there just wasn’t any item this week is the more food in the field to gather. While it was depressing to know that salsa basket. CSA we couldn’t harvest potatoes because they all died in the potato beetle members look forward to infestation, or sweet peppers because they were not flowering due to water stress, or greens because they were not growing in the heat, I these every year. It’s held it all together pretty well until we got to the cabbage. the bag with the green As Maggie and I walked through 600 feet of plants looking for tomatillos, and it the 90 heads we needed to harvest, I started to loose it after all. Every contains everything you red cabbage was too small. Every green cabbage was light and need to make fresh, showed significant looper damage. But we had to keep searching and salsa verde. The recipe cutting and counting. By the time we finished, I knew I needed to work on the back will walk you alone for a while in order not to infect the rest of the crew with what through the process step has become my overwhelming concern for the health of our crops. So I set off to harvest the garlic and peppers for the salsa by step. It is very easy baskets. As soon as I was away, I knelt down by the garlic and cried. and very delicious. You My more balanced attitude of a few weeks ago, the one where I can eat the salsa with recognized that some crops would do well and some would fail in any chips or buritios or conditions that this climate handed out, was gone. All I could see was anywhere else you the wilt, and failure to thrive, and even the death in all that surrounded normally use salsa. me. I cannot remember ever feeling so low about the farm ever The cabbage is the before. other new item, but I found no comfort in the peppers. Even this heat-loving, drought-tolerant crop was just standing there letting its tiny fruits wither unfortunately it is not in the sun. Finally, as I pick up my buckets and headed back to join actually very exciting. the crew in the wash shed, it started to rain. At first, it felt like the farm Not because cabbage was crying with me. As the crew was shouting with joy, happy that the itself is less than parched earth was at last getting a drink, I couldn’t let go of the thrilling, but because knowledge that really this rain is far too late to save our crops. Right this particular cabbage then, for me, the rain was just hopeless weeping. harvest is so Then it kept raining, harder. No one complained though we got disappointing. All the soaked and cold. When I left the shed to shut off the sprinklers we had set up in the morning, finally believing that the rain would continue, one heads are very small. of the crew saw me look at the rain guage and shouted “how much is it And they will never size so far?” They all turned to look at me and I shouted back “a half inch.” with all the heat and dry Their excitement at this information finally made me smile. Maybe it’s weather we have had. So not hopeless. Maybe the peppers will start to flower again. Maybe the we took them now before kale will put on new growth. Maybe I can replant some things that will the bugs had their way grow quickly and give us food to harvest. Maybe this rain can with them The best represent more than mourning. Maybe it can be hope as well. Proceeds from the Savor the Summer Raffle will Help Buy the Farm a New Truck! . The “check engine” light is glowing on the dash and our truck is running on borrowed time. We need a new one with a better engine and a bigger bed to haul all food from the farm. When you buy tickets for the Savor the Summer Raffle, not only are you increasing your chances of winning one of the great prizes below, you are also helping us raise money to buy a new truck. Raffle tickets are available at the farm stand, so remember to bring some money to the next pick-up and get your stash of chances. The raffle drawing will be held at the Savor the Summer Festival on the 6th of August. Ticket Prices: 1 for $3, 2 for $5, 5 for $12, 10 for $20, 20 for $30 PRIZES Troy Community Farm CSA membership ($225 value) Fiskar‚s - pruners Capitol Kids - $35 gift basket Massage East - 5 gift certificates for massages Orange Tree Imports -$20.00 Gift Certificate Mallards - 20 baseball tickets Roman Candle Pizzeria - 2 Gift Certificates Sponsorship for Rain Gardens LLC - 2 Free consultations Silver Leaf Design Gallery -Decorative Pillow Bike Fed of WI - Gift pack, $100 value Revolution Cycles - Free Tune-up Just Coffee - Gift pack, $100 value Gaston’s - Gift Certificate for $25.00 Friends of Troy Gardens Gift pack Windemere Institute of Healing Arts - 10 massage gift certificates Friends of Troy Gardens T-shirt (2) Recipes

Fresh Salsa Verde Pasta with Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil Remove husks from and wash From Mark Bittman’s “The Minimalist” column in The New York Times the tomatillos. Put tomatillos, garlic, cilantro, Salt and pepper and hot pepper in a blender or 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil food processor. 3 or 4 small-to-medium summer squash, rinsed and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice Blend on low until ingredients 1 tsp. minced garlic, or more to taste are combined. 1 pound penne or other cut pasta Chop the onion (or scallion) 1 c. good ricotta cheese separately and add to the mix 1 c. basil leaves, washed, dried and torn or chopped 1/4 c. or more freshly grated Parmesan, optional with a dash of salt.

Eat fresh with chips or burritios Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put olive oil in a large skillet over or tacos, etc. medium-high heat; when hot add zucchini, along with a large pinch of salt and a sprinkling of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini begins to brown, Notes: then lower heat and cook until it is quite tender, about 15 minutes total. About 5 Be careful with the hot pepper! minutes before it is done, stir in garlic and begin to cook pasta. Add it in a little at a time. Include the seeds for extra heat. While pasta cooks, warm a serving bowl and put ricotta in it, along with about half Salsa ingredients will store well the basil. When pasta is tender but not mushy, remove and drain it, reserving about in their bag in the fridge for up to a cup of its cooking liquid. Use as much of this liquid as necessary, a bit at a time, to thin ricotta until it reaches a saucy consistency. Toss with pasta, zucchini, a week. Once you make the remaining basil and Parmesan, if you are using it, then taste and adjust seasoning. salsa, it is best if eaten within a Serve. Yield: 4 to 6 servings few days.

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 7 14 July 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Green or Yellow Beans, 1 bag Ups and Downs

Summer Squash, 2 or 3 pieces It’s been an up and down week at the farm. We got a Beets, 1 bunch splash of rain on Tuesday night. I woke up to the sound of it and Fennel, 2 bulbs dared to hope that it would be a substantial soaker. But no. It was Radishes, 1 bunch barely a tenth of an inch, the kind of rain that darkens the soil surface and leaves inches of bone-dry dust underneath. Still even Batavian Lettuce, 1 head that little bit of moisture is better than nothing, it did make weeding S l d G Dill 1 b h a tad easier on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I’ve actually started to set up sprinklers on some crops to keep them alive. I’ve never ever You have my very done that before. It is really dry out there. favorite vegetable in your While we wait for some real rain, we are looking for things to share this week: Green Beans! I love them so much keep our spirits up. We found one in the harvest of our first cherry that I don’t even mind tomatoes on Friday. After we went through and finished trellising picking them, bent over for the entire crop, we did the harvest. Four whole pints, not much. hours. While you are not But the fruits are huge and sweet and beautiful. And the plants likely to finish eating these look great now that they are all pruned and tied up to their supports. on the way home they way you I’m still hoping that this will be our very best tomato season ever. might with peas, their We are just starting to see pink fruits in the main crop of slicers. flavor, both raw and cooked, We also did a little weeding in the CSA garden this week. It is exquisite. Last year we made us smile to see all those blooms. And the herbs are doing had a bumper crop of beans well also. The sage is huge, the chives are lush and green, the and I was able to eat them by anise hyssop is just starting to flower and will soon be ready to go the plateful for dinner. One into your tea, the purple basil is perfect, and even the thyme and night I would have them oregano will soon be ready for fresh tomato sauce. But the best steamed with a little butter. part of weeding the garden was seeing the bees. Another night I would have As some of you know, we have two bee hives at the farm. them sautéed with garlic and They are in the very back corner where the bees can come and go tamari. Every night I had as they please without much interference from us. The tall hive is them, I was happy. The yellow beans, and the purple named Edna, after Edna St. Vincent Millay; and the short one is beans you will see in a few Emily, after Emily Dickinson. As we work, we are always on the weeks, are also delicious, look out for bees from our hives. We want to know that they are but the greens are hands-down alive and well, even when we don’t get to visit them in the hives my all time favorite very often. We also want to know that they are out pollinating our vegetable ever. Enjoy! vegetables. Fruits like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash The two other new items that have been pollinated by bees tend to be bigger and more lush this week, beets and fennel, than fruits that have not been pollinated. So we do what we can to conveniently go together in attract them into the field, like planting cutting flowers and flowering the recipe on the back. I cover crops like buckwheat. The bees were buzzing all over the must admit that neither of CSA garden on Wednesday and we were so pleased. these is on my favorites Really, you can tell, I’m grasping a bit for little items of joy list. But Kevin was so right now. Overall, we carry a great worry and sadness at the farm excited about this beet and these days. Seeing the damage caused by the insects and the dry fennel salad, that he may get soil is taking its toll. So we are concentrating on the first sweet me to change my mind. The beets are gorgeous and can be tomatoes, the lovely tireless bees, and the knowledge that no two eaten greens and all. The weeks at the farm are ever the same. Next week is bound to be root can be cooked according better!

Beet and Fennel Salad Upcoming Events Adapted by farm intern Kevin Coleman from Savor the Summer Festival Chris and Juli at Two Onion Farm. At Troy Gardens

When I wondered aloud what I would tell you all to do with beets and fennel, Kevin said that he and his wife Jesse have made this salad three times in the last Saturday, 6 August two weeks. They love it! I hope you do too. 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

1 bunch of beets Mark your calendars now 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (or two if you like) for this annual Troy chopped pecans or roasted pine nuts Gardens event! We will start out in the morning 1 tsp Dijon mustard at the farm harvesting ¼ cup olive oil (extra virgin is best) fresh flowers for 2-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar bouquets, and making salt and pepper to taste dried flower swags for you to take home. In the Cook beets (leave skin on, cut off leaves, but keep the root tip afternoon there will be music and food, including and an inch of the stems attached). Steam (or boil) for about huitlacoche (a corn 30 minutes. The beets are done when they are tender when mushroom grown at the pierced. Cooked beets will peel easily, just allow them to cool farm). And the festival for a few minutes, chop off the remaining stem, and use your will close with a thumbs to slip the skin right off. performance by the Young Shakespeare Players. Slice or chop the beets into bite-sized pieces. There will be activities for kids throughout the Mix the mustard, oil vinegar, salt and pepper together to day, a tour of the site, make the dressing ffl f Needed: CSA Representative to the FTG As many of you know, Troy Community Farm is unique in that it is a project of a non-profit organization known as the Friends of Troy Gardens or FTG. FTG was originally established in 2001 with the mission of stewarding the 31 acres that make up Troy Gardens. Since then the work of FTG has grown and now includes the original community gardens that were on this site; the natural areas trails, edible landscaping, and prairie; two youth programs; the farm; and the upcoming co-housing development. FTG has a board of directors which oversees all these projects and makes important long-term decisions for the site. There are two seats on the board for representation from the farm. Barbara Fraser (a founding CSA member) has filled one of these seats for the last three years, but resigned over the winter. We miss her, and now both our seats are open. If you are interested in representing the farm on the FTG board; if you want to help the Troy Gardens grow and prosper as both a valuable local resource and a national model of sustainable development; and if you want to work with a group of fun, energetic, and passionate board members, please let me know. I’ll answer your questions and invite you to the next board meeting where can meet the board and see how things go!

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 6 7 July 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Snap, Shell, or Snow Peas CSA Flower and Herb Garden is Open! Japanese Eggplant Cucumber Everything is early this year. We picked out first few green Broccoli beans this week; we can see some ripe cherry tomatoes on the plants; and you’ve got eggplant in your share! In the first week of July! The Collards peas didn’t have a chance in this weather, but I’ve got high hopes that Butterhead or Batavian Lettuce all the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash – all those heat- Cilantro loving foods – will thrive. Time will tell. Meanwhile there is one more crop maturing early this year. Pea season is over. It The flowers! The entrance to the farm is looking lovely with was a fast one. The heat and snapdragons, rudbekia, cosmos, zinnias, verbena, salvia, agrostema lack of rain have caused these plants to give up much earlier and more. It’s time for you to start making bouquets! Already in early usual. So, enjoy this last July! The idea is that when you come to pick up your share you can taste of fresh pea sweetness - take a walk back to the farm and also harvest flowers. Every week for it will be another 11 months as long as they last (hopefully through frost in September) they will be before we see them again. How there waiting for you. sad. We plant this garden for you to enjoy, but we also need your This is the third week help to keep it thriving. The more the flowers are harvested, the more in a row with broccoli and/or they will produce. So, don’t be shy. Harvest! If too many blooms are cauliflower on the menu – it left on the plants, they will think they have succeeded in making seeds all seems to be coming in at for the year and they will stop trying. That means no more flowers. once even though we space the So, help us keep the CSA garden alive and beautiful by bringing a plantings two weeks apart. bouquet home every week! Here’s what to do: Still, I’m hoping this will be the last of it for a little We can give you directions to the farm from the farm stand. It while. As I mentioned last is about 300 yards away, behind the tree line. The deer fence time, the cabbage worms are fierce out there right now. will be closed. Just open it up and go in. The flowers will be All your broccoli has been right in front of you. twice washed to remove these There will be a bucket with a pair of clippers and some rubber harmless, though unappetizing, bands near the rain gauge. Use the clippers to harvest, and worms. Still, it might be the rubber bands to bind your bouquet. worth your while to take a When harvesting, choose blooms that are just opened and cut third look as you cut it up. them with a long stem. Just be sure to leave some sprouts at Also, some of you will get a the bottom so that new stems and blooms can grow. variety of broccoli that is If you see blooms that are past (old and yellowing or drying) not quite as pretty as we are cut them off and drop them in the path. Then that plant can used to seeing. Don’t worry. send up new shoots. It looks a little funny, but Cut the stems at an angle (so it is easier for them to take up it still tastes as fresh and water in the vase) and strip the leaves from the stems as you delicious as ever. harvest. Either arrange as you go, or when you get the flowers Eggplant is new this back home. week. This variety is called orient express and it is a Be sure to close the deer fence when you leave! This step Japanese type eggplant – is extremely important. Please do not forget. The deer will longer, thinner, and more have no qualms about eating all your vegetables if they get into tender than American eggplant. the farm. Marcia’s favorite eggplant sandwich recipe is on the back There are also a few herbs in the CSA garden. We have and it is delicious. If you eposote, purple basil, anise hyssop, sage, thyme, and chives. Those want to do something more are all there for you as well. Help yourself! It’s your garden!

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

2/3 cup (6 ounces) lime juice 2/3 cup packed cilantro leaves 1 tablespoon cumin 3 tablespoons minced garlic 2-4 dashes bottled hot pepper sauce 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar pinch salt

Place all ingredients except the oil in a blender. Turn on blender. Add oil very slowly through the “hole” in the middle. Use a little water if you lose the hold, but just enough to keep the little hole so the oil will get blended. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Baguette with Roasted Eggplant, Tomatoes and Pesto

3/4 lb. Japanese eggplant, sliced 1 T balsamic vinegar salt & pepper 1/2” thick on the diagonal 1 French baguette lettuce leaves 1 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil 1/4 to 1/2 cup pesto 1/4 lb. thinly sliced Provolone or Fontina cheese 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 lb. tomatoes, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss eggplant slices with olive oil, garlic, 1/4 tsp. salt, and a few pinches of pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake 15-20 min., until soft in center. Brush warm eggplant with vinegar. Cut baguette in half lengthwise and hollow out the center. Brush both sides generously with pesto, then lay eggplant slices on bottom half in overlapping slices. Follow with a layer of sliced tomatoes; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place cheese on top and follow with lettuce and remaining half of baguette. Slice diagonally into 4 sandwiches. Makes four servings. This sandwich is incredibly good and worth the effort!

Black-Eyed Peas and Greens

3 cups dried black-eyed peas 2 medium-sized leeks or onions, cleaned and chopped 6 medium-sized cloves garlic, minced 6-8 cups collards and/or other greens, cleaned and chopped 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Place black-eyed peas and 6 cups water in a very large soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer, Needed: CSA Representative to the FTG As many of you know, Troy Community Farm is unique in that it is a project of a non-profit organization known as the Friends of Troy Gardens or FTG. FTG was originally established in 2001 with the mission of stewarding the 31 acres that make up Troy Gardens. Since then the work of FTG has grown and now includes the original community gardens that were on this site; the natural areas trails, edible landscaping, and prairie; two youth programs; the farm; and the upcoming co-housing development. FTG has a board of directors which oversees all these projects and makes important long-term decisions for the site. There are two seats on the board for representation from the farm. Barbara Fraser (a founding CSA member) has filled one of these seats for the last three years, but resigned over the winter. We miss her, and now both our seats are open. If you are interested in representing the farm on the FTG board; if you want to help the Troy Gardens grow and prosper as both a valuable local resource and a national model of sustainable development; and if you want to work with a group of fun, energetic, and passionate board members, please let me know. I’ll answer your questions and invite you to the next board meeting where can meet the board and see how things go!

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 5 30 June 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Sugar Snap Peas What Does the Weather Have in Store? Summer Squash Shell Peas or Snow Peas All the talk among the farmers this week is about rain. Broccoli or Cauliflower “Did you get any from that storm on Sunday?” “We’ve been Salad Mix dry for weeks.” “Do you have irrigation?” “Those two tenths Garlic Scapes we got on Friday are not going to mature the onion crop.” Basil The classic example of mundane small talk has to be conversation about the weather. But with farmers, talking More peas! The hot about the weather is like talking about how you got a big and dry weather this year promotion last week or how you might get laid-off next week. means our pea season will be It’s no small matter. Currently, the lack of rain has resulted in very short. Peas like cool and moist conditions. But plenty of sleepless nights on the farms around here. If you should have enough of farmers have irrigation, they are out watering all night while it these sweeties in the share has a chance to soak in to the roots before the sun dries it up. this week to satisfy you for And if they don’t have irrigation, they are up all night worrying a little while.. about the next crop that will be lost to the heat. You have two kinds of While we have gotten enough rain to keep everything peas today. First, everyone alive at Troy, it has not been enough to keep the peas and has sugar snap peas. These onions and potatoes happy. We also don’t’ have irrigation. are the short and fat ones, Still, I have to admit that I’m not losing much sleep over it. and the usual favorite of market customers and CSA Only once did I work on a farm that had irrigation. That was members alike. The pod is the summer I spent in Santa Cruz, California, where it never thick and juicy and should rains from April through October. But even then the work I did be eaten right along with on the farm was pretty removed from the irrigation, so I never the peas. You have a whole learned much about it. Instead my farm experience has pound of them today, so taught me that I cannot control the rain any more than I can there should be plenty to control which crops like the rain and which don’t. Something snack on on the way home and will always do well in the conditions we have, and something use in a meal once you get will always suffer. Better to learn to live with it, than try to there. I like them in stir fry, or raw in salads. control it (especially when you have no irrigation and are not The second pea is your much inclined to use it anyway!) choice between shell peas Here in Wisconsin, we are lucky enough to get some (these too are fat and rain in the summer, just not always at the times and in the round, but longer than the amounts that we like. Last year we had way too much. This sugar snaps and with a year it’s too little. So last year we had great onions and thinner, tougher pod) or potatoes, and terrible tomatoes and peppers. It looks like this snow peas (the same pea you year will be the reverse. This summer you can forget about got last week with the big, French onion soup and plan on filling the pantry with enough flat pod.) The shell peas tomatoes to get you through the winter. have to be taken out of the pod to eat. The pod itself Still, I do like to make my order for rain clear, just in is quite fibrous and not case someone or something out there has more power over it very palatable. If you bite than I do. I’ll take one inch per week, in the form of a gentle into one by mistake, you soaking shower every Friday or Saturday night. Thank you! (continued from the front) Recipes I do have a favorite way to prepare them though. Sauté some garlic scapes in olive oil, add Two pesto recipes today. Try either or both over pasta, as a spread on a the squash (cut into rounds or warmed baguette, or as a replacement for mustard and mayo on your wedges) and cook for just a few sandwich. minutes. Finally add fresh basil and serve. The squash will go well with both the basil Garlic Scape Pesto and garlic scape recipes on the left. 1 cup tender scapes - cut in about 1" pieces, then processed in a Karen Delahaut (Fresh food processor until finely chopped Market Vegetable Program Coordinator in the UW Add the following and process until well blended: Horticulture Department) came by 2/3 cup olive oil the market on Tuesday and gave 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese me a great tip on garlic scapes. 1/3 cup chopped pine nuts or walnuts Not only did she tell me about the garlic scape pesto recipe, she also sent me a web site Other Garlic recipes: where you can find a whole bunch www.dakotagarlic.com/garlic_scapes_recipes.htm more ideas on how to use this once-a-year treat. Both the recipe and the site are included Basil Pesto to the left. Enjoy the scapes now, you won’t see them again 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil until next June! 1 clove garlic Broccoli and cauliflower 1 tablespoon pine nuts or walnuts are back this week, and I have to warn you too look out for the 1/4 teaspoon salt little green worms. The 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan imported cabbage worms are 2 or 3 cups fresh basil leaves fierce out there this year. They like to crawl up in the branches of both these Place all ingredients except basil leaves in a blender or food tbl dth h d t Needed: CSA Representative to the FTG Board As many of you know, Troy Community Farm is unique in that it is a project of a non-profit organization known as the Friends of Troy Gardens or FTG. FTG was originally established in 2001 with the mission of stewarding the 31 acres that make up Troy Gardens. Since then the work of FTG has grown and now includes the original community gardens that were on this site; the natural areas trails, edible landscaping, and prairie; two youth programs; the farm; and the upcoming co-housing development. FTG has a board of directors which oversees all these projects and makes important long-term decisions for the site. There are two seats on the board for representation from the farm. Barbara Fraser (a founding CSA member) has filled one of these seats for the last three years, but resigned over the winter. We miss her, and now both our seats are open. If you are interested in representing the farm on the FTG board; if you want to help the Troy Gardens grow and prosper as both a valuable local resource and a national model of sustainable development; and if you want to work with a group of fun, energetic, and passionate board members, please let me know. I’ll answer your questions and invite you to the next board meeting where can meet the board and see how things go!

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 4 23 June 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Broccoli or Cauliflower Intern Memories Scallions Kale I heard a story from a fellow farmer this spring about her days as a Lettuce farm intern. She said that on one particular farm she worked on, the farmer gave a little speech at the beginning of the season about expecting Snow Peas interns to increase both skills and speed as the season progressed. He GlS said something like, “at the beginning I will be working about four times as “My husband, the non- fast as you. You need time both to learn how we do things and to get physically acclimated to the work. But after a while, I should only be able vegetable-eater, decided he to work about three times as fast, and then only twice as fast, as so on. I loves kale.” CSA member expect you to continue to increase your knowledge and your speed as we Heather Mann reported this work together this year.” conversion after serving I loved hearing this story. I work with over thirty different people kale from the share two (interns, worker shares, students in the Farm and Field program, and weeks ago. I was thrilled volunteers) at the farm every week. A really big part of my job now is to hear the news. I love organizing and instructing all these people, at all their various levels of skill kale also, and feel sad when and experience. As those who work with me know, I get a little frustrated others have such a hard time when the kale bunches are sloppy or it takes too long to harvest the with this vegetable. lettuce and get it out of the sun. I can admit that I am fairly obsessed with This week I’m sharing both quality and efficiency. And as a result, I expect a lot from the people another kale lover’s who work with me. So hearing this story was a good reminder to me that everyone is going to start out at a different place and it is my job to help favorite recipe with you. them learn and improve (while still making sure everything is as close to Julie comes to the Eastside perfect as possible!) So it may take a little longer than I would like to get Farmers’ Market every the peppers weeded today. But if people are learning and honing their Tuesday and buys three skills while we work, that means it won’t take quite as long to weed the bunches of kale from our melons the tomorrow. stand. Her recipe is on the The story also reminded me of one of my memories from my first back. It does call for summer as an intern. I worked with Tim Winship at New Field Farm in three whole bunches though, Temple, New Hampshire that wet summer of 1992. My friend Lisa and I so you may have to reduce were there together, and we were constantly striving to get things done as the recipe a bit if you are fast as Tim could. I’m sure we sacrificed efficiency at times just because not ready to eat that much we were so focused on watching exactly how he held his knife, or carried kale in one sitting! his harvest crate, or maneuvered his hoe around those strawberries so quickly. We worked with focus and determination that whole summer in Scallions and garlic the hopes that we could match him someday. scapes are new this week. My day came one August afternoon when Lisa was off at market The scallions are probably and Tim took me out to weed the summer squash. By then I had been familiar to most of you. watching Tim for about three months and I had learned at least a thing or They are tender young onions two. As we stood side be side at the edge of the field each facing our own that can be used from top to 150 foot bed of weedy zucchini, I knew it was time to prove myself. We bottom in salads, sauces, or straddled the plants, bent over at the waist, and set off down the rows in the place of onion in wielding our hand hoes as fast as possible. We both seemed to sense your kale dishes! Eat them that this job would mark a turning point in my tenure as an intern. We did raw or lightly sautéed. not talk at all, but rather focused completely on the squash, the weeds, The garlic scapes can and our own hands and feet. When we reached the other end of the field be used the same way you use at the same time, and stood up, each with our own satisfied smile, I said, “What’s next?” And we moved over to the corn rows where we did the scallions (from top to same thing again and again all afternoon. bottom, raw or cooked), but I went to bed tired and happy that night. Tim educated me and they have a strong garlic (continued on the back) flavor instead of an onion (continued from the front) Rec ipe inspired me to constantly improve. I felt proud and accomplished when I left his farm. Now I look forward to the day when Sukuma Wiki Maradadi Style one of the Farm and Field students gives (Kale from Coastal Kenya) me the same satisfied smile I gave Tim all those years ago, and I proudly smile back. I learned to make this dish years ago while living in Kenya. This is an old costal Kenyan recipe where Sukuma Wiki (or Kale) grows like a weed and is a staple of the diet. I have tried to put together a regular sort of recipe, but I Reminders learned this from an old Swahili woman over a jiko in her mud hut, so feel free to experiment with the amounts and consistency. I have added the Swahili The farm stand opens at 4:00 pm words next to the ingredients. I hope everyone enjoys! ~ Julie and closes at 6:30 pm every Thursday. Ingredients: 3 bunches of fresh collards or kale (Sikuma) 5 cloves of garlic (Vitunguu saumu) Please do not come early! 1 yellow onion (Kitunguu) Each week this summer I am training a 1 serano pepper (other hot pepper will do) (Pili Pili) new student from the Farm and Field crew 3 tablespoons of turmeric + (Kiungo) to work with me at the farm stand. Coming 3 tomatoes (Nyanya) early impacts our training time and our extra virgin olive oil (Uto) ability to get set up by 4:00 pm. Also, Liz 2 cups basmati rice (Mchele) and Marcia do not arrive with the newsletters (hot from the presses!) until Equipment: right at 4:00. I’m sorry to be such a 1 large frying pan with cover stickler, but we run a pretty tight ship 1 rice cooker (I can’t cook rice the other way) (tractor, wheel hoe, wash shed?) at the farm, and we are much happier and more Preparation: effective when we can stick to our Slice the onion. Coarsely chop the garlic. Slice one serano pepper to taste (I schedule! usually use only half, but if you like it hot by all means). Strip Sukuma from the stem, coarsely chop, and set aside. Cut tomatoes in chunks and set aside. If you have to come late, pick up your share from my porch. Place onion, garlic, and pepper in the frying pan. Add oil to coat the bottom of If you miss the 6:30 close of the farm pan. Add the turmeric and set aside for 1 hour (less time if you are in a hurry). stand, you can get your share from my The secret is in this paste—I call it paste but it is more the consistency of a front porch at 1814 Sheridan Drive. It thick oil. You want it to be orangish- yellow (remember turmeric will stain takes me about a half hour to pack up the your clothes and hands yellow) and fairly thick. Add more oil now to thicken farm stand and get home, so the shares it. Or add water while cooking if it seems too thick. are usually there by 7:00 pm. They stay out over night until 6:00 am on Friday, when I Cooking: consolidate and repack them for the Cook rice according to directions. kitchen below. Place the frying pan with the paste over high heat and sauté for about 2-3 minutes, continuously stirring. Add all the Sikuma to the pan. Place your If you completely forget your hand flat on the Sikuma and push it down firmly until you begin to hear the share, it goes into a free meal Sukuma pop (sounds like popcorn with the freshest Sikuma). Once you hear the sound, remove your hand and begin mixing constantly. You may have to for the needy. lower the heat. (You can leave the hand part out so you don’t get burned—but CSA member Shirley Jonas picks up any give it a whirl as you become more experienced.) Coat the Sukuma with paste unclaimed shares from my porch on Friday as you stir. If the paste becomes to thick, add water to thin. Cook until the morning and uses them in a free Sukuma is wilted and bright green. Cooking time is about 10 minutes or so. community meal that she prepares each Friday at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on Once your Sukuma Wiki is done, add tomatoes, cover the pan, and turn off the the south side. While it is sad when CSA heat. Set aside. Do not stir once you add tomatoes. You want them warm, not members do not get their vegetables for fully cooked. Serve over warm rice. the week, at least you can know that they are going into another hungry belly.

Urban Roots Volume 4, Issue 2 9 June 2005

In the Box In the BoxClaire’s Comments

Broccoli

Radish Off to a great start! Pac Choi This week last year I wrote about all the trouble we were Kale having in the field. It was raining and raining fit to wash us away. Spinach The man we hired to do the primary tillage couldn’t finish the job Lettuce before he started getting wet, so we had huge waves of soil in the field that took many hours of tilling by hand to smooth out. Then our tiller broke. Then the brakes on the truck went. It felt I don’t think we could have fit any like we were dealing with one catastrophe after another, and we more leafy things in the share this week! If you are a fan of greens, this is the time of kept falling further and further behind. year for you. If you are not a greens lover, While we have definitely had a few things go wrong this I have a plan for you to use them all up year (including the hail storm a few weeks back that took out a easily and deliciously. third of our tomato crop), and we really could use a bit more rain First the kale: this is definitely one than we are getting, overall we are off to a great start. Even the of my favorite vegetables. The easiest way tomatoes are looking healthy and strong now that we replaced to prepare it is to sauté some onion and the dead ones and gave them all a little time to grow. And most garlic (your green garlic from last week will work perfectly) in olive oil. Add the washed, importantly we are right on schedule with planting. All our major chopped kale and cover. The wash water crops are in the ground: peppers, eggplant, summer and winter still clinging to the leaves will steam the squash, even the CSA flower garden is planted and beginning to kale. Finally, add some tamari and red take off. The memory of last year’s difficulties definitely makes wine vinegar, stir and cover again. The kale this smooth spring all the sweeter. is done when it is THOROUGHLY wilted, Part of the reason everything is going so smoothly this year and a deep green (or purple) color. Be careful not to undercook this vegetable. is because of the great crew we have. Maggie Anderson is back Next is the pac choi. The classic for her second year as the Assistant Farm Manager, and her third way to use this green is to put it in stir fry. year on the farm. She was originally an intern in 2003, so she has Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add bite- a lot of experience with Troy at this point and is dong a great job sized cubes of tofu and let them cook for a helping me lead the crew. Camilla Vargas is a graduate student at few minutes. Add chopped broccoli and the UW doing her second year of cover crop research at the farm. pac choi, tamari, maybe some hot pepper oil. You can even throw some sliced radish She also spends a lot of time working with the regular crew. into this dish. Serve with rice. Cassie Wyss is doing a second internship with us, this year Now the spinach. Honestly, I don’t focusing on establishing our new wholesale herb business. Kevin really have much new to say about the Coleman and Emily Bernstein are new interns this year and have spinach. I can never get enough of that both been great additions to the team. Kevin has taken on salad with sautéed onions and garlic, feta getting all our hand tools sharpened and working smoothly. And cheese, and kalamata olives that I told you Emily is doing the bulk of the work on an insect monitoring about last week. I eat it in a serving bowl size and hate to “waste” my spinach on program for the WI Department of Agriculture we are newly part anything else. The season is just too short. of this season. Most importantly we all work well together and The heat will likely do this crop in after just enjoy learning from each other. one more delivery. Our next challenge will be to get all the crops weeded None of those ideas sound good? before the quack grass, bindweed, and thistle take over. It’s a Take a look at the polenta pie recipe on the good thing I (at least) love weeding. And with the new sharp back. It’s a really yummy way to use greens. edges Kevin is putting on our hoes, we should be in great shape.

Polenta Pie Upcoming Events Claire Strader

You can use one or all of the greens in this delivery in this dish (except the lettuce. Farm Volunteer Days Have that in a salad on the side.) While it is easy, it does use a few more pots than Fridays, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. I really like. But the payoff is a delicious meal and plenty of leftovers that store and at Troy Community Farm reheat easily. The farm has an open volunteer day Greens every Friday afternoon. This time is for 1 bunch kale (and/or pac choi, spinach, chard) washed and chopped fun jobs like transplanting (early in the 1 medium onion or some scallions, chopped season), mulching, weeding (Claire 2 cloves garlic or one stalk of green garlic, chopped honestly loves weeding!), and some olive oil harvesting of large crops like garlic, tamari onions, and squash (later in the year). cider vinegar Everyone is welcome to join in whenever they can. While calling ahead Sauté the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the is appreciated (so Claire can plan), it’s wet, chopped greens. Cover and let steam for several minutes. When the not required. greens are quite limp, add a bit of tamari and quite a bit of cider vinegar. Let steam a little longer. Savor the Summer Festival Saturday, 6 August, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 Sauce p.m. at Troy Gardens Really any tomato sauce will do. Use your favorite or make this simple version. Mark your calendars now for this 1 onion, chopped annual Troy Gardens event! We will 2 cloves garlic or one stalk of green garlic, chopped start out in the morning at the farm 1 red or green pepper, chopped harvesting fresh flowers for bouquets, olive oil and making dried flower swags for you Fresh or canned tomatoes, diced to take home. In the afternoon there Fresh or dried basil will be music and food, including huitlacoche (a corn mushroom grown

at the farm). And the festival will close Sauté the onion, garlic, and pepper in a few tablespoons of olive with a performance by the Young oil. Add the tomatoes and basil, and let the sauce bubble and reduce. Shakespeare Players. There will be

activities for kids throughout the day, a Polenta and Pie Assembly tour of the site, and plenty of fun and 2 cups polenta fresh air for everyone. 6 cups water 1/2 pound garlic cheddar cheese, shredded

Boil the water. Add the polenta to the boiling water and keep stirring it while it cooks and thickens. Now put it all together. You can use a rectangular cake pan, or a casserole dish, or even a large cast iron skillet to hold it all. First spoon half the polenta into the bottom of the casserole, and smooth it into an even layer. Then, spoon in half of the greens in a layer. On top of that, spoon in half the sauce. Finally, spread half the shredded cheese. Repeat the layers with the other half of the ingredients, topping the whole thing with the second layer of cheese. Bake at 350° degrees for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the pie is bubbling. Remove, and let cool until the pie can be safely sliced. The cooler the pie is the easier it is to lift whole slices from the pan, but good luck waiting that long. Just writing about it makes me want to have this dish tonight!

Troy Community Farm Send newsletter comments, Claire Strader suggestions, and recipe ideas to: 1814 Sheridan Drive Liz and Marcia Campbell, Editors Madison, WI 54704 [email protected] Phone: 442-6760 e-mail: [email protected] In the Box

Urban Roots

Volume 4, Issue 20 13 October 2005 In the Bag In theClaire’s Box Comments

Butternut Squash, 1 piece Thanks

Carrots, 1 bag It’s the 13th of October and it’s the final CSA delivery for 2005. It Onions, 1 bag has definitely been a year of ups and downs. We had tremendous Sweet Potatoes, 1 bag successes this year (like the melons and honey) and bitter failures (like the potatoes and onions). But through it all you, our CSA members, have been Brussels Sprouts, 1 bag our biggest strength and support. Leeks, 1 bunch Both Maggie and I want to thank you for all your patience and kindness this summer. As you know there were some weeks when we Chard or Kale, 1 bunch were not at all sure that we would make it to October 13th with vegetables to Choice of Herb, 1 bunch deliver. I remember clearly those week and weeks without rain, without hope for rain. And as we reported that there wouldn’t be many potatoes or Garlic, 2 heads onions this year because of the drought, so many of you helped us rejoice Ristra, 1 string in the abundance of tomatoes and squash instead. As we offered up our puny red peppers, you told us how good they tasted. As we struggled with Gourds 3 pieces all the things that went wrong, you reminded us that things were going right too. You kept coming to get your vegetables, you smiled, you told us our It’s a long list this week. melons were the sweetest you’ve had, how you learned to love leeks, how But everything in the share your partners were converted to kale or beets. We really needed your keeps pretty well, so you have support this year, and we love you for giving it so generously. You kept us some time to use it all up. going. The one item you may want to We also want to thank all the folks who came out to work at the use sooner than later is the farm over the season. Camilla has been with Troy for two years now doing chard or kale. As you know, research for her agronomy thesis, and has always given more time and my favorite way to eat greens more effort than we ever expected. She will finish her thesis this winter, is to sauté onion and garlic and the farm will not be the same without her next year. All our interns in olive oil, add the cleaned were fun to be around and did excellent work. Thanks to Laura who tested and chopped greens with dashes her strength setting up the greenhouse in the spring and hauling around all of tamari and red wine that soil; Cassie who came back for a second season at the farm and took vinegar, cover and let it all the new herb business under her capable wing; Kevin who kept our tools in thoroughly wilt. It’s a yummy good order and took all the ribbing we could dish out; and Emily who did our side dish with any meal. pest monitoring and dished out her own fair share of good-natured mocking. The sweet potatoes this This group was truly a joy to work with. week come from Tricia at Luna We also had a great group of worker shares this year. Beulah, Circle Farm. Tricia was short April, Meg, and Brendon have all been at Troy for two or more years. They on peas earlier in the year know the ropes and I trust them to not only do their work but also to help and also on butternuts this out others who don’t have as much experience. Sarah, Mary and Paul, fall. So we provided those Nora, and Jenny were all new to the farm this season and they all did items for her CSA members in excellent work with a great attitude. Finally, Sean was our special worker exchange for her beautiful share again this year. He keeps Nicole (the tractor) in good working order sweet potatoes (which are so she is always ready to go when we are. This group is the backbone of certified organic just like ours). She grows on sand our work force (especially when the interns go back to school in August) which is warm and loose and and we couldn’t grow food without them. They are also good at letting us perfect for potatoes of any know what’s good and not so good in the share each week. As working kind. These should be great members, they are a great help with quality control. for baking. Though it feels like they’ve been back in school for a long time now, A ristra is a sting of hot we clearly remember all the work that that farm and field students did this peppers. You will often see summer. Manny, Azi, Danielle, Dylan, Kamonzi, Chris, Dwayne, Toby, ristras made of huge, Caleb, Louis, Molly, and Carrie challenged themselves and each other to luxurious red peppers hanging work through the heat and physical discomfort of faming to bring you (continued on the back) in Mexican restaurants or (continued from the front) harvest after harvest of peas, beans, Winter Work summer squash and more. I hope they learned as much from me as I did from The question I always get this time of year is them. “What do you do over the winter?” Here’s the plan: We also want to thank all the volunteers who contributed their time to November – Finish farm clean up, get the greenhouse foundation the farm this summer. Ron came out stakes set for spring, make soil for spring planting, catch up on week after week to give us a hard time and a helping hand; Daniel came by on all the administrative work I’ve let slide over the summer. many Friday afternoons for bean December – Set the crop plan and planting calendar for 2006, harvesting and squash harvesting, and order seeds, recruit interns for spring and summer. tomato harvesting…; Jen came out January – Spend the month in Guatemala studying Spanish and whenever she could put down her violin hiking up volcanoes! for a few hours; Sarah and Kate and Alex February – Start planting – leeks and onions first, followed by and John and others came out for a few adventures in the heat. And Kirstin, herbs, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.; set up the Fawn, Mary and Jenny all helped out at greenhouse in the backyard, sign up CSA members. the farm stand this fall. These volunteers March – Move all the plants from the basement to the and all the groups of adults and students greenhouse; plant the first peas and spinach in the field. who came out to work for a morning or afternoon at the farm made a huge difference in what we were able to get 2006 CSA deliveries begin on done this year. Thanks to them all. Thursday, 1 June! Finally, I want to give a huge thanks to my assistant, Maggie. She started at the farm as an intern in 2003. I was delighted when she accepted my offer to Sonnet come back as a farm employee in 2004 It’s hard to believe that we are making the last CSA delivery and and again in 2005. Over these three years she has become a true farming still there is no frost. All the plants have had a chance to live their partner for me, sharing not only in the full lives without the cold cutting them short. The ruined garden day-to-day tasks at the farm but also in will not be as dramatic this year as a result. And I’ve been so planning and in supervision of the many grateful for the extended warm days we’ve enjoyed. folks who work with us. I am so grateful to have her and I look forward to seeing what we can do together next year! Clearly my ruined garden as it stood Next year. As Maggie and I clean Before the frost came on it I recall – out the buckets and crates, organize the Stiff marigolds, and what a truck of wood shed, plant the winter cover, plant the The zinnia had, that was the first to fall; garlic, and mix 200 gallons of soil for the These pale and oozy stalks, these hanging leaves spring greenhouse, we do it all in preparation for 2006. We are truly happy Nerveless and darkened, dripping in the sun to put this season to rest. And we will be Cannot gainsay me, thought the spirit grieves just as happy to pick up our tools again in And wrings its hands a what the frost had done. February. When the spinach and lettuce If in a widening silence you should guess and green garlic are finally ready for I read the moment with recording eyes, harvest again in June, we hope to see you across the farm stand table just as Taking your love and all your loveliness ready for another year of deliciously Into a listening body hushed of sighs… unpredictable farm, fresh produce. Through the summer’s rife and the warm rose in season, Rebuke me not: I have a winter reason. \

- Edna St Vincent Millay

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE PROVIDES ECONOMIC STABILITY TO STRUGGLING REGIONAL FARMING INDUSTRY Bedford at Falls River is First Master-Planned Community in Nation to Launch CSA Partnership

RALEIGH, N.C. - April 4, 2007 - The Vollmer Farm, located in Bunn, NC, has forged a new partnership with Bedford at Falls River, a Wakefield Development Company community, to make it easier for Raleigh residents to get fresh organic fruits and vegetables while supporting small struggling farms. The initiative connects local growers to consumers through a food program called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and is the first of its kind in the country to involve a master-planned community.

The CSA movement began four decades ago in Japan, when young mothers wanted healthy and safe food from local farmers they knew. This grassroots movement has been adopted by more than 2,000 small farmers in the United States. Approximately 100 CSA farms in North Carolina are sustained by the economic and social benefits of the program.

“Vollmer Farm is a fifth generation family-owned and -operated business, and we are continuing to take risks and be innovative in our industry,” said Farmer John Vollmer, who was born on Vollmer Farm and operates it with his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. “Our family used to discuss how we could foster a better relationship with our community. CSA will help us with the substantial start up costs each crop season, and in return, gives our customers the peace of mind that comes from knowing and trusting the people who grow their food.”

In early January, Mr. Vollmer contacted his local North Carolina Cooperative Extension (NCCE) office to learn how he could adapt his business to a changing socio-economic climate. The NCCE office introduced the concept of CSA, which the Vollmers quickly embraced. Prior to the start of the season, shares are sold in the harvest to individuals and families. The cost per regular subscription is $500 for 20 weeks, which goes toward the cost of growing and distributing a season’s worth of produce.

“In recent years, North Carolina has led the nation in farming losses, with more than 6,000 farms and 300,000 acres of farmland closed since 2002,” said Theresa J. Nartea, Agribusiness & Marketing Specialist for the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. “The Vollmer Family serves as a tangible and inspiring example to other small farms in NC, if not the nation, of how a traditional farm can stay on the land in the current social-economic transition that is taking place nationwide.”

From April to August, the Vollmer Family will deliver the week’s harvest, in bulk, to Bedford at Falls River. The launch of the program is Wednesday, April 4, 2007. Typically, five to seven different fresh picked vegetables and fruits will be delivered weekly. While the strawberry crop has already been grown organically, this season 100 percent will be USDA-certified organic.

“Bedford at Falls River is incredibly proud to be the first master-planned community in the nation with a CSA,” said Dawn Forrest, Director of Marketing for Wakefield Development Company. “CSA allows the homeowners at Bedford access to fresh, healthy produce, but it brings them together at the social level as well. Customers can share cooking stories and recipes while collecting their weekly box, and their children learn that food doesn’t come from the supermarket, but from the earth,”

About Bedford at Falls River Bedford at Falls River, a Wakefield Development Company community, revives the traditional neighborhood setting and atmosphere while combining modern conveniences of today’s homes. For more information about the community, please visit www.BedfordTradition.com, call (919) 792-0100, or visit the Welcome Center at 4390 Falls River Ave., Raleigh, NC 27614.

About Wakefield Development Company Wakefield Development Company is the Triangle’s largest developer of residential communities, with a portfolio that includes over 14,000 home sites. In addition to the 2004 NCHBA Community of the Year, Bedford at Falls River, the company has six other communities under development across the Raleigh-Wake County market, including Wakefield Plantation, Eagle Ridge, Edgewater, Cornerstone, Delta Ridge and Twin Lakes. Wakefield is developing Mackintosh on the Lake in Burlington, and will begin construction of two new Triangle area communities, Renaissance Park and Twelve Oaks. For more information, call (919) 556-4310, visit www.Wakedev.com, or email [email protected].

Media Contact Bana Miller Littleton Advertising & Marketing Phone: (919) 865-7269 [email protected]

What is CSA, Anyway? Who We Are & Why try CSA with Us? How our CSA Program works The Community Supported Agriculture (called The Vollmer Farm is a fifth generation family Share Subscription: CSA by many folks) movement began four dec- owned and operated local farm, located in Bunn, We offer two produce subscription choices: ades ago in Japan, when young mothers wanted NC, which is next Regular: Feeds 2 adults, 2 children/wk: $500.00 healthy & safe food from door to Raleigh and Smaller: Feeds 2 adults/wk: $360.00 local farmers they knew! Durham. We have In Japan this community been able to stay in Payment Plan: connection was called business by offering You can pay in full, or you can pay the deposit “Tekkei,” this means only the best and (For full subscription: $150.00, or half subscrip- “Food with a Face.” freshest produce to tion: $100.00) at sign up, and the remainder on This grass roots move- our customers. We or before April 1, 2007. You can pay by cash, or ment has been adopted in have been selling our fresh farm products in the check written to: The Vollmer Farm, or by credit the United States and Triangle area for over 15 years, and this year we card. It’s up to you! over 2,000 small family are proud to offer our delicious, nutritious and farmers are sustained by local produce to our farm friends, in a new CSA What can I expect? the economic and social subscription format. This just means that you Expect from 5 to 7 different items in your share benefits of CSA. can have the ease and convenience of enjoying a box each week! You will receive enough of each variety of fresh-picked, premium quality, local item to feed your Community Supported Agriculture is a direct produce items delivered to your neighborhood. household for the marketing connection between local farmers & week. See our har- consumers who care! Your 20-week subscription share will be gently vest table (on back hand-packed in a box, every week from April 4th How does CSA Work? of brochure), to see to August 15th 2007. Just come pick it up at the a list of crops we In a CSA, you have the op- farm or in selected delivery sites in or around the are planting and portunity to pre-purchase a Triangle. Times and locations will be announced. when they are ex- share of the harvest before We think you are going to enjoy this pick up or pected to be ripe for harvest. During our harvest the growing season begins. It delivery option and we thank you for giving our season (April 4th to August 15th 2007), you will works just like a subscription family a chance to thrill you with some very deli- have the opportunity to enjoy a great variety of to your favorite magazine! cious and healthy farm-grown products. You pay for your farm food delivery before it is produce We hope harvested, relax and then enjoy the food when it is We know you’ll enjoy eating what’s in season! you’ll join our delivered to you during the growing season! Your Look forward each week for easy to prepare reci- Community Sup- pre-purchase helps your farmer with the substan- pes from Vollmer Family members and ported Agriculture tial start up costs each crop season, for example: neighbors. We have some wonderful cooks in the subscription program. By doing so you are mak- buying equipment, seeds and supplies. In return, family and we will help out by making some serving a clear statement to your friends and family you will receive farm fresh, locally grown vegeta- ing suggestions based on the produce that’s in that you care about this planet and the food you bles, fruits & herbs from the farmer you know and your box that week. It’s easy to join The Vollmer put in your body. You are reaching out to small support. Farm CSA! Fill out the enclosed sign up form, farms in North Carolina and helping small farms attach payment, and send it to us to reserve your Why should you be a CSA Member? to keep the land in farming! 2007 subscription! Our family looks forward to serving you in 2007! Eat Fresh Farm Food! We are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of your family’s lives! In 2007, we are offer- Know the Person who grew your Food! ing 50 “share of the harvest” subscriptions of Phone: 919-495-2392 The Vollmer Farm’s freshly-picked produce for Email: [email protected] Be involved in your Community! farm pick up or delivery to your neighborhood. Webpage: www.vollmerfarm.com

The Vollmer Farm CSA Program 2007 Agreement and Registration Form

We are now registering members for the 2007 season. Please read our Grower Agreement and complete our Registration Form. If you have any questions, you can call us at: 919-495-2392 or email us at: [email protected]

Mail these forms in with your deposit, or full payment to:

The Vollmer Farm c/o: CSA Program P. O. Box 171 Bunn, NC 27508

The Vollmer Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Subscriber - Grower Agreement 2007

Subscribers will receive a box of produce each week of a 20 week season, running from April through August. The assortment of produce will vary throughout the season and contain a wide variety ranging from lettuce to tomatoes, peppers to cantaloupe, basil to strawberries. Due to the unpredictability of farming, we cannot guarantee any specific item. We do not customize individual boxes.

1. Subscribers may purchase a Regular Share (average $25 worth of produce per week) or a Smaller Household Share (average $18 worth of produce per week). A subscriber may elect to pay the full amount at registration, or make a deposit at registration with the full balance due by April 1st 2007. A deposit of $150 is required for a Regular Share, $100 for a Smaller Household Share.

2. Subscribers are responsible for picking up their boxes at one of the designated pickup points (specific locations to be communicated later). Subscribers are encouraged to find friends or family to pick up their share if they will be away.

3. Pick up points are planned for Raleigh (The Bedford at Falls River Subdivision), Dur- ham, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Rocky Mount, Lake Royale, and at the Farm in Bunn. Other locations in the vicinity may be established as demand warrants.

4. Subscribers may visit the farm, with the understanding that their visit will not interrupt work in progress. Children are welcome, provided they are supervised.

This agreement represents a season-long contract; if for any reason a member must end their subscription, The Vollmer Farm will transfer your share to an individual of your choice. If for any reason, a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made to have someone else pick up the share, or the share will be donated to the local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______

Date: ______

The Vollmer Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): 2007 Registration Form

Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

1. Our Subscription Choices (Please check all options that apply): □ Regular Subscription (20 weeks x $25.00 per week) = $500.00 x ______number of shares □ Smaller Subscription (20 weeks x $18.00 per week) = $360.00 x ______number of shares □ My total share commitment will be: $______

2. Please select the Payment Plan of your choice and attach your payment.

2A. Partial Payment Enclosed: □ I have enclosed the $150.00 deposit for: Regular Subscription ($150.00 now; $350.00 by April 1st) □ I have enclosed the $100.00 deposit for: Smaller Subscription ($100.00 now; $260.00 by April 1st)

2B. Regular Subscription Payment (paid in full): □ I have enclosed the entire payment of $500.00

2C. Smaller Subscription Payment (paid in full) □ I have enclosed the entire payment of $360.00

2D. Credit Card: If you wish to use a credit card, we will accept Visa or Master Card for the full share price. Complete the following information and FAX it to us at: 919-340-2585 or mail it to us.

I am using this credit card:

□ Visa: Full Name on Card ______#______-______-______-______Exp. Date______

□ MasterCard: Full Name on Card ______#______-______-______-______Exp. Date______

3. I prefer to pick up my share in the following location, exact location to be announced: □ Wake Forest, NC □ Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC □ Raleigh, NC: Bedford Community □ Durham, NC □ Rocky Mount, NC □ Lake Royal, NC □ At the Farm (Bunn, NC)

4. Check the following: □ I will attend the Memorial Day (May 28th) CSA members only open house & farm tour. □ I will not attend the Memorial Day (May 28th) CSA members only open house & farm tour.

Thank you for supporting North Carolina’s small farm families!

April 10, 2007

Customers look over spring strawberries last year at the Duke Farmers Market | Duke University Photography Coming Soon: Fresh Fruit and Veggies

Mobile Farmers Market sign-up begins March 27; First market is April 13

By Elizabeth Michalka

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Note to Editors: This article originally appeared in Working@Duke.

DURHAM, NC -- Mark Kitchens traded potato chips for cucumbers as a snack, thanks to Duke’s Mobile Farmers Market. He signed up for the first mobile farmers market last spring because he wanted to eat more vegetables and support local growers.

Off to Market We Go

Campus News/Working at Duke

A supervisor for Duke Technical Services, Kitchens was so pleased with his experience that he will once again buy shares from a local farmer’s crop during the second mobile farmers market from April to October. Employees can sign up for the mobile market from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. March 27 at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens or 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 13 at the Duke Farmers Market in front of the medical center bookstore off Coal Pile Drive. Employees can also sign up directly with farmers by calling or e-mailing them before April 13. The list of farmers is on the LIVE FOR LIFE Web site.

The mobile market, which is managed by LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee health promotion program, involves pre-paying for one or more shares, which represent a part of a week’s harvest. Items vary by week and farmer. Farmers bring their products, already boxed, to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens parking lot off Anderson Road from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays for pick up.

“You can literally drive up right next to your farmer, get out, get your box and go on your way,” said Kitchens, who bought shares last year from Brinkley Farms of Creedmoor.

Duke’s market is the first of its kind at a university, said Theresa Nartea, agribusiness and marketing specialist for the Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.

Nartea helped launch the first workplace community supported agriculture in 2002 in Research Triangle Park. She helped LIVE FOR LIFE create Duke’s market.

“The mantras of ‘food with a face’ and ‘farm to table’ are resonating with our society,” Nartea said. “The mobile market serves as a touch-and-feel wellness program that can inspire other large workplaces to be a link between local farms and their employees.”

Kitchens paid $13 a week for his share, comparable, if not cheaper than buying similar produce in a grocery store. And it’s fresher. “The cucumbers had a texture that was far superior to anything I’ve ever gotten in a grocery store,” he said.

The mobile market is also beneficial for farmers such as Bonnie Williams who runs Belle-Lark Farms with her family in Sanford. Williams had 17 customers at Duke last year, but she has expanded farm production to take 30 customers this year.

“It’s nice when you can sell everything that you grow,” she said. “The more we sell, the more encouraged we are to grow.”

Source: http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2007/03/farmers._print.ht Delivery of your

(exact dates vary by farm) on ogram at Duke University is -up events, or contact the farmers ke place every Tuesday from 4:00 Learn more and Sign Up: Just enter through the main gates (off of Anderson Reasons to participate include food quality, taste, freshness, In 2007, the Live for Life® Pr In 2007, the Live for Life® Farms deliver spring through fall Farms It’s easy! See the website for sign-up forms, visit the farmers

www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html Community Supported Agriculture comes to Duke! partnering with NC Cooperative Extension to bring you a unique farm partnering with NC Cooperative Extension to bring you a unique farm delivery program that provides you with the opportunity to buy a subscription share of their favorite & healthy products from our participating local farmers! Through the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), you can pick up your weekly box of products, conveniently pre-packed for you to enjoy! convenience, value, and support for sustainable growing methods for local farmers. during one of the advertised sign directly using the contact information on back of this brochure. Tuesday afternoons. Sign up now, as memberships are filled on a first- come, first-served basis. food subscription shares will ta What? in the Duke Gardens Upper Parking lot, beginning to 6:00 PM spring 2007. Street), turn left into the first parking lot. Farmers will bring extra produce for sale, but customers who purchase prepaid shares of goods will have priority when supplies are limited. Why? How? When?

(12 weeks) (12 I = $144 ($12/wk) ($12/wk) $144 I = F = $288 ($24/wk) July 9-Sept 24 C = $180 ($15/wk)C

May 15-Oct 9 Aug onlyAug = $27 July only = $29 *Oct only = $47 Sept only = $32 *Nov only*Nov = $46 June only = $35 $35 = only June April 24 - Oct 23 - Oct 24 April May 15 - Sept 25 June 22-Sept 28* 22-Sept June April 17 - Sept 25 Sept - 17 April May 1 -May August 28 May 29 -May October 9 April 17 - October 2 - October 17 April April 17 - October 2 - October 17 April Delivery Period & Price Price & Period Delivery 22 wks x $17/wk =x wks $374 22 20 wks x $16/wk =x wks $320 20 C: 25 wks x x $5/wk 25C: = $125 wks *3: 20 wks x $6/wk = $120 = $120 x $6/wk wks *3: 20 1: x $10/wk $240 wks 24 = 2: x $20/wk $480 wks 24 = F: 25 wks x $25/wk = $625 F: 25 wks x $10/wk = $250 F: 18 wks x $20/wk = $360 C: 18 wks x $12/wk = $216 C: 25 wks x $18/wk = $450 Full share: (all 6 mo.) = $194 Full (all share: $194 = 6 mo.) S: 25 x wks $15/wk = $375.00 R: 25 wks x $21/wk = $525.00 (12 weeks) (12 [email protected] I = $96 ($8/wk) ($8/wk) $96 I = Custom: 25 wks x $10/wk = $250 $250 = $10/wk x wks 25 Custom: April 16-July 2 = $216 F ($18/wk) C = $144 = C ($12/wk) [email protected]

berries berries melons melons sprouts sprouts & more... more... & Products or skincare & & skincare insecticides. herbicides or aromatherapy culinary herbs Pesticide free, free, Pesticide natural growing herbs melons & herbs, veggies & Certified Organic Organic Certified methods. Use no no Use methods. variety of flowers, Local, seasonal & & Local, seasonal & Local, seasonal flower bouquets & sustainably-grown sustainably-grown variety of veggies, seasonal heirloom herbs, melons and chemical fertilizers, fertilizers, chemical Seasonal varietySeasonal of Seasonal fruitsSeasonal and chemical free, fresh Organic vegetables, vegetables. Practice Transitional-Certified herbs, & mushrooms scratch, fresh breads vegetablesberries, & lavender spice, plants Shares include variety of: lavender bouquets; Variety of from-made- products, Essentialoil, varieties of vegetables,

Theresa J. Nartea, Agribusiness & Marketing Marketing & Agribusiness Nartea, J. Theresa

* )-feeds 2 2 )-feeds )-feeds 2 2 )-feeds Questions? 28. Box: Available feeds 2 adults feeds Feeds 2 adults Feeds Small (S)-feeds 2 2 (S)-feeds Small Family (F)-feeds 4 Family (F)-feeds 4 Family (F)-feeds 4 1: Make own; your *3: Gourmet herbs Family (F) -feeds 4 4 -feeds (F) Family Couple (C)-feeds 2 Couple (C Couple (C Couple (C) -feeds2 Regular (R)-feeds 4 4 (R)-feeds Regular Various once-a-month Individual (I)-feeds1 Share of the Harvest chemical free,chemical lavender Nov shares pick up Sept Sept pick shares up Nov Share Subscription(s) 2: We make, you take; you make, 2: We Hearty & Healthy Box: products. Pick up at *Duke 3 unique subscriptions: deliveries ofpesticide free, Farmers Market only, Oct & Market only, & Oct Farmers

[email protected]

illiams illiams

Climax, NC NC Climax, Lyon Farms Lyon Sanford, NC Durham, NC www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html Susie Whaley Susie Whaley Maple Hill, NC NC Hill, Maple NC A&T State University. NC Cooperative Extension Live for Life® Live for Life® [email protected] Brinkley Farms Creedmoor, NC Creedmoor, NC Hurdle Mills, NC Hurdle Mills, NC Dogwood Farms Dogwood Blue Bakery Hen Ph: 919.732.5533 919.732.5533 Ph: Ph: 919.528.3263 919.528.3263 Ph: Ph: 910.470.0002 910.470.0002 Ph: Ph: 919.775.4366 919.775.4366 Ph: 919.528.0604 Ph: 336.871.2005 Ph: 336.685.4800 Ph: Sandy Ridge,Sandy NC Technical Assistance Provided by: Belle-Lark Farms Mark & Rose Lyon Mathura Spradling WeatherHand Farm (Alphabetical Order) Annie Greer Baggett Knot Hill Flower Farm Mary & Nelson & Mary James [email protected] [email protected] Sunshine Lavender Farm Taylor Bonnie & W Participating Farm/Vendor [email protected] Michael Jennifer & Brinkley Creek OrganicsSnow Farm [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Sharon Shari Addison & Metzger Ph: 919.644.1036Ph: or 919.619.2079 Ph: 919.489.0139Ph: or 919.880.1073 Sharon Weatherly John Handler & [email protected] [email protected]

Fresh, Local, Sustainable – Taste the Difference! Fresh, Local, Sustainable – Taste the Difference!

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement began in Europe and Japan over 30 years ago, with the first CSA established in the U.S. in 1986. The adoption of CSA concepts by farmers and communities continues to grow, with over 1,000 such farms across the nation today. Reasons to Participate in CSA

CSA directly connects consumers with local farmers. In a CSA system, the • farmer grows food for a group of customers who pledge to buy a portion Convenient – Your choice of two delivery spots for easy pick-up. (called a share) of the farm’s harvest for the upcoming season. This system • – Buying direct means competitive prices for quality produce. gives growers the upfront, interest-free cash to finance and sustain their Value operation. In addition, the grower receives a higher income from their • produce (and the customer saves money), since a “middleman” is not Fresh – Grown for taste, not for transport. Usually harvested just necessary. hours before delivery, at the peak of ripeness.

• Healthy – Studies show health and nutritional benefits of produce grown using organic methods.

• Safe – Farms practice reduced or no pesticide use for crops. Livestock are raised without antibiotics, hormones, or animal byproducts.

• Environmentally friendly – Organic and sustainable methods are easier on the land and its inhabitants, and supporting family farms How does it work at Duke? helps protect greenspace and agricultural areas in the Triangle.

In 2007, the Duke Mini-Mobile Farmers Market-CSA program will • include nine farms, providing a wide range of vegetables, fruit, berries, Stewardship – Make your food dollars count by supporting local baked goods, flowers, herbs, bath & body, honey and more. Farms will family farms and helping to sustain communities. deliver on Tuesdays between 4 and 6 p.m. at the Sarah P. Duke • Gardens upper parking lot on Duke’s main campus. Unique – All your favorite foods, as well as varieties you won’t find in grocery stores. Fresher, healthier, more flavorful. Each farm offers shares of different sizes and costs. One farm allows customers to choose exactly what they want each week, while others • Connect – Know and trust the people who grow the food you eat. provide a variety of goods each week, depending on availability. Signing up for a share helps local farmers to earn needed funds in advance, and your commitment pays off in the priceless dividends of better health, food safety and environmental protection for you, your family, and your community. Learn more and Sign Up: www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

At sunshine lavender farm We grow fields of lush lavender, without harmful pesticides, using safe organic and sustainable methods. Our fresh, soothing lavender is the essential ingredient for creating healthy, luxurious and therapeutic products for your busy lifestyle. We hope our friends at Duke University will enjoy the convenience and simple pleasure of receiving our lavender-based CSA share offerings! Stock your gift closet with local, lavender gifts!!

Name: Annie Greer Baggett Farm Name: sunshine lavender farm Email: [email protected] Phone: 919.732.5533 Address: 4104 Millstone Road, Hurdle Mills, NC 27541 Website: www.sunshinelavenderfarm.com This year we will be offering the following pre-paid share subscriptions for a six month delivery period beginning Friday, June 22nd and ending Friday, September 28th (October and November pick up at the final Duke Farmers’ Market. We will deliver your monthly share at the Duke Hospital Farmers’ Market on the following dates. In addition, you can pick just one month or only the months you like, we will happily accommodate your unique lavender dreams & wishes! Thank you for supporting local farms, your support makes all the difference for small family farms like ours! June 22nd Refresh Me Share July 27th Take Care of Me Share August 17th Massage Me Share $35.00 $29.00 $27.00 Fresh & Fat Lavender Bouquet Lavender Bed & Bath Powder Lavender Essential Oil Gallon Lavender Potted Plant Lavender Lip Balm Lavender Oversized Bar Soap Culinary Lavender & Recipes Lavender Sachet for Pocket or Pillow Lavender Candle Tin

October Comfort Me Share November Pamper Me Share Sept 14th Clean Me Share Pick up on 9.28.07 final Market at Duke Pick up on 9.28.07 final Market at Duke $32.00 $47.00 $46.00 Lavender Laundry Booster Three Lavender Potted Plants Lavender Bath Salts Lavender Dryer Sachets Lavender Grill & Fire Bundles Lavender Hand & Body Cream Lavender Liquid Soap Large Preserved Lavender Bouquet Lavender Eye Pillow

We need a minimum of 25 share subscriber members, but can have up to 100 members in 2007. Please sign up today!

Please mail this form and your check (payable to: Annie Baggett (sunshine lavender farm)) Please send to us by April 6, 2007. Mail it to this address:

sunshine lavender farm Annie Greer Baggett 4104 Millstone Road Hurdle Mills, NC 27541

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------

Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from the following share subscription choices (you may choose more than one): □ Full Share (Includes all 6 delivery months): $194.00 (Save 10%) x ___ number (#) of shares = ______□ June Share Only: $35.00 x ______# of shares = ______□ July Share Only: $29.00 x ______# of shares = ______□ August Share Only: $27.00 x ______# of shares = ______□ September Share Only: $32.00 x ______# of shares = ______□ *October Share Only: $47.00 x ______# of shares = ______□ *November Share Only: $46.00 x ______# of shares = ______Farmer Annie extolling the many virtues * Pick up on September 28, 2007 at the final Duke Farmers' Market & uses of lavender to her customers. My total share subscription commitment will be: $______

Please make check payable to: Annie Baggett (sunshine lavender farm)

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their share subscription, sunshine lavender farm will transfer the remainder your share subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their monthly share, arrangements should be made by the member to have someone else pick up the share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to a local senior center to soothe and comfort the elderly. Signature: ______Date: ______

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html At Snow Creek Family Organics Farm, we believe…food should be grown without the use of chemical pesticides, non-organic fertilizers or herbicides. We are proud to be a USDA Certified Organic family owned and operated farm. Our farmstead is nestled in the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in Sandy Ridge, NC. We are currently growing over 30 varieties of organic vegetables in the low lands on the misty bank of Snow Creek!

Name: Martin Mathura Spradling Farm Name: Snow Creek Family Organics Email: [email protected] Phone: 336.871.2005 Address: 1190 Rama Road, Sandy Ridge, NC 27046 Website: www.localharvest.org/farms/M9713

Locally-Grown, Certified Organic Produce This year, we are offering 25 weeks th nd Specializing in Specialty & Heirloom Varieties! (April 17 to October 2 2007) of *Expect 5 to 8 items from this list, weekly! seasonal, certified organic and fresh- Month(s) Month(s) picked produce to our friends at Crop Item Crop Item Available Available Duke University. Arugula April-June, Oct Sweet Corn July Basil June-Oct Melons July We offer two (2) subscription options. Green Beans June-Aug Tomatoes July-Sept Both options can be paid in two-half Yellow Beans June-Aug Turnips May-June payments (one-half at time of Beets May-July Winter Squash Sept-Oct subscribing and the balance by June Sweet Peppers July-Oct Alfalfa Sprouts April-Oct Broccoli May-June Sunflower Sprouts April-Oct 19, 2007). Each week you will receive Cabbage June-July Clover Sprouts April-Oct a harvested share box of seasonal Carrots May-July Broccoli Sprouts April-Oct produce that includes a diversity of Collards April-June Radish Sprouts April-Oct Cucumbers June-July Hot Peppers July-Oct produce items we grow on our farm. Eggplant July-Oct Potatoes June-July Lettuce May-June Okra Aug-Oct Kale April-June Sweet Potatoes Sept-Oct Mizuna greens April-May Summer Squash June-Aug Peas May-June Spinach April-June Pak Choi May, Sept-Oct Salad Mix April-June Radishes April-June, Sept

Options Share Price Volume of Produce Couple Share Box: $450.00 1 Feeds 1-2 people 1 $450.00 is for 25 weeks of delivery @ $18.00/week

Family Share Box: $625.00 2 Feeds 4-6 people 2$625.00 is for 25 weeks of delivery @ $25.00/week

Please mail this completed form and your check (payable to M. Spradling) by April 6, 2007.

Please send your form and payment to this address: Snow Creek Family Organics Farm M. Spradling 1190 Rama Road Sandy Ridge, NC 27046

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from the following subscription share choices (you may choose more than one): □ Couple Share Box = $450.00 x ___ number of shares *25 weeks x $18.00/box of organic produce □ Family Share Box = $625.00 x ___ number of shares *25 weeks x $25.00/box of organic produce My total share subscription commitment will be: $______

Payment Options (Please make check payable to M. Spradling): □ Pay in full □ Pay in one-half now and pay the balance by June 19, 2007.

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their share subscription, Snow Creek Family Organics farm will transfer the remainder of your share subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made to have someone else pick up your delivered share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to the local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature:______Date:______

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html Lyon Farms is a fourth generation family owned and operated local farm, located in Creedmoor, NC, which is smack dab between Raleigh and Durham. We have been able to stay in business by offering only the best and freshest produce to our customers. In 2007, we are offering our delicious, nutritious and local produce to our friends at Duke, in a Subscription format. This just means that you can have the ease and convenience of enjoying a variety of fresh-picked, premium quality, local produce items delivered directly to you. Your weekly subscription share will be gently hand-packed in a box, every week from May 1, 2007 to August 28, 2007.

You will pick up your weekly share at the Duke Gardens delivery site, every Tuesday afternoon, between 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. How nice is that? We think you are going to enjoy this delivery option and we thank you for giving our family a chance to knock your socks off with some very wonderful and healthy produce!

Name: Mark and Rose Lyon Farm Name: Lyon Farms Email: [email protected] Phone: 919.528.3263 Mailing Address: 1549 Northside Road Creedmoor, NC 27522

A Healthy Season of Fresh Value! *Expect 5 to 7 items each week from this list, we grow more than this, but this is an idea: To give you an idea of how this works, we will offer Month Fresh Market 18 weeks of delivered produce. We have two share Crop Item Available Price/Unit box sizes for you to choose from: Couple (feeds 1-2 Strawberries May $3.00/qt people) and Family (feeds 3-4 people). Below is an Lettuce May $2.00/head example of the different share box combinations you Broccoli May $1.50/lb might expect to receive. Of course, we grow more Cauliflower May $2.00/head items but we just wanted you to get a “feel” for what Savory Greens May $2.00/bag our delivered share offerings would look like: Spinach May $2.00/bag

Arugula May $2.00/bag Example of Share Size and Value Basil May-June $2.00/bag Cabbage May $1.00/head Typical Couple Share (July), feeds 1-2 adults Onions May-June $1.00/lb 1 Watermelon $ 4.00 Potatoes May-June $1.00/lb 1 pint Blueberries $ 3.00 Cucumbers May-Aug $1.00/lb 1 lb. Green Beans $ 2.00 Zucchini June-July $1.00/lb 1 lb. Cucumbers $ 1.00 Squash June-July $1.00/lb 1.5 lb. Tomatoes $ 2.00 Blueberries June-July $3.00/pint Total: $12.00 Butter Beans (unsh.) July-Aug $1.50/lb Butter Beans (sh.) July-Aug $4.00/pint Typical Family Share (July), feeds 2 adults & 2 children Green Beans June-Aug $2.00/lb 1 Watermelon $ 4.00 Sweet Corn June-Aug 3 for $1.00 1 lb Zucchini $ 1.00 Cantaloupes July $2.00 each 1 pint Blackberries $ 3.00 Watermelon July $4.00 each 1 pint Blueberries $ 3.00 Blackberries July $3.00/pint 2 lb. Cucumbers $ 2.00 Okra July-Aug $3.00/lb 2 lb. Tomatoes $ 3.00 Tomatoes (15 kinds) July-Aug $1.50/lb 1 dozen Sweet Corn $ 4.00 Honeydew July-Aug $2.00 each Total: $ 20.00 Eggplant July-Aug $2.00/lb We can have up to 80 share subscriber members in 2007. Please sign up today! Please mail this completed form & check (payable to: Rose &/or Mark Lyon) by April 6, 2007.

Please send to your completed form and check to this address:

Lyon Farms Rose &/or Mark Lyon 1549 Northside Road Creedmoor, NC 27522

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from the following share subscription choices (you may choose more than one): □ Couple Package (18 weeks x $12.00 per week) = $216.00 x ______number of shares □ Family Package (18 weeks x $20.00 per week) = $360.00 x ______number of shares My total share commitment will be: $______

If paying by check, please make check payable to: Rose &/or Mark Lyon

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their share subscription, Lyon Farms will transfer the remainder of your share subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made by the member to have someone else pick up the delivered share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to a local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______Date: ______

Thank you for supporting local farms. We are so grateful for your patronage!

Farmer Rose Lyon chatting with Duke employee picking up his weekly share subscription.

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

Name: Susie Whaley Farm Name: Knot Hill Flower Farm Email: [email protected] Phone: 919.489.0139 or 919.880.1073 Mailing Address: P. O. Box 51085 Durham, NC 27717

Knot Hill Flower Farm is located in south-west Durham County. We grow an assortment of beautiful flowers and delicious culinary herbs. We are determined to bring our customers the loveliest, highest quality fresh flowers and herbs available. Our flowers and herbs are grown locally and cut within a day or two of delivery to you! By signing up with Knot Hill Flower Farm, you could enjoy a fabulous 24-week season of fresh cut flowers and tasty herbs delivered directly to Duke Gardens every week from April 17, 2007 to September 25, 2007. We grow our flowers and herbs using Flowers A-Z sustainable practices (no pesticides or chemicals, ever! We build soil fertility naturally using cover crops and compost). We care so much Ageratum Lupine about you, and we want you to Ammi Marigold enjoy smelling and eating our Bachelor Buttons Nicotiana crops without the fear of Gourmet Herbs Calendula Rudbeckia being exposed to unsafe Basil Oregano Celosia Salvia substances. We also want you Chives Parsley Cosmos Snapdragon to have that great feeling that Cilantro Rosemary Dill Savory Corncockle Sheep’s Bit comes from knowing the fresh Euphorbia Sweet Pea Fennel Sage flowers & herbs you are Gomphrena Tithonia Mint Thyme enjoying did not harm our Larkspur Zinnia planet’s fragile ecosystems. Your flowers & herbs won’t travel from distant countries in an ozone-depleting, refrigerated cargo plane, ship or 16-wheeler semi-truck. They won’t be over-handled or excessively packaged in land-fill “filling” packaging! Fresh flower and herb subscriptions make a wonderful gift to your loved ones! Brighten your home or office with beautiful flowers. Flowers trigger happy emotions, heighten feelings of satisfaction and affect future behavior in a positive way, according to a study co-sponsored by Rutgers University in New Jersey. Researchers concluded that flowers help people feel less anxious and agitated and the presence of flowers leads to increased contact between family members. Give some to your friends, enhance your living or work space, or indulge yourself. We are excited to offer our Community Supported Agriculture Subscription Program at Duke. We hope you’ll consider adding the fun & joy of flowers & herbs to your life! Our family needs five (5) subscriptions to begin deliveries in 2007.

Please mail this completed form and your check (payable to: Knot Hill Flower Farm)

Please send by April 6, 2007 to:

Knot Hill Flower Farm Susie Whaley P.O. Box 51085 Durham, NC 27717

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from following share subscription choices (you may choose more than one): Flower Share Subscriptions~Delivery Season from April 17, 2007 to September 25, 2007 □ Bouquet subscription: You will receive a fresh bouquet of 10 to 20 assorted stems, depending on flowers used. Stems are lovingly wrapped for transport and include fresh flower preservative packets and easy care instructions. 24 weeks x $10.00 per week = $240.00 x ______number of subscription shares □ We make and you take bouquet subscription: We artfully design a custom floral arrangement and deliver in a vase or container for you to return back the following delivery week. Includes fresh flower preservative packets and easy care instructions. 24 weeks x $20.00 per week = $480.00 x ______number of subscription shares

Herb Share Subscriptions~Delivery Season from May 15, 2007 to September 25, 2007 □ Gourmet herbs for the chef subscription: We clean, bunch our ready to use gourmet herbs. We will deliver a lively & flavorful assortment of 3 to 5 different herb varieties each week for your cooking pleasure! Recipes and other educational information will be emailed to you. 20 weeks x $6.00 per week = $120.00 x ______number of subscription shares □ Choose your own subscription: You decide which weeks and offerings you desire. Contact me to set up. My total share commitment will be: $______

Please make check payable to: Knot Hill Flower Farm

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their share subscription, Knot Hill Flower Farm will transfer the remainder of your share subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made by the member to have someone else pick up the share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to The Flower Shuttle or other local charitable organization.

Signature: ______Date: ______

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html Mary & Nelson James Dogwood Nursery Farms, L.L.C. 18108 NC Hwy 53E Maple Hill, NC 28454 email: [email protected] web: www.localharvest.org/farms/M14389 phone: 910.470.0002 What is CSA, Anyway? The Community Supported Agriculture (called CSA by many folks) movement began four decades ago in Japan, when young mothers wanted healthy & safe food from local farmers they knew! In Japan this community connection was called “Tekkei,” this means “Food with a Face.” This grass roots movement has been adopted in the United States and over 2,000 small family farmers are sustained by the economic and social benefits of CSA. Community Supported Agriculture is a direct marketing connection between local farmers and consumers who care!

How does CSA Work? In a CSA, you pre-purchase a share of the harvest before the growing season begins. Your pre-purchase helps your farmer with the substantial start up costs each crop season, for example: buying equipment, seeds and supplies. In return, you will receive farm fresh, locally grown vegetables fruits & herbs & flowers from the farmer you support.

Why should you be a CSA Member? Eat Fresh Farm Food! Know the Person who grew your Food! Show you Care about Local Agriculture! Be involved in your Community!

Who We Are & Why try CSA with Dogwood Farms? Dogwood Nursery Farms, LLC is a third generation African American sustainable family farm located in Maple Hill, North Carolina. We are currently transitioning our farm to be certified organic. This transition takes three growing seasons to accomplish and requires a good deal of record keeping to meet the high standards of the United States Department of Agriculture, but we work closely with our friends at NC Cooperative Extension and we know it is the right thing for our family to do! We also feel our customers are well worth the effort and we want to do what little we can to help the preserve the precious Earth we live on! Nelson & I grow all our vegetables and mushrooms the old-fashioned way, Mary & Nelson James, proud to be a participating CSA farm in the 2007 Duke Mini Mobile program! with absolutely no chemicals or pesticides, just like our Great Grandparents did, when they started this farm in the 1800’s. We hope you’ll join our Community Supported Agriculture subscription program at Duke. By doing so you are making a clear statement to your friends and family that you care about this planet and the food you put in your body. You are reaching out to small farms in North Carolina and voting with your dollar, saying you are someone who really cares that our countryside is becoming a concrete jungle.

Nelson and I are also a part of the NC A&T State University (Greensboro, NC) Farmer Mentor program, where we are asked to teach other farmers how to keep their land in agriculture. We hope our CSA will be the model that other minority farms will consider in their lives too! We are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the Duke family! In 2007, we are offering 30 “share of the harvest” subscriptions of our freshly- picked, pesticide-free and Table 1: Crops Planted, Value & Amounts to Expect. chemical-free (of course!), transitional organic produce A Healthy Season of Fresh Value! for delivery to our friends at *Expect 5 to 7 items each week, of the list, below:

Duke. Our farm season runs Fresh Market *Share Projected Crop Item from mid-May through early Price/Unit Unit harvest dates October. That's twenty-two Basil $5.99/bunch 1 July-Sept (22) weeks of fresh and Beans, Long $2.99/pound 1 July-Aug absolutely delicious produce Beets $2.77/bunch 1 May-June & herbs and cut flowers! Broccoli $1.84/each 1 May-June Cabbage $1.00/each 1 May-June Each week, you, as a member Cantaloupe $2.00/each 1 July-Sept will receive fantastic values Carrots $1.75/bunch 1 May-June on fresh, great-tasting, local Cauliflower $2.39/each 1 May-June produce. Culinary herbs $1.50/bunch 1 May-Oct Collards $0.89/pound 1 May-June Corn (Sweet) $0.40/each 6 July As a member, you are an Cucumber $0.65/each 4 May-June important partner in our farm Cut Flowers $5.00/bouquet 1 May-Oct operation. From time to Eggplant $1.50/pound 1 July-Sept time, we will ask you to give Garlic (bulb/leaf) $1.00/each 1 May-Oct us important input on what Green Onions $1.00/bunch 1 May-Oct your food preferences and Kale $1.50/bunch 1 May-June desires. We care about you Lettuce $1.50/each 1 May-Oct and would not be in business Mustard Greens $1.50/bunch 1 May-June Peanuts (dried) $3.00/pound 1 Sept-Oct without your participation. Peas (snow) $6.00/ pound 1 May-June We appreciate you so much! Peppers/Sweet $2.39/pound 1 July-Oct Peppers/Hot $3.00/pound 1 July-Oct Share Subscription: Persimmon $1.00/each 1 Sept-Oct $374.00 per season for 22 Potatoes $1.55/pound 1 June-Oct weeks of pesticide & chemical Radishes $1.25/bunch 1 May-June free fresh produce, grown by Shiitake Mushrooms $12.00/pound 1 May-Oct a transitional organic family Summer Squash $1.52/pound 1 June-July Swiss Chard $1.69/bunch 1 May-June farm! A great value at $17.00 Soybeans (in shell) $6.00/pound 1 July-Aug per week. Tomatoes $2.99/pound 1 July-Oct Turnips $1.50/bunch 1 May-June What can I expect? Watermelon $4.00 each 1 July-Sept Expect from 5 to 7 different We grow more than this, but this gives you a good idea of what to expect. items in your share box each week! You will receive enough of each item to feed two vegetable loving adults. See Table 1, above, to see a list of crops we are planting and when they are expected to be ripe for harvest. As you can see, during our harvest season (May 15 to October 9, 2007), you will have the opportunity to enjoy a great variety of farm-grown products. You’ll enjoy eating what’s in season!

Delivery at Duke Gardens: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_map.html

Delivery of food shares takes place every Tuesday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm in the Duke Gardens Upper Parking lot. You will enter through the main gates (off of Anderson Street) and turn left into the first parking lot.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens is located at:

426 Anderson Street Duke University Durham, NC 27708-0341.

To join, mail this form and your check payment (check payable to: Dogwood Nursery Farms, L.L.C.) Please mail completed form and payment by April 6, 2007, to:

Mary & Nelson James, c/o Dogwood Nursery Farms, LLC. 18108 NC Hwy 53E, Maple Hill, NC 28454

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from the following share subscription choices (you may choose more than one): □ Share of the Harvest Box: (22 weeks x $17.00 per week) = $374.00 x ______number of shares Please note: Your box will be enough food for two (2) adults. If you are a just one person, why not share your box with a curious friend or co-worker? When you join, pay for one box together (just pool your money and write one check to Dogwood Nursery Farms, L.L.C. just divide the contents of the box between you & your co-worker! Please make check payable to: Dogwood Nursery Farms, L.L.C. Thank you so much!

My total share commitment will be: $______

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their share subscription, Dogwood Nursery Farms, L.L.C., will transfer the remainder of your share subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made by the member to have someone else pick up the delivered share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to a local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______Date: ______

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

2007 Brinkley Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Program

Contact Information:

Brinkley Farms Michael & Jennifer Brinkley Email: [email protected] Phone: 919-528-0604 Address: 4233 Old Weaver Trail, Creedmoor, NC 27522 Webpage: http://www.brinkleyfarms.com/

A CSA is a community of people coming together to support local farmers by purchasing produce directly from the farmers for their table.

Customers buy a share (paying in advance), then receive a weekly box of fresh produce and/or other farm products, that is delivered to a designated location.

Our CSA is a little different than most in that we allow our customers to choose each week what they will get, instead of receiving a box of whatever we choose to give them. We send an email with a list of what's available for the week, you choose what you want according to your share size and email back with your selections.

We grow approximately 50 different varieties of veggies, starting with lettuce and ending with pumpkins.

1 We have three different share sizes to choose from: Individual (feeds one adult); Couple (feeds two adults); and Family (feeds two adults, two children). You choose your share according to your family size. We also offer two sessions. Our 2007 spring session runs from the week of April 16th through the week of July 2nd. Our 2007 summer/fall session runs from the week of July 9th through the week of September 24th.

In 2007, we will offer pick up sites in Durham, Carrboro, Raleigh, and at the farm. We will also give you a weekly farm update and a featured recipe of the week.

Below is an example of our 2007 CSA packages:

Spring/Summer Summer/Fall April 16 - July 2 July 9 - September 24

Individual - $96 Individual - $144 (12 weeks @ $8 a week) (12 weeks @ $12 a week)

Couple - $144 Couple - $180 (12 weeks @ $12 a week) (12 weeks @ $15 a week)

Family - $216 Family - $288 (12 weeks @ $18 a week) (12 weeks @ $24 a week)

We filled up quickly in 2006, so please mail your applications as soon as possible.

Testimonials

I've been a customer of Brinkley's for several years now. I get great food from them that has really enriched and livened up our family dinner table - and for a very reasonable price. Besides being good for us, we also love to be able to buy locally and support the North Carolina farming community, which has benefits for farmers, local economies, and the environment. It's such a win-win for all. We're so sad every year when our CSA season with the Brinkley family ends, but eagerly anticipate what they'll have for us in the next one! K. Hicks

I've been a Brinkley Farms CSA customer for three years. Brinkley Farms has a great selection of quality produce, and everyone is great to work with. When they introduced their pork and beef products, I was happy to find out their meats are as delicious as their vegetables. I've even used some of Dianne Brinkley's recipes and found every one to be a winner. L. Greene 2 Brinkley Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) 2007 CSA Application

Please sign up with our CSA, by completing the attached application and mailing in your check payment (Please make check payable to: Brinkley Farms) directly to:

Brinkley Farms 4233 Old Weaver Trail Creedmoor, NC 27522 Name: ______Address: ______Home Phone: ______Work Phone: ______Email Address: ______

I would like to pre-purchase the following CSA Packages (check all that apply): Spring/Summer session: April 16, 2007 to July 2, 2007 Individual: $ 96.00 (12 weeks, $ 8.00 per week) Couple: $144.00 (12 weeks, $12.00 per week) Family: $216.00 (12 weeks, $18.00 per week) Summer/Fall session: July 9, 2007 to September 24, 2007 Individual: $144.00 (12 weeks, $12.00 per week) Couple: $180.00 (12 weeks, $15.00 per week) Family: $288.00 (12 weeks, $24.00 per week)

I prefer to pick up my share at: Durham Raleigh Carrboro at the Farm (Creedmoor)

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their CSA subscription, Brinkley Farms will transfer the remainder of your CSA subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made by the member to have someone else pick up the delivered share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to a local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______

Date: ______

Please call if you have additional questions: 919-528-0604 Visit our farm webpage at: http://www.brinkleyfarms.com/

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

At Blue Hen Bakery, we create made-from-scratch breads that you will love. Each generous loaf is made with a wholesome medley of whole wheat and unbleached white flours, flax seed meal, Turbinado sugar, canola oil, low-fat certified organic milk, sea salt, yeast, nuts and delectable spices. Our goal is to deliver the freshest, best-tasting and healthiest breads to our friends at Duke University.

Owner Name(s): Sharon Addison & Shari Metzger Vendor Name: Blue Hen Bakery, LLC Email: [email protected] Phone: 919.644.1036 or 919.619.2079 Address: 2322 Schley Road, Hurdle Mills, NC 27541

This year we are offering the following share subscriptions: Couple and Family. Please see the table below, which describes our share formats. We will deliver your share to either Duke Gardens or Duke Farmers Market, once a week for 25 weeks, beginning the week of April 17, 2007 and ending the week of October 2, 2007.

Couple Share (2 people): $125.00 Family Share (3-4 people): $250.00 One (1) loaf of bread delivered each week Two (2) loaves of bread delivered each week Delivery Rotation Delivery Rotation Week 1: Sunflower Wheat Week 1: Sunflower Wheat & Cinnamon Pull-Apart Week 2: Parmesan Basil Week 2: White & Parmesan Basil Week 3: Wheat-Flaxseed Week 3: Wheat-Flaxseed & Herb Week 4: Rosemary Cheddar Week 4: White & Rosemary Cheddar Week 5: Cinnamon Pull-Apart Week 6: White Week 7: Herb Repeat Cycle Repeat Cycle

Dear Friends,

At Blue Hen Bakery, we have other wholesome baked products

available that we may be able to assemble in a customized weekly delivery for your family! Please call us for more details. Sharon & Shari

We will need a minimum of 100 couple or 50 family subscription shares to begin deliveries to Duke Employees. We can provide up to 200 couple or 100 family subscriptions.

Please mail this form and your check payment (Make check payable to: Blue Hen Bakery, LLC)

Please send to us by April 6, 2007. Send your completed form & payment to this address:

Blue Hen Bakery, LLC Sharon Addison & Shari Metzger 2322 Schley Road Hurdle Mills, NC 27541

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------

Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from the following share subscription choices (you may choose more than one): Our delivery to Duke begins the week of April 17, 2007, and ends the week of October 2, 2007. □ Couple Share (25 weeks x $5.00 per week) = $125.00 x ______number of shares □ Family Share (25 weeks x $10.00 per week) = $250.00 x ______number of shares □ Custom Share (25 weeks x $10.00 assorted products) = $250.00 x _____ number of shares

My total share subscription commitment will be: $ ______

I prefer to pick up my share subscription at: □ Duke Farmers Market (Friday, from 11am to 2pm) □ Duke Gardens (Tuesday, from 4pm to 6pm)

Please make check payable to Blue Hen Bakery, LLC

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If a member must end their share subscription, Blue Hen Bakery, LLC will transfer the remainder of your share subscription to another customer you designate. If a member cannot pick up their weekly share, the member should make arrangements to have someone pick it up at the designated location and time. If the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, it will be donated to a local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______Date: ______

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html

Belle-Lark Farms is a sixteen acre small farm nestled in the Sandhills region near Ellerbe, owned and operated by the Williams Family of Sanford, NC. Our family has been growing and selling at farmers markets in Pittsboro and Sanford for eight years. We grow delightful and delectable vegetables using sustainable growing methods. For example, we use safe botanical (plant derived controls, like hot pepper spray) and biological (beneficial insect habitat to make our farm a good environment for ladybugs and lacewings and praying mantis). We employ biologically active composts to boost our soil’s natural capacity to provide our crop nutrients. With these wholesome farming practices, you can be assured of eating and serving your loved ones the sweet, succulent goodness of Belle- Lark farm-fresh produce! We are confident that you will enjoy your weekly vegetable deliveries, from our family to yours!

Our Family: Taylor and Bonnie, Lark & Belle Williams Our Farm: Belle-Lark Farms Email: [email protected] Phone: 919.775.4366 Pictured from left to right: Belle, Mail Address: 5709 Quail Ridge Drive Bonnie & Lark Sanford, NC 27332 proudly delivering fresh produce to our friends at Duke! Farm~Fresh Produce from Belle~Lark Farms to You! *Expect 5 to 8 items from this list, weekly! Our 20 week harvest season will begin Tuesday, May 29, 2007 and end on Tuesday, October 9, 2007. We Month(s) Market will deliver to you a hearty and healthy box of farm-fresh Crop Item Available Price/Unit produce, containing seasonal vegetables from our family Crunchy Carrots May-June $2.00/bunch farm. Your box will be enough produce for two (2) adults to enjoy weekly. If you are just one person, Crisp Cabbage May-June $2.00/head consider going in with a co-worker to pay for one box Big Broccoli May-June $2.00/head together, then work together to divide the contents of the Beautiful Bibb Lettuce May-June $2.00/head box between you and your co-worker after you pick it up! Outrageous Onions May-June $1.00/bunch We deliver your weekly share subscription to you at the Sweet Sugar Snaps May-June $2.00/pound Sarah P. Duke Gardens every Tuesday from 4:00 pm to Pretty Potatoes June-July $1.00/pound 6:00 pm. Big Blackberries June $3.00/pint Super Spinach June & Oct $6.00/pound Below is an illustration of the different seasonal share Great Green Beans June-Oct $2.00/pound combinations you might expect to receive in different Cool Cucumbers June-Oct $1.00/pound months. Combinations will vary, but these examples give Succulent Squash June-Oct $1.50/pound you a good sense of what you will receive: Marvelous Melons July-Sept $2.00 each Example June Box Example September Box Wonderful Watermelons July-Sept $4.00 each Bodacious Basil July-Sept $8.00/pound 3 pounds of Potatoes 1 Eggplant Plump Peppers July-Oct $2.00/pound ½ pound of Spinach ½ pound of Okra Fantastic Flowers July-Oct $4.00/bunch 1 pint of Blackberries 1 pound of Peppers Excellent Eggplant July-Oct $1.00 each 1 head of Bibb Lettuce 1 bunch of Flowers Terrific Tomatoes July-Oct $1.50/pound 1 bunch of Carrots 2 pounds of Tomatoes Cute Cherry Tomatoes July-Oct $2.00/pint 2 Cucumbers 1 melon 1 head of Cabbage ¼ pound of Basil Oodles of Okra Aug-Oct $2.00/pound 1 pound of squash ½ pound of Green Beans

We can have up to 30 share subscription members in 2007. Please sign up today!

Mail this form and your check payment to us on or before April 6, 2007. Mail it to this address: Please mail this form and payment (check or money order, payable to: Bonnie Williams) to: Bonnie Williams 5709 Quail Ridge Drive Sanford, NC 27332

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------

Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Our Share Subscription:

□ Hearty & Healthy Box: (20 weeks x $16.00 per week) = $320.00 x ______number of shares Please note: Your box will be enough produce to feed 2 adults. If you are a just one person, it is a good and economical idea to ask an interested friend or co-worker to join with you to pay for one box together (just pool your money and write one check to Bonnie Williams. After you pick up your box, just divide the contents of the box between you and your co-worker! My total share commitment will be: $______

This agreement represents a season-long contract; if for any reason a member must end their subscription, Belle-Lark Farms will transfer your share to an individual of your choice. If for any reason, a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made to have someone else pick up the share, or the share will be donated to the local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______Date: ______

Thank you for supporting North Carolina family farms! Beautiful Belle & Lovely Lark, proudly holding This is just a sneak peek example of our a bounty of our Sugar Snaps weekly delivery share subscription box!

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html WeatherHand Farm is owned and operated by Sharon Weatherly and John Handler on land that has been in Sharon's family for three generations. We grow a wide variety of produce as well as cut flowers. We are not certified organic; however we do practice the all natural growing methods. We use no chemical fertilizers, herbicides or insecticides. We were both raised on farms and have a great love for the land. By joining our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, you will receive only the best of what we harvest. As a member of our CSA you will receive items that we may not offer our regular farmers market customers, like shiitake mushrooms and other unique produce offerings.

Name: Sharon Weatherly & John Handler Farm Name: WeatherHand Farm Email: [email protected] Phone: 336-685-4800 Address: P O Box 10, Climax, NC 27233 Website: www.localharvest.org/farms/M12336

Beginning Tuesday April 24th 2007 and ending on Tuesday October 23rd 2007, we will deliver our 25 weekly deliveries of fresh, pesticide & chemical free vegetables to our friends at Duke University. With a two-week hiatus scheduled on the weeks of August 28, 2007 and September 4, 2007.

We offer two share subscription sizes: Small & Regular. The small size feeds a couple or single person. The regular size feeds a small family. Small shares are $375.00 & Regular shares are $525.00. In addition, we include extra produce at no extra charge, when the harvest is bountiful.

A Season of Bounty from Last year our CSA filled up before February. We really want to be a part of the Duke Mini ~ Weatherhand Farm ~ Mobile CSA Market in 2007, so we are placing a priority on all CSA applications we arugula kale sweet peppers receive from Duke University employees. asparagus melons sweet potatoes We kindly ask that you consider signing up beets mushrooms swiss chard early with us on or before February 15, 2007. broccoli mustard greens tomatoes It would really help us in putting Duke collards okra turnips University employees first! Thanks so much!

cucumber purple hull peas fresh herbs eggplant potatoes dried herbs We will need to have a minimum of garlic radishes salad mix 30 small shares or 15 regular shares green beans mustard greens sugar snaps to begin deliveries to Duke green onions spinach squash hot peppers onions lettuce University employees in 2007. Thank you!

Mail this form and your check payment to us on or before February 15, 2007. After Feb. 15th, please email us at: [email protected] or Give us a call, at 336-685-4800, to find out our updated CSA availability.

Please send application and check to:

WeatherHand Farm Sharon Weatherly and John Handler P. O. Box 10 Climax, NC 27233

------2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY MOBILE MARKET CSA APPLICATION------

Name: ______Office Address: ______Email 1: ______Email 2: ______Day Phone: ______Evening Phone: ______

Choose from the following share subscription choices (you may choose more than one):

□ Small Share Size (25 weeks x $15.00 per week) = $375.00 x ______number of shares

□ Regular Share Size (25 weeks x $21.00 per week) = $525.00 x ______number of shares

My total share commitment will be: $______

If paying by check, please make check payable to: Sharon Weatherly and/or John Handler

This agreement represents a season-long contract. If for any reason a member must end their share subscription, WeatherHand Farm will transfer the remainder your share subscription period to another customer you designate. If for any reason a member is unable to pick up their weekly share, arrangements should be made by the member to have someone else pick the delivered share at the designated location and time. If for any reason the delivered share is not picked up at the designated location and time, the delivered share will be donated to the local food bank to feed the hungry.

Signature: ______Date: ______

For more information visit: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_market.html Handout 3 Build health into CSA

Educational Handout 3: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

Helping CSA customers to make the most of a weekly CSA farm share

A CSA is all about caring for your customer's health and well-being. One way to show you care is to encourage your CSA farm customers to develop a healthy eating plan for each member of their family. To do this, direct them to the U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition education website, to get a personalized eating plan, which emphasizes eating more vegetables and fruits. This website can be accessed at: http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx At the My Pyramid Plan (USDA) website, you will learn that:

One size doesn't fit all. The My Pyramid Plan offers you a personal eating plan with the foods and amounts that are right for you.

Imagine sharing a powerful web tool with your CSA customers that will help them to eat the farm-fresh fruits and vegetables that you include in their weekly CSA share.

This website can be accessed at: www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx

1 This original CSA educational handout was developed by Theresa J. Nartea, agribusiness & marketing specialist, NC Cooperative Extension ( 2007). [email protected] 336-334-7956, ext. 2109.

Handout 4 Top ten CSA questions

Educational Handout 4: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

Top 10 Community Supported Agriculture Questions

Be prepared to confidently answer these questions for your customers:

1. What do you consider a catastrophic event for your farm?

2. What are your share sizes (for example: small, medium, large or individual, couple or family) and what items are typically in each share size you offer, throughout the season?

3. How much will a share cost?

4. When do I pay and do you have a payment plan?

5. What are the exact driving directions to your delivery/pickup location?

6. When are your weekly pickup times?

7. What happens if I’m not able to pick up my share one week because I’m out of town, get sick or have some other concern?

8. What happens if I move before the end of the growing season?

9. Can I get a refund, if I am not satisfied?

10. Who do I contact for more information, or to sign up? Insider's Tip: If you can answer each of these challenging questions in explicit detail, you have enough information to begin writing your own CSA brochure! Actual CSA farm brochures can found on the web, refer to: Educational handout 2: Learn from others: CSA farm examples on the web.

1 This original CSA educational handout was developed by Theresa J. Nartea, agribusiness & marketing specialist, NC Cooperative Extension (2007), [email protected] 336-334-7956, ext. 2109.

Handout 5 CSA production at a glance, North Carolina

Educational Handout 5: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

CSA Production at a Glance: Figures at your fingertips (NC edition)

Table 1: Vegetable Yields and Amounts to Plant per Person

From: Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky, the full text can be downloaded at the University of Kentucky Horticulture Department: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id128/id128.htm

Table 2: A Garden Planting Guide (Spring)

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/vegetable/plantingguide.html

Min. Planting Suggested Planting Dates1 for Seed Distance Between Plants Soil Days to Vegetables Suggested Cultivars Depth or Transplants inches Temp. Maturity inches °F2 Mary Washington, Jersey Giant, Asparagus (crowns) Nov. 15-Mar. 15 Jersey Gem 15 6 --- 2 years Tenderette, Harvester, Roma II Beans, snap Apr. 15-July 15 (flat), Derby, Dandy 3 1 60 50-55

Kentucky Wonder 191, Blue Lake Beans, pole Apr. 15-July 1 Stringless, Romano, Kentucky Blue 6 1 50 65-70 Fordhook 242, Bridgeton, Early Beans, bush lima May 1-July 1 Thorogreen 6 1.5 65 65-80 King of the Garden, Carolina Sieva Beans, pole lima May 1-June 15 (small) 6 1.5 65 75-95 Ruby Queen, Early Wonder, Red Beets Mar. 15-Apr. 15; July 15-Aug. 15 Ace, Pacemaker II 2 0.5 50 55-60 DeCicco, Packman, Premium Crop, Broccoli3, 4 Mar. 15-31; July 15-Aug. 15 Green Duke, Emperor 18 0.5 45 70-80 Long Island Improved, Jade Cross Brussels sprouts3, 4 July 1-15 Hybrid 20 0.5 45 90-100

Round Dutch, Early Jersey Wakefield, Red Express, Red Cabbage (plants)3, 4 Feb. 1-Apr.1; Aug 1-15 Rookie, Sweetbase 12 0.5 45 70-80 Pak Choi, Mei Ching, Jade Pagoda, Cabbage, Chinese Mar. 15-Apr. 1; Aug. 1-15 China Pride 12 0.5 50 75-85 Classic, Magnum 45, Ambrosia, Cantaloupe Apr. 20-June 1 Honey Brew 24 1 70 85-99

Danvers Half Long, Spartan Bonus, Little Finger, Thumbelina, Scarlet Carrots Feb. 15-Mar. 1; July 1-15 Nantes 2 0.25 45 85-95 Early Snowball "A", Violet Queen, Cauliflower3, 4 Mar. 15-31; Aug 1-15 Snowcrown 18 0.5 45 55-65 Vates, Morris' Improved Heading, Collards3, 4 July 15-Aug. 15 Carolina, Blue Max 18 0.5 45 60-100

Silver Queen, Seneca Chief, Honey 'N Pearl, How Sweet It Is, Corn, sweet Apr. 15-June 1 Bodacious, Merit 12 1.5 50 85-90 Carolina, Calypso, Liberty (mtns.), Cucumbers, pickling Apr. 20-May 15; Aug. 1-15 County Fair '83 10 1 65 40-50 Poinsett 76, Sweet Slice, County Cucumbers, slicing Apr. 20-May 15; Aug. 1-15 Fair '83, Salad Bush, Fanfare 10 1 65 40-50 Florida Highbush, Special Hibush, Eggplant (plants)3, 4 May 1-31 Ichiban, Rosa Bianco 24 0.5 70 80-85

Green Curled Scotch, Early Siberian, Vates, Dwarf Blue Curled Kale Mar. 1-Apr. 1; Aug. 15-Sept. 1 Scotch, Blue Knight 6 0.5 45 40-50

Kohlrabi Mar. 1-Apr. 15; Aug. 1-Sept. 1 White Vienna, Grand Duke Hybrid 4 0.5 55 50-60 Min. Planting Suggested Planting Dates1 for Seed Distance Between Plants Soil Days to Vegetables Suggested Cultivars Depth or Transplants inches Temp. Maturity inches °F2 Grand Rapids, Salad Bowl, Lettuce (leaf) Mar. 1-Apr. 1; Aug. 1-Sept. 1 Buttercrunch, Red Sails, Romulus 6 0.25 45 40-50 Lettuce (head) Feb. 15-Mar. 15; Aug. 15-31 Great Lakes, Ithaca 10 0.25 45 70-85 Southern Giant Curled, Mustard Mar. 1-Apr. 1; Aug. 1-Sept. 15 Tendergreen, Savannah 2 0.5 40 30-40 Onions (seeds) Jan. 15-Mar. 31; Sept. 1-30 Texas 1015, Granex 33, Candy 4 0.5 50 130-150 Onions (sets or plants) Feb. 1-Mar. 15; Sept. 1-15 Ebenezer, Excell, Early Grano 4 ‹ ‹ 60-80 Clemson Spineless, Lee, Annie Okra May 1-31 Oakley, Burgundy 12 1 70 60-70 Sugar Snap, Mammoth Melting Peas (edible-podded) Jan. 1-Mar. 15 Sugar, Snowbird, Sugar Bon 1 1 40 60-70 Wando, Green Arrow, Freezonian, Peas, garden Jan. 1-Mar. 15 Tall Telephone 1 1 40 65-70

Dixilee, Mississippi Silver, Colossus, Hercules, Mississippi Peas, southern May 1-July 1 Purple Hull 4 1 70 55-65

California Wonder, Yolo Wonder, Pimento, Mexi Bell, Jingle Bells, Peppers, sweet King Arthur, Lilac Bell, Lemon (plants)3, 4 May 1-31 Bell 18 0.5 65 75-80

Red Chili, Cayenne, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Super Chili, Super Peppers, hot (plants)3, Cayenne, Mitla, Surefire, Biscayne, 4 May 1-31 Habanero, Thai Dragon 15 0.5 65 75-80 Kennebec, Red Pontiac, Yukon Potatoes (Irish) Feb. 15-Apr. 1 Gold, Superior 10 5 40 95-120

Autumn Gold, Howden's Field, Spookie (small), Baby Bear, Connecticut Field, Big Moon (big), Pumpkins Apr. 15-June 15 Jack Be Little (dwarf) 48 1.5 70 115-120 Early Scarlet Globe, Cherry Belle, Radishes Feb. 1-Apr. 1; Aug. 15-Sept. 15 Snowbells, White Icicle 1 0.5 45 25-30 Radish, Diakon Feb. 1-Apr. 1; Aug. 15-Sept. 15 April Cross, H. N. Cross 4 0.5 50 60-75 Rutabagas Feb. 1-Apr. 1; July 1-Aug. 1 American Purple Top, Laurentian 4 0.5 60 70-80 Hybrid 7, Dark Green Bloomsdale, Spinach Feb. 15-Mar. 15; Aug. 1-15 Tyee Hybrid 6 0.5 45 50-60

Seneca Prolific (yellow), Zucchini Elite (green), Sun Drop, Goldbar, Squash, summer Apr. 15-May 15; Aug. 1-15 Sunburst, Peter Pan 24 1.5 60 50-60

Sweet Mama, Early Butternut, Spaghetti, Cream of the Crop, Squash, winter Apr. 15-May 15; Aug. 1-15 Table Ace, Lakota, Butterbush 36 1 60 70-95 Sweetpotatoes4 May 15-June 15 Porto Rico 198, Jewel 10 ‹ 70 95-125 Swiss chard Mar. 15-May 1 Lucullus, Rhubarb Chard 6 0.5 50 60-70

Whopper5, Mountain Pride, Celebrity5, Better Boy5, Husky Gold, Patio, Big Beef5, Golden Tomatoes (plants)3, 4 Apr. 20-July 15 Boy 18 0.5 60 75-85

Purple Top White Globe, Just Right, Tokyo Cross Hybrid, White Turnips Feb. 1-Apr. 15; Aug. 1-31 Egg, All Top 2 0.5 60 55-60 Congo, Sweet Princess, Golden Watermelons Apr. 15-June 1 Crown, Yellow Doll, Tiger Baby 60 1.5 70 90-100

1 Dates shown are for the upper coastal plain and lower piedmont. In western North Carolina delay planting 10 to 20 days in spring. In eastern North Carolina plant 7 to 14 days earlier in the spring and 7 to 10 days later in the fall. 2 At these temperatures germination and emergence should be rapid. Planting at lower soil temperatures would delay or prevent germination. 3 Seeding depths and soil temperatures are given for gardeners who wish to grow their own plants. 4 Set plants with at least 50 percent of their length below ground. 5 Carries resistance to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and root-knot nematodes.

Table 3: A Garden Planting Guide (Fall)

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/vegetable/fall_planting_guide.html

Inches Planting Suggested Between Depth Cold Days to Vegetables Planting1 Suggested Cultivars Plants (inches) Tolerance2 Maturity Asparagus Mary Washington, Jersey Giant, Jersey (crowns) Nov. 15 to Mar. 15 Gem 15 6 -- 2 years Ruby Queen, Early Wonder, Red Ace, Beets July 15 to Aug. 15 Pacemaker II 2 0.5 to 1.0 Semi-hardy 55 to 60 DeCicco, Packman, Premium Crop, Green Broccoli July 15 to Aug. 15 Duke, Emperor 18 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 70 to 80

Brussels sprouts July 1 to 15 Long Island Improved, Jade Cross Hybrid 20 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 90 to 100

Round Dutch, Early Jersey Wakefield, Cabbage (plants) Aug 1 to 15 Red Express, Red Rookie, Sweetbase 12 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 70 to 80 Cabbage, Pak Choi, Mei Ching, Jade Pagoda, China Chinese Aug. 1 to 15 Pride 12 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 75-85

Danvers Half Long, Spartan Bonus, Little Carrots July 1 to 15 Finger, Thumbelina, Scarlet Nantes 2 0.25 to 0.5 Hardy 85 to 95 Early Snowball "A", Violet Queen, Cauliflower Aug 1 to 15 Snowcrown 18 0.5 to 1.0 Semi-hardy 55 to 65 Vates, Morris' Improved Heading, Collards July 15 to Aug. 15 Carolina, Blue Max 18 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 60 to 100 Cucumbers, Carolina, Calypso, Liberty (mtns.), pickling Aug. 1 to 15 County Fair '83 10 1.0 to 1.5 Tender 40 to 50

Cucumbers, Poinsett 76, Sweet Slice, County Fair '83, slicing Aug. 1 to 15 Salad Bush, Fanfare 10 1.0 to 1.5 Tender 40 to 50 Green Curled Scotch, Early Siberian, Vates, Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch, Blue Kale Aug. 15 to Sept. 1 Knight 6 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 40 to 50

Kohlrabi Aug. 1 to Sept. 1 White Vienna, Grand Duke Hybrid 4 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 50 to 60

Grand Rapids, Salad Bowl, Buttercrunch, Lettuce (leaf) Aug. 1 to Sept. 1 Red Sails, Romulus 6 0.25 to 0.5 Semi-hardy 40 to 50 Lettuce (head) Aug. 15 to 31 Great Lakes, Ithaca 10 0.25 to 0.5 Semi-hardy 70 to 85 Southern Giant Curled, Tendergreen, Mustard Aug. 1 to Sept. 15 Savannah 2 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 30 to 40

Inches Planting Suggested Between Depth Cold Days to Vegetables Planting1 Suggested Cultivars Plants (inches) Tolerance2 Maturity Onions (seeds) Sept. 1 to 30 Texas 1015, Granex 33, Candy 4 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 130 to 150 Onions (sets or plants) Sept. 1 to 15 Ebenezer, Excell, Early Grano 4 -- Hardy 60 to 80

Early Scarlet Globe, Cherry Belle, Radishes Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 Snowbells, White Icicle 1 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 25 to 30 Radish, Diakon Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 April Cross, H. N. Cross 4 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 60 to 75

Rutabagas July 1 to Aug. 1 American Purple Top, Laurentian 4 0.5 to 1.0 Semi-hardy 70 to 80 Hybrid 7, Dark Green Bloomsdale, Tyee Spinach Aug. 1 to 15 Hybrid 6 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 50 to 60

Purple Top White Globe, Just Right, Turnips Aug. 1 to 31 Tokyo Cross Hybrid, White Egg, All Top 2 0.5 to 1.0 Hardy 55 to 60 Prepared by: Erv Evans, Consumer Horticulturalist, October 2000, © 2000 NC State University

NOTE: To find other related NC Cooperative Extension Horticultural Bulletins, visit: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/quickref.html#vegetable

Also review: Home Vegetable Gardening AG-06, The full text can be downloaded at: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/ag-06.html

Table 4: Temperatures for Plant Growing

From:

Home Garden Transplants (Leaflet 128). The full text can be downloaded at the UG-CAES: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/l128-w.html and

Home Vegetable Gardening AG-06, The full text can be downloaded at: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/ag-06.html

Table 5: Seeding Guide

From: Home Garden Transplants (Leaflet 128). The full text can be downloaded at the UG-CAES: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/l128-w.html

Table 6: Vegetables in related plant groups

Note: To reduce disease pressure and maintain soil fertility, vegetables in related plant groups should not follow each other in your planting plan. For example: Watermelons, should not follow squash.

From: Growing Vegetables Organically (Bulletin 1011). The full text can be downloaded at the UG-CAES: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/b1011-w.html

Table 7: When to Harvest Vegetables

From: When to Harvest Vegetables (Leaflet 291). The full text can be downloaded at the UG-CAES: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/L291-w.htm

1 This original CSA educational handout was compiled by Theresa J. Nartea, agribusiness & marketing specialist, NC Cooperative Extension (2007), [email protected] 336-334-7956, ext. 2109

Worksheet 1 Activity: What products?

Worksheet 1: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

What farm products can you grow & sell?

Column A Column B Column C What products do When will you harvest What can you sell you currently grow, product? this product for? Don't know, visit: or will grow & sell? What dates? http://newfarm.org/opx/ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Worksheet 2 Activity: Who are my customers?

Worksheet 2: Pay-ahead marketing systems: CSA and SS1

Who are your potential customers?

Places to Find Customers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

1 This original CSA decision making worksheet was developed by Theresa J. Nartea, agribusiness & marketing specialist, NC Cooperative Extension (updated 2007), contact: [email protected] 336-334-7956, ext. 2109. Where do you begin finding customers for your CSA? Here are some ideas to begin your search for the right CSA customers for your farm

1. Women with school-age children (statistically women make the majority of food purchases in a family). • Play time clubs: http://www.mommyandme.com/activities/index.php#localCal • Daycares: http://www.childcareaware.org/en/ • Public Libraries • Places of public worship (synagogues, churches, mosques, etc.): • Parent Teacher Associations: http://www.pta.org/jp_find_your_pta.html • Mothers with children in soccer, or other sporting activities • Scouting clubs • Affluent subdivisions

2. Individuals seeking to restore health and vitality can be found at: • Cancer centers • Hospitals • Natural health practitioners • Doctor's offices • Dentist's offices

3. Earth conscious individuals: • Environmental Groups, such as Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/ • Environmental Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org/ • Specialty coffee (espresso drinks) and other beverages (smoothies) stores

4. Health conscious individuals: • Exercise centers • Yoga and Pilates classes • Martial arts classes

5. Individuals who love to cook (also known as "Foodies") and eat: • Local chapters of Slow Food: http://www.slowfood.com/ • Chef's Collaborative: http://www.chefscollaborative.org/ • Cooking Clubs: http://www.cookingclub.net/default.asp?p=5 • Gourmet cooking specialty stores: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/ • Farmers markets and natural foods coop stores: http://www.localharvest.org/

6. Individuals with disposable income and graduate level university education: • Retired professionals (with leisure activities such as golfing and traveling) • Computer-based and research technology professionals • University scholars, for example: tenured professors.

Having trouble? Find potential customers, by searching your local area phone book, or search by zip code and category on the web, go to: http://www.yellowpages.com/. Or subject search at: http://dir.yahoo.com/ and http://www.google.com/

Presentation & CSA educational slideshow & speaker notes

evaluation Evaluation

Introduce yourself. Thank you for coming to learn about Community Supported Agriculture. This alternative marketing strategy may be a way for you as a small farmer to diversify your farm operation and help boost your bottom line. I hope you will come away from this talk with a greater understanding of CSA and with enough information to make an informed decision on whether CSA is a good marketing strategy for you. Let’s get started!

1 The workplace CSA delivery model is one way that large employers can help their employees connect directly with local CSA farms, as a health and wellness program. This family sells all the shares they decide they want to sell to employees at Duke University BEFORE the growing season!

2 The interesting thing about the workplace CSA is that traditional growers can be taught how to operate a CSA, by simply reviewing the individual grower sheets and thinking about how they can model what they are already doing in a similar fashion as the farmers in the Duke CSA project. The logic behind this is that these CSA grower sheets are simple in nature and have been field tested by hundreds of employees at Duke University and at Research Triangle Institute in Durham, NC. Employees have responded to the CSA grower sheets and purchased shares based on the concise information found on each CSA grower sheet. To see these examples go to these specific websites: RTI-CSA: http://www.rti.org/csa/page.cfm?nav=812 Duke-CSA: http://www.hr.duke.edu/farmersmarket/mobile_farmers.html

3 As a producer you do not see the full value of what you produce when you sell to a wholesale buyer. As a farmer, you will receive a price for your goods and that is the end of story. You are at the mercy of the “corporate buyer” they will pay you the lowest they can to get your product and then turn around and sell it to the customer at a “retail price” In this table, you can see the price spread, meaning the difference between the what the farmer gets and what the retailer gets. In CSA, this table changes in favor of the farmer.

4 CSA is in tune with Consumer Trends

• Local Food A CS do are at s c Wh er om ? ust ut • Food Safety c abo • Slow Food

CSA customers care about local food systems, food safety and food as a source of pleasure. It is important as a farmer considering CSA that you are knowledgeable about these topics and that you can hold an intelligent conversation about these topics.

5 To learn about the Local Food Movement, study it at: www.foodroutes.org

6 Food safety is a huge concern for the person who will likely want to be in your CSA. Keep up with the news on food safety concerns in the local media, at CNN.com, search engine topics: health, food safety.

7 http://www.slowfoodusa.org/change/index.html

Slow food is another growing movement, that says “no” to fast food. The followers of this movement see food as a life passion, and as a pleasurable experience to savor. To learn more and to connect with the slow food movement, go to www.slowfoodusa.org

8 What is Community Supported Agriculture?

• A personal relationship • A common understanding • A loyal connection

Community Supported Ag started in Japan when a group of housewives wanted safe food for their families. It came to the US in the 70’s by way of the CSA pioneer Robyn Van En. CSA is a way for consumers to share in the harvest of local farmers. It is a formal relationship: meaning it is between the farmer and the consumer. It is an understanding in that the farmer explains what the consumer will be getting over a season, but with the understanding that farming is not a science, but an art, that depends in part on nature & weather! It is a connection between the farmer who grows food and the consumer who eats it!

9 Where do I begin?

CSA may seem to you to be impossible, yet you see other small farmers doing it. It is a challenging market system, and the fact that you are in a workshop learning about it is the first step, the beginning of the journey for your farm.

10 What Products do you Grow?

Worksheet #1, fill in: Column A

The first step then is “self-knowledge.” So let’s fill out Worksheet #1, column A, only. Give class two minutes to complete.

11 How much do I need to grow & harvest each week?

A Typical CSA will grow over 30 varieties of crops and harvest at least 7-12 crops per week!

Now read this slide clearly. Ask the participants to raise their hands if they had at least 7 items. This tells the farmers they need to work on weekly variety.

12 When Do You Have It?

Worksheet #1, fill in: Column B

Beside the products, write the time of year are you harvesting it? This matters because you will need to have your customers pre-pay. This helps you plan your customer recruitment strategy. I’ll give you 2 minutes to fill that out.

13 How long do I deliver? • A Typical CSA delivery season will last from three months to a full year!

Depending on how many products you had, that will determine how long you can offer your pre-payment system to your customer.

14 What’s It Worth to You?

Worksheet #1

Fill in Column C

Now back to Worksheet 1. Beside each product write down how much you think you need to sell your product to make it worth your while. I want you to consider this column and this may be overwhelming to think about. On the handout, the website: http://newfarm.org/opx/ Which they can study after the class, this will give up to date market prices for most agricultural crops, conventional and certified organic. In addition the rule of thumb, if the farmers know their cost of production is a mark up of 40 percent, over cost of production, at a minimum. So if it costs $1.00 to produce the item, add a minimum of 40 cents, therefore, the retail cost will be: $1.40.

15 Retail Prices

Rare or Unique Value

Convenience

Now let’s talk plainly. What do you think your customer may pay? Now depending on where you are, it will be higher than you think, or lower than you think! Think about adding value to your product, can you add something in how you describe it to make it seem rare/unique to your customer? What about convenience are you delivering the product? Are you saving them from shopping? Is the produce pesticide free, local, fresh picked….that is all added value you can use to price your products!

16 Finding your Customers 1. Where do they live? 2. Where do they work? 3. What do they enjoy? 4. What do they buy? 5. Where do they shop?

The next step is figuring out who will buy your CSA shares.

17 Who’s Gonna Buy It?

Fill in

Worksheet #2

Let’s work on Worksheet #2. Have them fill out this worksheet. Now have them flip over the worksheet so they can get hints on where to find customers.

18 The Essential Things 1. Weekly share content 2. Learning from others 3. Nutrition connection 4. The F.A.Q. 5. Number crunching

Okay you have your thinking caps on, but now I want to teach you what basic things you need to master, in order to sell your CSA to interested customers, you need to figure out five essential things. Read off the five items. Now refer the participants to the handouts. Each handout is numbered to answer each of the five essential things that are needed for the CSA farmers to be successful.

19 How much do I need to grow & harvest each week?

Let’s look at:

Handout #1

Handout 1 is self explanatory, walk it through with them, stopping for any questions they may have.

20 How do I describe my CSA to customers?

Let’s look at:

Handout #2

Handout #2 asks the participants to learn from other CSA farms. After Handout #2 are actual CSA examples. Encourage participants to review these examples after the class.

21 How to help customers connect health with CSA Let’s look at:

Handout #3

Handout #3 teaches participants how they can connect CSA to the USDA recommendations for healthy eating.

22 What customer questions must I be ready to answer? How much will a share cost? What do you consider a catastrophic event for your farm? Let’s What are the exact driving directions to your delivery/pickup location?

When do I pay and do you have a payment plan? look at: Can I get a refund, if I am not satisfied? Handout When are your weekly pickup times? #4 What are your share sizes (for example: small, medium, large or individual, couple or family) and what items are typically in each share size you offer, throughout the season?

Handout #4 brings up the ten common questions that a CSA farmer must be able to explain confidently.

23 What basic production concepts do I need to master? Let’s look at:

Handout #5

Handout #5 has several tables that can be used to help in the planning process. The most important table being Table 1. If a farmer understands the amount to plant per person of each crop, then they begin to see they do not need to overplant, but they need to plan, plan, plan based on the customer’s needs. This is a critical thinking challenge for most traditional farms who think they only need to plant once and plant a lot of one crop. This very mental challenge, if not overcome will lead to failure. Therefore emphasize to participants that they must learn how to plan, before they plant one seed, or recruit one CSA member.

24 Thank you! Please fill out evaluations and leave on seat.

Theresa J. Nartea Agribusiness & Marketing Specialist NC A&T State University, Greensboro The Cooperative Extension Program Email: [email protected] Phone: 336-334-7956, ext 2109

Request that the participants fill out the class evaluation.

25 PARTICIPANT EVALUATION (Please fill out, Leave on seat)

Workshop title: Pay-Ahead Marketing Systems: CSA and Subscription Sales Date of workshop:

1. May I contact you in six months to see if this presentation was truly helpful to you, or taught you skills that you applied in your work? Yes No

2. Please fill in your Contact Information (this will not be shared): Name: ______Business Name: ______Mailing Address (with zip code): ______Phone (with area code): ______Email: ______Webpage (if applicable): ______

3. Why did you attend this educational event? (Check all that apply) To increase my understanding of CSA To improve my skill set on CSA Other (describe briefly): ______

4. How do you currently market your farm products? (Check all that apply) I am not currently selling farm products Wholesale Farmer's Market: Name: ______ Roadside Stand On-Farm sales Pick your own Direct to restaurants Other: (describe briefly): ______

6. As a result of attending this educational event, I believe I will accomplish the following benefits: I will start my own CSA farm program I will improve my existing CSA farm program I will share with others the CSA knowledge I learned today Other: ______

Please leave on your seat, after class session. Thank you! The purpose of this extension educational piece is to assist both interested extension educators and growers who seek to understand Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This guide contains real-life examples of successful CSA farm operations. Educational handouts and decision making worksheets are contained in these materials to help a grower to truly understand in pictures and words how to develop their own personalized CSA operation.

Theresa J. Nartea Agribusiness & Marketing Specialist NC A&T State University, Greensboro The Cooperative Extension Program Email: [email protected] Phone: 336-334-7956, ext 2109