Happy Thanksgiving...have a safe and healthy winter...enjoy all the soups and creations you made with your fall bounty...will be in touch about Season 2010 in due course. Keep checking the blog for recipes and events, and continue to share your food fun. 
Message from our farmer:
HAPPY NEW YEAR. MAY YOU HAVE A PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.
WE WILL BE SENDING THE FOLLOWING VEGGIES:
GREEN CABBAGE, SWEET POTATOES, SWEET CORN, HOT PEPPERS, SWEET PEPPERS, BEANS, CARROTS ( SOME SMALL ,SOME MEDIUM ,SOME LARGE) & BROCCOLI AND A SURPRISE NEW YEARS GIFT FOR ALL.
RIDING ALONG SIDE IN ADDITION –ANOTHER GIFT - WE ARE SENDING SOME DECORATIVE GOURDS FOR EVERYONE TO SHARE FOR SUKKOTH
BEST REGARDS, 
Pam Stegall
Farmer
-------------------------
Thank you everyone for a great summer CSA season. Hope you enjoyed all the good food and community. Please join the fall CSA to continue cooking and eating.
assorted peppers, carrots, sweet potato, red onion, yellow onion, corn, herbs, peaches, broccoli, white eggplant
From farmer:
FROM THE FARMER:
This weeks share: peaches, purple cabbage, peppers, white eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, corn
Thank you member Gail I. for sharing your pears with us all!
Please remember...if you know you will not be picking up your share and are donating it to the food bank, please let us know before hand so our volunteers do not have to wait around for no-shows. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
peppers, tomato, peaches, cucumber, zucchini, leek, green beans, carrots, swiss chard, corn
cucumber, zucchini, onion, red potatoes, green beans, beets, salad, lettuce, (leeks)
Here is the line up for tonights boxes:
Beets w/ tops, carrots, herb, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, lettuce, salad, zucchini, fresh new potatoes, rhubarb ( the last til next year )
From the farmer: "This morning I noticed a lot of flowering on the eggplants – so we should have eggplants soon. We had a nice hot dry weekend – still working in the weeds that the rain brought in – any volunteers are welcome."
Note from the Farmer:
"PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE WEATHER HAS BEEN HORRENDOUS THIS YEAR – IT IS EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO PICK, WASH ,WEIGH & PACK YOUR BOXES ON TIME – WE WERE PICKING CHERRIES THIS MORNING AS WE WERE PUTTING THE BOXES ON THE TRUCK– IT HAS NOT BEEN PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE TO MAKE A LIST.
YOUR PATIENCE , COOPERATION & UNDERSTANDING ON THIS PROBLEM IS APPRECIATED AS WE GET BACK TO A REGULAR HARVEST SCHEDULE WE WILL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE INFORMATION – AS WE HAVE IT.
WE ARE HOPING WE DO NOT HAVE ANY MORE TORNADOES, HAIL OR WRETCHED POURING RAINS OR HIGH WINDS. EACH YEAR HAS ITS CHALLENGES – THIS ONE HAS BEEN A WHOPPER."
**THE CHERRIES ARE COMPROMISED – PLEASE WASH & EAT THEM RIGHT AWAY – THEY WILL NOT HOLD IN THE FRIDGE
romain lettuce, garlic scapes, cherries, potato, salad mix, beets, oregano, snow peas, kale
We are throwing away huge amounts of produce due to damage from the weather – the chickens & animals are eating very well – unfortunately the stuff is not even fit to send to the local soup kitchen.
Weather, labor & readiness of product all determine what & when we will pick, i.e.
– if it is raining, no beans but maybe potatoes
– no labor = no onions (they take a lot of work picking & cleaning) but maybe zucchini
Here's what to expect tonight...
BEETS, SNOW PEAS OR MAYBE SNAP OR HULL PEA , SALAD GARLIC SCAPES, HERB, COLLARDS OR KALE, STRAWBERRIES
From the Farmer, "THESE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE REALLY MAKING A CHALLENGE – WE COULD NOT PICK AS WE HAD STANDING WATER IN THE FIELDS -& EVERYTHING WAS WET."
[asparagus, garlic scapes, snow peas, strawberries, parsely, beets, red leaf lettuce, salad mix, spring onions]
This week we have: Strawberries, rhubarb, beets, spring onions, mushrooms, kale, spinach, mint
Strawberries were a nice surprise this week. It must be summer!
Very much want to continue to thank former and upcoming volunteers. In the never ending quest to streamline our CSA, please begin to send any dates you know in advance that you will NOT be picking up your share. No worries...Manna Food Bank is thrilled to get these donations. However, in consideration of our volunteers' time, it would be helpful to know that they don't have to wait for shares that are not being picked-up.
Apologies for not having the share details up before Monday, but that post is dependent on the farmer sending us the info. This week we have: kale, radish, romain lettuce, rhubarb, bok choy, scallions, spinach, asparagus, herb (mint or oregano)
There was lots of talk at pick up about cooking successes and recipe ideas...PLEASE share online. [post a comment or submit a recipe]
For all of you who moaned when you saw rhubarb again this week, here's an extended storage tip: Rhubarb will freeze. Cut the rhubarb stalks into 1-inch chunks and seal in an airtight bag. Frozen rhubarb will keep up to a year at 0 degrees F.
Our farmers are Pam Stegall-Roberts and Paul Roberts. They have 10 years of organic growing experience and grow most of our vegetables on their 5 acre Calvert Farm near Rising Sun, Maryland.
In addition to what Calvert Farm grows, they also get produce from a network of Amish farmers nearby, with whom they have built a unique partnership. It is a network made up of 10 farmers, most of whom are certified organic. This may not seem unique, but it is. The Amish do not easily trust those outside their culture or transact with them. Pam and Paul have built an exemplary collaboration on many levels. They even employ Amish family members as workers on the farm.
Although the number of independent farmers is sadly decreasing, many of the new independent farmers are women, like our farmer. Pam puts her anthropology and conference planning background to great use in coordinating the volume of logistics and people involved in her operation.
Adapted from Sandy Spring CSA
From CSA member Rachel M.
Why so many plastic bags??? Can we please only bag things that need to be bagged (the lettuces maybe?) and not bag anything else? It feels so horribly wasteful!!
Answer from the Farm:
“We wrap so many of the items to protect them from the effects of the modern frost free refrigerator. If the veggies did not have a protective barrier – they would become dehydrated very quickly. The carrots & radishes would become soft & all the leafy greens would wilt.”
“Although we would love to recycle the plastic bags – organic certification prohibits the use of any item that we cannot account for – we must use FDA food class material for wrapping & must show that what we use has never been used for non organic produce.”
To offset the footprint, you might consider recycling the bags for your own use at home.
From CSA member Jess E.
"Yummmmm! I went home and ate MOST of the lettuce RIGHT AWAY. It was so fresh and tasty! I am making Rhubarb salsa tonight! And to think this will be going on THROUGH THE FALL!"
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