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Paisley Farm CSA Blog
 Go Winter CSA Go!
2011 was a year of up and downs (can you say Irene?) but we are happy to have been given some unseasonally warm weather in early December which helped us plant more! In terms of winter shares, there will always be a consistent items that are guranteed to be available but other items are subject to availability. That being said we always will make sure you have a hearty share with variety and the top produce (or pork, or cheese!) we have! Unlike the summer CSA, winter shares allow us the chance to again support and strengthen our local New York farm communiites by bringing in items like pork, cheese and some produce items from neighboring farms. We are proud to have the ability to source from other farms and growers in the our upstate area for these shares in addition to the goods we grow on our own land for you!
The first Winter share this year (Jan. 4) will consist of the following though some items are subject to availabilty as noted above:
- 1 Quart of Maple Syrup Beautiful 100% dark amber maple syrup; a real cold weather treat!
- 1 dozen omega eggs
- 1 Butternut Squash
- 2 Acorn Squash
- 2 pounds of Beets
- 2 pounds of Red Onions
- 5 Large Russet Potatoes
- 2 Sweet Potatoes
- 2 Parsnips
- 9 apples (3 of each kind - Empire, Jona Gold & Rome)
- 3 Red Bartlett Pears
- 4 Small Heads of Garlic
- 1 bag of Red Leaf from our field
- Pork for those with a pork share
- Cheese for those with a cheese share
Grains and dried beans will be in future shares along with other exciting winter share items! Have a recipe you're inspired to make with a share? Have a question about an item? Please let us know, we love to help or hear your food stories!
Get excited about a great new year!
Here is a quick Root Soup that can be changed and adjusted to your tastes. Think of this as a base, and feel free to add meat or finish with a sprinkle of parmasen cheese!
This recipe first appeared in the Stearns Farm Newsletter. It uses leek, celery, turnip, sweet potato, and carrot. Other roots such as rutabaga, celeriac, or white potatoes can be substituted, though the intensity of sweet potato and carrot work nicely with the touch of lemon juice. Serve with slices of whole-grain bread.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek (white and light green parts only), coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt, to taste
1 turnip, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 quarts vegetable stock
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Method: In a soup pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the leek, celery, garlic, and salt, Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until softened.
In case you did not have enough holidays, today is Boxing Day. Not a typical American holiday but nonetheless, here is a UK inspired recipe that can easily use up some of that Chritmas ham. If only it was snowing, this would be a wonderful cold night meal... so enjoy today for Boxing Day or save for a snowy New York evening to come!
 Boxing Day Ham, Potato & Leek Pie Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 leeks, finely sliced
- 2 large potatoes cut into small cubes
- 2 tablespoons plain flour , plus extra for dusting
- 300ml (1 1/4 cups) chicken or ham stock
- 100ml (slightly less than 1/2 cup) pot crème fraîche (or use leftover double (heavy) cream)
- 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
- 200g (7 oz) cooked ham , shredded
- 4 bay leaves , optional
- 375g (13.3 oz) pack puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze (or use cream)
Method
Heat a large frying pan, melt the butter, then add the onion and leeks. Cover, then very gently cook for 15 minutes until soft. Add the potatoes after 5 minutes cooking.
Stir in the flour, turn up the heat, then add the stock, stirring until the mix thickens a little. Take off the heat, then stir in the crème fraîche, mustard and ham. Season to taste, then cool, if you have time. Spoon the mix into a large pie dish, adding a couple of bay leaves. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut a pastry strip the same width as the lip of the dish, wet the edge of the dish with egg, then fix the strip around it. Brush the top with egg, then lay over the remaining pastry.
Trim pastry to the edge of the dish, then ruffle the cut edges with the knife blade to help the layers rise. Cut a few slits to let the steam escape, decorate with bay leaves, if you like, then brush all over the top with egg. Can be done up to a day ahead, keep chilled. Bake for 30 mins until risen.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, Jan. 2009
 A Very Merry Christmas from Upstate Farm & Paisley Farms!
We hope you are all blessed this holiday season with good times great food and all the merriment you need!
The winter CSA begins right as the the new year kicks off... and if you have not signed up, go for it now! Or spread the CSA love by choosing to give our shares as a gift certificate! Instructions for all options outlined on the sign up sheet.
Sign up is still open presently and to secure every share, please have all sign ups in by Jan 1st. The Winter CSA and other share options will remain open past the first delivery date (Jan. 4) though service charges will apply (remianing shares after a late sign up are prorated.)
So deck your halls, jingle your bells or light a menorah and enjoy. Thank you for your support through every season and holiday. We love being your farmer.
 Sign up is bouncing right along for the Winter CSA! We are excited to be able to offer many options for shares (produce? cheese? eggs? forgager shares? check, check, check...and check!) If you want to see a bit about pick up locations: check here
Winter CSA Notes:
Thank you for your interest in our Winter Shares! This season has been especially tough on the farm and our family but we have survived thanks to the generosity and support of the 231 families that are members of Paisley Farm CSA. As part of our transition into the 2012 season Paisley Farm is once again offering a a winter CSA box. For those members who have not participated in the winter CSA it's a great way to eat local and support the farm in the winter months. It's also a nice way to see your CSA friends and stay in touch with your local site and events. The pick up will be every other week for a twelve week period starting early January until late March. The share comes pre-packed in a sturdy bushel box with handles for easy transport. You simply go to your neighborhood site, pick up your share and start enjoying the local selection we have assembled for you!
Winter CSA: A winter CSA might seem like something for warm climates, but its value is even more important to us in the northeast as we try to keep our eating local and seasonal. As we move through the gift of the seasons, we also get the pleasure to share these farm goodies with all of you. Our Winter CSA for 2012 will be exciting, delicious, and with enough options to keep you eating from the land and supporting local agriculture all the way until summer (when we begin again with our famous heirloom tomatoes!)
cost: $300 per share
Cheese: Some of the farms we will be offering cheese for our CSA will include Lively Run Goat Dairy (Interlaken, NY), Hawthorne Valley Farm (Harlemville, NY), Amazing Real Live Food (Pine Plains NY), Sprout Creek Farm (Poughkeepsie, NY), Old Chatham Sheep Herding Company (Old Chatham, NY), Nittle Meadow Farm (Warren Buz, NY), and Brovetto Dairy (Harpersfield, NY).
cost: $95 per cheese share
 Pork: The past few years have seen a huge influx in the trendy-ness of pork...but good pork? That is a story all until itself as farm raised, humane and clean pork has a juicy bite and our choice farm raises their pigs with plenty of Hudson Valley apples to eat leading to succulent and sweet tasting pork. With two size choices this year, we are happy to offer such high quality meat at a fair price delivered right to you alongside your winter CSA shares! But.... this is first come, first serve! There are also so many pork shares! Get your orders in for this special nose-to-tail option!
cost: $275 per option 1 pork share including & $325 per option 2 pork share including
Forager: You all saw Mike talking ramps in the NYTimes last spring, and many of you also probably waiting in lines at markets for bunches of ramps priced very high...well, for the forager in all of us comes a locavore and food lovers dream share. Complete with ramps every week, nettles, fiddlehead ferns, morels and other spring surprises, this share is directly from our Paisley Farm lands! As a special treat, we will also have a ramp harvest day allowing for members to come enjoy the fresh air, get your hands dirty and dig your own ramps! More information for any and all events will be available into spring.
Joining our Winter CSA means you get to make a conscious difference in how we eat, where food comes from and supporting those who produce your food fairly, from each and every season. The Winter CSA this year will be delivered every other week for 12 weeks (delivery dates are below) and will include the following: .Our great winter selection including honey, maple syrup from our farm, roots, garlic, eggs, green house greens, winter squash, apples, onions, cider, currant juice, Hawthorne Valley sauerkraut and kim chi, organic dried grains and beans from the Finger Lakes. There will also be recipes on the blog that correlate with shares as we move through the winter season!
Another week of some beautiful days and some rainy days…but such is life in late October! We are all excited about the winter squash coming back around for autumn and pears are always a treat. Here is the share this week!
- Collard Greens
- Beets
- Japanese Eggplant
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Kabocha Squash
- Lemon Verbena
- Mint
Fruit: Honeycrisp Apples & Bosc Pears
And what to do with those vegetables and squash? Add quinoa and pesto!
Here is a recipe for Roasted Vegetables with Quinoa and Pesto… delicious!
Collard Greens & White Bean Stew… healthy and warming for chilly fall evenings.
Mint & Lemon Verbena can also be used to make this great tea:
Lemon Verbena & Mint Herb Tea
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves (not the stems, they’re bitter), rinsed, lightly packed (about 20 leaves)
1/2 cup of fresh lemon verbena leaves, rinsed, lightly packed (about 10-15 leaves)
2 cups of water
Bring a pot of fresh water almost, but not quite to a boil. Put the mint and verbena leaves in a teapot. Pour the hot water over the leaves. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Strain into tea cups.
Makes 2 cups.
It is certainly fall here in Tivoli. Trees are all different colors of red, amber, orange and golden. A beautiful sight indeed. It is also a wonderful time to venture to upstate! Come for a day trip and drive around the winding hills and take in the clean air and stunning postcard like scenery. Also, this weekend is the Official Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck NY.
Don’t forget about the EatNYC event going on October 25 for National Food Day!
Please keep helping farms and farmers in any post Irene efforts you might come upon. We should all see the connectedness and community that farming in the Hudson Valley and NYC has developed. Keeping those ties strong in times of need is always important. Thank you again from us and all the farmers we work with.
If you’re in NYC this weekend and looking for another food event we think will be a total blast (with good food too!) Check out the NY Food Film Fest. This is for the Farm to Film to Table.
We have some really wonderful news to share with all of you about an event taking place on Food Day, 2011. Read more about Food Day here, but it is a day for us all to continue the fight for eating real food.
Goals include:
• Reduce diet related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
• Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
• Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
• Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
• Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids like this
• Support fair conditions for food and farm worker
Read more below about EatNYC, an evening event at our school location to celebrate the first national Food Day!
“Having made a commitment to educate our students about nutrition and sustainable food systems, we are writing to inform you about EatNYC, an evening event at our school to celebrate the first national Food Day. This event will be a fundraiser to support the work being done to fight childhood obesity. Proceeds will be donated to The Ground Up Campaign to support their work in delivering edible indoor academic gardens to schools in order to educate students about nutrition and the environment.
Our event will include restaurants offering samples of locally sourced and/or healthful items from their menus. It will also feature exhibits from some of the New York City based organizations striving to improve food systems and nutrition awareness. Throughout the event, we will show episodes of Avis Richard’s “LUNCH NYC,” a television series exposing health conscious individuals, organizations, and events in New York City.
Prominent organizations such as Dr. Oz’s HealthCorps, the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food in partnership with Candle 79 and Candle Café, as well as, Chef Bill Telepan’s organization Wellness in the Schools have all committed to participating thus far. We are also in the process of securing some dynamic keynote speakers for the evening.
We are still looking to recruit restaurants for this event. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Attached is a copy of the exhibitor flyer that can be shared with restaurants who may be interested in participating. Also, we are now selling tickets for EatNYC ($25 per adult, $10 for children) at the front desk or you may get them online at http://eatnyc.eventbrite.com. This event will be held on the evening of October 24th at 6:30 PM in the prep school gymnasiums.
We hope to see you there!
Thank you,
Simone Hristidis
Head of the Lower School
Hello from the farm and some humid days! We are still working through the loss of so much of our planted crops this year…but appreciate your continued understanding and desire to help.
Shares this week:
- Curly Kale
- Collard Greens
- Red Onions
- Potatoes
- Festival Squash
- Peppers
- Corn
- Herbs (rosemary, thyme or sage)
Fruits:
This week we are still trying to get the shares going strong despite the Irene horrors, we and all farmers who suffered losses, are dealing with. Thank you again to all those who have reached out to help. We are thinking about opportunities to open the farm and allow our incredible members to come help out. Your big hearts are more than appreciated.
Shares:
- Winter squash, either delicata or butternut
- Corn
- Onions
- Kale
- Collard greens
- Potatoes
- Herb, purple sage
- Peppers (Columbia grammar is getting zucchini instead of peppers)
Fruit:
Cheese share: is jersey girl Colby
Can you all believe it is winter squash and pear time already? The seasons changing is such a glorious part of living in the Hudson Valley. We have to say though, we hope it warms up a little for a few days to allow us to replant and get some more things going! Thank you again. Please keep in touch with Paisley Farms on our facebook page. Love,
the farm
To all CSA members:
We are down but not out!
We are sending out this email to inform you about the extent of damage to our farm and what that will mean for the remaining season. All of our Fall crops have been wiped out. This includes all winter squash, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, carrots, summer squash and various greens. What is left on the farm now are leeks, onions (that were harvested prior to the hurricane) as well as a few odds and ends that escaped the floodwater. As I compose this letter, the fields are still wet. Our tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers were submerged as recently as 48 hours ago. At one time we were hopeful we could salvage these crops but the additional inches of rain we got last week allowed the river to overflow a second time one week after the hurricane. After this mornings inspection we are hopeful of salvaging enough peppers and possibly some tomatoes for next weeks’ deliveries.
All sites will be receiving deliveries this week and next week. To augment the weekly share we will be delivering produce that we purchase from farms who were on higher ground as well as some produce from farms outside the sphere of the hurricane. This will be paid for with funds intended for salaries of the farm employees as well as additional funds from Mike, Jan and Upstate Farms. We have also documented our losses with the federal and state agencies if any money becomes available. We have filled out forms, gone to meetings, and taken photographs that will meet any requirements necessary for grants or funds to help get the farm back in shape. It is unlikely but not impossible that there will be funds to cover any of our product losses. However if we are eligible for funds it involves a lengthy process that will not help us in the immediate future.
We are also replanting. It is still too wet to direct seed into the fields. The day after Irene we planted 5,000 heads of lettuce and 5,000 other types of various greens (swiss chard, kale) in the greenhouse. These will be transplants that we hope to set out in the field in the next two weeks. Hopefully these greens will be ready to harvest in 4 - 6 weeks.
In addition to all this we will be erecting a 35 X 100 foot outdoor grow-house or high-tunnel to help us extend the season. Anyone who would like to volunteer to help raise this greenhouse is welcome to come help. The date will be announced. We will continue to update you on the situation as we learn more.
For the next two weeks we will have a respectable amount of produce from our resources described above. There may be gaps or even a shortened season depending on how far resources take us. In the meantime we are grateful for the calls and emails of support from our members. Your continued support can assure you that we will be here next year. Please feel free to email us, we would love to hear all suggestions, ideas or complaints, our door is always open. Thank you for being so understanding.
We welcome your help as well! We have received a large response from those wanting to come help us erect the growhouse. What wonderful members we have, with full hearts. We are trying to plan a day that this can take place. Thank you for your continued support and moving forward all needed information about shares and what is happening on the farm… flooded or not…will be on the blog!
Also, Just Food has been putting out a great deal about what farms are dealing with and how CSAs work to share this burden when natural disasters hit. Here is a piece that is worth reading. Thanks again,
love,
Paisley Farm
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About CSA |
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We are an organic farm in Tivoli, NY, with four CSA sites in New York City. We also run a distribution company that represents small family farms in upstate NY. |
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