Category: Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member

June has been hot and dry but perfect for Sugar Snap Peas. New this week is Sugar Snap Peas. They are so delicious! Sugar Snap Peas can be eaten raw (our favorite way to eat them) or cooked. To string the pod pinch the stem and pull the string down toward the other end to remove the stem and the string. Eat the whole pod. The entire pea is edible.

Here is a simple and delicious way to cook the sugar snap pease. https://www.stoneledge.farm/csa-program/recipes/67-sugar-snap-peas

Early Caraflex Cabbage is an early, pointed cabbage variety that is also an Heirloom seed variety. The Cabbage is sweet and makes delicious slaw. For Cole Slaw recipes go to the farm website Recipe & Produce ID section. https://www.stoneledge.farm/csa-program/recipes/cabbage

This week you will also be getting Natcha Escarole. It is a slightly bitter green that is excellent with white beans. The Lettuces are still abundant and glorious. (Don’t put away the salad spinner!) Romaine Lettuce, Red Leaf and Butter- Crunch will be in the share this week.

Summer Savory tastes great with almost anything. It goes well with many vegetables and is great to make a dressing or marinade. You can add Summer Savory to your slaw using the Caraflex Cabbage this week.

Marketplace items are available weekly. Mushroom Share this week is Shiitake Mushrooms.

Enjoy the Harvest.
Everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

This is a very busy time on the farm. The harvest is now well underway but there are greenhouses full of seedlings needing to be transplanted for fall. Weeds are trying to make a hold and there is constant cultivation to keep them under control. It is hard to keep up with all that needs to be done day to day. It is also a wonderful time of year when months of work which was started in February is ready for harvest.

This is salad season. It comes and goes quickly so enjoy the greens of spring. The Romaine can be grilled, Lettuce Soup recipe is on the farm website and if you are invited to dinner or a party, volunteer to bring the salad! This week the lettuces are beautiful. The lettuce is mature but still sweet and tender. Frisee Endive is new this week. Finely serrated leaves are great in a salad.

Summer Spinach is a staple on the farm and the first delivery will come in your share this week.

It seems a bit early but you may like to make a note on your calendar that the Fall Farm Festival will be held September 3 this year. It is a great day to share with family and other CSA members on the farm.

The CSA Marketplace is open and you can log into your CSA Member Account to order Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee and Chocolate. Mushrooms are also available weekly from the Marketplace. Mushroom orders must be received by Friday 11 AM . All of the products that we offer on the Marketplace are grown or produced on small family farms. Support family farmers locally, in Central America and Grenada with your Marketplace order. https://www.stoneledge.farm/marketplace

*Please note that the labels for the Maple Industry have changed.
Formally Grade A is now- Maple Syrup Grade A Dark Color Robust Taste
Formally Grade B is now- Maple Syrup Grade A Very Dark Color Strong Taste
Same syrup, different labeling system

Enjoy the Harvest
Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

Refrigerators will be full of greens this week. Tropicana and Romaine Lettuce, Muzuna and a new salad ingredient Purslane. Purslane can be eaten raw in a salad or cooked. Purslane has a mild, slightly lemony flavor. It tastes great in a salad with a citrus vinaigrette, toasted walnuts and goat cheese. Or, you can briefly sauté purslane in butter and softened shallots or onions, and add to an omelet or frittata. All of the greens are given a rinse right after we pick them but they will need a wash at home. With rain over the last week and the soil splashes between the leaves. I have found it works well to wash greens by cutting the stem portion off, giving the leaves a good rinse in a bowl or sink full of water, drain and rinse again, spin dry. The lettuces will keep for at least a week in the salad spinner if you have enough room in your refrigerator or in a plastic bag or container. Some members re-use the rinse water to water their plants.

The greens on the kohlrabi are plentiful and should be cut off and used as a separate vegetable. Kohlrabi greens can be cooked just like collard greens or kale. They can also be eaten raw by tossing into a salad.

The Bright Lights Swiss Chard looks just beautiful. The multicolored stems of yellow, reds, oranges adorn the Bright Lights Swiss Chard. Oriental Greens and Red Mustard Greens are delicious served with Locust Point CSA’s Spicy Peanut Sauce. The recipe for Spicy Peanut Sauce can be found on the farm Recipe and Produce ID section under Sauces.

Garlic Scapes are the green pig tail looking stem. The scape is the immature seed head of the garlic plant that we remove to send more growing energy to the bulb below the soil. The scape grows from the center of the above ground portion of the garlic plant. Garlic Scapes have the same flavor and use as the garlic bulb. Delicious Garlic Scape Pesto is easy to make found on the farm Recipe and Produce ID section under Garlic heading or use your favorite pesto recipe substituting the basil for scapes.

Marketplace items Honey, Maple, Organic Fair Trade Kosher Coffee in ground or whole bean, Organic Tree to Bar Dark Chocolate bars and Cocoa Powder can be ordered any time during the season and will be delivered with your CSA shares. The Organic Dark Chocolate is delicious. To place an order from the online CSA Marketplace log into your CSA Member Account from the farm website home page. Place your order and it will be delivered with your CSA shares. All of the products we offer on the Marketplace are produced by small family farms locally, in Central America and Grenada.

Enjoy the Harvest
Candice
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member,

The first week of delivery is always full of activity.  Picking, packing, counting and re-counting to make sure all of the shares are delivered correctly.  It has been a brutally hot and dry spring time although as we start the pick the rain has finally come to the farm.  Extremes seem to be the new normal.  The temperatures fluctuated from 22 degrees to 85 degrees within a week staying in the 80’s and there was really no rain all the month of May and beyond.  

Greens will fill the bulk of the share. Boc Choi, Arugula, Chinese Cabbage and Kale can be chopped thinly added to a salad or quickly cooked in a wok. The greens will have some small round holes in the leaves.  The heat and dry conditions were perfect for an insect pest called the Flea Beetle to thrive.  We have worked very diligently to keep the numbers of beetles under control using all of the Organic methods available, but the beetles always outnumber us and there will be some damage to the leaves.  It is cosmetic damage only and will not in any way affect the flavor of the greens.  The freshness of the greens cannot be matched and you will notice the intensity of the flavor.

The Stoneledge Farm website has some great recipes for kale chips and salads.  Go to www.stoneledge.farm CSA Program/Recipes & Produce ID.  Also, under Recipes and Produce ID there are pictures of all the different types of vegetables to help with identification of the vegetables in your CSA share. 

Optional Shares: Mushrooms this week are Crimini   
Coffee Share will be delivered.  Please remember to pick up your Optional Share if you have ordered a Mushroom Share or a Coffee Share.

Enjoy the vegetables.
-Candice for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Our large greenhouses have been filled and now we are working to move the heartier seedlings into the unheated greenhouses to make more room for continued seeding.  Chinese Cabbage, Boc Choi and Kohlrabi have their second set of leaves and are ready for a period of “hardening off”  in the unheated greenhouse.  This time gives the plants a period of strengthening before being planted into the field.

The warmer weather has finally settled in and Peter has started plowing.  We will be transplanting the hearty spring seedlings by the end of the month.  The never ending cycle of the farm.  

New photos on the farm Face Book page https://www.facebook.com/StoneledgeFarm  and also on the Farm News https://stoneledge.farm/on-the-farm/farm-blog showing what is going on at the farm.  Members requested more photos of our year and so we are trying to keep up with the changes that happen so quickly this time of year.

The first 2016 CSA season delivery is Tuesday, June 7.  Your CSA coordinators will be in touch with specific details about your CSA site.  Each week the farm will be sending out an e-mail with our harvest for the week so you will have an idea of what will be in your share and a piece of news about what is happening on the farm. 

You can update your member profile, check your balance, see what items you have ordered, add to your order and make payment as well as view all e-mails that have been sent to your account by logging into your CSA Member Account from the farm website www.stoneledge.farm and then go to My Account.  If you have not added a Fruit Share, Mushroom Share or Coffee Share  to your Vegetable Share and you would still like to, please log into your account and add the optional Share before the start of our deliveries.  The optional Fruit Share will start the 5th week of delivery, Mushroom Shares start the 1st week of delivery, Coffee Shares are the beginning of each month for a total of 6 deliveries.

Why not pass on the news about CSA to your circle of friends, neighbors or fellow workers?  We can use your help spreading the word about CSA .

As always, if you have any questions please send an e-mail to the farm at info@stoneledgefarmny.org and we will be back in touch.

Looking forward to a bountiful harvest.

Stoneledge Farm

March 2016

Spring can not be far away and our seeding for the 2016 season has started. No matter the weather outside we have the advantage of warmth and light of the greenhouses. As you walk through the door to the greenhouse warmth and light are all around and the smell of soil fills the air. Today we started seeding Shallots. Like many of the earliest crops we seed, the Shallots will take months of growing, tending and care to finally come to harvest for the CSA shares.

If you have already ordered your CSA shares thank you and welcome to 2016. If you have not ordered your CSA shares there are still openings. To place an order for 2016 Log into your CSA Member Account from the farm website home page www.stoneledge.farm using your e-mail and password. Select the shares and place your order. The delivery season will start the beginning of June. The full list of CSA sites can be found on the farm website, CSA Program, CSA Locations and CSA site Details box: https://www.stoneledge.farm/store/index.php/store/guests. Click on the Details box for complete information about that CSA site.

If you know of someone that may be interested, please pass on the information. We appreciate the help reaching out. There are Vegetable Shares with optional Fruit, Mushroom and Coffee Shares available.

Stoneledge Farm LLC

info@stoneledgefarmny.org

Dear Current and Future CSA Members,

Happy New Year to all! As another year came and went we, now turn our attention towards the coming 2016 season. With many current updates on the farm to our facilities and staff, we are better prepared than ever before. We have seeds ordered and field plans made as we strategize and eagerly await the approaching spring. Spring starts regardless of weather for the farm with greenhouse activity ramping up in late February.

The 2016 season is now open for registration for all of our CSA locations. To join the Stoneledge Farm CSA family please visit our homepage a www.stoneledge.farm. Many of our 22 locations fill up quickly so an early registration can ensure a membership in your desired location.

This our 20th season as a certified organic CSA farm we would like to thank all returning members for their continued support throughout the years. We also look forward to filling the dinner tables of new members with our homegrown organic produce for years to come. We value all opinions and feedback from our members and want to continue to improve and change to best satisfy our CSA family.

Thank you to all who have already joined the Stoneledge Farm CSA for 2016. We will continue to dedicate all of our time and energy to make this 20th season the best yet! For any questions with registration please contact Candice or Deb at info@stoneledge.farm.

To place your 2016 CSA order now go to the farm website home page. www.stoneledge.farm
Click on Member Login
Click on 2016 CSA Harvest Season
If you have any questions or need help, please email the farm.
info@stoneledge.farm

Thank You,

Pete Sr.
Deb
Pete Jr.
Candice

Dear CSA Member

This is the last delivery for the 2015 season. A bittersweet time as we have been working so hard all year to grow, harvest and deliver CSA shares. Now that the last delivery is upon us, we are grateful for a bountiful season, the members who have been part of the CSA, the CSA Coordinators that manage the CSA sites, the sponsor sites and their staff where the distribution occurs each week, the crew on the farm that work so very hard. We thank everyone who was a member this season and a special thank you to the CSA site coordinators and site hosts.

We are already planning and planting for the 2016 season. Once the 2016 is set to order log into your CSA Member Account from the farm website home page and place your 2016 CSA share order. As a current member you have a CSA Member Account so you do not need to create a new one. We will be sending an e-mail once the 2016 is set up on line which should be Monday PM. Early sign ups are appreciated as most of our purchasing for the next season happens in December. It seems that CSA continues to grow in popularity and early sign up also secures your shares for the next season. There will be the three pay option available again for 2016 which breaks down the share payment over three months time. If you have any questions please send an e-mail to the farm at info@stoneledge.farm and we will respond quickly.

Marketplace items are available with many vegetables, fruit in bulk, coffee, chocolate, honey and maple. Place an order for great gift giving this season. Please order by Monday 3PM to make sure we can fill your order to be delivered with the last CSA shares.

Enjoy the bountiful harvest. Thank you again for being a CSA member.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

It has been a beautiful fall. The leaves have been spectacular. The Oaks are always the last to color and last night many of them fell. There is a blanket of leaves.

The season is nearing an end with only one week remaining after this delivery. Your bag will be full of all that the late season has to offer. Garlic and Shallots. Such great oniony crops this year. We just planted our garlic crop for 2016. The seed is the garlic that was grown this year. Each head is split into cloves and the cloves planted. Each clove will become a garlic head next season. The cloves overwinter in the field to sprout in the spring. The cycle continues.

Popcorn for the first time this season. The popcorn has been drying in the greenhouse. The heat and dry conditions are perfect to dry the corn. You can leave the pop corn to dry a bit more in a warm, dry spot. To make fresh pop corn take the kernels from the cob. The first row is the hardest. The others will be easier as there is room on the cob. Using about 1/2 cup of kernels for a large bowl of pop corn, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large pan with a lid. On medium high heat add the pop corn and cover. As the corn heats the moisture in the kernel explodes. Add butter, salt or your favorite and enjoy.

Marketplace items are available with many vegetables, fruit in bulk, coffee, chocolate, honey and maple. Place an order for great gift giving this season.

Enjoy the bountiful harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

Week #22 already. This season is nearly finished. There will be two more deliveries after this week. We hope to have the 2016 season open for sign up late in November and we will send you an e-mail. It seems that CSA keeps growing each year. We started with our CSA deliveries almost 20 years ago now. Our first site was the Carnegie Hill CSA followed by Yorkville CSA and there are still first and second season members who are on the Core Group working away each week as we deliver the shares after 20 seasons. Members who were just starting families now have children in college as 20 years has passed. Friendships have formed. The CSA has become a fixture in the community as the truck pulls up each week and crates and crates of produce are unloaded. Our own family has grown up and now our son who was only a little kid, picking and helping pack shares each week now is in charge of the farming operations. A legacy of community commitment and community support for each other and our farm.

This week there are Sweet Potatoes. Members have asked for them and we decided to try growing them this season. They are a crop that we will probably not grow again next season because they just do not grow as large as we would like and they take ages to harvest. Many are small but are tasty.

Beautiful greens: Red Russian Kale, Lettuces. Heavy root crops of Carrots, and Purple Globe Top Tuniips. Butternut Winter Squash and Shallots that have both grown exceptionally well this season.

Many vegetables and fruit are available for bulk order through the online CSA Marketplace. Coffee, Organic Dark Chocolate, Maple Syrup and Honey available as well. With only a couple of deliveries left it is a good idea to order soon for holiday gift giving.

I have posted a photo of our 2015 Farm Crew on the farm website Farm News page: https://www.stoneledge.farm/on-the-farm/farm-blog. Take a look.

Enjoy the bountiful harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm