thought. It pleases me to see people are beginning to think more in these ways.   However,  one fact I find disappointing is there are still and probably will be for sometime, a greater percentage of people in our community who buy all, or a big percentage of their food, from grocery stores because it’s cheap or because it’s available at any time of the year. The convenience is often a persons primary reason why they buy from grocery stores and not from a CSA. I have been subscription farming now for 15 years and I still find it a struggle to get enough people to support my program. If people are going to want to  see local CSA farms survive more people are going to have to get involved. It’s simple economics in understanding that the more community interest a farm has, the better the program they can offer for the cost.  I’m constantly thinking of ways to improve my program and it’s convenience to you but the ideas most often require additional funds.  People are the prime movers with a CSA program.

Text Box: Greetings everyone and a warm welcome to the 2005 growing season. With everything I needed to do in preparation for this year it felt like winter whizzed right by. Summer’s just around the corner now so get ready for some good eating from the farm. The spring weather has been kind to us this year so we’ve gotten off to a good start. Spring planting has been on schedule all along and so it appears that were headed for a great harvest this year starting today. If this is your first experience with a CSA farm, or if your returning for another year I hope we’re thinking alike when it comes to our reasons for being part of the farm. Some of the feedback from past participants indicate people join the program for different reasons. CSA is the acronym for “Community Supported Agriculture”. It seems many people consider CSA’s a unique and alternative way to acquire fruits and vegetables during the fresh growing season. That’s a good thought but I believe there’s got to be more to it than that. With the cost of fuel on the increase, many people are now beginning to feel that belonging to a local farm organization makes good sense in doing their part to save on gas. At the same time being able to support and patronize a local grower is now becoming a more conscious

Maple syrup for sale

I have extra maple syrup for sale. If you would like to purchase some send a check for your order and I’ll deliver it to your pickup location. The cost is $8.00 per quart.

Return your Boxes and Egg Cartons Please

Each week your boxes and egg cartons need to be returned to the pick-up site so we can bring them back to the farm for reuse.  Some members find it easier to transfer the food into one of their own personal containers. Either way returning the boxes is a great help to us and we thank you for it.

Organic Dairy Products proposed for Delivery

The flyer in today’s box introduces you to a new feature I’d like to include to my farm program.

There is a good possibility of having organic dairy products available for distribution along with the farm vegetables. Read the flyer and then get onto my website and let me know if you’d be interested. The bottom line is if I can’t get enough business to meet the companies minimum purchase then I guess it will never happen. This would be a great way to bring home additional food items from one source. I hope something will work so we can get something going with these products. Let me know what you think.

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

RARE  EARTH NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Text Box: Whether you work at the farm or if you participate as a member, were all in this together. People who can make a long term commitment to the organization, and who can look beyond the short term return of just getting food are the kind of people that’s needed to make a CSA farm work. A good foundation has already been established here since its beginning in 1990. I recognize and respect all of you that have been with the farm since the beginning. We are down a bit this year on memberships, and so because of that I’ll be bringing on people throughout the season. Tell your friends about the program and get them to sign up. It’s going to be a great season. This year let’s put the “community” back in Community Supported Agriculture. Take care! Steve

Rare Earth Farm                    www.RareEarthFarm.com
Text Box: June 16th, 2005

 

 

 

 

Herb Cell Packs

The cell packs you received today are filled with some common herbs that I hope you’ll find useful. I would like to offer more fresh cut herbs along with our vegetables but most herbs being delicate in nature are difficult to cut and deliver. So I thought the next best thing would be to grow herbs for you. Because I started them a little earlier than I should of they are not in prime condition like they were earlier this spring but they should recover once there either placed in a bigger container or planted outside. Good Luck in caring for your herb plants!

 

Sun-dried Tomato Tortellini Salad

                                                                                  Submitted by Amy Ocain

 

½ lb. (approx. 20) fresh spinach and ricotta tortellini

10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and halved

20 large basil leaves, roughly chopped

 

 

Cook tortellini in salted, boiling water until tender (4 min.).  Drain.  Mix marinade.  Combine all ingredients and marinate 30 min.  Make up to one day in advance.

Marinade:

1teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Pesto

1 or 2 plump garlic cloves

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons of pine nuts, or sunflower seeds

3 cups loosely packed basil leaves, stems removed, leaves washed and dried.

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

½ cup olive oil

Roast the pine nuts or sunflower seeds to a light golden brown color. Finely mince and set aside. Lay the garlic cloves on a cutting board and pour the salt over them. Finely mince the garlic and salt.

In a food processor or blender, pour the olive oil and garlic in and begin processing the basil leaves putting the leaves into the blender a couple at a time. When all the basil is completely blended pour in the pine nuts. Last pour in the cheese and only blend until the cheese is mixed into the pesto.