National CSA Week: Interview with a Farmer

February 21-28 is National CSA Week. In celebration of this historic event, aspiring young CSA member Ms. MJ Righter (above, photographed with a kohlrabi) sat down with CSA Director Lauren Kaplan for this hard-hitting interview.

So Lauren, National CSA Week: Tell us about that.

Well MJ, I’m so glad you asked! It’s a week when CSA farmers across the nation are gearing up to --

Wait a minute: CSA? What’s that?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Simply put, it’s a way for consumers to purchase food directly from a farm.

Did PFP make that up?

Nope - CSA has a history much longer than PFP! While the term CSA originated in the 1980’s from Germany and Switzerland, the practice itself has diverse origins.

Around the same time that the European CSA model was making its way to Massachusetts, Dr. Booker T. Whatley -- an Alabama-born advocate of regenerative farming and direct marketing -- created the Clientele Membership Club. In this model, a membership fee allowed the more urban community -- “city folk, mostly” -- to participate in a Pick-Your-Own (or PYO) share of the farm’s harvest. A few decades earlier in the 1960’s, the Japanese model Teikei involved consumers organizing to purchase food directly from the farm.

All of these models shared similar goals: to invite consumers to have a more direct connection with their food source, and to allow the farm to plan to grow for an established, committed market.

In 1999, Poughkeepsie Farm Project joined the long line of farmers committed to growing food not for distributors or processors, but for the consumers themselves.

Sounds interesting. But why buy a CSA share?

There are lots of good reasons to buy a CSA share -- or to have your parents get one for you!.

A CSA provides consumers with food that is fresher and more cost-effective than grocery-store produce, which is usually bred for shelf-stability, not flavor. It also provides the farm with capital up-front (when it’s necessary to purchase seeds or animal feed, and to pay for labor), invites connection with fellow members and with farmers, and keeps open green space in the community, which can improve air and water quality.

At PFP, our CSA share also includes pick-your-own (PYO) crops like strawberries, herbs, flowers, and cherry tomatoes. Some weeks, PYO crops can nearly double the size of the share! PYO is easily the favorite part of CSA for many of our members, who really enjoy walking around the farm, seeing the crops grow and the pollinators hard at work.

Why now? Summer is so far away!

It’s true, our main-season CSA doesn’t begin until June -- but we start seeding those crops in March! So on National CSA Week, farms across the country will be signing up people who want to eat more fresh, local produce. By mid-March, we’ll be up to our elbows in greenhouse soil, seeding and watering our June and July crops.

As a thank-you for signing up early and helping us plan, everyone who purchases a share between Feb 21-28 is invited to pick up a mini-share of vegetables at our next Winter CSA on Saturday March 6. This will include some fresh greens as well as some rainbow carrots, watermelon radishes… maybe one of those kohlrabi, like the one by your head.

I like kohlrabi - highly recommended for teething.

Yeah, having teeth helps with kohlrabi. They’re pretty crunchy.

Right. So: How does the CSA work?

First, you get to make some choices.

You choose a Full Season Share (23 weeks from June - November) or a Fall-only Share (10 weeks September - November). You can also choose to add a May Share (2 weeks at the end of May).

You choose the size share you want: either a whole share (10 units) or half share (5 units). A “unit” could be 3 lbs tomatoes, 2 lbs carrots or cucumbers, 1 head of lettuce, 1 bunch kale or beets, etc.

You may also choose to add on a…

• Fruit Share (15 weeks July - November): fruit from our friends at Glorie Farm

• Egg Share (23 weeks June - November): eggs from our friends at Old Ford Farm

You choose which day of the week you want to pick up your produce. Pick up your share weekly on either Tuesday 3-6:30pm or Saturday 8:30am-12pm.

Finally, when your first pickup arrives...

You pick up your share. Currently, our CSA is using a contactless, drive-through model to keep our members and farmers safe in these challenging times. Pre-packed boxes, along with a choice offering, will be available for pickup weekly at the farm. All shares include a variety of seasonal produce, usually including some greens (ie: arugula, cabbage, kale, lettuce etc), some alliums (ie: garlic, onions, scallions etc), and whatever else is in season (ie: cucumber, tomato, eggplant, potatoes, carrots, beets, etc).

You pick-your-own (bonus!) produce. In addition to everything that we harvest for you, members are invited to pick your own berries, cherry tomatoes, peppers, green beans, flowers, herbs and more -- all to encourage members to experience the beauty and magic of the farm and to dig in to this land.

OK Lauren, I think that just about covers it… But what if I still have questions?

Stop by Winter CSA on Saturday, February 20 to ask me about CSA! Email hellocsa@farmproject.org to let us know you’re coming, or to reach out with any questions. You can also visit pfpfarmstore.com to browse your options.

Pick Your Own: Things to Know

Editor's Note: Another post about Pick Your Own‽ Yes! New and returning shareholders alike will benefit from this info. Pick Your Own is only open to our full and fall season CSA Shareholders. Don't have a share but want one? Go here.

With the CSA season in full swing, we've been getting a lot of questions from shareholders about Pick Your Own. If you are a CSA shareholder participating in PYO, here are a few things to know.:

Where should I harvest?
Please read the PYO board for information about where to pick and where NOT to pick! Sometimes we plant things in successions. This means that some rows of plants may be ready, and the same crop the next row over might not be ready yet, because it was planted later. The board will often have instructions about which successions are ready, and which are not. 

We will do our best to mark where one ready succession ends, and the next (“still ripening”) succession begins, with signage and/or yellow rope. If you respect these picking boundaries and allow immature plants to ripen, there will be more to pick for everyone!

Where can I walk?
Please watch out for neighboring beds! We often have crops planted right next to PYO crops, and it is important not to step in the beds. 

(Hint: even if it doesn’t look like there are plants in the bed next to you, if stepping in it feels soft or fluffy, that probably means that it’s been recently tilled, and that it is either seeded OR will be seeded very soon. We always want to avoid stepping in fluffy/soft soil. Pathways should feel firm under your feet.) 

What should I bring?
Containers: We cannot reuse or take back containers, but we strongly encourage you to reuse your OWN containers! Please do not try to return them to us, but DO feel free to bring them with you to next time. 

Scissors and clippers: Some crops (like flowers and some herbs) are best harvested cleanly by being clipped or snipped, rather than ripped. Please bring a pair of clippers or scissors with you to pick, and possibly a cup of water to transport flowers home.

Please note there is no glass allowed in the fields. We ask that you not bring drinking jars or any other kind of glass out into the fields, or anywhere inside the gates of the farm.

Our Philosophy

Sharing is Caring! We set quantities to make sure there is enough for everyone. Please respect quantities and limits.

Assume best intentions! Some members pick for friends who are elderly or less able to walk around the fields, and therefore harvest more than one share’s worth of PYO items. 

Be kind! To each other, and to the plants. Pick gently, and the plants will stay healthy for longer, providing us with more herbs/flowers/fruits than if we treat them roughly

Finally, please do stop by and say hello to our Pick Your Own person, stationed just inside the gate on distribution days! These friendly folks have lots of helpful information, and can help answer questions and point you in the right direction.

Thanks, and happy picking!

February is for Fermentation

Hello, Winter CSA Members!
This week, we are providing you with nearly all of the ingredients you’ll need to try your hand at simple, safe fermentation: try your hand at sauerkraut, kimchi, or “kraut-chi”, a creative combination of the two!

Simply put, fermentation “cooks” the food, making certain nutrients more available to us and adding/changing the probiotic character of the food, using microbes instead of heat. Yogurt, bread, beer, wine, sake, cheese, meat and pickles are all products of fermentation.

Fermentation is a great way to add vibrant flavors and textures to your plate (without the addition of fats or processed seasonings), get creative in the kitchen, and diversify gut bacteria to aid in digestion. If you’ve never made your own sauerkraut or kimchi before, we hope this week you’ll consider giving it a try.

Have a favorite recipe of your own? Share it with your fellow Winter CSA members! If you’ve got a favorite recipe you’d like to share, submit your recipe here !

And now, let’s get the creative (and culinary) juices flowing:

Parsnip and Celeriac Soup

For those of you who won’t be trying your hand at fermentation this week, we suggest this Parsnip and Celeriac Soup: a sweet-and-savory winter soup with a creamy potato base.

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Sauerkraut & Kraut-Chi

Making sauerkraut, while it may seem intimidating at first, is really something anyone can do! Put simply, you’re using a salty brine solution to keep out the “bad guys” and allow the “good guys” (the microbes that occur naturally on the cabbage) to work their magic.

For step by step instructions with photos, read “Kraut-Chi: A Step-by-Step Guide” from From The Land We Live On which offers some helpful tips, or “Making Sauerkraut” from Wild Fermentation from the fermentation guru himself. Here’s the basic process you’ll follow:

• Remove the outer two leaves and clean off any damaged, discolored or otherwise bad-looking spots. Reserve one whole leaf for later.
• Using a mandoline or a sharp clean knife and a clean cutting board, slice your cabbage very thinly into a big (clean) bowl.
• Sprinkle in some salt . Be sure to use non-iodized, also “canning” or “pickling” salt. You’ll want 1.5-2 tsp per pound of cabbage.
• Massage salt into cabbage with clean hands until it starts to release liquid. This is your brine.
• IF MAKING KRAUT-CHI, follow additional steps below.
• Pack cabbage and brine into a clean (sterilized) glass jar, ideally one that has just come out of a dishwasher or been washed thoroughly and swirled with boiling water.
• Massage a pinch of salt into that whole cabbage leaf you saved at the beginning, and fit it down over the sliced cabbage like a cap .
• Use a smaller jar filled with pebbles or some other heavy material to press and weight the kraut down: your goal is to keep the cabbage submerged below the liquid. Any chunks of cabbage sticking up in the air could begin to mold.
  • If after 6 hours your cabbage hasn’t generated enough brine to cover itself, make a salt solution to supplement. Mix 1 heaping tablespoon salt with 2 cups boiling water, allow to cool fully (this is important, as you don’t want to cook your microbes!), and pour over kraut.
• Put a large paper bag, if you have one, over the jar. It helps prevent any ambient dust from settling into the kraut. I Also I enjoy writing fun things like “Ssshh I am fermenting” or “Burp me often!” on the bag.)
• Now, wait. Let it sit. In 1-2 days you’ll see bubbles forming, and can press down on the weight to “burp” your kraut if the brine is in danger of overflowing. It should stop bubbling in 2-5 days.
• Start tasting after a week. The longer you leave it out, the more sour it will get. You can start eating it at any time it tastes good to you. If you want to slow/stop the fermentation, put a lid on it and place it in the refrigerator.

Kraut-Chi Additions

Note: Some processes call for salting your cabbage, letting it sit, draining it, rinsing it, and then proceeding with the following steps. For the sake of simplicity, we’ve omitted those steps here.

• Add any/all of the following: Chinese cabbage or bok choy (thinly sliced), daikon or other radish (thinly sliced/shredded/julienned), scarlet turnip or carrot (thinly sliced/shredded/julienned), green onions/scallions (chopped), garlic and ginger (finely chopped), gochugaru (or some red pepper flakes or finely chopped fresh hot pepper), and/or seaweed flakes or fish sauce (optional).
• A more complicated process calls for making a paste out of the garlic, ginger, green onion, chili/gochugaru, fish sauce, and some of the vegetable brine, and stirring this into the sliced cabbage/radish/carrot mixture. This gives kimchi its distinctive reddish color. Make your own, or you can purchase kimchi paste from any number of sources.

To make straight-up kimchi, which traditionally includes the draining process and paste-making, check out ”How To Make Easy Kimchi At Home” from The Kitchn .

Tips and Notes on Safety

Fermenting vegetables is a very safe, low-risk endeavor. Sandor Katz, the guru of Fermentation (and author of Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation), asserts that, according to the USDA, there has never been single documented case of food poisoning from fermented vegetables. That said, here are some tips regarding cleanliness and safety.

Cleanliness is key! Make sure all materials (knives, cutting boards, jars, hands) are clean and/or sanitized with hot water or vinegar. There are ample online resources that provide information on best practices with regards to safety.

Smell: A funky, stinky-but-yummy fermented smell is good! Bad bacteria will smell… well, bad. Trust your nose, which should tell you if something is off.

Mold: Any material not submerged in the protective brine could start to mold. If you see any mold, just pull these pieces out, or skim off the top until what’s left looks fine. A little mold on top shouldn’t compromise the kraut that’s submerged.

Sliminess: Slime is bad! The kraut should have firm texture, and the brine should stay thin, like salty water. If anything gets slimy (and smelly), compost it and start again.

Happy Fermenting!