Locro de Papa

LOCRO DE PAPA

(SOPA DE PAPAS O PATATA )

para 4 personas

Ingredientes

2 libras de papas, peladas y en cubos

1 cucharada de adobo

1 cucharadita de pimentón o paprika 

½ taza de queso fresco, mozzarella o queso cheddar

¼ taza de cilantro, culantro o pipicha picados

Direcciones

Apenas cubra los cubos de papa con agua o caldo, agregue los condimentos y hierva hasta que estén suaves, aproximadamente 15 minutos.

Machaca la sopa a mano o mezcle las papas cocidas con el líquido de cocción. Agregue el queso y los condimentos. Recalentar si es necesario para derretir el queso.

Espolvorea con hierbas frescas. Cubra con salsa picante si lo desea.

Receta adaptada por Chef Key

Verdes Al Estilo Africano

VERDES AL ESTILO AFRICANO

para 4 personas

Ingredientes

1 taza de leche de coco

4 tazas de verduras mixtas (col rizada, col regular, acelgas), sin tallos y picados

3 dientes de ajo, pelados y picados Trozo de jengibre de

2 pulgadas (del tamaño de un pulgar), pelado y picado

1 pimiento dulce de cualquier color, sin semillas y cortado en tiras de ¼ "

Direcciones

En una sartén grande, cocine a fuego lento el ajo y el jengibre en la leche de coco durante 5 minutos. Agregue las verduras picadas y revuelva. Cubra al vapor las verduras hasta que estén bien cocidas, unos 7-8 minutos. Agregue rodajas de pimienta y continúe cocinando durante 2 minutos. Añadir sal y pimienta al gusto.

Receta adaptada por Chef Key

African Style Greens

Week #3: Make African Style Greens

AFRICAN STYLE GREENS
serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk

4 cups mixed greens (kale, collards, chard), stems removed and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 inch (thumb-sized) piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1 sweet pepper any color, seeded and sliced into ¼” strips

Directions

In a large skillet, simmer garlic and ginger in coconut milk for 5 minutes. Add chopped greens and stir. Cover to steam the greens until cooked through, about 7-8 minutes. Add pepper slices, continuing to cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe Adapted by Chef Key

Planting Microgreens

Poughkeepsie Food Power: Week One: Planting Microgreens

Learn to plant microgreens with Lala and Rio. Microgreens are very young vegetable plants that you can grow inside and harvest after just 7-10 days.

You need:
a shallow container
soil, compost, or dirt
seeds

1. Moisten the soil
2. Add the soil to the container
3. Sprinkle the seeds onto the soil
4. Make sure they are in one layer
5. Cover with a moist paper towel, lid, or plastic wrap until they sprout
6. Put the container by a sunny window
7. Keep soil moist, but not wet
8. Remove paper towel or other covering as soon as seeds sprout.
9. Watch your microgreens grow
10. Taste your microgreens and add them to your favorite dishes
11. Post photos of you planting or harvesting your microgreens with #PokFoodPower and @Poughkeepsie Farm Project

Primera Semana: Plantar Micro-verdes

Aprende a plantar microgreens con Lala y Rio. Las micro-verdes son plantas vegetales muy jóvenes que puede cultivar en el interior y cosechar después de solo 7-10 días.

Necesita:
un contenedor poco profundo
tierra para macetas, abono, o tierra de afuera
semillas

1. Humedecer el tierra.
2. Agregue la tierra al contenedor.
3. Espolvorea las semillas en la tierra.
4. Asegúrate de que estén en una capa.
5. Cubra con una toalla de papel húmeda, tapa o plástico hasta que broten.
6. Ponlo al frente de una ventana soleada.
7. Mantén la tierra húmeda, no mojada.
8. Quita la toalla de papel u otra cubierta tan pronto como broten las semillas.
9. Mira cómo crecen tus micro-verdes
10. Prueba tus micro-verdes y agrégalos a tus platos favoritos
11. Publique fotos de usted plantando o cosechando sus micro-verdes con #PokFoodPower y @Poughkeepsie Farm Project

We're Thinking of You!

To our PFP community, 

We hope you are well in these challenging times and we want our students, families, and community partners to know that we are thinking of you.  Even though our team can’t carry out our regular educational programs as planned, we are still working hard to support healthy eating, food access, and remote learning in the City of Poughkeepsie.  Right this very minute, our educators are:

• Partnering with the Poughkeepsie School District to distribute PFP produce and recipe ideas to children and families in our community

• Gathering and developing video and print learning resources so students can connect to our curriculum remotely

Ms. Laura Reads Right this Very Minute

Ms. Sonya Reads Charlotte and the Quiet Place

• Planning and tending to educational gardens at Poughkeepsie schools and on the farm to ensure accessible sources of fresh and healthy food for our students

• Continuing to develop fall programming and curriculum for the new school year

As we engage in this important work you can be sure that our staff is practicing social distancing and thorough hand-washing, and we recommend that you do the same.  We know it can be a struggle to stay positive right now, but we can take strength from each other and come together to support everyone in our community in these unprecedented times. 

Be well and take care of each other, 

The Poughkeepsie Farm Project Education Team  

Change is Here!

Change is Here!

In these uncertain times, we've been working hard to find new (and safe) ways to bring you the programming you enjoy and the produce that nourishes you. 

Plant Sale is online. The online farm store is open for plant sale purchases. Browse the Plant Sale today! Orders placed by Thursday May 7 will be available for pickup on Saturday May 9. Learn more or get growing. 

CSA (Farm) Share: Sale! All New Member Fees will be waived for the next 5 weeks! New Members: Sign up for your CSA (Farm) Share by Friday May 22 to receive the discount. Save today. 

Invite a Garden Educator into your home -- Virtually, of course! Our Education team has been hard at work putting together read-alongs and other materials to support students in distance learning and keeping gardens growing for when students return. Learn more.

Distribution is going drive-thru. Unlike our usual market-style pickup, CSA this year will begin with pre-packed shares. Make your selection for the week online, we'll pack it up and have it ready for you at our drive-thru distribution day. (As soon as it's safe to go back to our regular, market-style pickup -- you bet we will!) Learn more or get your share. 

Pick Your Own will continue. That's right: you can still pick! CSA members will sign up for a weekly picking slot, to limit the number of people picking and make social distancing easy. And we'll have hand-washing stations available in the field. Learn more or sign up for CSA to get PYO access.

Free meals made with PFP produce. In need of meals or groceries? Our amazing partners Dutchess Outreach and Community Collaborative (a collaborative community food program of Hope on a Mission, Community Matters II, ChangePoint Church and Bread of Life) are offering both, with PFP veggies! (We've donated 5,000 lbs and counting.) Learn more or support our donation efforts. **Note: This photo was taken mid-March before masks were recommended!**

Buying local is easy and safe. In addition to plants, vegetable boxes, and a new way to browse CSA (Farm) Shares, our farm store is an easy way to shop for local products like Back Paddock Farm grass-fed beef and North River Roasters fair trade coffees, roasted fresh here in Poughkeepsie. Support small businesses.

Check back for more updates to other farm & education programs. We'll be posting updates here first. 
Stay safe, take care of each other, and we’ll hope to see you (if only from behind a mask) soon.

Learn to grow carrots in containers with Kathryn

Here’s how to plant carrots from seed in a container!

They can be planted early when it’s still cold, and replanted until it gets really hot - over 80 degrees.  They don’t take a lot of space to grow, and you can eat the whole plant when it’s done, not just the root. The green leaves are good to flavor soups, or to make a pesto sauce or dip, like you would use parsley. You can grow a variety of different types of carrots, in many sizes and colors, but they all taste pretty similar. Choose the ones you think you’ll like!

Supplies:

• A container or pot that is at least 10 inches deep

• Potting soil, with some compost mixed in (if you have it)

• A watering can or a cup with holes punched in it and some water

• Carrot seeds 

Steps:

1. Fill your container up with the potting soil.

2. Next, water the soil with the watering can or cup with holes. Seeds need moist soil to germinate, or start growing.

3. Check your seed packet. It will say how deep to plant them and how far apart.  This is very important to know. Space them out a couple inches apart, like I am, or sprinkle them across the top of the soil and thin them out later if you prefer.

4. Carrot seeds are very small and don’t need to be buried. Press them in gently so the soil is touching them on all sides and if you want to cover them, sprinkle just a little soil on top - gently.

5. Place your container in a sunny spot.

6. Use a watering can to make sure the soil stays moist and they will start to sprout in 10 days or so. Keep them watered well for good growth.

7. Harvest when the root starts to peak out of the soil and is the size you want them to be. Your seed packet should give an estimated number of days until harvest.

Growers Row: COVID Can’t Stop This Tractor!

The farm crew has been moving full steam ahead. Because while so much is unknown, one thing is certain: we all have to eat. So, we have spent the last six weeks:

Seeding in the greenhouse. More than 100,000 seeds are starting their green little lives, some of them destined for our online Plant Sale while others are headed for farm fields (many for the first May Share harvest). (PS: Plant sale is online now!)

Clearing and replanting the high tunnels. Usually we have Vassar Intern help with this… but this year we’re doing it all ourselves. Goodbye winter greens, hello summer darlings. 750 cucumbers and over 1,000 tomatoes were planted in our high tunnels, cozy and protected from cold spring nights (and potentially deadly frosts), to give them a head-start to the season. 

Plowing our fields and laying down compost. We’ve made a lot of beds for all of those tens of thousands of seeds destined for the farm fields. 

Planting our first field crops! Arugula, scallions, beets and chard are starting to take root. Kale, collards, cabbage, bok choy and more are soon to follow suit. 

Showing our perennials some love. Rhubarb is up, and looking great so far. The raspberries have received their annual bedding of compost and woodchips, and the strawberries are looking very… er, green. (PS: Read about updates to PYO here.)

n addition to all of the work we are usually doing this time of year, we’ve also:

Launched an online store, where you can buy vegetables, CSA shares, and local products. 

Made some important decisions about what CSA and PYO will look like this year.

Scrambled to donate as much food as we can -- so far, we’ve donated 5,400 lbs of food and counting. 

Spent a sum total of 30+ person hours per week simply washing our hands. Crazy but true.  

And yet -- despite ramping up to full-steam-ahead way earlier in the season than anyone was expecting -- we are still finding energy to be excited about this season. We hope you are, too. Because we’ve got some good vegetables (and some good energy) coming your way. 

COVID can’t stop GOOD. And COVID can’t stop this tractor.

Changes to Plant Sale

In response to the current COVID-19 outbreak, we are making necessary changes to Plant Sale. To ensure the safety of our community, we have moved our Plant Sale this year to an online platform!

Here’s how it works: 

Browse your plants. 

Plant starts are available on our farm store. You can search for the name of the plant you want, or browse by collection. Examples of collections are: 

• Flowers, Perennial

• Tomatoes

• Peppers, Hot

• Peppers, Sweet

• Pollinator-Friendly

• Vegetables, Annual

Buy your plants. 

The farm store will open for plant sales on Monday April 20 at 10am. Starting Monday April 20, add orders to your cart. When you’re finished making your selections, pay online. You will receive an automated response confirming your order. 

Orders placed from April 20 - April 30 will be available for pickup on May 2. 

Orders placed from May 1 - May 7 will be available for pickup on May 9. 

Buy pottery and local products. 

TBD

Receive your pickup slot. 

You will receive an email the day before your pickup assigning you to a time slot on either May 2 or May 9. This 2-hour slot (ie: 10am-12pm, 12-2pm, or 2-4pm) is the window in which you can pick up your plants. 

Pick up your plants. 

Be in and out in minutes with our fast and easy drive-thru setup! When you turn off of Raymond or Hooker, you will see a large white tent as soon as you enter (before you pass the colorful barn). We’ll be there with your order (and gloves and masks, of course). Roll down your window to check in, give us your order number, and we’ll direct you to a table with your order on it, set back 6 feet. Put it in your car and you’re off. 

Our goal is to continue providing plants to our community while following best practices including use of personal protective equipment and maintaining 6 feet of social distance. 

Happy Gardening!

Changes to CSA

In response to the current COVID-19 outbreak, we are making necessary changes to ensure the safety of our staff and CSA members. 

We’ve agonized over many of these decisions, all of which have been informed by CSA member survey results, state and local mandates, best practices, and availability (or scarcity) of resources. We hope you will trust that we are doing the best we can. 

As of right now, here’s what you can expect for the start of the CSA season. (CSA Members: Check your email for specific communications regarding start date, PYO registration, and other details.)

We will offer pre-packed shares. Unlike our usual market-style pickup, CSA this year will begin with pre-packed shares.

We realize this is a big change, in that it will limit how much members can customize their shares. We are looking into options to provide members with more choice within this model, and will trial them if/when it becomes feasible to do so. 

Shares will be packed in reusable bins in a plastic liner. The liner is important for both food safety and product quality reasons (ie: so greens don't dry out). Produce should be taken home in the plastic liner.

Pick Your Own will continue. Members will sign up for a weekly time slot which will be their slot for the season (or until we can revert to our unregulated PYO schedule). Handwashing stations will be made available.

We ask that members limit the number of people coming to pick, as much as possible, for the safety of fellow members.

These changes are temporary. We like the old model, too! We love seeing entire families in the Pick Your Own fields, enjoying them together. We love the market-style pickup and being able to give you the freedom to choose and customize your weekly share. We love the community chaos of a distribution Tuesday. Unfortunately, despite exploring a number of scenarios, a market-style pickup is simply not feasible in this current climate. We are as sad to see it go (temporarily) as you are. 

As soon as we can safely return to the “old” way, know that we will. (We can’t wait!) Until then, we hope you will be there to weather these changes with us.