Start Date July 18!

We know this is the news you have been waiting to hear--our farmer Zaid Kurdieh of Norwich Meadows Farms has confirmed that our first distribution will start Tuesday June 18th.  The delay by a week has been due to the weather. 

Maple Syrup distribution will be on the 18th as well. 

If you ordered beef from Norwich it will be coming on the 18th. 

Remember distribution does not start until 5:15PM and runs until 8PM.  

See you then!

Start Date?

We are as excited as you are to begin picking up fresh veggies and fruit - but we still haven't had word from Norwich Farm what our start date is.  Due to the long winter and cool spring this year will start a couple weeks later than last year, that just means we will go a little later into the fall.  We promise that as soon as we know the date we will send out an email to all the members and post it on the website.  Until then...

2013 Registration is now Closed

Registration for Grand Street CSA's 2013 Season is now Closed.
If you would like to be added to our Waitlist for 2014, we will notify you next year as soon as registration opens.

For a list of nearby CSA's visit Just Food's website.

Thanks for your interest in Grand Street CSA and local, sustainable food!

Visit Norwich Meadows Farm!

The Summer 2013 CSA season is just around the corner! Every year, Washington Square CSA Members take an annual farm trip. This year, Grand Street CSA is honored to join them. Thanks to the core of our sister CSA, Washington Square CSA (WSCSA), for inviting our members and organizing this exciting trip! 

On Saturday, April 27th we will be visiting our CSA farmer Zaid Kurdieh at Norwich Meadows Farm (http://www.norwichmeadowsfarm.com) in Norwich, New York. We will be touring the farm where our veggies are grown and Zaid may even have small projects for us to complete! Members, friends and family are welcomed and encouraged to attend! 

TRIP LOGISTICS
Where: Norwich Meadows Farms (Norwich NY)
When: Saturday April 27, 2013
Who: You do not need to be a member to attend; children and families are welcome. Members from other CSAs are also welcome!
Cost: $20 per person (if you choose to ride the bus) - this must be paid by Saturday, April 20th to reserve a seat! Part will be refunded if some members are able to ride with members who are driving their own vehicles.

What’s Included?: $20 will cover the bus rental, gas, and basic snacks such as water, apples, clementines, bananas, granola bars and cookies
What to bring: Money for your lunch (or a bagged lunch), additional snacks, comfortable clothes and shoes, sunhat, additional water, sunscreen, items to occupy you on the bus ride and a smile!
Details: The bus will leave St. Mark’s Church In-the-Bowery (131 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003) at 7AM and return at approximately 7PM. It is a long drive, but it's the drive our farmer makes every week to bring our delicious CSA produce!

Action Required: by Saturday April 13th, 2013. 

              If you would like to join us, please RSVP by email to info@washingtonsquarecsa.com and info@grandstreetcsa.org) and provide us with the following information, so we and the farm can plan accordingly. The farm requires a list of all visitors. 

1. Your Name/Email (main contact):
2. Names of all attending:
3. Total #:
4. I/We want to ride on the bus - Y/N
5. I/We will drive separately - Y/N
   
• I/We can accomodate other passengers to & from the farm in our car - Y/N
• # of extra passengers I can take:

For those who plan to ride the bus, checks should be made payable to Washington Square CSA and all checks should be received by Saturday April 13.  Once you RSVP, we'll provide info if you need to mail in a check.

We hope you can join us for this year’s farm trip!

Meet the Farmers: Tuesday, February 12 @ 8:45pm

We know you are all thinking about snow but it's time to think SPRING and fresh produce, fruit, eggs, pasta and other specialty items from our new providers for the 2013 season. Please join us for a "Meet the Farmer" meeting on Tuesday February 12 at 8:45PM at the Seward Park Community Room at 264 East Broadway (also known as Building 1 at the Seward Park Co-ops).

You will get a chance to hear from our new farmer, Zaid Kurdieh of Norwich Meadows Farm, about our vegetable, fruit, and egg shares and other specialty items the farm offers. Scott Ketchum from Sfoglini Pasta will be on hand to talk about and show off their artisanal pastas, and you will be able to buy some before ordering if you have not had the opportunity to try some from their stall at the New Amsterdam Market or sold in the neighborhood.

We also have the prices for eggs now, so click on the links below for more information.

Our CSA Core will be on hand to answer any questions you may have on our 2013 season.

Share prices and farm info: http://www.grandstreetcsa.org/p/shares.html

Register today online: 2013 Registration is now CLOSED
We look forward to seeing you Tuesday.

Emo Eggplants Winning Smackdown Dishes

Grand Street CSA's own Emo Eggplants, Dan & Caroline, cooked their way to Smackdown glory in Just Food's first ever CSA Smackdown Final on January 5, 2013!! It was a great afternoon of local food. Thanks to Dan & Caroline for providing details on their winning dishes - innovative but simple takes on local, cold-weather vegetables. Check out Just Food's Smackdown Page for a full recap. Scroll down to find out about Grand Street CSA's 2013 season.

Grand Street CSA's Top Chefs

Dan & Caroline's winning dish at the September 30th qualifying event

Delicata Squash Donuts with Kale and Red Cabbage Fall Slaw

• Delicata squash was sliced into rings, dipped in egg, coated in cornmeal and fried crispy golden brown.  A small ring of onion and a small slice of poblano pepper were prepared in the same way to accompany the squash.

• For the slaw, kale and red cabbage were sliced into thin strips and marinated and tossed in a dressing made from olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, diced jalapeno pepper with the seeds removed, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cauliflower florets were added for color, texture, and flavor.

 The 2013 Great CSA Smackdown Winner

Reconstructionist Latkes with Apples and Honey and Kale Salad

The two different latkes are a reconstructed take on traditional Jewish potato pancakes. 

• Shredded potato, kohlrabi and carrot seasoned with salt and pepper and mixed with egg were fried in olive oil and topped with diced apples (with the skin on) that had been sauteed in butter and honey.
• Shredded potato, bok choy, broccoli rabe, and garlic were mixed with egg and a liberal amount of pecorino romano cheese and fried in olive oil to form the second latke.  
• The latkes were served with a raw kale salad dressed in olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, siracha, salt, pepper, and pecorino romano cheese to taste.

Getting Ready for 2013: Lots of Changes!

Happy new year! We have so much to share with you to prepare for our new season.

Before we get to the details, we’d like to put out a call to members who would like to join our Core Group. These are the people who help organize the CSA, supervise distribution every week, manage the accounts, and communicate with our providers during the season. Typically we ask core group members to volunteer for six distribution shifts during the summer instead of the normal two, participate in email conversations about the CSA plus a few in-person meetings, monitor the CSA email account, and generally be available to add a hand as needed.

If you’d like to become more involved, please email us at info@grandstreetcsa.org.

Now, on to the news …

First of all, Max and Kerry of Provider Farm, after reviewing their first full season, have decided that the trip down to NYC is not sustainable — it just takes too much time out of their busy week to drive down here and back every Tuesday. This was a big disappointment for us to hear, since all the feedback we received from our members indicated a high degree of satisfaction with their vegetables and service. In both quantity and quality, it was probably our best season so far. Nevertheless, we’ve had to find another farm to join our CSA for 2013.

Second, we’re also parting ways with Breezy Hill Orchards, from whom we’ve been getting fruit, eggs, and pasta for the past four years. In this case, the choice was ours — we have had long, simmering complaints about the selection they offer, and this year we struggled mightily with delivery times and proper inventory.

Luckily, we’ve found more than suitable replacements, and we are almost ready to open registration for 2013.

Norwich Meadows Farm is a well-established CSA provider with two properties — one in Norwich, NY and the other in Lebanon, NJ. They are certified organic, and come highly recommended by other NYC CSAs, including Washington Square and Astoria. They’ll offer a familiar list of crops including beans, peas, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuces and cooking greens, herbs, summer and winter squashes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, melons, root crops, and other special items. (For a full list of crops, click here.)

Norwich also provides eggs from free-running hens fed only the highest quality certified organic feed with a supplemental diet of organic greens. And they partner with Red Jacket Orchards to bring us stone fruits, pears, and apples during the season.

To round out our offerings, we will be partnering with Sfoglini Pasta Shop in Brooklyn to provide small batch, freshly extruded pastas made from the finest organic semolina flour. We will also continue to offer maple syrup at the start of our season from Circle C Farms, monthly dairy products from Milk Not Jails, and the occasional order of poultry and meat from Norwich.

A few other changes that you should be aware of:

• The vegetable share offered by Norwich is equivalent to our previous half share — if you have been used to ordering a full share, this year you will just order two shares.
• Because fruit is provided through our connection to Norwich, you must be getting vegetables in order to order a fruit share.
• Half shares for fruit and eggs will actually be getting a full share every other week.
• Vegetables will be delivered in bulk — which means we’ll all be using the scales again at distribution.

You can see our new prices and some more information about our new providers on our website.

Registration will open for past members in about a week (you’ll get another email). We are preparing to have a meet-the-farmers evening in the first half of February, so of course you may want to wait until then to register. But this year we will have deadlines to encourage early sign-ups — on February 22 the vegetable share price will go up $10, and on April 1 the share price will go up another $40.

Obviously this is a lot of change — we will have new providers this year for all of our weekly shares — but we are committed to maintaining our CSA and are hopeful that partnering with an established CSA farm will give us a more consistent experience over the next several years.