Garlic Scapes: One of Our First Veggies of the Season!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/2006/06/my_friend_the_garlic_scape_1.html

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients: 1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices 1/3 cup walnuts ¾ cup olive oil ¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano ½ teaspoon salt black pepper to taste

Method: Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

Only 8 more days to join our CSA!

Don't miss out on the amazing opportunity to join Parkchester CSA!

Membership includes a weekly distribution of a share of seven to eight kinds of vegetables from W. Rogowski Farm, a black dirt farm an hour away in Upstate New York, from June 18th until November 19th of 2011.

Distribution days are every Saturday from 10am to 12 pm at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1891 Mcgraw Avenue in the Parkchester section of the Bronx.

We understand that the amount of vegetables available in a share can be overwhelming for single-person or two-person households. To ameliorate this, we are also helping new and old members in finding sharebuddies through our volunteer team to share both the vegetables and the cost of a share. Please don't let the amount of vegetables in a share keep you from missing an opportunity for fresh, wholesome local produce every week.

Please contact contactturf@yahoo.com with any questions or to request an application. Pricing information is available on the application.

CSA member looking for a buddy to share

We have a csa member that wants to join but will be out of the country from mid-August to November. They would like to split a share with someone that wants veggies during this period. It is a little more than a half share and would cost 275 dollars. Please contact contactturf@yahoo.com if you are interested or have any questions!

Information about the 2011 Turf CSA season!

• Our 2010 csa will run from June 18th, 2011—November 19th, 2011 and it is a vegetable CSA
• Our csa farm is W. Rogowski farm located in the town of Warwick. Their website is
• http://www.rogowskifarm.com. CSA members get to attend an annual farm trip, and participate in cooking activities and other Turf’s activities.
• Our csa distribution site is a St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church located at 1891 McGraw Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462.
• Our distribution day will be on Saturdays from 10am—12pm weekly throughotu the season. CSA members will receive 7—10 vegetables. Selection of vegetables varies throughout the season.
• Our 2010 csa share cost $415 plus a 10$ administration fee due on the first distribution day. You can request a CSA membership form via email by contacting us at contactturf@yahoo.com.
• Beginning in March 2011, we will have CSA information workshops in the community. Look for this information soon on our blog.
• CSA payments must be made with a check or money order. Community residents can make monthly payments on their csa shares, however their share must be paid for by May 31^st. Financial assistance in the form of subsidized (lower-cost) share are available for households with an income of $26,138 or below.
• CSA members are required to commit to working 2-4 volunteer hours during the csa season. More information about volunteer hours is available on the agreement form.

If you have questions or would like a membership form to join, email us at contactturf@yahoo.com.

Discussion: Results of the CSA survey

CSA Share

Members, on the whole, were satisfied with the qualities of the share itself, with some "neutral" responses expressed as to the variety, amount, and cost of the share, the majority of "neutral" responses being given in regards to the variety. Whether this is a question of a lack of variety or, perhaps, a feeling of being overwhelmed by the variety, is a question perhaps to be raised amongst our members and/or prospective members.

CSA Distribution

This section had generally favorable responses, except when the question of time and location was brought up, there being one "neutral" and one "disagree" response. Location and time are perhaps questions that need to be answered as there has been discussion amongst the core volunteer team as well about changing distribution time.

CSA Management

General agreement with the management of the CSA being seen in a favorable way was obvious in the responses.

CSA Events

CSA events were seen in a positive light, and some of the comments seemed to denote a desire to have more events during the CSA season.

CSA Education

Many "3" responses were seen here when members were questioned about whether their knowledge of vegetables were enhanced, enriched, or supplemented by participating in the CSA and/or the various cooking demos and other education experiences currently provided, as well as one "disagree" response in that category. It would appear that increasing the amount of cooking demos and perhaps providing more educational opportunities would be a good next step in regards to this area, with perhaps the creation of a cookbook and/or "vegetable" flyers available during distribution days being other ideas that core volunteer team have come up with to improve this area of Turf.

Volunteering

Most people volunteered, and some expressed an interest in having more opportunities to volunteer with and for Turf, with many reactions being positive ("enjoyable", "rewarding"), and the reasons for not volunteering appearing to be based on lack of time, change of residence, and partners switching off volunteer duties.

Results of the 2010 Turf CSA Survey

Turf 2010 CSA Survey

CSA Share

The variety of the produce met my expectations.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 3 Agree: 9 Strongly Agree: 6

The quality of the produce met my expectations.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 7 Strongly Agree: 11

I felt satisfied with the amount of vegetables I received each week.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 1 Agree: 8 Strongly Agree: 9

I felt satisfied with the cost of the csa share.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 1 Agree: 6 Strongly Agree: 11

CSA Distribution

The distribution time and day worked for me.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 1 Neutral: 1 Agree: 5 Strongly Agree: 11

I felt that space was organized.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 4 Strongly Agree: 14

I was able to navigate the space easily.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 4 Strongly Agree: 14

The surplus box was useful.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 5 Strongly Agree: 13

CSA Management

I found the weekly csa members that volunteered knowledgeable and helpful.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 5 Strongly Agree: 12

I found the csa management team (Sharon, Iris, and Erika) knowledgeable and helpful.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 3 Strongly Agree: 12

CSA Events

I found the farm trip an enjoyable/educational experience.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 4 Strongly Agree: 9

I found the potluck an enjoyable experience.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 0 Agree: 4 Strongly Agree: 12

CSA Education

I found the cooking demos useful/helpful.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 “3”: 2 Agree: 6 Strongly Agree: 6

My knowledge of cooking vegetables has increased since joining Turf CSA.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 0 Neutral: 2 Agree: 7 Strongly Agree: 10

My knowledge of the nutritional value of vegetables have increased since joining Turf CSA.

Strongly Disagree: 0 Disagree: 1 Neutral: 5 Agree: 10 Strongly Agree: 5

Questions

Did you volunteer?

Yes: 15 No: 4

How was your experience volunteering?

“Lots of fun; display ‘in’ or ‘out’?”

“VERY GOOD. I WAS GLAD TO GET A CHANCE TO HELP”

“Rewarding”

“Fine”

“Good”

“It was great!”

“Great”

“Enjoyable. Fun getting to know other CSA members”

“I enjoyed organizing the shares and meeting the members.”

“I enjoyed it b/c I got to meet the other CSA members”

“IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE, WISH THERE WERE MORE EVENTS; ACTIVES TO VOLUNTEER FOR.”

“Great”

“It was absolutely wonderful!”

“Excellent. Enjoyable. Fun.”

“It was perfect and helpful.”

If you did not volunteer, what was your reason?

“Scheduling”

“My partner volunteered instead.”

“Moved away from Parkchester”

“No time”