2022 CSA – Week #2

By Emily Chubet | June 22, 2022 | Comments Off on 2022 CSA – Week #2
Massaro
Community
Farm
Keep farming, feed people, build community
June 20, 2022
garlic scapes 3 pic
Notes From the Farm
Garlic is a foundational ingredient for much of our cooking, and the garlic scapes we are currently harvesting can likely sub in for any of your favorite garlic uses and more. Scapes are the flower of the garlic plant, which we pinch off when we harvest, signaling to the plant to send its energy down to the roots to make a bigger bulb below the soil. We’ll harvest those bulbs in July and bring them to cure in our greenhouse over the following month. We typically start including heads of garlic in the CSA distribution by September, reserving a portion to be planted in the fall for next year’s harvest.
The last two summers we grew and sent more tomatoes for processing than ever before, in an effort to make sure we had plenty in stock for the community during the pandemic. We still have a healthy supply on hand and plan to include a jar of our crushed tomatoes in this week’s distribution, and likely our heirloom salsa or marinara soon, before we start harvesting fresh tomatoes again.
GrownBy automatic reminder emails: GrownBy sends reminder emails ahead of your CSA pickup day each week for our 20-week subscribers, and uses a default of picking up alternating weeks, beginning with either week 1 or 2 for our 10-week subscribers. We know that many people switch pickup days as needed, and have a different pickup plan than the alternating weeks. As a result, you may receive some reminder emails that don’t match with your pickup plan or changes. Know that we are working with GrownBy to make adjustments to the auto reminder emails. Thank you for patience and understanding on this.
-Farmer Steve and our Farmers: Alyssa, Alanna, Ariel, Cass, Hali, Kayla, Leah, Maddie, Maia, MC
This Week’s Anticipated Harvest:
Strawberries, Garlic Scapes, Carrots, Lettuce, Kale, Dandelion Greens, Crushed Tomatoes, Cilantro or Dill,
Rhubarb or Radishes
U-Pick:
Peas
Fruit Option:
Begins in July, from High Hill Orchard
East Coast Pizza Truck
The East Coast Pizza Truck will be at the farm on most Tuesdays for CSA pickup from 2:30-6pm. They’ll be parked in the parking area, making a variety of their favorite pies for you to choose from. They will not be here on June 21; they return on June 28.
CSA parking area/pickup images
See images below for an overhead view of the pickup areas at Massaro and at District.
CSA Pickup Instructions and Reminders
A request for 10-week Flexible/Half CSA subscribers:
Please send your pickup plan in an email to [email protected] if you haven’t already. The majority thus far have chosen to begin picking up Week 1 and doing alternating weeks from there. If you haven’t yet sent your plan in, you can help balance out our harvest days and limit crowding by starting with Week 2 or choosing even numbered weeks (2,4,6, 8, etc.). We generally suggest picking up every other week, beginning either week 1 or 2, but the plan is flexible to allow you to choose any 10 weeks you would like. Please send us your plan now.
Reminder emails from GrownBy: GrownBy sends reminder emails ahead of your CSA pickup day each week for our 20-week subscribers, and uses a default of picking up alternating weeks, beginning with either week 1 or 2 for our 10-week subscribers. We know that many people switch pickup days as needed, and have a different pickup plan than the alternating weeks. As a result, you may receive some reminder emails that don’t match with your pickup plan or changes. Know that we are working with GrownBy to make adjustments to the auto reminder emails. Thank you for patience and understanding on this.
On-Farm Pickups – Tuesdays and Friday, 2:30-6:30pm
Safety is our top priority for everyone on the farm, and Covid remains a risk in our community. With that in mind we’ll plan to move forward with two options for our on-farm CSA pickup, and will adjust as needed during the season:
  1. Outdoor, drive thru pickup: Pull in to the barn yard area between the red barn and white house for a drive thru pickup of your CSA, which will be bagged for you in advance.
  2. Barn pickup, fill your own bag, masks optional: Park in the parking area on the north side of the barn, walk down the steps and and enter the barn through the east barn door entry. Our harvest will be set out in bins with instructions for you to select and bag your own produce. Staff and/or volunteers will be there to help you as needed. Please bring your own bag or box. Please help protect our staff and community, do not enter the barn if you are sick, have tested positive for covid in the last 10 days, or have had a known high risk exposure.
  • ALWAYS DRIVE SLOWLY at the farm – there is often programming here for kids, and the farm family with young children live here.
  • When U-Pick crops are available, we recommend doing U-Pick first, then picking up your CSA when you are done.
  • See map in the section below.
Delivery to District – Wednesdays, 3:30-7:30pm
  • Located at 470 James St. at State St.
  • Go to Door 004 for District Athletic Club (see map below).
  • CSA boxes will be stacked through the door and down the hall in the gym kitchen area.
  • Pick up time is 3:30-7:30pm on Wednesdays.
  • Take only one box of produce unless otherwise indicated, all boxes will be the same. Return your box each week and pick up a new one.
NEW: Summer Flower & Dahlia CSA, 12 weeks – bring a home a beautiful bunch of flowers each week along with your produce. In July and August we’ll harvest a great mix of flowers grown here at Massaro, then in September and October you’ll receive dahlias from our friends at Two Meadow Farm (North Haven) and Off Center Farm (Woodbridge). Bunches will vary week to week as we bring in flowers of different colors, shapes and sizes.
Limited availability; farm pickup only (Tuesday or Friday), $180 ($15/week). Start date Tuesday, July 19; end date Friday, October 7. To reserve your flower CSA, email [email protected].
Egg CSA Subscriptions – sold out; will make more available if possible
  • Pickup along with your vegetables on your regular pickup day and location.
  • Massaro egg cartons can be returned to us as long as they are in good, clean condition. We are not accepting non-Massaro egg cartons at this time.
Fruit Option
  • Comes from High Hill Orchard in Meriden.
  • Typically begins in early July once blueberries are ready to harvest.
  • Pickup along with your vegetables on your regular pickup day and location.
Farm Store – for on-farm pick up only; not available for New Haven delivery
  • Our eggs, honey and tomato products will be available each week as long as we have them. Purchase at pickup along with your produce. Note – we reduced our flock of laying hens, and egg availability may be limited.
  • Products from our partner farms and local vendors may be available as well.
Looking ahead on your calendar: We will move our Tuesday, July 5 CSA pickup to Wednesday, July 6, allowing for some time off for our staff on 4th of July weekend.
Communications: We send out a weekly CSA newsletter during the harvest season, and additional messages throughout the year.  Please read them. There is often helpful information in them, or important updates that might answer questions you have.  We try to keep our website updated with those newsletters, and we also share news, stories and photos on facebook, twitter and instagram.
If you have a question, request, feedback, or need to be in touch for any reason, emailing us at [email protected] is the best means of communication. This email is checked regularly, and we do our best to respond quickly. We’d love to talk with you when you are here on the farm and we can usually be found around the barn during CSA pickup hours, so grab our ears, pick our brains, chat us up or tell us what’s on your mind!
Bags: Please do bring a reusable bag or box to take your produce home in. We will have compostable bags available for you if needed.
What if I miss a week?: If you are not able to make it to the farm to pick up your produce on a given week, you are welcome to have someone else pick up it up for you. Simply have them come to the farm or District on your behalf. Any produce that is not picked up will be donated, so know that it is put to good use! If you do miss a week, please understand that you are not entitled to additional produce on another week.
Produce Donations: Part of the farm’s mission and commitment to the community is to donate produce to local hunger relief organizations, which is more important than ever right now. To make this happen, we harvest additional produce for donation on CSA distribution days. Any produce not picked up by our CSA members is added to that donation. Thus, if you can’t make it one week to get your vegetables, know that your produce will go to people in need and is never wasted.
Want more of our produce?: As our harvest allows, we will offer additional produce for sale at the farm. If you don’t see something you want available in the store, please do let us know when you are here and we’ll see if we can offer it. We will be at the Q House market in Hamden on Wednesday afternoons beginning in late June, and some weekend markets again beginning in August.
Payment plans, and final payments: If you signed up through GrownBy for weekly or monthly payment plans, your card will be charged automatically. Please make sure your card is up to date. If you paid by check and you still have a balance for the CSA, please send in your final payments, or email your payment plan to: [email protected].
Recipes and Cooking Ideas
Garlic Scape Pesto
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 cup garlic scapes, sliced crosswise (about 10 to 12 scapes)
  •  ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
  •  ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  •  ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
  •  ½ cup basil leaves
  •  Juice of one lemon
PREPARATION
  1. Place the garlic scapes in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the sunflower seeds and pulse for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  3. Add the olive oil and process on high for 15 seconds.
  4. Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse until the ingredients are combined.
  5. Add the basil and lemon juice, and process until reaching the desired consistency.
  6. Add salt to taste and serve immediately.
Rainbow Farm Salad
Ingredients
  1. half a bunch kale, roughly chopped
  2. half cup radishes sliced (or salad turnips)
  3. 1 cup carrot, grated or julienned
  4. 1 cup dandelion greens, chopped
  5. 1 scallion, sliced
  6. 2 tablespoons dill, roughly chopped
Lemon Dill Dressing
  1. 1/4 cup olive oil
  2. 4-6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice of one medium lemon)
  3. 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
  4. 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  5. 1 teaspoon capers, chopped
  6. 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
  7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  8. 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
  9. 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Dressing: In small mixing bowl add all ingredients. Mix well until all ingredients are blended.
  2. Salad assembly: In a large bowl layer kale, dandelion greens, radishes, carrots, scallion and dill. Drizzle salad with dressing. Toss until blended and serve.
Posted in CSA Newsletters