This week’s newsletter includes recipes for escarole & bean soup and penne with mushrooms & sorrel.

Week 4 Newsletter

Dear CSA Member,

With summer also arrives one of the vegetables that you have been waiting for:  Sugar Snap Peas.  A member favorite, the Sugar Snap Peas make a one week appearance.

Sugar Snap peas are an edible pod pea.  Snap the string that starts at the stem and lines one side of the pod and eat the whole thing.  They are great raw and also wonderful cooked quickly so they are still bright green and crunchy. We love them sauteed quickly in olive oil with a few chopped  garlic scapes, mixed with pasta and topped with Parmesan cheese.  So good!   Enjoy them because they are here for such a very short time.

Many members over the years have expressed interest in the honey bee population at the farm.  Our honey bees and also natural pollinators have been doing very well.  I think it is probably our diverse cropping, no chemicals and natural habitat that surrounds the farm.  A member sent an e-mail with an  article that you may be interested in reading about honey bees.  Read about “Beauty and the Bees.”

Enjoy the Vegetables and Happy Summer.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Full Share Quantities
Sugar Snap Peas – 1  1/2 pounds

Bright Lights Swiss Chard – 1 bunch

Summer Spinach – 1 bunch

Escarole – 1 head – Don’t confuse this with the lettuces.  The escarole leaves are all attached firmly at the base and the head is flatter and leaves heavier.  Great sauteed with garlic scapes and white beans.

Red Leaf Lettuce – 1 head

Green Solix Lettuce – 1 head.

Red Vein Sorrel – 1 bunch – This tends to be a bit bitter with a lemon flavor.  Use sparingly to add a lemon flavor to soups or with chicken.

Garlic Scapes – 8 – This will be the last week for garlic scapes.  They keep for a really long time in your refrigerator so don’t feel that there is a hurry to use them all up.  The fresh garlic bulbs won’t be ready until September.

Please take a look at my audition for a talk show on Oprah’s new network. If you like what you see, please vote for me and share with your friends.  Thank you!

 - Andrea Beaman

http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=18389&promo_id=1

Farm to Table Copackers (F2T) is a new full service contract packaging facility that is located in Kingston NY.  The production kitchen is a USDA inspected facility that maintains HACCP plans and is migrating towards SQF.   F2T produces a wide range of specialty food for its clients; from frozen soups, granola, quiches, cookies, pesto, pickles, chili’s, frozen vegetables and more. F2T is looking for a qualified assistant production manager.
Tasks included in this job are:

• planning and prepping production runs
• purchasing ingredients and tracking inventory 
• supervising and managing a production crew
• collecting production data and tracking production costs
• analyzing production data
• maintain quality at the highest level  

Required skills:

• ability to work and problem solve independently
• fluent in English and Spanish
• excellent computer and analytical skills, including use of spreadsheets
• experience in the field of food production and in a high pressure environment
• This full-time position needs to be filled immediately. Candidate must live in the area. Compensation will be in the $25,000 – $35,000 range based on experience and skill set.   

Please send qualified resumes to:
Farm to Table Copackers
luc@farm2tablecopackers.com
please no phone calls