Meet the Farmer
Thursday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m.
50 Jay Street, Brooklyn (Phoenix House)
Fred of Sang Lee Farms will be in town to talk about the farm and the CSA and share some tasty veggies. Join us and learn more about where your CSA deliveries come from.
This winter, we’ll be offering frozen fruit and vegetable shares through Winter Sun Farms. Registration is separate from general winter share signups. Learn more or register now on their website.
We haven’t heard an update directly from Sang Lee Farms, but it sounds like they have weathered Hurricane Sandy and are open for business again. We’ll keep you posted as we hear news about how the farm was affected by the storm.
Watermelons are back in season!
Those of you who’ve been CSA members for a few years may know that watermelon is one of Farmer Fred’s favorites:
“This really is the best time of the year for me because……….. the watermelons are ready! Our crop of watermelons is perhaps the most favorite thing on the whole farm for me, (possibly the whole world). It pretty much makes the whole season’s work worthwhile just to munch those guys every chance that I can. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.”
Enjoy!
July 4 falls on a Wednesday this year, so we will be moving the pickup to Thursday, July 5. Pickup time will be the same (5-8 p.m.) at the Phoenix House on 50 Jay Street.
Our annual visit to Sang Lee Farms is coming up on Saturday, May 19th.
It’s a great chance to meet Fred and Karen and see where your vegetables come from, not to mention farm tours, gardening skills learning, and live music! Visit the Sang Lee Farms website for more details.
The day at the farm will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., not including travel (around two hours each way).
Please RSVP at the link below and let us know if you’re planning to attend, so that we can get a count for possible group transportation: http://bit.ly/FarmVisit2012
Greetings,
Tomorrow Wednesday November 9th, 2011 is your last CSA delivery for the regular 2011 summer season. Below is the list of expected harvest items for your shares.
I can hardly believe another summer season has passed so quickly. Like every other season that I’ve farmed, it is always a little bit different each year. This season has of course, had its interesting twists with the weather. It’s sobering to reflect on the variability of weather that we’ve experienced, from the heat of 90+ degrees days during the middle of the summer to the killing frost of 28 o F two weeks ago. We’ve had very dry weather during which we irrigated into the late night hours every day for some stretches and we’ve had our share of very wet weather with extended periods of consecutive days with rainfall. We had Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee along with other wind and weather events.
In spite of everything, we’ve been blessed to have the bounty and variety over the course of the CSA season that we did. We want you to know that we are grateful for your support and participation in our CSA program and hope that you have enjoyed the fruits of this season.
Be well,
Fred & Karen
Greetings,
I’m happy to include the list below that has a full compliment of vegetables. Sometimes after a wind and rain event like what we had over the weekend, it can be a bit ‘ SCARY ‘ for me to go into the field and look at what used to be a nice crop of lettuce or cabbage. There were times in the past when I did a field inspection following a storm, that I just about ‘ wet my pants ‘ after I saw the damages to the crop following a weather event. You’ve heard the saying, ‘ Been there, Done that ! ‘ . Well, I can attest to the truth of being ‘ Scared ‘ almost enough to require a change of clothes. Of course I’m not just saying that because it was Halloween yesterday or that I’m a ‘ Whoossie ‘ . Thankfully, this past week was not one of those times.
While we were spared the ice and snow on eastern Long Island, we did get our share of rain and wind. In addition to the expected physical damage to the vegetables in the filed, both our farm stand canopy and awning were torn from the wind that accompanied the storm. Both can be repaired or replaced, so we are really, just fine.
As I reflect back over the season, I can say without hesitation, that we’ve had our share of challenges this season. I feel relief as we near the end of this CSA season, but also and perhaps more importantly, I am grateful that we have you as CSA share holders. Truthfully, the CSA program has made farming for me just a bit less ‘ SCARY ‘.
Thank you,
Fred & Karen
Greetings,
Last week we were fortunate to be the host of a high school AP, (advanced placement) Environmental Studies class. All of the students were either in their junior or senior year of studies.
As it has been with all school groups that have visited our farm, it was a productive visit on both sides. The students were exposed to what makes our Certified Organic farm different from a conventional one. I covered briefly the differences in our cultivation practices, type of materials used with soil amendments such as fertilizers, (e.g. Soybean meal for a nitrogen source, and pasteurized poultry litter for phosphorus and potassium), to the classes of pesticides used in organic production, (i.e. environmentally friendly, botanical or biological in nature).
Three items that are in the CSA shares this week were harvested by some of the students. They were; sweet potatoes, carrots and beets. Rest assured, I did not make them harvest your CSA veggies, they simply dug their own samples to take back with them to try at home.
As the insurance Gecko lizard says in some commercials, “The Big Ahhh Ha!” for me was to realize that most of the students in this group could not identify the type of vegetables growing in the fields. This was from a distance of a few feet, looking at the leaves of the plants, just prior to digging them up. You’ll be happy to know that my Eye Brows have returned to their normal resting position on my forehead, although it did take a few hours for them to do that.
Hoping by now, everyone in our CSA can pick out their veggies by name.
Be well,
Fred & Karen
