Potluck Dinner: Sunday, Sept. 21, 4 p.m.

CSA member Diane Arneth is hosting a potluck dinner at her home (check your email for the address). Bring a dish featuring a CSA fruit or vegetable! Please make sure your contribution serves four to six people, and if you are a large group, a little more.

If you are planning to attend, please respond to Kirstin Swanson at kireleason at gmail.com and let her know how many people will be there and what you plan to bring.

There are many recipes on our website. Check them out if you need help with how to cook some of the produce we receive. Also, send your recipe, tip, or helpful hint to recipes@statenislandcsa.org.

What Lenny Does...

For those of you who might be interested, there was a nice article in the New York Times Home section about Lenny's rainwater harvesting system and the work he does in community gardens: Raindrops Keep Falling in My Tank.

Community Garden Events

The Westervelt Community Garden has invited us, through our special-events person Kirstin Swanson, to some upcoming events:

• Composting Tutorial and Movie Night, 8/23/08, 7 to 10 p.m. RSVP to kireleason@gmail.com.
• Seed Saving Workshop, 9/6/08, 12:00 p.m.
• Music Afternoon, 12-3, on a date to be determined. This event will be a first for the garden, and will happen on a weekend afternoon. Garden members are still looking for group(s) to perform. If you are a musician interested in performing, please let Kirstin know and she'll pass on the information. A PA system will be provided, and donations collected will be shared by the garden & performers.

Good Press

The Staten Island Advance wrote an excellent article about the seniors receiving organic vegetables through the SICSA. The Citizens Committee for New York City provided grant money for five full shares, which are divided among 15 or more seniors living at the Parkside Senior Housing Development. Read more...

Click here for a press release about the Citizens Committee grant (in Word).

Community Health Action of Staten Island also got some good press in the New York Nonprofit Press. The organization won the New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Award for Overall Management Excellence. Read more...

The organization has two connections with the SICSA: One is that long-time SICSA member Diane Arneth is Community Health Action's executive director. The other is that participants of the Living Room, which is sponsored by the organization, receive the vegetables left over at the end of the distribution. (Leftovers occur either because we got more than we expected or because shares were not picked up.)

Living Room receives the extras on the first and third Tuesdays of every month, which is when they meet at the church. The Richmond Senior Services food pantry receives the extras on the remaining Tuesdays.

Do You Yahoo?

Samantha Willis, one of the site coordinators, has set up a Yahoo group for us. Groups make it easy for you to talk to the entire group at once, and since all the messages are saved on the message board, you can look up a recipe or check a suggestion anytime (even if you've erased all your emails by mistake, oops).

Here's the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SICSA/ Sign up--it's easy!

So What About those Reusable Bags?

New York artist Joshua Allen Harris has crafted inflatable animals by tying plastic bags to subway grates in Manhattan. Watch the video...

Work Schedule Posted

The work schedule is available on the site. Check your dates here...

Photos from June 7 Farm Visit

Lenny Librizzi posted photos from the June 7 farm visit. See them here...

What is Staten Island Community Supported Agriculture?

Staten Island Community Supported Agriculture is a group of Staten Islanders who buy shares in a farmer's vegetable and fruit crop for the growing season. We support Starbrite Farm and John Krueger, the farmer, and share the risks and benefits of food production with him.

There are dozens of other community-supported agriculture (CSA) groups in the New York metropolitan area, all coordinated by Just Food. Typically, members or "share-holders" of the farm or garden pay for a share in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production.

Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. However, by direct sales to community members who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.

Another benefit of the program is that farmers can continue to make a living on their land and pass their farms to their chilcren rather than be forced to sell to developers to pay for retirement. CSAs, therefore, help maintain open land near metropolitan areas. They also reduce members' reliance on vegetables and fruit trucked across the U.S. and from other countries.