Boston Flora

Tag: CSA

  • Thursdays, February 28, March 7, March 14 & March 21, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – The Home Vegetable Garden

    Designed for those starting or caring for a vegetable garden, this Berkshire Botanical Garden course will include discussion of soil and nutrient management, seed selection, crop rotation schemes, seeding and planting, pest management and specific plant cultivation, all in the context of the different vegetable groups. Once each week starting Thursday, February 28 through Thursday, March 21, students will investigate a different vegetable family to insure all questions are answered about cultivation of these important food groups.

    Feb 28

    Fabaceae (peas/beans/other legumes)

    Greens (lettuce/mustards/arugula/mache and more)

    Herbs (perennial and annual)

    March 7

    Assorted Perennial Vegetables (asparagus/rhubarb/horseradish)

    Chenopodiaceae (beet/chard family)

    Brassicaceae (cabbage/cauliflower/kale/brussels sprout family)

    March 14

    Cucurbitaceae (squash/pumpkin/cucumber/melon family)

    Poeaceae (corn family)

    March 21

    Allioideae (onion/garlic/leek/shallot family)

    Solanaceae (tomato/potato/eggplant/pepper family)

    Peter and Jennifer Salinetti (below) own Woven Roots Farm, a small family farm and CSA that grows vegetables and culinary herbs using traditional farming practices. For over ten years they have grown local produce for Berkshire County families. Their vegetables are grown using environmentally sustainable gardening practices, and they produce amazingly top-quality, delicious produce. Both Jen and Peter are committed to raising awareness about the importance of the local food supply, along with teaching technical information on how to do so. They have lectured on growing food for both NOFA and other regional organizations.  $65 for BBG members, $75 for nonmembers, or $25 for an individual class.  Register on line at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Wednesday, February 27, 1:00 pm – Secrets from the Farm Stand

    Expand your food horizons with farmers Christy Raymond Kantlehner and Chris Kantlehner of White Barn Farm, located in Wrentham, at this Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens lecture on Wednesday, February 27, beginning at 1 pm.  Christy and Chris will demystify the produce appearing in farm stands, farmer’s markets, and in CSA boxes, and tell you how to incorporate this cornucopia of veggies into your meals.  Hear how to keep and store the bounty from local farms, and learn tasty uses for radish greens and other things you might have once thrown away.  When the produce season is in full tilt with great prices on veggies, go far beyond zucchini bread with tips and recipes for processing and preserving.  FWCBG members $10, non members $15.  Call 781-283-3094 to register.

    http://www.whitebarnfarm.org/images/gallery/original/1293311478_62e36f5eb67d.jpg

  • Wednesday, July 25 and Thursday, July 26, 7:00 pm – What to do with your CSA Box with Siena Farms

    So you’re a month into your CSA and feeling overwhelmed by the bounty of local produce?  Well, this is a night you should be sure not to miss.  During this series, the Stir team at 102 Waltham Street in Boston will get you thinking creatively of what to do with all those carrots, radishes, and greens.  From dips and spreads to 30 minute meals, you’ll be ready to pick up your next weekly share and get cooking.  Call 617-423-7847 to sign up.  Note that on the Stir website, these classes were listed in the June calendar, but dated July 25 and 26, so call soon to confirm.  We tried to get in touch ourselves but were unable to make a connection.  We all know Chris Kurth from the Farmer’s Market and Garden Club of the Back Bay programs, and his wife Ana Sortun of Oleana and Sofra is a culinary genius, so while we won’t guarantee they will make an appearance at these sessions, we know their vegetables will do so!

  • Thursday, October 13, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Clean Start and Clean Food

    KitchenWares, 215 Newbury Street in Boston, is pleased to have local New England cookbook author Terry Walters back on Thursday, October 13, from 4 – 6, for a second book signing / cooking demo based on her popular books – Clean Start and Clean Food. For this event, Terry will focus her cooking demo on our CSA seasonal produce from Sweet Georgia P’s. Mark Knoblauch writes: “Walters advocates a fully vegan regimen as key to good health. For her, clean food means less processed food, more whole grains, no dairy products, and certainly no meat, but she insists that food offer plenty of appealing, assertive flavors if it is to satisfy consumers. She believes in the healthy virtues of thorough chewing, disciplined eating, and balanced living. These recipes will not surprise those comfortable in a tofu and brown-rice environment, but she contributes some useful new ideas for such dishes as Caesar salad and surprisingly rich chocolate desserts. Some of Walters’ ingredients may be difficult to obtain outside big-city organic markets, but in this age of Internet shopping, online sources are always an option. In a unique approach to book production, each of the four seasons into which the cookbook is divided appears on a different color of paper stock.”

  • Thursday, October 6, 7:00 pm – What to Do with your CSA Box

    One of the best things about a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box is that each week, home cooks receive a new selection of seasonal produce that inspires creativity and improvisation.  Sometimes, though, cooks hit a road block.  Sure, you have plenty of ideas for the tomatoes, cukes and lettuce, but what about the kohlrabi or the kale?  As the glorious growing season winds down, the chefs of Barbara Lynch’s Stir will present a menu of current offerings from Siena Farms’ CSA along with several favorite ideas for familiar and not-so-familiar veggies.  The class will take place at 102 Waltham Street in  the South End on Thursday, October 6 beginning at 7 pn, the cost is $145 (which includes an incredible dinner with wine, along with the class), and you can sign up on line at www.stirboston.com, or call 617-423-7847.

  • Thursday, April 7 – Friday, April 8 – ABC’s of Farm Based Education

    If you have ever considered owning or operating a farm for education, or if you are looking for new ideas, this is the workshop for you.  On Thursday and Friday, April 7 and 8, the FBEA, Shelburne Farms, and the Trustees of Reservations Center for Agriculture and the Environment at Appleton Farms will present the ABC’s of Farm Based Education, at Appleton Farms in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  Appleton Farms’ dairy, CSA fields, pastures, forests and newly renovated LEED certified Old House Visitor Center will be your campus for exploring topics including marketing your farm program to schools and the community, creating a safe farm environment for the public, and meeting teachers’ needs.  You’ll also discover exciting, hands-on ways to develop agricultural education programs for groups with easy-to-use activities from Shelburne Farms’ PROJECT SEASONS, a collection of teaching ideas developed by teachers and agriculture educators.  Tuition is $200, including all materials and meals.  Scholarships are available.  For more information contact Holly Hannaway at hhannaway@ttor.org, or call her at 978-356-5728, ext. 15.  You may also read more about this two day workshop at www.farmbasededucation.org/events/abcs-of-farmbased-education-1. Photo of Appleton Farms below by David Stone entitled “Red Barn” was the First Prize Winner of the 2010 Essex Heritage Photo Contest.

  • Saturday, January 29, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Cooking Outside the Box with Boston Organics

    Are you a community supported agriculture customer looking for a little guidance on how to create mouth watering meals with your weekly box of produce? Or are you just someone looking to learn how to cook deliciously healthy dinners using only the freshest, organic produce? If so, look no further. Under the expert instruction of Chef Bernard Kinsella and with produce provided exclusively from Boston Organics, you’ll be immersed in a hands-on culinary exploration of organic, gourmet meals that will broaden your vegetable horizon and give you the knowledge and skill set to be a confident, organic cook. This one day course, to be held Saturday, January 29 from 2 – 5 at the Boston Center for Adult Education, Arlington Street, Boston, costs $43 for BCAE members and $50 for non members, with a $5 materials fee. Register at www.bcae.org.

  • Wednesday, December 1, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Amy Cotler

    Slow Food BU is hosting author Amy Cotler at the George Sherman Union Building, Boston University Central, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, On Wednesday, December 1,  from 7 – 8:30 pm.  Amy writes:

    “I have been a chef, culinary educator, farm to table and school advocate for almost 3 decades. I have a Farm to School book that has been distributed free to every district in the state and is free on my website. I began my career with my colleague Robyn Van En, the founder of the CSA movement in North America and have been working towards a better food system ever since, founding the non-profit Berkshire Grown, coordinating farm to restaurant work for the Chefs Collaborative and much more.  I will be doing a speaking and book signing from my book, The Locavore Way, which is a comprehensive guide for everyone to seeking out and savoring local food, as well as becoming an advocate in your community. To find out more, visit my website and local food recipes blog at : http://www.amycotler.com.”

  • Wednesday, March 31, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Eat It to Save It

    “Eat It to Save It” is a growing movement led by the Slow Food USA Organization’s Ark of Taste Committee. It is an effort to save regional food systems by showing how you can support biodiversity and sustainably-produced foods by EATING them.  You can all do your part as consumer activists to promote and support responsibly-made and sourced foods. There are a number of local businesses working hard to do the right thing: making and selling quality products that are good for the people and planet. Please join the next Agrowcity event on Wednesday, March 31, at Bunker Hill Community College, 250 Rutherford Avenue in Boston,  to meet some of our local heroes and see how you can vote with your dollar! Harvest Co-op is a community-owned, not-for-profit grocery cooperative.  Hilltop Farm is a 28-acre local farm running a Community Support Agriculture (CSA)program. You will also have the opportunity to meet other local businesses and producers in the area. For more information, log on to  http://www.meetup.com/Agrowcity/calendar/12838697/

    http://www.edibleportland.com/images/RAFTbook.jpg

  • Thursday, February 25, 6:00 pm – CSA Farm Share Fair

    On Thursday, February 25, from 6 – 7 pm, more than twenty CSA farmers will be on hand at the Park Avenue Congregational Church, 50 Paul Revere Road, Arlington, to tell you about what they are growing this year and how you can get a share of their harvest.  The farms are located in Arlington, Lexington, Belmont, and nearby towns.  Farmers may be bringing some produce to sell at the fair, so bring your shopping bags.  The event is free.  For directions, log on to http://bostonlocalvores.org/events.