 |
| News from the Farm |
 |
| Plants are officially in the ground, which is the undeniable START to the growing season! Forest Hills- are you ready for summer? We have been planning, seeding, tilling and now planting with you in mind, and on sun-shiney days like we’ve had recently, it’s hard not to start dreaming about bountiful gardens and fields! 2024 Full and Partial Shares are available now for the 22-week season, starting on Thursday, June 6th. Vegetables shares, fruit, eggs, bread, dairy products, and meat are all available for our Forest Hills community. When selecting your shares, be sure to check out our whole selection of offerings for the season. Your gracious, organized and thoughtful site coordinator for Forest Hills is Marina Kubicek– she is a wealth of knowledge, experience and information that you can get in touch with if you have site-specific questions. For farm-specific questions, you can email me, Betsy! A CSA is an incredible way to learn more about local food systems, to eat seasonally and to support small farms. However, please remember that your participation is also required! Forest Hills is a volunteer community that requires all its members to volunteer at least 6 hours per season. You can read more about what it means to be part of a CSA, and specifically the Forest Hills CSA here. So… are you ready? Click below to sign up, and we’ll see you this summer!! |
| Sign-Up for the 2024 Season |
 |
| Sweet Peas are beginning to stretch up to the sky, searching for warmth and light in our new and improved greenhouse |
| SUBSIDIZED VEGETABLE SHARES Please see the chart below for income guidelines and note that they are for total PRE-TAX income (not take-home pay), and are subsidized by your fellow CSA members. Low and middle-income shares are given out on an as-needed basis to the extent that we can afford to subsidize them. Family size and income are calculated by the number of people eating the share (whether or not they are related) and those people’s total pre-tax income from all sources, not just salary. Subsidized shares are given out on the honor system, although the Forest Hills Core Group reserves the right to request supporting documents. Family Size – Middle-Income Share, Low-Income Share: 1 – <$32,000, <$20,000 2 – <$44,000, <$27,000 3 – <$55,000, <$34,000 4 – <$66,000, <$41,000 5 – <$77,000, <$48,000 6 – <$88,000, <$55,000 If you meet the guidelines for a subsidized share, please email info@foresthillscsa.com with your name, the number of people eating your share, and whether you meet the middle or low income share guidelines and you will receive a response with this year’s subsidized share procedure. |
 |
| CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture- are there people in your community that are looking for fresh and 100% local organic produce, meat and dairy goods this summer? Do they know that supporting our CSA spreads their support to small local farms beyond Hawthorne Valley? Consider this: if you are committed to the local food movement (we thank you if you are!), there is no better way to reduce your carbon footprint than with a CSA. With a CSA, your vegetables are grown with your participation in mind; every week of vegetables are planted in succession to go toward your shares, reducing waste in the fields and pack house. While we also plant and harvest with farmer’s markets and the Farm Store in mind, the CSA crops are where farmers’ attention is most focused. A farm like Hawthorne Valley has the ability to give business to other local, and I mean just up the road local, farms in our area when we buy in special items that don’t do as well in our farm. Items like corn, potatoes or green beans during normal times, but increasingly, we are able to rely on our neighbors when we experience crop failures, like last year when we had a very small tomato yield. These relationships help the local food economy to keep small farms viable for longer in this age of climate uncertainty. So, in short, when you become a member of our CSA, you are getting the very best our part of the Hudson Valley has to offer! |
 |
| Our cows will be returning to pasture next week! The influx of crunchy, nutrient-dense and fibrous green grass jumpstarts a chemical reaction in a cow’s gut- the rumen starts to churn differently than it’s been working all winter with the dried hay. Milk that is produced during pasture season is distinct in it’s flavor, color, butterfat and overall quality- it’s what makes the best cheese and yogurt! Signing up for a share of one of our many creamery offerings will bring a delicious addition to your summer parties or simple meals- buttermilk for battering some farm-fresh chicken, Fern Hill to spread on sourdough bread with spicy greens or radishes, yogurt to drizzle over fresh fruit and granola…the possibilities are endless, and you can feel good knowing everything comes from one farm, produced by people- and animals- who love this land! |
| Add-On Options for NYC Neighborhood Pick Up |
Forest Hills CSA 