Earth Day Event in Malverne
Whoops! I forgot to add this to the list of Earth Day events. If you’re near Malverne, maybe you want to check this out:
Earh Day Celebration at Crossroads Farm at Grossmann’s in Malverne. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. @ 480 Hempstead Avenue, Malverne.
From their facebook page:
Our Grand Re-Opening Earth Day Celebration will feature a “Made on Long Island” market for local artisans & bakers, a petting zoo, music & children’s Earth Day activities. There will also be bedding plant sales, CSA Coupon Book Sales, and tours of the farm & our bees. The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Earth Day 2012
April 22, this Sunday, is Earth Day. Long Island is celebrating our Earth in style. Check out the links below for some events on Long Island this weekend and the following:
SATURDAY, April 21:
Islip: Eco Carnival 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. @ Seatuck Environmental Association with nature stations, booths, games, activities, raffles, and live performances. Located at 550 South Bay Avenue, Islip. See the website for directions.
Sayville: Town of Islip Earth Day Festival, 11 a.m. t0 4 p.m. @ Gillette Park in downtown Sayville. There will be exhibits, activities, and performances. Find more information here.
SATURDAY and SUNDAY, April 21 and 22
Riverhead: Chick-A-Pa-Looza Festival @ Garden of Eve Organic Farm. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Featuring workshops and demonstrations on preparing a garden, chicken coup or bee hive. Includes children’s activities, crafts, farm animals and an egg hunt, rain or shine, buffet lunch available for purchase ($12). 4558 Sound Avenue, Riverhead. Find more information here.
SUNDAY, April 22
Quogue: Earth Day Celebration @ Quogue Wildlife Refuge. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Includes nature walks, live animal presentations, children’s crafts, and kayaking and canoeing on Old Ice Pond among other activities. All ages welcome, no registration required, will take place rain or shine. 3 Old COuntry Road, Quogue. Find more information here.
SATURDAY and SUNDAY, April 28 and 29
East Islip: Heckscher Spring Festival @ Heckscher State Park, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Family oriented festival in celebration of Earth Day. Children’s crafts, environmental displays, pony rides, nature walks, and more. The festival is free, though there is a parking fee to enter the park (hint, get an Empire Passport). More info (though not much more) here.
Raw Foods on Long Island
Here’s a great article in the New York Times featuring some Long Island raw food places. If you try these places, let us know what you think. I can’t wait to check out all of them.
Here’s links to the featured places:
Live Island Cafe in Huntington
The Juicy Naam in East Hampton, Sag Harbor (and Manhattan)
The Rising Tide Natural Market in Glen Cove
Screening of “Lunch Line” Tomorrow Night!
As part of Slow Food East End’s film series, Films on Food or Food on Film, there will be a screening of the documentary Lunch Line, which explores school lunch programs. Check it out TOMORROW night at 6 pm @ Floyd Memorial Library, 539 1st Street, Greenport, NY. The screening (6:00 pm-7:20 pm) will be followed by a discussion. This event is FREE! Yipee!!!
Forks Over Knives Screening
This Thursday, August 11, the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington will be screening the documentary film Forks Over Knives. Find more information here and here. Learn more about the film here.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see this film. So far, there are only limited screenings around the nation.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
DELICIOUS! I love it, and you will too. Super easy, healthful, and satisfying. This is a vegetarian dish, but can easily be vegan. Simply omit the feta cheese and voila! It’s then vegan.
MEDITERRANEAN QUINOA SALAD
2 cups low sodium veggie broth
1 cup water
1/2 green bell pepper- diced
1 cup grape tomatoes- halved
1/2 cup marinated roasted red peppers- chopped
1/4 cup kalamata olives- halved or rough chop
1/3 cup flat leaf parsley- chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup feta or goat cheese- crumbled
1 to 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 to 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Let The Farmers’ Market Season Begin
Oh the farmers’ markets, where the bounty of Long Island’s farms reside, perfectly presented in baskets or in crates on tables, waiting for me to take home to turn into magnificent culinary creations. If I could write you a sonnet, I would. It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter, and here a beacon of the sun and summer has finally arrived. I advise you all, GO to your local farmers’ market and find fresh picked produce lovingly cared for and produced by Long Islanders, or jams and preserves, local wines, breads, cheeses. Meet Mark of The Big Cheese who carries local cheeses, some by my favorite dairy farm Mecox Bay Dairy, where the cows really are happy. Belive me, I’ve met them. Find baked goods, or Italian delicacies straight from New Italy a.k.a. Brooklyn. Or try some local honey (which also happens to be great for allergies). As the summer kicks in, the harvests abound, and many of us foodies find ourselves skipping and giddy with endless options. And you can even find treats for your four-legged best friends.
Everyone leaves the farmers’ market happy.
To find your new summer love, click here. And also find more information about the farmers’ markets at Long Island Growers Market and here at Slow Food East End.
Have you signed up for a CSA yet?
If you’re interested in eating local, seasonal and organic food, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a great way to do so. CSA’s, as the name implies, are a way for communities to support local family farms, helping them to survive and thrive.
They originally began in Europe and Japan, and in the 1980’s CSA’s started in the U.S. Here’s how they work: In the beginning of the season, consumers essentially buy a “share” of the farm. They pay upfront for a weekly allotment of whatever the farm may be harvesting at that time. This helps the farmer, with their expensive start-up costs, and the consumer benefits by receiving the bounty of the farm. Often, when the farm has success with the crops, the CSA member receives much more produce than what they would be able to buy for the same amount of money in the grocery store or even at a farmer’s market. Garden of Eve, a local organic farm in Aquebogue has documented their actual shares for the past few years. They calculated the market value of what members received each week. In 2009, members saved $154.25 for the season.
As with any investment, while members share the success, they also share the risk, and herein lies the community support. Small family farms face even greater risk than large corporate farms when it comes to drought, flood, crop failure, etc., and one bad season can be enough to put a farm out of operation for good. By agreeing to support the farm in the beginning of the season, members agree to accept whatever the farm produces that week, even if it is nothing. This is exactly why CSA’s began. Communities joined together to make sure their local farmers stayed in business. Of course, these disastrous events are rarely the case and more often, each week members receive a variety of local and delicious vegetables, fruits and even eggs, meats, flowers, cheeses and more.
This is the first year that I joined a CSA. There are many farms to choose from, and each farm has a number of options. I chose a half share of the Variety Pak (for my husband and me) from Garden of Eve, which includes farm fresh, organic eggs from pastured chickens, organic vegetables, fruit from a neighboring farm and flowers. Since it is a half share, I’ll pick up a full share every other week. There are a number of pick up locations all throughoutLong Island,Brooklyn,Manhattan andQueens. You can pick whichever is closest to you.
Long Island has plenty of farms to choose from for CSA’s. On the farms listing on this page, you’ll see that I’ve listed which farms offer CSA’s. The Golden Earthworm, another great local organic farm in Jamesport also offers a CSA with options that include their own organic vegetables, and a neighboring farm’s fruit. As with Garden of Eve, the fruit is not all organic, but they work with farms that use “low spray techniques”. The Golden Earthworm also teamed up with other farms to offer Special Shares, which include eggs, meats, grains, cheeses, honey and maple syrup.
Some other farms that offer CSA’s on Long Island are Restoration Farm in Bethpage, Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, The Farm at Saint Peter’s in Bay Shore and many more. Check out the Farms and Gardens link on this site.
I’m so excited to experiment with different vegetables and recipes this summer and fall with some deliciously, fresh, local food. If you’ve signed up for a CSA, let us know. We’d like the scoop on all the options out there. And by all means, share some of the food creations you’ve designed. If you haven’t signed up yet, do so soon! Some farms have already sold out.
WINTER Farmer’s Market?
YES! It’s true! Hello G & G Long Island Winter Farmer’s Market. And you thought there was no hope until Spring. This new farmer’s market is open Saturdays from 9 am until 1 pm in either Huntington or Northport. Check out the website for details.
The market will be in Northport this Saturday morning (January 29) at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 270 Main Street. Get your local cheeses, jams, breads, veggies, all natural dog treats, and even some live music too.
Kick Ass Organic Deli in Sayville
Delicious, organic and healthy food on the go is easy with Cornucopia in Sayville. In the front, you have a regular health food store, in the back is an organic deli and juice bar. You can get a smoothie, a shot of wheat grass, a piece of wild salmon with a ginger soy sauce or roasted roots (my favorite), among many others. If you want a break from cooking, but you still want to eat healthful, delicious, organic food, try out Cornucopia. They also have a few tables at the deli if you want to stop there for lunch. Check out their deli menu here. You’ll find plenty of vegan, dairy free, gluten-free and vegetarian options. When you try it out, let us know what your favorite dish is.
FYI- Cornucopia also carries local, organic, farm fresh eggs and chicken from Long Island’s own Raleigh’s Poultry Farm. If you can’t make it to the farm in King’s Park, you can still find local, organic, humanely treated, non-factory farmed chicken.
