Wk 20 | Summer 2   Sneak Peek  Tu-Th | Jul 16 & 18 
lotsa sungolds
Our supersweet Sungold tomatoes are coming....let's hope it's this week!

Update on Veg Ed at the Rice Home

Tomato Mountain is partnering for a fourth season with the Rice Child + Family Center in Evanston by providing weekly deliveries of your vacation boxes and other excess produce for use in the Center's kitchen.

The Rice Center provides residential services and round-the-clock care to children who are some of the most severely abused and neglected in the Chicago area. The youth range in age from 8-15 and receive intensive rehabilitative treatment and therapeutic services for approximately 1-2 years. Upon leaving Rice, a child will often be placed in a suitable foster home, though sometimes will reunite with birth parents.
Rice Garden with sign
In June 2010, the 46 youth in residence at the Rice Center planted their first vegetable gardens. With seedling plants from Tomato Mountain and support from community volunteers, the Rice Center began the first part of their Veg Ed initiative.

Veg Ed was co-founded by Tomato Mountain CSA member Lela Beem, a therapeutic yoga instructor at Rice. The programming staff at Rice consider expressive therapies and acquiring healthy living habits to be a valuable part of a traumatized child's rehabilitation. The gardening program is the foundation to educating Rice residents about the value of healthy eating, the skills needed to grow food, and provides extra motivation to spend time outdoors. Not lost on the adults overseeing the initiative is that the nurturing the children give the garden parallels the nurturing the children receive from Rice Center staff and volunteers.

Each of the residential units planted a raised garden in the Center's front yard. This year, in an effort to have the children experience a complete growing cycle, each garden has some of the same ingredients (tomatoes, cilantro, peppers) to make salsa. All the kids participated in planting and have begun tending the garden. As the produce is ready for harvest, each unit will make a couple of salsas and will hold their first ever salsa competition later this summer. On a day-to-day basis it is a nice break in the day for a couple of children and a counselor to go out and check on the garden or to bond working together in the kitchen. It has continued to be a rewarding experience for everyone.

In addition to growing food and making occasional trips to farmers markets, the Center receives weekly donations from Tomato Mountain, made up primarily of your vacation boxes. The donations are being incorporated into the main kitchen menu but are also being distributed to the living units for activities. As part of Veg Ed, residents of Rice receive weekly cooking classes from community volunteers, often using Tomato Mountain ingredients in their projects. For example, the abundance of lettuces and greens so far has had kids making the tossed salads as a morning activity to be eaten during lunch service the last couple of Fridays. The plan is to continue having the kitchen use what they can and get anything else to units to explore, learn and eat with.

Should you be unavailable to receive your CSA box any week due to vacation or emergency, just let us know as early as possible that you'd like it donated, and rest assured that it will be put to good use!

                                                                                                   -- Robin  
Questions? 
Call Robin (in Chicago), 708-370-8017 | Chris (farmer/owner), 608-712-1585
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COMING NEXT WEEK
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WHAT'S COOKIN'

With the continued mix of greens in the box (and lots of onions coming soon), it's time again to tout the benefits of Mess 'o Greens with Caramelized Onions as an easy and tasty way to use up a wide variety of greens (including kale, chard, mesclun) to make room in the fridge for the next batch and all the other great things coming. The crockpot option keeps you from standing over a hot stove during the summer weather.
a mess o mesclun


Check our Extra Produce offerings early & often
We'll be updating it more often as more variety comes available 
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Extra Produce | Maple    Syrup Sunflower Oil        Raw HoneyPastured    Chickens Organic Eggs 
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eggs in a bowl
 
   Tomato Mountain Farm  |  N7720 Sandy Hook Rd   Brooklyn WI 53521