csa share – week 10 {july 26}

Welcome to the 10th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share:

  • Radishes – choose between Pink Beauty and French Breakfast
  • Green Beans – the first of the season!
  • Salad Mix
  • Carrots
  • Summer Squash – bigger & more abundant this week!
  • Parsley – blend a bit of parsley with mayo for an excellent ranch dip for carrots and broccoli!
  • Broccoli – from Persephone Farm!
  • Blackberries – two pints this week – the jury is still out as to the variety.  Perhaps boysenberries, or marionberries?

Before farming (b.f. as we’ve heard it been called) our summers were generally filled with kayaking or canoeing on the Willamette River, camping out in the woods when possible, and visiting many of the u-pick farms in the area to stock up the freezer and pantry in preparation for the leaner months of the year.  We find it much more difficult to get in hikes along the river these days, and our kayaks haven’t seen the water in some time, but I suppose those hours of u-picking beans and corn, tomatoes and berries, were somewhat of a beginning for us and farming.  U-picking brought us closer to our food.  In visiting farms we got to chat with farmers, see where our food was grown, and participate in the harvest.

We’re lucky to live in a city surrounded by agriculture where u-picking operations are practically a tradition.  U-pick farms can be found all around town, including of course the amazing blueberry field out at Minto Island Growers that you got a taste from last week in the share.  Also, there’s a fantastic newish organization in town called Salem Harvest that sets up u-picking events at local orchards, fields, and backyards that might otherwise be wasted.  The program supports the Marion-Polk Food Share by donating half of what the volunteer crews pick and the other half is taken home by the volunteer pickers.  This is exactly the sort of thing we would have gotten into in those b.f. years.

This week we’re including a couple of pints of blackberries from the farm.  They have just begun ripening and more appear to be ready to ripen over the next couple of weeks.  The variety is a bit of a mystery to us.  The owner of the farm has been referring to them as marionberries lately, but they don’t seem quite a sweet or thorny as we’d expect marionberries to be.  So, perhaps they’re boysenberries or one of the other many blackberry crosses out there.  Anyhow, they’re tasty and we’re glad to be able to include them for you.  On that note, we’d like to open up the berries for u-pick if you’d like to come down and pick more for yourselves.  Prices will be $1.50/lb.  We can schedule most any days, though Sundays are generally most flexible for us, so let us know if you’re interested and we can work something out.

Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers,
Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

The following recipe suggestion is from CSA member Carolyn Thrasher!

Pickled Carrot Sticks

  • 1 pound carrots, cut into 3 1/2- by 1/3-inch sticks
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dill seeds
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Blanch carrots in a 4-quart nonreactive saucepan of boiling salted water 1 minute, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Transfer carrots to a heatproof bowl.

Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered. Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

From Epicurious via Gourmet Magazine; http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/PICKLED-CARROT-STICKS-108763

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Grilled Zucchini Pizza

1 large zucchini
½ cup butter, melted
3 cloves crushed garlic
½ cup mozzarella cheese
14 oz pizza sauce

  1. Slice the Zucchini into thick rounds. Combine the melted butter and crushed garlic in a small bowl. set aside.
  2. When the coals on your barbeque are almost burned down, lay your zucchini slices on the grill. Let cook for three minutes then turn over and brush the butter/garlic mixture on each slice. Cook for three more minutes and turn over again and brush the other side with the garlic and butter.
  3. Cover the slices with pizza sauce and cheese and let cook until the cheese begins to melt.

From allrecipes.com, http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/grilled-zucchini-pizza/Detail.aspx

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Grilled Potato and Carrot Salad

1 ¾ lb. potatoes, cut ¼” thick and 3″ long
3 T olive oil
1 T fresh herbs chopped
Salt and pepper
2 large or 4 medium carrots, cut 2″ by ½”
½ lg. onion sliced
2 T mayonnaise
2 T plain yogurt
2 T. white wine vinegar
3 T chopped fresh parsley

  1. Steam potatoes over boiling water about 12 minutes till tender, drain.
  2. Prepare grill, oil grill rack.
  3. Toss potatoes in a bowl with 2 T. oil, herbs, salt and pepper. In another bowl mix carrots 1 T. oil and onion. Grill potatoes about 4 minutes, then add carrots and grill till tender.
  4. Mix dressing and serve warm

From Many Hands Farm via The New Vegetarian Grill, http://www.mhof.net/recipes/recipe.php?id=12