csa share – week 11 {july 31}

Welcome to the 11th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share:

  • Carrots
  • Summer Squash
  • Bunching Onions
  • Basil
  • New Potatoes – fresh dug fingerlings
  • Red Cabbage
  • Pickling and Lemon Cukes – don’t think you have to pickle these little cukes, they’re tasty fresh too!
  • Salad Mix
  • Slicers – small early slicers and a handful of heirlooms
  • Yellow Transparent Apples – the earliest of the apples at the farm to ripen, these are known for excellent applesauce!
  • Oregano Starts – we’re experimenting with the idea of an herb garden but don’t have time to get it in this year.  That means you get to enjoy the extra oregano starts we have!  Nurture it for a longer life or cut all the greens for fresh herbs.

Have you heard the big news?  We bought the farm this past week!  The papers were signed Thursday and we got the official call yesterday that the deed has been recorded and we are officially farm owners!  Now for the real work to begin.

We’ve been focused on buying a farm for years now.  After farming at two other leased locations we’ve been working diligently towards buying this farm since the fall of 2010.  In some ways this process has felt very, very long, but when I look back at the photos from that first growing season in 2009 it doesn’t seem so long ago.  Mostly I wonder exactly what made us confident enough that we thought we could rent an acre, grow food, and change our lives.  The phrase ‘ignorance is bliss‘ comes to mind, and I think we set very low expectations for ourselves.

Of course we owe quite a bit to all of you who have supported us thus far as we’ve endeavored to become legit farmers.  We can’t thank our customers enough for buying our vegetables!  We appreciate the folks who have supported us since our first market arrival and those who have made the commitment for a whole season’s worth of CSA shares! We are also grateful to all the experienced farmers who have given us advice, listened to our complaints, urged us to continue, and generally didn’t make us feel crazy for farming.  Finally, we are thankful for the friends we’ve made along the way thus far.  We’re lucky to have such a wonderful community that volunteer to weed sweet potatoes, fix our tractors, cook us food, share their canned goods, bake us cookies, sell us seeds, and so much more!

We sincerely could not have bought this farm without all of you.

Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers,
Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler
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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Wine-Braised Red Cabbage

  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
  • 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
  • 1/2 cup chopped peeled Granny Smith apple
  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion
  • 1 bacon slice, chopped
  • 1/4 cup dry red wine
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup finely grated peeled russet potato
  • 1 tablespoon honey
Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage, apple, onion and bacon. Sauté until cabbage is crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Add wine and vinegar. Cover and cook until liquid evaporates and cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes. Add potato and honey. Cover and cook until potato is tender, about 3 minutes. Season cabbage mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

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Summer Squash Sloppy Joes

  • 1 pound ground lean beef or turkey
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup) (bunching onions!)
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups summer squash, diced
  • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste (use fresh tomatoes!)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon mild chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (use fresh oregano!)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 3 ounces cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
  • 6 hamburger buns

1. Preheat the broiler. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the ground beef or turkey until browned, about 7 minutes. Add the onion and sauté 2 minutes. Add the carrot and sauté 2 minutes. Add the squash and sauté 1 minute more.

2. Stir in the tomato paste and 1 1/2 cups water, stirring until the paste has dissolved. Add the garlic, chili powder, paprika, and oregano, and season with the salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until the mixture has thickened, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Divide the cheese among the bottom halves of the hamburger buns. Transfer both halves of the buns to the broiler, open-faced, and toast until the cheese has melted and the top buns are toasted.

4. Remove the buns from the oven and fill each sandwich with the squash-and-meat mixture. Serve immediately.

Tip: The easiest way to shred zucchini is to run it through the shredding disc of your food processor. A box grater will also work, but be sure to use the largest holes.

From Epicurious.com, via Cookie, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Summer-Squash-Sloppy-Joes-239165

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German Apple Cake

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 8 medium (about 3 pounds) cooking apples, such as Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, Greening, Jonathan, Macoun, Pippin, Starr, Winesap, Yellow Transparent, or any combination, cored and diced (peeling is optional)
Glaze (optional):

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, or 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or water

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a kugelhopf or 10-inch Bundt pan.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the flour mixture and milk.

3. Beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold one-fourth of the whites into the batter, then gently fold in the remaining whites.

4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread with half of the apples. Top with the remaining batter, then the remaining apples.

5. Bake until golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

6. To make the glaze if using: Combine all the glaze ingredients, stirring until smooth and of pouring consistency. Drizzle over the cake and let stand until set.