Welcome to the 28th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share:

• Fingerling Potatoes
  
• Purple Cabbage
  
• Broccoli
  
• Carrots
  
• Rutabaga
• Garlic
  
• Celery or Fennel
  
• Delicata Winter Squash
  
• Popcorn – Many thanks to Lonesome Whistle Farm for trading us this popcorn for potatoes.  Check out the recipe down below and enjoy!
  

Here it is, the final week of the 2012 CSA season.  We can’t thank you all enough for joining us for the past six months of veggies!  It’s been a big season for us, what with buying the farm and all, and we’re glad we could share that experience with you.  As we look forward to 2013, we’re excited to build upon our successes from this year as we continue to grow the farm and develop our agricultural skills.  We know we couldn’t do those things without you and we appreciate your continued support.

This winter we look forward to having the time to settle in on the farm.  We’ve been so focused on finishing up the season, we now have plenty of clean-up work and planning to keep us busy until spring arrives.  It won’t be long before we’re making our seed orders and starting seeds again.  This seasonal work is certainly dependable in that way.  We’ll also keep busy with the inaugural Winter CSA program.  We’re taking a small group of hearty souls into the winter months and we’re hoping for the best!  Assuming it goes well, we’re hoping to open up more spots next winter.

Speaking of next year, we’re ready to begin accepting members for the 2013 summer CSA!  We’ve updated the details on the CSA page of our website here: https://pitchforkandcrow.com/community-supported-agriculture/ but you’ll see that things aren’t going to change much.  The 2013 summer CSA season will again be 28 weeks, beginning in late May and running through the end of November.  We plan on keeping the pick-up time and location the same and the price is still $620 for the season.

There’s a link on the CSA page for signing-up using our online form.  If you already know you want to join us again next year, we’d love for you to sign-up early.  No payment is due until March 31st, but early sign-ups help us figure out how much we need to spread the word to make sure we fill up.

Enjoy this week’s vegetables and we’ll see you on the flipside!

Your farmers,

Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Last winter we brought our microwave out of storage for the sole purpose of watching popcorn-on-the-cob as it spun around and popped inside.  It was fairly entertaining.  If you want less mess, put the cob in a paper bag.  Or, if you want to avoid the microwave, pop it up on the stove as in the recipe below:

Plain Popcorn

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup popcorn kernels

Heat oil with 3 popcorn kernels in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, covered, until 1 or 2 kernels pop. Quickly add remaining popcorn, then cook, covered, shaking pan frequently, until kernels stop popping, about 3 minutes.

From Epicurious via Gourmet Magazine, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Plain-Popcorn-108511

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Carrots and Rutabaga with Lemon and Honey

• 1 1/4 pounds rutabagas, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives

Cook rutabagas in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Add carrots and cook until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Drain.

Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add lemon juice, honey, and peel. Bring to boil. Add vegetables; cook until glazed, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Mix in fresh chives.

From epicuious.com via Bon Appétit, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrots-and-Rutabagas-with-Lemon-and-Honey-105812

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Cider Glazed Roasted Root Vegetable Stew

1 Cup Yukon Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Cup Parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 Cup Carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 Large Leek, cleaned thoroughly and sliced thinly into half-moons
1 Cup Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Cup Rutabagas, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Head of Garlic
1 Cup Apple Cider
3 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter, unsalted
4 Cups Vegetable or Chicken Stock, or Water
2 Bay Leaves
1 Tablespoon Fresh Chopped Thyme
1 Tablespoon Fresh Chopped Sage
Salt and Pepper, to taste

*Also throw in winter squash, celery, or other such veggies you have lurking about.

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the top third of the head of garlic. Sprinkle a little oil on top of the exposed cut and loosely wrap the garlic in foil. Place garlic in oven to roast.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and rutabagas with 3 tablespoons of oil. Spread the vegetables evenly onto a cookie sheet and place in oven. Roast for approximately 15 minutes.

In a large, heavy pot, melt the butter. Add the leeks and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the roasted root vegetables and apple cider. Continue to cook until cider has reduced by half.

Add the stock or water, thyme, bay leaves, and sage. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove garlic from oven. Garlic should be soft and aromatic. Squeeze the garlic from the bulbs into a small bowl. Mash the garlic well with a fork. Stir the roasted garlic into the stew.

Season stew with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

From About.com via Brett Moore, http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/appetizers/r/roastvegstew.htm