Welcome to the 1st week of the Pitchfork & Crow 2013 CSA!
Here’s what’s in the share:
- Cabbage
- Baby Fennel
- Leeks
- Radishes
- Salad Mix – a mix of leaf lettuces, a little arugula, and a sprig of pea shoots!
- Potatoes – German butterballs!
- Salad Turnips
Welcome to the fourth season of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA! We’re looking forward to a fantastic year and we’re excited you’ve all decided to join us for the next 28 weeks of eating seasonally! We’re starting out small this week, but don’t worry! The weekly shares will be spilling out of your refrigerator before you know it.
We’re excited to welcome back returning members and to welcome many new members. We’ve grown the CSA from 50 members last year to 70 members this year which is enough of a leap that we’ll be seeing quite a few new faces at the pick-ups. We’re also happy to say that we’ve filled the CSA program! We’re consistently humbled by your support of our farm and we’re working hard to make sure this will be a great season.
Of course in addition to 28 weeks of tasty veggies, we’re already looking forward to the on-farm events. We’ll host an early season tour and potluck in late June so you can visit the farm and see your vegetables growing in the fields. In August we’ll invite you back out for another potluck in the height of the growing season and in October we’ll have the annual pumpkin patch and apple cider pressing day. We love inviting members out to the farm and we’re thinking up some new activities for these farm visits. Let us know if you have any suggestions!
So, here we go! In future newsletters we’ll give you updates on the growing season and goings-on at the farm as well as suggestions for how to tackle the less well-known veggies. This week we’ve got some tasty ideas for radishes and fennel in the recipe section at the bottom of the page. You can also keep up with us on Facebook and Flickr if you’re into that sot of thing. See the links in the sidebar to the right. We hope you enjoy the veggies and we’ll see you here again next week!
Your farmers, Jeff Bramlett and Carri Heisler .Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:
Potato, Leek, and Fennel Soup
- 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
- 2 cups sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only)
- 2 cups sliced fennel bulb, fronds reserved for garnish
- 4 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth
- 2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
Radish-Cabbage Coleslaw
- 1 1/2 pound cabbage, cored and thinly sliced (6 cups)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 5 radishes, thinly sliced
Toss cabbage with salt in a large bowl and let stand, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey mustard, and pepper in a small bowl until combined.
Rinse cabbage with cold water in a colander, then firmly squeeze handfuls to remove excess water and transfer cabbage to cleaned bowl. Add radishes and dressing to cabbage, tossing to combine.
Pickled Radishes
- 10 red radishes, trimmed, unpeeled, quartered
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Combine first 3 ingredients in a clean 1 quart glass jar. Add vinegar, salt, and sugar. Cover; shake until sugar and salt begin to dissolve. Refrigerate for at least 3 days, shaking once a day. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 month ahead. (The flavor mellows the longer the mixture pickles.) Keep chilled.
