Welcome to the 9th week of the Pitchfork & Crow CSA!

Here’s what’s in the share:

• Fava Beans – More favas!  Hopefully you’re enjoying these buttery beans!  We had them for lunch yesterday with mixed beets, kale, and potatoes.  So delicious!
  
• Cabbage
  
• Carrots
  
• Garlic – This garlic is freshly harvested, so not fully cured, and won’t be as dry as cured garlic.  Use it as you would cured garlic though, and store in a cool, dry location.
  
• Salsa Mix – A handful of tomatillos, tomatoes, and mixed peppers for a little quick chip dip!
• Summer Squash
  
• Head Lettuce – Another head of Mayan Jaguar romaine.
  
• Cucumbers – Whoa, slicers, picklers, and lemons too!  The cukes are on!
  
• Apples – Yellow Transparents, our earliest apple variety to ripen!  They’re traditionally used for applesauce, pies, and drying.  A good cooking apple.  We’ve included a promising applesauce recipe below.

July is an interesting month on the farm.  Summer has finally arrived in full force bringing with it the fruits we wait all winter to enjoy.  The tomatoes are just beginning to color and the summer squash and cucumbers are really coming on.  However, in the midst of the long, sunny days we’re thinking ahead to fall and winter harvests, sowing the seeds of kale, broccoli, and cauliflower that will be included in shares still many months away.  It’s a unique balance to be focused on both summer crops and winter crops these days.

Many thanks to those folks who have already signed up for the winter CSA!  We know it’s hard to think about the winter months so far away and we appreciate you taking the time to let us know you’ll be joining us.  If you’ve decided to join us but haven’t yet signed up, you can find a link to the sign-up form on the Winter CSA page of our website here: https://pitchforkandcrow.com/wintercsa/.

A few weeks back we noticed this nest in our summer squash planting.  First there were two eggs, then four the next week.  Last week I forgot to check in, but this week I was surprised with two baby finches, mouths agape waiting for their next meal.  My phone scared them into hunkering down, but I was able to snap this quick photo.

Moments like this are good reminders that things are ever changing on the farm.  Nature isn’t stagnant and neither is farming.  Although this month with its collision of seasons feels busy and sometimes daunting, it will pass and the work will get done and eventually the weather will turn and we’ll begin the countdown to summer once again.

Enjoy the vegetables!

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

MeMa’s Applesauce

6 cups apples, peeled, cored, chopped (might want to run through a food processor for a minute)
3/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup white sugar

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine apples, water, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in sugar, and simmer 5 more minutes.

From Mother Earth News, by Rick Godsil Jr.,  http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/summer-apples-memas-applesauce-recipe.aspx#axzz2ZDoqqLmI

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Spiced Cucumbers and Coconut Milk

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups 1/4″-thick slices peeled lemon cucumber or any other cucumber.
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped small tomatoes
• 4 thinly sliced scallions
• 2 thinly sliced red thai chiles (with seeds)
• 1 smashed garlic clove
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• Fresh lime juice