Welcome to the 3rd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2020 Summer CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Salad Mix – A mix of spinach and lettuce this week.
• Butterhead Lettuce
• Arugula Rapini
• Broccoli or Cauliflower – Just a bit this week, but hopefully before too long we’ll have more to share.
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Fava Beans – For the true fava experience you’ll want to shell the beans, blanch them, then remove the outer skin and eat the green inner bean. We often skip that last step and eat the shelled beans directly. Also, grilling the entire pods make them quicker to shell and the beans get steamed inside, so they don’t need to be blanched.
• Garlic Scapes
• Fresh Torpedo Onions
• Fennel – A little anise flavor for your dishes this week.  Here’s a delicious quick pickle recipe from CSA member Chris A.! Click here for a recipe.
• Carrots
• Diana Radishes & Hakurei Salad Turnips – The slugs got a lot of the salad turnips this time around, so we’ve got a mix of radishes and turnips this week.
• Zucchini
• Mostly Seascape Strawberries – Most of our berries are Seascape, but some are from last year’s planting of Sweet Ann.
• Dried Apples

I feel like we’re in a bit of a fog this week. A CSA member was reminiscing this past week about the June 10 years ago when it just kept raining. She had an outdoor wedding planned for July and as the date got closer they weren’t sure they’d have a dry day for the ceremony. I think things cleared up in time for them, but this season’s weather sure feels similar. It just keeps raining.

The spigot got turned on back in May and we’ve had a minimum of field time to get things planted and cultivated relatively on schedule. We’ve been jamming in as much field work as possible into the non-rainy, non-harvest days recently and it’s getting a little tiring. Thankfully the forecast looks much sunnier for the upcoming week. We have high hopes of doing all the outside things that need doing.

In an effort to tackle all the things, we often split up. I’ll work on filling flats and starting seeds while Jeff preps beds for upcoming plantings. Or I’ll trellis the tomatoes and peas while Jeff cultivates a field using our little cultivating tractor. We generally come together for harvesting and planting. In order to maximize the short dry windows lately we found ourselves working together a bit more. Some things are just easier with two people, like rolling and hefting giant sheets of row cover that had been protecting the winter squash while they got established after transplanting.

In the week ahead we’ll be tackling the remaining weeds in the winter squash, transplant beets and chard, cultivate everything, prep for upcoming plantings, plant rosemary, get ready for sweet potato slips to arrive, and harvest the garlic. This will definitely be a all hands on deck sort of week.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you next week!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Saute of Fresh Fava Beans, Onions, and Fennel

• 3 pounds fresh fava beans, shelled, or 3 cups frozen baby lima beans, thawed
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 fresh fennel bulb, trimmed, sliced
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely ground in spice grinder
• 1 1/3 cups (about) canned low-salt chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 cup chopped pancetta*
• 1/2 teaspoon dried savory
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cook fava beans in boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain, cool and peel outer skins (do not cook or peel lima beans).

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and fennel bulb; sauté 5 minutes. Add favas or lima beans and fennel seeds; sauté 3 minutes. Add 1 cup broth and 2 tablespoons dill; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors. Stir in pancetta and savory, adding more broth if mixture is dry. Simmer until favas are tender, about 15 minutes longer. Mix in lemon juice and 2 tablespoons dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

From Epicurious.com via Bon Appétit, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/saute-of-fresh-fava-beans-onions-and-fennel-106490

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Arugula and Fava-Bean Crostini

• 1 cup shelled fresh fava beans (1 1/4 pounds in pods) or shelled fresh or frozen edamame (soybeans; 3/4 pounds in pods)
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus additional for drizzling
• 1 1/2 cups packed baby arugula (1 1/2 ounces), divided
• 3 tablespoons grated Pecorino Toscano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 baguette
• 1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
• 16 mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Cook fava beans in boiling water, uncovered, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes, then drain and transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking. Gently peel off skins (if using edamame, don’t peel).

Pulse fava beans in a food processor until very coarsely chopped, then transfer half of mixture to a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup oil, 1/2 cup arugula, cheese, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper to favas in processor and purée until smooth. Add to bowl. Coarsely chop remaining cup arugula and gently fold into fava-bean mixture.

Cut 16 diagonal slices (1/3 inch thick) from baguette and put in a 4-sided sheet pan. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil. Bake until pale golden and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Rub with cut side of garlic.

Spoon fava-bean mixture onto baguette toasts, then drizzle with oil and top with mint.

From Epicurious.com via Gourmet by Kay Chun, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/arugula-and-fava-bean-crostini-352852

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Greek-Italian Chopped Salad

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce (or any lettuce or spinach!)
• 1 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup very thinly sliced red onion
• 1 cup very thinly sliced fresh fennel bulb
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)
• 2 ounces thinly sliced Italian Genoa salami, cut into strips
• 1/4 cup sliced pitted Kalamata olives

Whisk oil, vinegar, oregano, and garlic in small bowl to blend. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Combine lettuce, garbanzo beans, bell pepper, red onion, fennel, feta cheese, salami, and sliced olives in large bowl. Pour dressing over; toss to coat. Mound salad on platter and serve.

From Epicurious.com via Bon Appétit by Steve Silverman, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/greek-italian-chopped-salad-108234

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