Welcome to the 10th, and final, share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2020/2021 Winter CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Rainbow Chard
• Purple Sprouting Broccoli – a seasonal treat, this PSB was planted back in August! Like broccoli heads you can eat the stems and leaves too.
• Cauliflower – We know we’re sending you home with a lot of cauliflower. It’s a chance to break out all the cauliflower recipes!
• Spinach
• Radishes
• Parsnips and Carrots – Roasted and mashed parsnips are delicious, but also don’t forget about parsnip cake! Also, we had just enough extra carrots to toss in a few into each bag of parsnips.
• Rutabaga
• Banana Fingerling Potatoes
• Bunching Onions
• Yellow Onions
• Wolverine’s Orca Dry Beans – Dry beans are a labor of love at our scale and we’ve chosen to only grow this one variety. They’re a tasty, plump bean and we hope you enjoy them.
• Dried Cherry Tomatoes – A taste of last year’s summer sunshine!
• Tetsukabuto Winter Squash – The last winter squash standing!
• Dried Apples – We had a sad apple crop this year but we’ve made up for it by buying in some apples. These are non-organic apples grown in Washington and purchased from the the Four Seasons produce market just up the road from the farm. We did all the slicing and drying here at the farm.

Welcome to the last share of the Winter CSA season! This week seemed so far away when we began the season back in mid-December. 10 winter-vegetable-filled shares later here we are wrapping up another CSA season. We hope you’ve enjoyed the past five months of local, seasonal eating and are looking forward to continuing to eat with the seasons. Whether you’ve decided to join us for the Summer CSA, are looking forward to harvesting from your own garden, or are hoping to support other farms at your local farmers market, there are plenty of options for delicious local and seasonal produce available.

We’ll be working toward another plentiful Winter CSA in the coming months and hope to see you again on the flip side. We usually open up Winter shares in August or September, so lookout for an email from us then if you want to join us for the 2021-2022 Winter CSA.

The sunny weather over the past couple of weeks has kept us busy in the field planting, irrigating, and cultivating. The transition from winter to spring is usually full of surprises, and this year we’ve been surprised with sun. Though the cold, frosty nights seemed to persist longer than usual, the sunny days have meant early season irrigation has been imperative. We continue to appreciate the well pump upgrade we invested in last season. Getting water to plants in the field, whether they be newly planted transplants or the overwintered garlic crop, is key to happy vegetables for future CSA shares.

This past week we planted lettuce, beets, shallots, spinach, kohlrabi, and direct sowed snap beans, cilantro, arugula, kale, and carrots. It’s going to be a tasty summer! We also managed to get the tomato house prepped and planted!

Tomato planting used to take a full day of arranging flats and flats of too-tall tomato plants in 3″ pots (that had been potted up from smaller cells), driving them to the field in stages, and working together to layout too many beds of too many unruly plants. Once planted we then had to pick up the numerous 3″ pots, a last step that always felt epic. It was a lot.

Along the way we’ve figured out how to cut out the worst aspects of the overwhelming process. And we’ve boosted the number of tomatoes making it to shares too. We’ve pushed back our tomato start dates to February, eliminated the potting up step and kept tomatoes in their smaller cell flats. This means smaller, happier plants, no 3″ pots to deal with, and only 12ish flats of tomatoes to arrange instead of over 30. What was a whole day of tomato plant wrangling is done in a couple of hours. It’s one of the more obvious efficiencies we’ve made on the farm and it’s one that makes me very happy every time we plant tomatoes now.

As we wrap up the final Winter CSA share for this season we’ll be taking a break from harvesting until June. Our May will be filled with planting, planting, irrigating, cultivating, mowing, and more planting. We’re looking forward to a fun and tasty summer! And we’ll even be planting for next winter’s food. Potatoes will go in the ground soon, and leeks, and onions, and winter squash, and dry beans!

We can’t thank you enough for joining us for this past season. The CSA model only works when members choose to invest in their future food, and in our farm, and we appreciate your willingness to do just that.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see Summer CSA members in June for the start of the Summer CSA season!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

• 1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
• 1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeño, including seeds
• 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 cup water
• Accompaniment: lemon wedges

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F.

Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 3 tablespoons oil, cumin seeds, and1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, jalapeño, and ginger in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then stir in roasted vegetables. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

From Epicurious.com via Gourmet, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/indian-spiced-cauliflower-and-potatoes-109118

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.

From Epicurious.com via Bon Appétit by Eric Werner, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pickled-radishes-366455

Cauliflower and Broccoli Flan with Spinach Bechamel

• 2 1/2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 1/2 cups broccoli florets (or use purple sprouting broccoli)
• 2 6-ounce bags baby spinach leaves
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cook cauliflower and broccoli in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 2/3 cup cooking liquid. Transfer vegetables to large bowl. Cool.

Rinse spinach, then toss in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just wilted. Drain and cool. Squeeze spinach dry; finely chop.

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and reserved 2/3 cup vegetable cooking liquid. Whisk constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens and boils, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach and cheese.

Using fingers, coarsely crumble cauliflower and broccoli in bowl. Add spinach béchamel sauce; stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Butter 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Spread vegetable mixture in prepared dish. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake flan until puffed and heated through, about 25 minutes if at room temperature and 35 minutes if chilled. Serve hot.

From Epicurious.com via Bon Appétit, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cauliflower-and-broccoli-flan-with-spinach-bechamel-232078