Welcome to the 1st share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2021 Summer CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Salad Mix – a mix of four lettuces
• Butterhead Lettuce
• Spinach – The timing got ahead of us on this first round of spinach. It grew up into adult spinach!
• Broccoli
• Purple Moon Cauliflower – spring cauliflower is always a gamble for us, but here’s a small taste for you.
• Radishes & Turnips – A mix of radishes and salad turnips ready for salad season!
• Kohlrabi – The classic CSA vegetable, kohlrabi is often new to folks who are new to CSAs. Why else would you come home with such a strange looking vegetable? We like them chopped up and raw, like a carrot stick, but they can be roasted, or added to mashed potatoes, or shaved super thin into salads. I’ve heard kohlrabi and peanut butter can be a pretty great snack too.
• German Butterball Potatoes
• Ailsa Craig Spanish Onions – Somewhere between hard storage onions and softer sweet onions you’ll find the mildly sweet Spanish onion. These are not long keepers and we’re sending them out first because they also didn’t do as well over the winter for us and a majority of them have bolted. Though we chose the non-bolted bulbs to send your way, you may see evidence of a bolt in the center of your onion. No worries, just discard and eat up the rest of the bulb.
• 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.
• Zucchini
• Corn Flour – We grow a flint corn called Cascade Ruby Gold that grinds partially into flour and partially into polenta when milled. This week we’re sharing flour and next week we’ll share the polenta. You can use this flour in any recipe calling for corn flour or cornmeal. We like to use it for perfect cornbread but I happened across this Cornmeal-Blueberry Pancake recipe that looks tasty too.
• Tomato Plants – We have enough tomato starts for everyone to take home at least two! We’ll also have some extra pepper and eggplant starts, but those aren’t in individual pots and will need to be planted soon.

It’s happening! We’re finally kicking off the 2021 P&C Summer CSA season! As we get things underway we’re excited to welcome back previous members (81% of you!) and welcome new members to the group. We’re also excited to begin our first biweekly summer share offerings. We’ll see some of you biweekly members this week and some next week. Biweekly members should let us know if you’re not sure when you’re starting.

Hopefully you’ve been reading the member emails over the past couple of weeks and preparing for the season to begin. (Check your spam or promotions folders if you haven’t been seeing our emails and let us know if you don’t find them there.) By now most of your questions should have been answered by the CSA Member Handbook. Don’t forget, you can find lots of logistics reminders over on the CSA Member Resources page and extra helpful tips and info about vegetables on the Secret Member Resources page.

As we get going, a few words regarding COVID-19. This will be our first CSA pick-up since the change in guidance regarding mask wearing. Masks are no longer required outdoors and vaccinated people are no longer required to wear masks in most settings. We believe the CSA pick-ups can operate safely without members wearing masks. Of course that is a personal choice and we understand if some members choose to continue to wear masks at the pick-up. Please respect each member’s choice regarding masking.

Leading up to the first share of each season always makes us a little nervous, even after all these years. Getting those first seeding dates just right so we’ve got vegetables now, but not two weeks ago and not until two weeks from now, can be tricky. It’s weather dependent and weed dependent. Was it too hot, or too rainy, or too weedy and the crops didn’t grow well? It’s always exciting to see the share come together, to see that once again we grew enough to round it out. We’re already looking ahead to next week, and the week after. And they’re looking pretty tasty.

As we begin the Summer CSA season, we hope you’re excited for the adventure ahead. The greens of spring will inevitably give way to the fruits of summer over time, and hopefully we’ll have a few surprises along the way.

Thank you for choosing to support our farm as you also choose to eat seasonally, locally, and organically!

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:

Sesame Spinach and Broccoli

• 1/2 bunch broccoli (about 1/2 pound)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 1 bunch spinach (about 1 pound)
• 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil

Cut broccoli into 1-inch florets and cut stems lengthwise into 2 x 1/4-inch sticks. Mince garlic. In a dry 10-inch heavy skillet toast sesame seeds over moderate heat, stirring, until golden and transfer to a small bowl. In skillet heat vegetable oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook broccoli, garlic, and red pepper flakes, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and toss vegetables with sesame oil, seeds, and salt to taste.

From Epicurious.com via Gourmet, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sesame-spinach-and-broccoli-101099

Sauteed Kale with Kohlrabi

• 1 1/4 pound kohlrabi, bulbs peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 pounds kale (2 bunches), stems and center ribs discarded (or Kohlrabi leaves)
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup salted roasted pistachios, chopped
• Equipment: an adjustable-blade slicer

Very thinly slice kohlrabi with slicer.

Whisk together lime zest and juice, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss kohlrabi with dressing.

Finely chop kale. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sauté garlic until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add kale by the handful, turning and stirring with tongs and adding more kale as volume in skillet reduces. When all of kale is wilted, sauté with 1/2 teaspoon salt until just tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature. 3Toss kale with kohlrabi and pistachios.

From Epicurious.com via Gourmet by Ian Knauer, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sauteed-kale-with-kohlrabi-354974

Tuna and Fava Crostini

• 18 thin baguette slices
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces fresh fava bean pods
• 1 6- to 7-ounce can solid light tuna in olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced red onion (or sweet onions)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley plus 18 leaves for garnish
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet; brush slices with 3 tablespoons oil. Bake until bread is crisp and golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

Bring medium saucepan of water to boil. Shell fava beans, then drop beans into boiling water and cook 1 minute. Drain. Slip beans out of skins. Place beans in small bowl; add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and toss to coat.

Combine tuna with its oil, minced red onion, chopped parsley, and lemon juice in small bowl. Using fork, mash tuna mixture to coarse paste. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Baguette slices, fava beans, and tuna mixture can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Let baguette slices stand at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate fava beans and tuna mixture separately.

Divide tuna mixture among baguette slices. Top with fava beans and garnish each with 1 parsley leaf.

From Epicurious.com via Bon Appétit by Tori Ritchie, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tuna-and-fava-crostini-235146