Welcome to the 2nd 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
• Cilantro
• Broccoli
• French Breakfast Radishes
• 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.
• Red Skinned or All Blue Potatoes
• Purple Bunching Onions
• Mixed Snap Peas
• Zucchini
• Seascape Strawberries
• Polenta – We grow a flint corn called Cascade Ruby Gold that grinds partially into flour and partially into polenta when milled. Last week we shared the flour and this week we’re sharing the polenta. We like to cook this polenta in our rice maker using the same 1 part polenta to 2 parts water ratio we use with rice. Many polenta recipes call for more liquid and longer cooking, which I’ve read will help develop the flavor more.

Welcome to the second week of the Summer CSA! Hopefully you all ate lots vegetables this past week and are ready for more. Don’t forget to share your successes over in the P&C CSA member Facebook group. CSA members have been posting some delicious meals over there this week and I highly recommend taking a look for some inspiration. Though we’re not the best at remembering to post there, I’m always thoroughly impressed at the varied and creative meals members come up with.

I’m not sure where the past week has gone. After making it through the first harvest of the season we set out some goals for the rest of the week and endeavored to make them happen. Before that first harvest we’d gotten a little behind on things here on the farm while we helped send my mom off on a big move to South Carolina which also coincided with some rainy days and a hiccup with the starter on the big tractor. Thankfully my mom’s move was a success, the weather cleared (but remember when it was 97 degrees last week!), and the tractor is repaired and back to work.

We hunkered down and got to work marking things off the to-do list. We kicked things off with some lettuce transplanting. Then while Jeff focused on irrigation and ground prep, I managed to get caught up on direct sowing beans, trellising the peas and tomatoes, potting up the next round of celery, shuffling flats in the prop. house, and strawberry weeding.

By Saturday afternoon the name of the game was more transplanting and we managed to plant out the next successions of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, basil, chard, and this season’s Brussels sprouts, kalettes, and flour corn. Nearly half an acre and 7,000 plants later we’d made it through the planting push. Just in time for some Sunday afternoon cultivation and pea picking!

Whew! After such a full week it was almost relaxing to re-focus on harvesting again. We’re looking forward to another productive week on the farm as we find the pace of progress for this season. So far, so good! This week we’ll be weeding the other strawberry planting, pruning tomatoes, transplanting the third round of sweet corn, starting some more seeds, cultivating the winter squash and leeks, and irrigating all the things. We’ll see you on the other side next 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:

Thai Coconut, Broccoli, and Coriander Soup

• 1/3 cup store-bought green curry paste
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
• 3 cups water
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper
• 1 pound broccoli florets, chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves, plus more to serve
• 2 cups cilantro leaves
• 2 scallions, shredded
• Store-bought crispy shallots or onions, to serve

Place the curry paste in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Remove from the heat and add the spinach leaves and half the cilantro.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Divide among serving bowls and top with the extra spinach, remaining cilantro, scallions and shallots.

From Epicurious.com via Donna Hay Magazine by Donna Hay, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/thai-coconut-broccoli-and-coriander-soup-56390092

Boston Lettuce with Radishes and Lemon Dressing

• 10 radishes
• 2 heads Boston lettuce
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Cut radishes into very thin slices (preferably using a manual slicer). Tear large lettuce leaves into bite-size pieces, leaving smaller leaves whole, and in a large bowl toss all lettuce with radishes.

In a small bowl whisk together lemon juice, shallot, sugar, pepper, and salt to taste and add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss until combined well.

From Epicurious.com via Gourmet, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/boston-lettuce-with-radishes-and-lemon-dressing-14047

Kohlrabi Pickles with Chile Oil

• 1 pound small kohlrabies, peeled, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chile oil
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black sesame seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Toss kohlrabies and salt in a large bowl to coat; chill, tossing occasionally, 30 minutes. Drain, then toss in a clean large bowl with garlic, cilantro, vinegar, chile oil, lime zest, lime juice, sesame seeds, fish sauce, sugar, and sesame oil to combine.

From Epicurious.com via Bon Appétit by Andy Baraghani, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/kohlrabi-pickles-with-chile-oil