Welcome to the 13th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2021 Summer CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Butterhead or Iceberg Lettuce
• Romaine Lettuce
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Dill
• Cilantro – Such a quick crop cilantro, it’s a little bolty this week but still tasty.
• Cucumbers – We’ve got lots of green and yellow slicer cucumbers and some lemons for you to choose from.
• Zucchini – We’ve got dark green, light green, and yellow zucchini this week.
• Sweet Corn – This week’s corn is called ‘Sweetness’.
• Chioggia Beets
• Red Onions
• Early Italian Red Garlic
• Bulgarian Carrot Hot Peppers – Sweet, fruity, tangy, but hot! Somewhere between the heat of a jalapeno and 12 times the heat of a jalapeno. Good luck!
• Mixed Sweet Peppers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Slicer Tomatoes
• Mixed Watermelons – All sorts of watermelons to choose from this week including pink, red, and yellow-fleshed varieties. If you’re looking for a recipe you might check out Country Panzanella with Watermelon Dressing from the NY Times.

The turn in weather this week was a welcome change. Cooler temps with a hint of fall in the air have us feeling like we might just make it through this summer heat. It’s been a slog here on the farm since that heatwave in June. So many long hot days. The last few mornings have been a treat, a flannel-wearing treat.

This is the height of the growing season. The farm is planted to more beds of crops than at any other time during the year. From the first round of planting that happened back in April (or was it March?) we’ve been steadily planting more ground weekly. We’ve got a few nooks open, previously planted earlier in the season and now ready for another cropping or cover crop.

This is when the shift from planting to big harvests begins. Though we’ll continue to plant a few beds each week for successions of greens and winter crops, our work will focus in on the harvests of storage crops. The onions and potatoes and apples will all be brought in over the next few weeks. Soon we’ll be eyeing the winter squash. We’re officially halfway through the CSA season with plenty of good eating ahead!

As our attention turns to storage crops we’re also thinking about the Winter CSA. We’ll be posting updated details and opening up the memberships for the upcoming winter season in a week or two. We’ll be sure to keep you posted for anyone who might be looking to extend their seasonal eating into the flipside of the year.

This past week we made our final big push of transplanting for the season. The overwintering cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli, final fall broccoli and cauliflower and beet successions, and another round of lettuce and escarole all found a home in the field. Our planting was a week off the plan, but we’re not too worried. In the week ahead we’ll finally get to the onion harvest, work on catching up on some cultivating, and maybe begin the fruit harvest. We’ve also got a few beds of bunching onions, spinach, and herbs to sneak in the ground. Plus there’s some tomato house clean-up, mowing, and a little seed-sowing to get done. Plenty to do and never quite enough time to get it all done. Must still be August!

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

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Roasted Beet Tzatziki Salad

Beet Tzatziki (makes 2 1/4 cups):

• 1 cup labneh
• 1 cup roasted grated beets
• 1/4 cup peeled, seeded, and minced Persian (mini) cucumber
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 6 leaves fresh mint, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

For the salad:

• 1 cup Beet Tzatziki
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
• 1 yellow heirloom tomato, finely diced
• 1 Persian (mini) cucumber, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 2 radishes, sliced into very thin rounds
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1 cup equal parts torn fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, dill fronds, and mint leaves, plus extra for garnish
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• Sea salt
• 1 cup Pickled Beets; reserve a little liquid for garnish
• Pinch of ground sumac, for garnish
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish

Beet Tzatziki:

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients.

Salad:

Spread the tzatziki on two serving plates and top with the eggs.

In a medium bowl, combine the tomato, cucumber, chile flakes, radishes, poppy seeds, fresh herbs, and buttermilk. Season with a little sea salt.

Broil or sauté the pickled beets to slightly caramelize and blister the outer surface.

Top the eggs with the cucumber-tomato salad and the hot beets. Garnish with more herbs, a pinch of sumac, a little olive oil, and the pickling liquid from the beets.

From Epicurious.com via Egg Shop: The Cookbook by Nick Korbee, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roasted-beet-tzatziki-salad

Chopped Salad

• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onions
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus additional as needed
• 2 teaspoons coarsely ground fresh black pepper, plus additional as needed
• 1/2 to 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large head iceburg lettuce, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 6 to 8 cups
• 1 cup Roasted Marinated Peppers , cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives, such as Cerignola, halved
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives, such as Cerignola, halved
• 1 cup haricots verts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup English cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons fresh marjoram leaves
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dill, large stems removed

In a small bowl, combine the onions, water, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.

Add 1/2 cup of the oil to the vinegar mixture. Add additional to taste.

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, roasted peppers, olives, haricots verts, cucumber, and herbs. Toss with enough dressing to coat, and season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve any remaining dressing on the side.

From Epicurious.com via Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, & Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking by Adam Perry Lang with JJ Goode and Amy Vogler, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chopped-salad-358651

Avocado Toast with Tomato-Corn Salsa

• 3 plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 scallions, trimmed, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeño, finely chopped (or maybe a Bulgarian Carrot pepper if you’re brave, or a sweet pepper to avoid the heat)
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (from about 2 cobs)
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)Kosher salt
• 3 avocados, sliced
• 6 slices crusty white bread (such as country bread), toasted

Combine tomatoes, scallions, jalapeño, corn, and lime juice in a medium bowl. Season with salt. Using a fork, gently smash avocado slices evenly onto each toast. Top each generously with tomato-corn salsa.

From Epicurious.com by Rebekah Peppler, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/avocado-toast-with-tomato-corn-salsa-56389819