Welcome to the 18th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2021 Summer CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix
• Mixed Cauliflower – Mostly white cauli, with some purple heads mixed in, plus a few bonus fractal romanescos too!
• Broccoli
• Savoy Cabbage
• Red Potatoes
• Yellow Onions
• Garlic
• Basil
• Cucumbers – We’ve got green and yellow slicer cucumbers for you to choose from. We’re rapidly approaching the end of cuke season, so enjoy them while we’ve got them!
• Zucchini and some Pattypans
• Sweet Corn – This week’s corn is called ‘Sweetness’.
• Mixed Eggplant
• Shishito Peppers – Remember those roulette peppers where 1 in 10 might be hot? These are those! Blister them in hot oil and eat them up!
• Mixed Sweet Peppers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Slicer Tomatoes
• Asian Pears

The weather cleared up just long enough this past week for us to get the winter squash out of the field and to get the Farmall cub cultivating tractor through some young crops to clean up the weeds. The last of the seed peppers were processed and the seeds dried, the two tunnels with fall/winter greens got hoed. It wasn’t everything on the To Do list of course, but it was a productive push.

We’re very happy with the arrival of fall, even if it meant the first muddy harvest day of the season. The shortening days, the return of the rain, the cooler temperatures are all a welcome shift from the hot, dusty summer.

As mentioned above we managed to bring in the winter squash for storage. Ever wondered what 5,437 squash look like? Well, now you know! We had some weed issues in a part of the winter squash field and weren’t sure how it would impact the yield come harvest. Somehow it all seemed to even out and we ended up with about 100 more than last season.

We grew 14 different varieties of winter squash this year, including two new acorn varieties: Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato and Starry Night PMR F1. They’re sort of on the opposite ends of the acorn squash spectrum. Thelma Sanders is a buff colored open-pollinated variety handed down through generations of family and seed savers and made available commercially first by the Seed Savers Exchange. Starry Night PMR F1 is a colorful hybrid variety bred by seed breeders at Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Both are said to be tasty and have good storage potential, which are somewhat novel traits for acorn squash.

It looks like we’ll have another weather reprieve in the week ahead. The forecast is calling for mostly sunny and a high of 74 for Saturday’s CSA member farm visit. We hope you’re considering making the trek out to the farm for a look around and a trip through the pumpkin patch. Check your member email for all the details.

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:

Reginetti Pasta with Savoy Cabbage and Pancetta

• 12 ounces reginetti or other short pasta
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon)
• 1 small head of savoy cabbage, tough ribs removed, leaves torn
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 ounce Parmesan, finely grated (about 1/2 cup)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Poppy seeds (for serving)

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente (pasta will still be opaque and very firm in the center). Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium and cook pancetta, turning halfway through, until brown and crisp, about 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Add cabbage to skillet and cook undisturbed until deeply browned in some spots, about 3 minutes. Toss, then cook undisturbed until deeply browned in other spots, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook and toss until cabbage is charred in some spots and bright green in others and beginning to wilt. Add butter and thyme and cook, tossing, until butter begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add Parmesan, pasta, and 1 cup pasta cooking liquid and cook, tossing often and adding more cooking liquid to help finish cooking pasta, until pasta is al dente and sauce is thickened and emulsified and coats pasta, about 5 minutes. Add pancetta and toss to combine; taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with poppy seeds.

From Epicurious.com by Dawn Perry, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/reginetti-with-savoy-cabbage-and-pancetta-51264250

Garlicky Eggplant, Tomato, ad Basil Bobolis

• 4 medium Japanese eggplants, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese
• 2 1-pound Bobolis (baked cheese pizza crusts)
• 1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, chopped
• 6 ounces fresh soft goat cheese (such as Montrachet), coarsely crumbled
• 15 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced fresh basil leaves (about 2 bunches)

Preheat broiler. Arrange eggplant slices on large baking sheet. Brush oil over both sides of eggplant. Season with salt and pepper. Broil until eggplant is tender and begins to brown, turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. Cool.

Place 2 large baking sheets in oven on separate racks and preheat to 500°F. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese over each Boboli crust. Top with eggplant slices, chopped tomatoes, goat cheese, garlic slices and fresh basil. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over pizza. Transfer Bobolis to preheated baking sheets in oven. Bake until cheese melts and pizza edges are brown and crisp, about 12 minutes. Transfer to work surface. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into wedges. Reassemble on platter and serve.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/garlicky-eggplant-tomato-and-basil-bobolis-2547

Summer Vegetable Stew

• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 medium zucchini, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 3 cups)
• 1 medium yellow squash, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from about 2 ears)
• 2 tomatoes (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh orégano leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, shredded

In a large deep skillet cook the onion and the garlic in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, add the zucchini, the yellow squash, the bell pepper, and the corn, and cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer the stew, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Simmer the stew, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes more, or until the excess liquid is evaporated, sprinkle it with the basil, and serve it warm or at room temperature.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/summer-vegetable-stew-12527