Welcome to the 19th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2021 Summer CSA!  Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Mini Romaine Lettuce Heads
• Lacinato Kale
• Mixed Cauliflower/Broccoli/Romanesco
• Rose Finn Apple Fingerling Potatoes
• Cilantro
• Rossa di Milano Red Onion
• Garlic
• Romano Beans – A mix of green and purple striped flat romano green beans this week. Note that the purple will turn green when cooked.
• Cucumbers – This looks like the very last week of cukes for this season.
• Tomatillos
• Poblano Peppers – Mild chile peppers often used for chile rellenos. They turn from green to maroon as they ripen and their heat level increases.
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Mixed Sweet Peppers
• Mixed Tomatoes
• Carnival Acorn Squash

Many thanks to everyone who made it out to the farm this past Saturday for our annual fall member visit. Though not as exciting as past years when we’ve had more activities, we’re glad some of you made the trek out to pick some pumpkins from the patch, take a tractor ride, and to see the farm in person. We hope you enjoyed the visit!

We’ll have some carving pumpkins at the pick-ups for folks who couldn’t make it out.

We’ve been lucky with the weather, including for Saturday’s farm visit which turned into a gorgeous fall day. We’ve had just enough rain to tamp down the dust and keep the fields damp while still making some field work possible.

Early October always feels like a magical time on the farm. The sunchokes are flowering, dew covered spider webs thread through the orchard trees in the morning, and the whole landscape has greened up after a little rain. There’s no doubt that fall reallynhas arrived. You can feel it in the air. The mornings have been foggy and I’ve begun to watch the weather in anticipation of the first frost of the season. But we’ve still had some lingering warm days, keeping the summery crops slowly producing. This year’s gamble on October beans paid off!

In addition to prepping the pumpkin patch and tractor rides for the member day, we also managed to mark a few things off the fall To Do list this past week. Friday we worked on whittling down the remaining transplanting for this season. Lettuce, bok choy, and spinach went into an open field house and we’ll fill it up with bunching onions this week. It’s not often we have to transplant by hand (without using our water wheel transplanter and the tractor) and when we do it’s always a good reminder of just how tough on the back that was when it was our main method of planting.

On Sunday we harvested the last of the season’s tomatillos and then cleaned up the tomatillo bed. The plants headed to the compost pile and the landscape fabric we used to suppress weeds headed to storage until next year. This bed joins those where the melons grew and will likely be planted to garlic or overwintering onions soon.

As we face increased rain in the forecast we’ll be pushing ahead with ground prep for the garlic and onion planting that we aim to get in the ground in mid-October and sowing cover crop this week. Of course there’s also that house to finish planting, dry beans to thresh, potatoes to harvest, and many more tasks to get to as well. If you need us, we’ll be here on the farm, chipping away at that list of things needing to get done.

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:

Mashed Potatoes with Cilantro and Roasted Chiles

• 2 poblano chilies
• 4 pounds russet potatoes (about 6 large), peeled, quartered
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, bruised
• 1 cup warm half and half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Char chilies over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Wrap in paper bag and let stand 10 minutes. Peel and seed chilies; chop coarsely.

Cook potatoes and garlic in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 35 minutes. Drain. Transfer potatoes and garlic to bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth. Gradually beat in half and half. Add butter and beat until melted. Stir in chilies and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/mashed-potatoes-with-cilantro-and-roasted-chilies-3121

Roasted-Tomatillo and Lime Salsa

• 8 ounces small tomatillos (about 8), husked, rinsed
• 1 large jalapeño chile, stemmed (or other peppers to your heat taste)
• 10 large fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion

Preheat broiler. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange tomatillos and jalapeño chile on prepared baking sheet. Broil until tomatillos and jalapeño chile are soft and blackened in spots, about 5 minutes per side. Cool; transfer tomatillos, jalapeño chile, and any juices on baking sheet to blender. Add fresh mint and lime juice; blend to coarse puree. Transfer mixture to bowl; mix in chopped onion. Season salsa with salt.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roasted-tomatillo-and-lime-salsa-108068

Acorn Squash with Kale and Sausage

• 2 medium acorn squash, halved down the middle, seeds removed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
• 1 large leek, white and light green parts only, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cups tightly packed torn kale
• 1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

Heat oven to 375°. Cut a thin slice off round side of each squash half to create a stable base. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; coat with cooking spray. Place squash flesh side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil; bake until golden and tender, 30 minutes. Remove from oven; flip squash and set aside. Heat broiler. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Add sausage; cook, breaking into coarse pieces, until brown, 6 minutes; transfer to a bowl. To same skillet, add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and leek; cook until leek is soft, 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook, 30 seconds. Add kale and toss; add broth. Cover and cook until kale is tender, 5 minutes; stir in sausage. Divide kale-sausage filling among squash. In a bowl, combine walnuts, Parmesan and panko; sprinkle evenly over squash bowls and coat with cooking spray. Broil until panko is golden, 2 minutes.

From Epicurious.com, https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/acorn-squash-with-kale-and-sausage-51203850