Welcome to the 2nd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2022 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Spinach
• Red Ursa Kale – Tender greenhouse kale, great for cooking or kale salads.
• Salad Mix – A mix of four lettuces.
• Broccoli
• Small Purple Cauliflower
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Purple Radishes
• German Butterball Potatoes – We’re using up the last of last season’s potato crop. Eat them up!
• Carrots
• Overwintered Sweet Onions – Planted last October, we’re excited to get into some fresh onions! These are Tropea and Ailsa Craig varieties, both on the sweeter end of things. You can use the green tops too.
• Dried Apples
• Polenta (aka grits) – 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 polenta and last week we shared the flour. You can use this polenta in recipes calling for uncooked polenta or corn grits. We like to cook it in our rice cooker at a 1 cup polenta to 3 cups water ratio. It’s even better if you add some butter and cheese once cooked.
• Second Chance at Tomato Plants – More plants to take home!

Here we are, week 2 of the Summer CSA! After kicking the season off last week with an anxious start we can’t say enough how thankful we are for your support. As we’d noted previously, the last couple of months have been very cold and wet resulting in a rough time for getting crops established in the field. We appreciate your willingness to stick with us as we ride out the results of the rough start to this growing season. Hopefully it will just make later season harvests that much more welcome!

Looking at the weather forecast this week it looks like we’ve got some warmer weather and then more rain headed this way over the weekend. As the temperature slowly climbs into the high 70s I’m reminded that a year ago we had a heatwave and it hit 97 here the first week of June. At least we won’t be losing any crops to heat just yet!

Though we’re still watching the forecast for rainstorms we did manage to get caught up a little with planting this past week. With a longer dry window the soil was easier to prep for planting leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and the second round of zucchini. Hopefully our lucky streak will continue and we’ll get the next rounds of corn, chard, cilantro, dill, basil, and beets in the ground this week before we get rained out again.

Rainy days this past weekend did help us make time for non-planting tasks too. I got caught up on propagation and started flour corn, plus more broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collards, cilantro, dill, and parsley. Jeff managed some carrot weeding and pea wrangling after attempting a fix to a leak in the mainline of our irrigation system. Unfortunately the fix didn’t take and he spent several hours last night re-doing that work. Fingers crossed it holds this time! We’re going to need to get some irrigating happening this week before the rain returns again.

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:

My Husband’s Broccoli-Nut Salad

4 cups broccoli florets, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 carrots, peeled then grated
¹/₃ cup finely diced red onion
³/₄ cup chopped candied walnuts
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons wildflower honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar, plus more as desired
¹/₄ teaspoon sea salt

In a mixing bowl, toss together the broccoli, carrot, onion, and walnuts. Set aside while you prepare the dressing.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, honey, and vinegar. Taste the dressing. If it is a little too sweet for you, add another tablespoon of vinegar. Add the salt, combine, and pour over the vegetables and walnuts.

Toss the salad until the vegetables are well coated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Before serving, toss the salad once again and serve it chilled.

From Food52.com by Janeofmanytrade, https://food52.com/recipes/28636-my-husband-s-broccoli-nut-salad

Creamy Polenta Bowl with Pan Roasted Vegetables

2.5 cups stock: chicken or vegetable
1 teaspoon salt
.5 cups polenta, instant or traditional
.5 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and slivered
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
.5 pounds green beans, trimmed and rinsed
2 cups fresh kale, rinsed with stalks removed and cut into thin slivers
2 radishes, rinsed trimmed and cut into thin circles
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Fresh thyme leaves
Cup pea shoots, rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the polenta, bring the stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the salt. Slowly drizzle in the polenta, stirring the entire time to assure it does not lump up. Lower the heat to a simmer, then continue stirring until the polenta is cooked. Instant polenta will be ready in about 5 minutes; traditional polenta in about 50 minutes. The polenta is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the pan. It should be runny. Remove from heat. Stir in the freshly grated parmesan. Cover and keep warm.

To cook the vegetables, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and carrots. Cook until they begin to soften, just a couple of minutes, then add the green beans. Let the beans brown on all sides and continue cooking until they are tender, another 5 minutes or so. Add the kale. Continue cooking until the kale is wilted and all vegetables are cooked to your liking*. Add the balsamic vinegar and give everything a good stir.

To serve, divide the cooked polenta between 4 serving bowls. Top with cooked vegetables. Garnish with thyme leaves and pea shoots. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Enjoy.

From Food52.com by denatbray, https://food52.com/recipes/27279-creamy-polenta-bowl-with-pan-roasted-vegetables

Spinach, Potato and Cheese Frittata

1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
¹/₂ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Aleppo Pepper Flakes
3 Large Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
1 Medium Onion, diced (about 1 cup)
8 Large Eggs
1 Box (10 oz.) Frozen Spinach, blanched and drained, or any sauteed dark green (1&1/2 cups))
1 ¹/₂ cups Sharp cheese, cubed into 1/2-inch pieces
¹/₄ cup Grated Romano or Pamesean cheese

Add the butter and olive oil to a 10-inch nonstick or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Once the butter has foamed (the water cooks off), add the potatoes and cook gently, covered for 5 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes more, turning occasionally, until nearly cooked through. Add the diced onions, and cook 5 minutes until translucent, but not brown. Add the salt, pepper, and Aleppo pepper flakes.

While the potatoes and onions are cooking, place the frozen spinach in a small covered saucepan with ¼ cup of water. Bring water to a full boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium. Cover & cook 8 minutes. Separate with a fork and cook 2 more minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the liquid with a clean dish towel or your bare hand. You can also use a sturdy sieve and press with a rubber spatula. Remove as much moisture as possible.

With a fork or whisk, beat 8 large eggs in a medium bowl vigorously until well mixed and no visible separation of whites and yolks is evident. Add the cooked, cooled spinach and half the cubed cheese and half the grated cheese.

Pour the eggs mixture over the potatoes evenly in the pan. Dot the top of the frittata with the rest of the cheese cubes, and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Lower heat to medium low. Cook covered for 10 minutes, then uncovered for another 10. Check bottom with a flexible spatula. When it is firming up the frittata will begin to pull away from the sides.

If your pan is oven safe, you can place the frittata in a 300-degree oven to finish cooking through. I prefer to slide the frittata out of the pan onto a tray or plate, and using pot holders to hold the underside of the pan, flip the top side back in so it is now on the bottom. Usually this only needs two minutes to firm up and finish cooking, then I flip it back out, onto a plate, then transfer to a wire rack so the bottom does not get soggy.

Let it rest for at least 15 minutes to firm up, and let the flavors further meld. Ideally, let it rest for 60 to 90 minutes so it is just barely warm. Slice in wedges and serve with a tart green salad, and some crusty bread.

From Food52.com by Gary Schiro, https://food52.com/recipes/87913-spinach-potato-and-cheese-frittata