Welcome to the 3rd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2022 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lacinato Kale
• Flowering Arugula – Hit by flea beetles early on, we hoped this arugula crop would grow out of the holy leaf stage. Instead it bolted last week. Rather than miss out on arugula altogether we decided a little arugula rapini/flowers would hit the spot. Add a little peppery goodness to your salads this week.
• “Northern Queen” Butter Lettuce – Lettuce wraps anyone?
• “Eruption” Mini Red Romaine Lettuce – This is a new variety for us and it seems to be a great addition! A lovely package of red tips, green to pink blushed interiors, and all the crunch you want in your romaine.
• Cilantro – A little bolty but still tender and packed with cilantro flavor.
• Broccoli
• Sugar Snap Peas
• French Breakfast Radishes
• Carrots
• Green Garlic – Immature garlic bulbs that tend to be milder than mature, cured garlic. Use it raw, sliced into salads, or cooked as you would onions or mature garlic cloves. Click here for a good rundown on green garlic if you’d like more details.

Let’s go week 3! Usually this is about the time we’re ready to settle in for a summer of long days and a flood of produce. Often the rain has subsided, the temperatures have risen, and the plants are growing gangbusters. This year, well, we’re a little more thankful for each crop we’re able to harvest and send your way. We’re more uncertain than ever before what will be in next week’s share, and the week after, and the week after, but we’re trying out darnedest to make good decisions given the growing season we’ve been dealt.

One advantage to growing the diversity of crops that we do is that we can generally find some bright spots on the farm. For instance the potatoes are loving the mild temperatures and steady rain. They’ve taken off over the past couple of weeks and we’re hoping for a good potato harvest later in the season.

The tomatoes have appreciated some slightly warmer temps too and have jumped up. It’s time to get serious about pruning and trellising in the tomato house. Thankfully we’re starting to see some fruit set and are eagerly anticipating the first tomato harvests of the season.

Thanks to weekend rains for the past several weeks, the majority of our field work has been condensed into a day or two mid-week. With rain in the forecast beginning last Thursday evening Jeff managed to prep ground Thursday morning for planting our Brussels sprouts, kalettes, carving pumpkins, and the next successions of dill, cilantro, and chard. We got through all that transplanting and sneaked in some direct sown beans and carrots just as the rain started to fall. Hopefully we’ll be so lucky this week too.

Despite the rain, or in part because of it, the weeds are growing, growing, growing, but the wet soil is making it difficult to keep up with cultivating. Case in point is the winter squash that has thankfully happily taken to life in the field but is currently surrounded by a sea of grass. Jeff was mostly able to clean up the paths after I took the photos up above but there’s still plenty of work to get the field in shape before the squash vines take off and we can no longer get the tractor through to deal with the weeds.

In the week ahead we’ll be weeding and cultivating, transplanting, sowing more seeds, trellising and pruning, fertilizing, mowing, and more. The rain doesn’t stop the work, just makes it more difficult. Fortunately this week’s weekend rain appears to call for fewer inches.

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:

This kale salad recipe was suggested by Bonnie G., a fellow CSA member. She says she’s made it multiple times and can vouch that it’s tasty!

Kale Waldorf Salad

• 4 cups packed finely chopped kale, preferably dinosaur/lacinato kale
• 1 large apple, like a Honeycrisp, chopped, divided
• 3 large celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, divided
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons raisins, divided
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Place kale in a large bowl.

Add half the apple to kale along with celery, ¼ cup walnuts and ¼ cup raisins.

Put remaining apple in a blender along with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts, remaining 2 tablespoons raisins, mustard, 2 tablespoons water, vinegar and salt.

Purée until well combined and slightly thick, adding water if needed to thin. Pour dressing over kale salad and toss to combine.

From Whole Foods Market, https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/kale-waldorf-salad

Asian Vegetable Rolls

2 oz. thin rice noodles
1 cup bean sprouts
10 soft lettuce leaves
1 cup carrots, finely shredded
2 to 3 green onions, finely chopped
½ cup mint leaves
½ cup cilantro leaves
8 rice paper wrappers (about 8” square)

Drop noodles into boiling water, remove from heat and let stand for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.

Lay out noodles and vegetables in an assembly line. Heat a pan of water until it’s almost too hot to handle. Soak one rice paper wrapper in the hot water for 15-20 seconds, then take it out and lay it flat. Flatten out one lettuce leaf on top (this helps prevent other fillings from poking through the wrapper). Next, place a finger-sized bunch of noodles close to one side of the paper and roll that side over the noodles. Continue this same pattern for the vegetable fillings, laying each ingredient parallel to the noodles and rolling the paper over. After the mint and cilantro leaves have gone in, fold the ends of the wrapper in, then fold the remaining side over them to secure. Set roll on a platter, seam side down. Keep rolls moist until served, and separated so they don’t stick together (the wrappers will rip).

Serve whole or cut in half, with your choice of spicy dipping sauce. One simple option is to add a few tablespoons of rice vinegar and sesame oil to a half cup of soy sauce.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

Also available here: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/recipes-spring-asian-vegetable-rolls.htm

Farfalle with Green Garlic, Peas, and Herbed Ricotta

• 1¼ cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 oz. fine-grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup)
• ½ cup fine-chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme, marjoram)
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper
• Lemon juice
• 12 oz. farfalle pasta
• 1 cup fresh or frozen peas, or sugar-snap peas, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large bunch green garlic, root end and tough top greens trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced thinly on the bias

Steps

1. Combine ricotta, Parmesan, and herbs in bowl and mix until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add lemon juice to taste; set aside.
2. Bring large saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Season water liberally with salt and cook pasta according to directions on package. Three minutes before the pasta is to be done, stir in peas; drain.
3. While pasta cooks, combine butter and oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add garlic and large pinch salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is wilted and soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Toss pasta with sautéed garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide equally among warmed bowls, top with large dollop of ricotta mixture, and serve immediately.

From Culinate.com by Matthew Card, http://legacy.culinate.com/content/179108/index.html