Welcome to the 6th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2022 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Mikola Red Butterhead Lettuce
• Salad Mix – a mix of four lettuces
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli – We’re into the dreaded July brassica planting, which was transplanted back in early May when a planting window between rainstorms for prepping ground and transplanting was all of two days. Though the broccoli and cauliflower coming out of this planting are not stellar, we’re happy to be harvesting anything at all.
• Cilantro
• Flowering Dill
• Fennel – A little anise flavor for your dishes this week. The fennel bulb is the star of the show here, but the fronds can be used too. The bulb can be sliced and roasted, braised, pickled, or eaten raw shaved into salads. Check out the recipes at the end of the post for some inspiration.
• Red or Yellow Beets
• Fresh Onion
• Sugar Snap Peas – This is the last of our peas for this season. Enjoy!
• Fava Beans – For the true fava experience you’ll want to shell the beans, blanch them, then remove the outer skin and eat the green inner bean. We often skip that last step and eat the shelled beans sauteed and over pasta or in salads. Check out the fava bean dip recipe down below too. Also, grilling the entire pods make them quicker to shell and the beans get steamed inside, so they don’t need to be blanched.
• Zucchini & Summer Squash
• Mixed Cucumbers

Hello again! Somehow we’ve made it to July and the sixth week of the Summer CSA season. After an extended spring we’re excited to see harvestable summery crops finally making an appearance. When the zucchini and cucumbers show up to the party, summer feels official. We’re also on the cusp of tomato season, with a few ripe cherry tomatoes coloring up in the tomato house. We don’t have quite enough to begin harvesting them for the CSA, but they aren’t too far off now.

In an attempt to get a look at the farm from above we took the drone out for a stroll one evening this past week. It got a little dark on us and we had a high resolution video error, but Jeff managed to put together a video that might give you a sense of the July farmscape. Take a look below.

There are definitely some highlights and lowlights happening out there. It’s looking to be a great potato year and the first few rounds of corn are really taking off. The peppers and melons are just starting to settle in so time will tell with them. There are a handful of weedy areas, some of the winter squash beds are probably the worst spots. The garlic and overwintering storage onions need to be harvested and the peas need to be taken down. Overall I think the take away is that there’s a lot going on out there and so very many vegetables headed your way over the next 20 remaining weeks of the season, plus this coming winter.

We’re just about caught up with the backlog of transplanting hiccups that rippled through our planting plan a couple of months back. We’ve got corn, celery, parsley, and lettuce on deck for transplanting this week. We’ll be getting back on track just in time to get serious about starting late fall and winter crops. How is it time to start thinking about next spring’s purple sprouting broccoli? We’ll also hopefully get the garlic harvested, get the winter squash weeded, and keep up with tomato trellising.

Having made it through the slog of May and June, this is the point in the summer that I start dreaming of a day or two off the farm too. Hopefully we’ll make a dent in the big tasks that need doing and we’ll make time for an off-farm adventure soon.

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

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Pickled Beet and Cucumber Salads

• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 10 teaspoons sugar
• 2 pounds small red beets, trimmed
• 2 large English hothouse cucumbers (about 1 pound each), halved lengthwise, seeded, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh chives

Stir vinegar, shallots and 6 teaspoons sugar in small bowl to blend. Let marinade stand while preparing vegetables.

Cook beets in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes; drain. Peel beets. Cut into wedges. Transfer to medium bowl. Toss with 1/2 cup of marinade to coat.

Place cucumbers in large bowl. Sprinkle 4 teaspoons sugar over. Toss with remaining marinade. Season salads to taste with salt and pepper. Cover separately and refrigerate 1 day, stirring occasionally. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Drain salads separately; return to bowls. Mix half of chives into each salad. Arrange salads on platter and serve.

From Epicurious, via Bon Appétit, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pickled-Beet-and-Cucumber-Salads-5409

Fava Bean Dip aka Fake Guacamole

• Fava beans
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• Garlic, 2 cloves, diced
• Lime juice
• Cilantro
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 Tbsp. plain goat cheese

Blanch fava beans. Shell beans from the large pod. Peel off the second layer of skin, revealing a tiny, bright green bean.

In a food processor, combine beans, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lime juice and goat cheese. Add more water if needed to make it creamy.

Serve as a dip, or as filling between grilled corn tortillas.

From The Veg Table by Mary Altman, http://legacy.culinate.com/content/279467/index.html

Beet & Fennel Galette with Walnuts

Make the dough:

• 1 ¹/₄ cups all purpose flour
• ¹/₄ tablespoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• ¹/₄ cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¹/₄ cup water

Make the filling:

• ³/₄ pound beets, greens trimmed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, sliced thin
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced thin
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher salt
• ¹/₂ cup walnuts, crushed
• 10 mint leaves, chopped
• 10 basil leaves, chopped
• ¹/₂ cup sour cream
• 6 ounces goat cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• Freshly ground black pepper

Make the dough:

• In a food processor, combine flour and salt. Add in butter and pulse until small pebbles form.
• In a small bowl, combine sour cream, lemon juice, and water. Add to food processor and pulse until mixture comes together and forms dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to two days.

Make the filling:

• Bring a medium-sized saucepan of salted water to boil. Add in beets and cook until they soften, about 20-30 minutes, depending on size. Beets don’t need to be cooked all the way through, but you should be able to pierce them with a fork relatively easily.
• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Let beets cool. Peel off skins and grate on a box grater or in a food processor. Transfer to bowl.
• In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add in onion and cook until translucent. Stir in fennel and garlic, season with salt, and cook until fennel softens.
• Add fennel mixture to bowl with beets. Stir in walnuts, herbs, and sour cream.
• Roll out dough into about a 12 inch round. Place vegetables in the center, leaving about a 1½ – 2 inch border around the sides. Use your hands to scatter goat cheese evenly across the top. Fold the edges of the dough in, overlapping where there is extra.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and a drop of water. Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, until dough is nicely browned. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

From Food52.com by Vicky | Things I Made Today, https://food52.com/recipes/59902-beet-fennel-galette-with-walnuts