Welcome to the 16th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2022 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Head Lettuce – Choose from Mayan Jaguar romaine and green leaf lettuce.
• Broccoli
• Purple Cauliflower
• Basil
• Yukon Gem Potatoes
• Sweet Onions
• “Sweetness” Sweet Corn – small but tasty!
• Romano Beans – Mixed green and purple striped beans, great for use in your favorite green bean recipes.
• Zucchini & Summer Squash – Including green zucchini, yellow summer squash, and “Mexicana” zucchini.
• Mixed Cucumbers – Including green cukes, ‘Silver Slicer’ yellow cukes, and lemon cukes.
• Poblano Peppers – Mild chile peppers.
• Shishito Peppers – These Japanese frying peppers are delicious quickly blistered in hot oil and tossed with a little salt. Mostly mild, 1 in 10 can be hot.
• Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
• Mixed Slicer Tomatoes
• Mixed Melons – Choose from Tuscan melons, “Honey Orange” honeydews, “Lambkin” aka Christmas melons, and several watermelon varieties.

Thanks to smokey skies this past weekend, we made it through the projected 101 degree heatwave with a high of only 94. It was an eerie couple of days with ash falling and a very red sun looming overhead. Thankfully things have cleared up and we even had a tenth of an inch of rain overnight Sunday. This week’s weather forecast looks downright pleasant with highs in the 60s and 70s and a chance of rain Saturday. After so many hot days this summer we’re ready for a cool down!

After a long wait we’re finally enjoying some of the best fruits of summer, melons! Our melon patch got off to a rough start back at the end of May thanks to a series of weather events. Would we have expected any different this season? A cold, rainy May meant very little field prep time but a switch in weather at the end of the month saw our first flash of heat. We managed to get the melons in the ground during the handful of warm days. Unfortunately a wind/rain storm brought havoc the next week. Plants were pummeled and the landscaping fabric we use to control weed pressure came unstapled, tearing out watermleon transplants and flapping over on the next bed and thus taking out those plants too. Our newly planted melon patch quickly became a disaster zone.

We re-planted where we could, using the leftover transplants we had on hand and direct sowing some extra seeds. Not finding any organic watermelon transplants available to purchase we re-sowed flats of watermelons in the propagation house. A month late, we managed to re-plant the watermelon patch and crossed our fingers for melons in September. Well, here we are with some ripe watermelons plus plenty of Tuscan and honeydew melons too. Better late than never!

This past week we sowed three greenhouses to fall and winter crops including arugula, kale, radishes, turnips, cilantro, tatsoi, mizuna, mustards and more. We also dug more potatoes, cleaned out the spring pea/carrot house (finally), and transplanted the last round of salad mix and bunching onions into the field. We’ll be focusing on transplanting into that last greenhouse in the coming weeks. In the week ahead we’ll harvest the winter squash, get the storage onions into storage, and continue digging potatoes for storage too. And of course there’s more mowing, weeding, and irrigating to undertake.

As promised a couple weeks back I finally managed a couple of photos of the surprise ducklings. Jeff has counted 17! Duck mania!

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:

Grilled Corn with Basil Butter

• Grilled Corn
• 8 ears of corn, shucked
• Olive oil
• Salt

• Basil Butter
• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup basil, loosely packed
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

Preheat grill to medium hot.

Roll corn in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. When grill is hot, add corn and close the lid. Rotate the corn a few times, until some of the kernels are blistered and the rest a bright and shiny yellow. This shouldn’t take longer than 8 minutes. Be careful not to overcook, or the corn will be dry.

Meanwhile, add the butter, basil, and salt to a food processer and let it rip. You may need to scrape down the sides once or twice. When the basil is finely chopped and the butter has a light green tint, it’s done.

When the corn comes off the grill, slather it with the basil butter. Sprinkle with a little more salt if desired. Eat immediately.

Note: basil butter can be made ahead and extra basil butter will keep for about a week or two in the fridge. You can roll it into a log with plastic wrap and slice it off as you need it. It’s AMAZING on toast.

From Food52.com by Lisina, https://food52.com/recipes/21960-grilled-corn-with-basil-butter

Marcella’s Broccoli and Potato Soup

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• ¹/₄ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups yellow onion, julienned
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, medium dice
• 2 ¹/₂ cups broccoli florets, no stems
• 3 ¹/₂ cups stock, chicken or vegetable
• 6 smallish fresh basil leaves, torn
• ¹/₂ cup Parmesan, grated

In a 3 1/2-quart heavy-bottomed pot, combine the olive oil and half the butter. Place the pot over medium heat. Once the butter begins to melt, add the onions. Season them with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Saute the onions until they become golden. Don’t rush this step and adjust the heat as necessary to keep them from browning too fast. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add the potatoes. Stir them to coat with oil and let them sizzle away for a minute or two. Add the broccoli and do the same as you did with the potatoes. Add the stock.

Bring the stock to a boil. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning. Go easy on the salt though because the Parmesan has lots and will act as seasoning as well.

Simmer the soup until the broccoli and potatoes are tender. The broccoli is not going to remain vibrant green, but if it is good broccoli it won’t be olive drab either.

Once the potatoes have cooked through, add the parmesan, the remaining butter, and the basil. Stir to combine and serve with more black pepper.

From Food52.com by thirschfeld, https://food52.com/recipes/24592-marcella-s-broccoli-and-potato-soup

Grilled Summer Salad with Tonnato Verde

• Salad
• 1 pound romano, wax, or green beans (or a mix)
• 1 pound small escarole and/or little Gem heads, halved lengthwise through the core (Or how about Mayan Jaguar)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ¹/₂ baguette, halved lengthwise
• 1 ear fresh corn, husked
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1 medium lemon)
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 2 tablespoons drained capers

• Tonnato Verde
• 2 (7-ounce) cans high-quality water-or oil-packed tuna, drained
• 4 ounces soft tofu
• 3 salt-or oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
• 2 whole garlic cloves
• ¹/₂ cup (packed) Italian parsley leaves
• ¹/₄ cup chopped chives, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1 medium lemon)
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 tablespoon drained capers
• ¹/₂ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the salad: Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the grates.

Toss beans and lettuce with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the cut side of the baguette with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Grill the lettuce, beans, bread, and corn, turning occasionally, until lettuce is wilted, bread is toasted, and beans and corn are nicely charred and tender—this will take about 2 minutes for the lettuce and bread, about 5 minutes for the beans, and 10 to 12 minutes for the corn. Once cooked, transfer vegetables and bread to a cutting board to cool. Coarsely chop the cooled lettuce and bread, cut the corn kernels off of the cob, and set aside. Leave the beans whole.

Meanwhile, make the tonnato verde: In a food processor, add 2 ounces of the tuna, tofu, anchovies, garlic, parsley, chives, lemon juice, Parmesan, and capers. Pulse a few times to combine. With the machine on, slowly drizzle in the oil until the mixture is well emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To a large bowl, add the grilled lettuce and beans; season with the 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus salt and pepper to taste, and toss to combine. Divide this mixture on 4 plates, then follow with the croutons, corn, tomatoes, capers and the remaining tuna, divided for each serving. Drizzle one-quarter of the dressing over each salad, then garnish with chives and more black pepper.

From Food52.com by Kay Chun, https://food52.com/recipes/86186-grilled-salad-recipe-with-tonnato-herb-sauce