Welcome to the 11th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2023 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Cilantro – It’s bolty, but still good for blending up in salsa!
• Mixed Storage Onions
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Sweet Corn – We’ve moved on to the first variety of the second succession and unfortunately we’re still seeing some corn earworms, though not nearly as many as in the first round. They are sneaky though, so be warned that you may see a worm or two in your corn again this week.
• Mixed Cucumbers – Including green slicers and lemon cucumbers.
• Mixed Zucchini & Summer Squash – Choose from green and yellow zucchinis and a few yellow straightneck summer squash.
• Green & Purple Sweet Peppers – These are the immature coloring for these varieties of bell peppers, so treat them all like green peppers.
• Poblano Peppers – Mild chiles, great for stuffing of chopping up and thrown into anything really.
• Tomatillos – A little like green tomatoes, tomatillos make excellent salsa verde and enchilada sauce. Check out this website for more recipe ideas.
• Mixed Cherry Tomatoes & Slicer Tomatoes
• Mixed Melons – Including Tirreno Tuscan cantaloupes, Honey Orange honeydews, and Lambkin Piel del sapo melons.

Hello and howdy! Have you heard? August is happening out there! We’ve got ripe melons, tomatoes galore, and more sweet corn all headed your way this week. It’s the stuff we dream about in the middle of winter when we reach into the freezer for a bag of frozen corn or into the pantry for a jar of tomato sauce. It’s time to enjoy the bounty and preserve the rest for future enjoyment.

Thankfully the warmest weather predictions held off this past weekend and cloudy mornings made the work of the week tolerable. It looks like we’re in for another round of several days in the mid to high 90s again over the weekend and into next week. Perhaps the clouds will once again save us. Fingers crossed.

As we get rolling with August we’re focused on keeping the farm on the rails, as it were. The weeding and planting both seem to peak in August and it’s a perpetual choice on where to spend time and effort. It’s a balance each week between managing the crops in the ground and getting more crops in the ground. Not to mention the time spent getting the crops out of the ground. We plan, then adjust the plan as time allows.

Thankfully there are fewer seeds to sow as we get deeper into the season, freeing up time for weeding and harvesting. This past week we bulk harvested cabbage, carrots, and beets for storage and managed to plant the final rounds of cucumbers, fall broccoli, and fall cauliflower. There was also some carrot weeding that happened. A little bit of everything.

In the week ahead we’ll get the overwintered cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli in the ground that did not make it out last week. We’ll also get the last round of beets and chard transplanted and possibly even the chicories if we’re lucky. And then there are carrots to weed, a greenhouse to clear of pea trellising, and lettuce to start for future transplanting. Plus it’s time to preserve tomatoes. Another full week on the farm.

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:

Cauliflower Steaks with Green Harissa

• Cauliflower
• 1 large head cauliflower
• ¹/₄ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Green Harissa
• 2 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• ¹/₂ onion, halved through the root
• 1 or 2 serrano chiles, as desired for heat
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 2 cups (40 g) fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
• 2 cups (40 g) fresh parsley (leaves and tender stems)
• Large handful each of arugula and spinach
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• ¹/₂ cup (120 ml) olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Flaky salt

Remove the leaves and trim the stem of the cauliflower, leaving the core intact. Place the cauliflower core-side down on a work surface. Starting in the center of the head, slice from top to bottom into four 1-inch (2.5 cm) steaks. Place steaks on a rimmed baking sheet and any florets that break loose in a bowl. Drizzle the oil over the steaks and florets and generously season with kosher salt and pepper.

Prepare a charcoal grill for two-zone cooking and build a medium-high fire, or heat a gas grill to high. Carefully wipe the preheated grates with a lightly oiled paper towel. Using a grill brush, scrape the grill grates clean, then carefully wipe with a lightly oiled towel again. Allow a small cast iron skillet or grill basket to heat for 5 minutes before cooking.

To make the harissa, blister the tomatillos, onion, chiles, and garlic in the preheated small cast-iron skillet or grill basket over direct heat, until charred and softened on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes for the tomatillos and chiles, a bit longer for the onion and garlic. Set aside to cool.

Stem and seed the chiles, peel the garlic, and place them both in a food processor. Add the tomatillos, cilantro, parsley, arugula and spinach, vinegar, lemon zest, and olive oil and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Grill the cauliflower steaks (in a grill basket, if desired) over direct heat, rotating them around the fire as needed to prevent them from blackening before they’re cooked, until deeply charred on the exterior and just tender at the core, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Grill any loose florets in a grill basket, tossing often, until browned and crispy, 5 to 7 minutes.

Serve the warm steaks on a pool of harissa and garnish with the crispy bits of florets and a sprinkle of flaky salt.

From Food52.com by Paula Disbrowe, https://food52.com/recipes/75102-cauliflower-steaks-with-green-harissa

Enchilada Suizas

1 medium white or yellow onion
4 large or 6 small tomatillos
2 poblano chiles (or 1 can of whole green chiles)
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
1 ¹/₂ cups chicken stock
1 handful cilantro leaves and stems, plus more leaves for garnish
¹/₂ teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1 pinch ground allspice or clove
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
Zest and juice of one lime
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 jalapeño chile, seeds removed (optional)
2 cups boneless cooked chicken, shredded, sliced or diced
8 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded jack or mild cheddar cheese
¹/₂ cup sour cream, crème fraîche, or Mexican crema

Heat the broiler. Peel and quarter onion. Remove papery husks and wash tomatillos. Cut poblanos in half lengthwise and remove stems and seeds. On a foil-lined sheet pan, place onion, tomatillos, unpeeled garlic cloves and poblanos skin side up. Broil vegetables until mildly charred, turning the onion pieces and tomatillos over after a few minutes to expose other sides to the heat source. Take care that the garlic doesn’t get too burnt.

Scrape blackened skin from the poblanos, peel the garlic and put vegetables into a blender; include any juices from the baking sheet. (Drain and add canned green chiles, if using.) Add chicken stock, cilantro, spices, lime juice and zest, and salt and blend until completely puréed. Taste, and if you want it to be spicier, add the jalapeño and purée again until completely smooth.

Pour contents of blender into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until slightly reduced. Taste and add more salt, if needed. If salsa is too thick, add a little bit of water to it. Lower oven temperature to 350° F.

Make the enchiladas one at a time: Dip a tortilla in the salsa until just softened. Lay out on a plate, put some chicken across the middle of the tortilla and roll it up. Place in a baking dish or directly on an oven-safe dinner plate. When all of the tortillas have been made, ladle the salsa generously over them, sprinkle the cheese over the top, and place the baking dish or plates into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until chicken filling is heated through and cheese has melted. Serve with generous dollop of sour cream on top, and some chopped fresh cilantro.

From Food52.com by Zora, https://food52.com/recipes/26577-enchiladas-suizas

Summer Bounty Frittata

2 tablespoons olive oil
¹/₂ red onion, finely chopped
¹/₄ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped into 1/8 inch-thick rounds
1 ear of corn, kernels removed
A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
A couple basil leaves, thinly sliced
6 large eggs
Salt and pepper

In a medium (around 9-inch) oven-safe skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it is shimmering. Stir in the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until they have softened and browned, around 5 minutes.

Stir in the zucchini rounds and corn kernels and cook until softening, about 3 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and basil leaves plus a couple pinches of salt and pepper and give a stir.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the veggies hang out until the tomatoes just start to soften, a minute or two. During that time, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with a few pinches of salt and pepper and turn your oven broiler on.

Pour the eggs over the vegetables and let the frittata cook until it is most of the way set, but the top is still uncooked, then transfer the frittata to the oven and broil just until the top is cooked. Remove from the oven. This frittata can be served warm, room temperature, or cold. It’s good with a salad and really yummy sandwiched between pieces of bread, especially with some pesto.

From Food52.com by FiveAndSpice, https://food52.com/recipes/30719-summer-bounty-frittata