Welcome to the 22nd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2023 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix – A mix of four lettuce varieties.
• Mizuna – A mild mustard-like green, mizuna is great raw in salads, tossed with pasta or into hot soups to wilt, or blended into pesto.
• Napa Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Red Onion
• Garlic
• “Red Head” Radishes – A round version of the red and white french breakfast radishes.
• Carrots
• Winter Blush Kabocha Squash – Sweet, flaky, thick flesh great for soups, curries, and pie too. Or how about this tea cake recipe for a twist on the classic pumpkin bread.
• Eggplant
• Mixed Sweet Peppers – Mixed Bell and elongated/pointy Italian Frying Peppers, different shapes but similar in taste and use. Some with more color than others (these varieties ripen to red and yellow) but all are sweet with no heat.
• Shishito Peppers – Known as a roulette pepper, 1 in 10 might be hot. They’re great with eggs, or anything else really, but traditionally blistered in hot oil and eaten with a little salt.
• Farm Apples – A different variety than last week, but still tasty for fresh eating and cooking.

Just as we’ve gotten reacquainted with the rain now we’re expecting the first frost/freeze of the season headed our way later this week. We’ve had a good run with the summer crops, but it’s time to say goodbye until next season. Ahead of the impending cold snap we’ll harvest the last of the peppers to enjoy over the coming weeks. We’ll also break out the row cover to keep some crops (like beets, radishes, and celery) safe from a potential freeze. And it’s time to get the sweet potatoes harvested. It will be another busy week as we get things prepped.

This past week we halted progress on the potato harvest in order to focus on checking a few other things off the To Do list. The foggy/misty/rainy days didn’t stop us from pushing through. We finally finished cleaning out the tomato greenhouse of the trellising, t-posts, drip tape, and plants on Thursday and Jeff prepped it for planting on Friday. While he was spreading compost and organic fertilizer, I harvested another 20 bins of apples for winter drying plus 11 bins for enjoying fresh this week.

Saturday we transplanted the overwintering onions (for harvest next June) and planted our 2024 garlic crop. Sunday we finished up the planting for the season with a bed of fava beans and a bed of green garlic outside plus salad mix and head lettuce in the greenhouse. We also direct sowed some greens for winter in that greenhouse. Then it was on to the carrot harvest to wrap up the weekend. It was another full week of getting things done.

The end of the growing season is in sight. Just four more weeks left after this one in the Summer CSA season before we take a break from weekly harvests. How is it nearly November?!

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:

Curried Cauliflower Soup

• 1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 pounds), cut into florets, or about 6 cups)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 onions, sliced 1-inch thick
• ¹/₂ teaspoon turmeric
• ¹/₂ teaspoon dried coriander
• ¹/₂ teaspoon hot paprika or chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup yogurt or labnne (optional; adjust to suit tastes)

Preheat oven to 450° F. On a baking sheet, toss cauliflower with vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread out and roast until the florets turn brown, about 25 minutes. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crispiest florets for garnish.

Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in spices, cauliflower, water, and broth; cover, and bring to a boil. Uncover, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until a desired consistency is reached. Stir in yogurt or labne if using. Season with salt and pepper and serve in bowls, garnishing with the reserved cauliflower florets.

From Food52.com by KMartinelli, https://food52.com/recipes/11855-curried-cauliflower-soup

Napa Cabbage Wedge Salad with Apples and Buttermilk Dressing

• For the buttermilk Parmesan dressing:
• 1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¹/₈ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk, more to taste
• 2 tablespoons finely crumbled or shredded Parmesan

• For the Napa cabbage wedge salad:
• 1 small head Napa cabbage
• 1 small red onion
• 2 crisp apples (Honeycrisp, Fuji, and Braeburn are all favorites)
• 2 tablespoons tablespoons crumbled Parmesan, plus a few bits for crumbling over finished salad
• 1 tablespoon minced chives
• 1 pinch Sea salt, to taste
• ¹/₄ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

For the buttermilk Parmesan dressing:

In a small mixing bowl, combine the garlic, sherry vinegar, Dijon, and sea salt with a fork. Whisking vigorously with the fork, drizzle in olive oil and then whisk in sour cream. When mixture is thick and creamy, slowly whisk in buttermilk. Finally, add the crumbled Parmesan, and whisk vigorously to combine.

Chill dressing in the fridge while you prepare the salad.

For the Napa cabbage wedge salad:

Keeping the core intact, slice Napa cabbage lengthwise into four equal quarters. Arrange on a large platter.

Either with a mandoline or a sharp knife, carefully cut the red onion into paper thin slices. Core and cut apples into 1/8-inch thick slices. In a medium-sized bowl, toss apples and onions with a pinch of sea salt and a tablespoon of the prepared dressing.

Tuck dressed onion and apple slices all around and between the leaves of the cabbage wedges. Drizzle the Napa wedges with most of the remaining dressing. Finish with chives, a pinch of sea salt, plenty of fresh ground black pepper, and scattered Parmesan.

From Food52.com by Elizabeth Stark, https://food52.com/recipes/31357-napa-cabbage-wedge-salad-with-apples-and-buttermilk-dressing

Slow-Cooker Whole Squash with Spelt & Feta

• 3 to 4 pounds red kuri, kabocha, or acorn squash (about 1 to 2 squash)
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt
• ¹/₂ cup hazelnuts or pecans
• ³/₄ cup spelt
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons white miso
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup mixed tender herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill, and chives, chopped, divided
• 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled or cut into planks
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Give the squash a good scrub to get rid of any debris stuck to the skin.

Place the squash in your slow cooker (you may need to cut off the stem or turn the squash on its side to fit) and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours, or until a cake tester or paring knife stuck into the squash slides in easily. Remove squash to a cutting board.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325°F. Toss nuts with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a big pinch of salt on a sheet pan and toast until deeply golden, tossing occasionally, until golden and toasty-smelling, 8 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. When cool, use a small bowl to gently crush the nuts.

Bring a medium saucepan of well-salted water to a boil over medium high heat. Rinse spelt and boil until al dente, 20 to 50 minutes depending on the type of grain you purchased. Most packages will include directions for how to simmer grains to absorb a specific amount of water; cooking grains like pasta ensures they’ll have a bit of bite to them instead of turning out mushy. There’s no specific science to this, simply test a grain every 10 minutes after they cook for 20. Like dry beans, each variety and brand of grain will cook for a different length of time. Drain grains well and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and miso, then slowly stream in 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour off 2 tablespoons of dressing into a small bowl and set aside. Mix spelt into dressing, then stir in the chopped herbs and half the nuts. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Set aside.

Cut squash into 4 or 6 wedges (carefully if it’s still hot to the touch) and remove pulp and seeds if desired. Transfer to a serving platter and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle remaining dressing over the squash, then spoon dressed grains over. Top with remaining nuts, feta, and pepper flake if using.

From Food52.com by Rebecca Firkser, https://food52.com/recipes/82328-slow-cooker-squash-recipe

Autumn Salad with Roasted Squash, Apple, Radish, and Goat Cheese

• 2 cups mizuna greens
• ¹/₂ sliced, cored apple
• 1 cup cubed, roasted winter squash
• 4 thinly sliced radishes
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• salt & pepper
• ¹/₄ cup crumbled goat cheese

Put the mizuna greens, apple, roasted squash, radish and sesame seeds in a large bowl.

In a small separate bowl make the dressing: mix the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and season with salt & pepper.

Toss the salad with the dressing, using the amount you like. I don’t like to over-dress a salad.

Divide salad into two serving bowls. Scatter the goat cheese on top of the salads.

From Food52.com by RoryRabbitField, https://food52.com/recipes/2213-autumn-salad-with-roasted-squash-apple-radish-and-goat-cheese