Welcome to the 2nd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2023/2024 Winter CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Rosalba Radicchio – Great for robust winter salads with punchy dressings and nuts and strong cheese and citrus. Holds up to a little warming too. We’ll eat it under oven baked salmon, rice, and creamy dressing for a quick dinner. Soaking in ice water can help reduce the bitterness if needed. Click here for some tips if you think radicchio and chicories bring too much bitter to the table.
• Lettuce Mix
• Bok Choy
• January King Cabbage – A sweet winter cabbage, purple where the sun hits it and green further down.
• Cilantro
• Brussels Sprouts – Pop the sprouts off the stalk and enjoy them in your favorite recipes. We usually just cut the sprouts in half, toss with a little oil/salt/pepper, and roast at 400 degrees for ~20 minutes. Don’t forget to check out the recipe index here on our website if you’re looking for suggestions.
• LaRatte Fingerling Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes – Sweet potatoes don’t like cold temperatures so, in an effort to prolong their storage life, we’re giving these out unwashed. You may want to give them a soak pre-scrubbing. Enjoy!
• Carrots
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip – A classic turnip, great for stews and roasts.
• Mixed Beets
• Yellow Onions
• Garlic
• Butternut Squash – Unless a recipe catches our eye that calls for something different, we treat all winter squash the same. We cut in half, scoop out seeds, and roast cut side down at 400 degrees until fork tender or scoopable, depending on whether we’ll be eating it straight or baking with the puree. Want to know more about winter squash? We’ve got a page on our site for that! Check it out for squash details and recipe ideas.
• Candystick Dessert Delicata Squash – A Honeyboat type of delicata with tan edible skin that’s similar to but more flavorful than acorn squash.
• Dried Apples

Welcome to week 2 of the Winter CSA! Hopefully you’ve cleared out the fridge of holiday leftovers and are ready for another haul of vegetables. The winter weather has been kind to us thus far and we’re happy to be bringing you another diverse selection of winter treats. Many items this week are frost-sweetened and tastier for it. It’s a delicious time to be eating seasonally!

We’ve been in full winter mode here at the farm the past couple of weeks. We hammered out our crop planning for the upcoming season and then I spent a few days reviewing vegetable varieties and availability to finish up our seed orders. $4,300 later (not counting seed potatoes and garlic, both purchased last fall) and we’re locked in for another season of growing organic vegetables for you all. Our annual seed purchases represent a good chunk of our budget each season but these seeds are the foundation of our farm. Having the crop plan in place and quality seeds to plant is how we make sure we’re starting the season off right.

While I toiled away with spreadsheets and seed catalogs and seed company websites Jeff worked on rototiller maintenance and carrot harvesting. He tries to make it through the various tractor implements each winter to make sure they’re greased up and ready to go for the season ahead. This week that meant tiller tine replacement and investigating a gearbox oil leak. It looks like he’s got it back together and in working order, just ahead of needing to prep a greenhouse for our first seed sowing of 2024. Good timing.

The calendar fell just so this year that somehow we managed to take an unprecedented two days off for Christmas. We wished our family members in other states a Merry Christmas and Happy Solstice and then we spent Christmas Eve up in the woods, enjoying a dryish day on the banks of Quartzville Creek where we drank hot tea, flew the drone, and played lots of stick with Leo. We hope you all had a similarly lovely and restful holiday season.

After a good break, a week of crop planning and winter tractor maintenance, and now finishing up the second Winter CSA harvest, we’re ready to see what 2024 has in store for us. As usual, we’re kicking the year off with my birthday today. It’s as good a day as any to turn 44! Jeff got me a meyer lemon tree among other birthday gifts, so things are already off to a fun start.

Also, we’ll be hashing out the 2024 Summer CSA details in the coming weeks. We’ll be in touch soon when we’re ready to launch the season and open the memberships. Keep an eye out for the email if you’d like to join us again next summer.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you here again in two weeks!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

This first recipe was shared by CSA member Hannah M! She says she’ll be making this one 10,000 times this winter. That sort of review suggests it should be shared with everyone!

Braised Winter Squash Wedges

• 2 1⁄4 – 2 1⁄2 lbs winter squash about 1⁄2 kabocha or red kuri squash
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil divided
• leaves from 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 garlic cloves smashed
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1⁄4 cup apple-cider vinegar
• 1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
• 2 cups baby arugula leaves (perhaps another green could work here, like this week’s Rosalba Radicchio)

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp, then slice the halves into 1 1⁄2-inch wedges. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil to a 10-by-15-inch baking sheet, and place in the oven until the butter melts, about 2 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven, and roll the butter around so that it evenly coats the pan. Arrange the squash wedges in one layer, and sprinkle with thyme, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, or until deeply browned underneath. Flip the slices, and season the second side on top with another 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and more pepper. Scatter the garlic cloves in the pan, and return the pan to the oven to roast for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the wedges are browned on the second side. Don’t worry if the squash isn’t fully cooked yet. Carefully pour the broth and vinegar into the pan, and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the squash is tender and the liquid is somewhat cooked off.

Use the back of a spoon to swirl plain yogurt onto a serving platter into a thin layer. Toss the arugula with the remaining tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, and scatter over the yogurt. Arrange the squash wedges on top, scrape out every bit of pan juice that’s left, and pour it over the squash.

From ElleGourmet.ca by Deb Perelman via Smitten Kitchen Keepers, https://ellegourmet.ca/braised-winter-squash-wedges/

Moroccan-Style Roasted Beets, Carrots, and Turnips

1 bunch medium beets
2 branches thyme
3 unpeeled cloves of garlic
3 pods cardamom
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
¹/₂ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch medium white turnips
Salt and pepper, for seasoning
1 lime
¹/₄ cup fresh lime juice (roughly, the juice of 1 lime)
1 tablespoon harissa
¹/₄ cup roughly chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the whole beets in a roasting pan with the thyme sprigs, garlic cloves, cardamom, and peppercorns. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the beets and add 1/3 cup of water to the pan. Cover with tin foil and roast in the oven until tender and the skins slip easily off the beets, approximately 1 hour.

While the beets are cooking, cut the turnips into quarters and slice the carrots into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces. Toss the vegetables with 3 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil and salt and pepper.

When the beets are done, remove them from the oven, and turn up the heat: You want a temp in the 450° to 500° F range. Place the carrots and turnips in the hot oven on a roasting pan (go ahead and use the beet pan if you don’t want to wash too many pans). Meanwhile, peel the beets and cut into quarters.

Whisk the rest of the olive oil with the lime juice and harissa. When the carrots and turnips are roasted and browned (about 20 to 30 minutes), toss with the beets. Dress with the harissa-lime juice mixture, toss with the cilantro, and taste and adjust for salt. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature.

From Food52.com by Sara Jenkins, https://food52.com/recipes/63258-moroccan-style-roasted-beets-carrots-turnips

Fall Salad with Lemony Brown Butter Vinaigrette

¹/₄ cup raw almonds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound rainbow carrots, scrubbed clean and halved, quartered if large
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup beluga or French lentils, rinsed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds, crushed
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¹/₂ teaspoon honey
1 head treviso radicchio, regular radicchio, or another chicory
¹/₂ cup mixed fresh tender herbs like parsley, cilantro, mint, or dill, torn or roughly chopped
Flaky sea salt
Toast, for serving

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread almonds on a sheet pan and bake until fragrant and toasty, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. When cool, use a small bowl to gently crush. Turn up the oven to 425°F.

Meanwhile, toss carrots with olive oil, Aleppo pepper, a few good pinches of salt, and some pepper. Bake 25-30 minutes, until carrots are tender.

While carrots bake, bring a small saucepan of salted water to boil. Cook lentils until tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain and set aside in a small bowl.

Wipe out the saucepan you cooked lentils in and melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook until butter starts foaming, bubbling, then turns starts to golden brown and smell nutty, about 6 minutes. Use a heatproof spatula to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and immediately add crushed cumin and fennel seeds.

Whisk lemon juice, half the lemon zest, mustard, and honey into butter mixture. Add half the dressing to the bowl with lentils and season with salt and pepper.

Lay carrots and radicchio in a shallow bowl and spoon remaining dressing over. Spoon lentils over, letting some fall in between the leaves and carrots and others nestled inside the leaves. Top with herbs, remaining lemon zest, crushed almonds, and flaky sea salt. Serve with toast.

From Food52.com by Rebecca Firkser, https://food52.com/recipes/82073-fall-salad-with-lemony-brown-butter-vinaigrette