Welcome to the 3rd 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.
• Mustard Greens – A little spicy, we like these wilted into hot pasta or soupy ramen.
• Cooking Greens Mix – A mix of kales, collards, and chard.
• Fava Greens – These are the leaves of the fave bean plant. They taste a little like green beans and can eaten in salads or cooked a little.
• Brussels Sprouts – Pop the sprouts off the stalk sooner than later 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.
• Mixed 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!
• Celeriac – A tasty root that lands somewhere on the vegetable continuum between potato and celery. It’s great in any dish you’d use potatoes and pairs well with them too. They’re difficult to peel, so we usually just square off the edges with a sharp knife for cubing. Note: Over the years we’ve heard from two members who have had allergic reactions to celeriac. The internet suggests that 6% of the general population have a celery/celeriac sensitivity and that cooking it may not trigger the allergy. This is just to say that if you’re new to celeriac you might want to ease into it slowly, and skip it if you have a known celery allergen.
• Leeks
• Yellow Onions
• Garlic
• Winter Sweet Kabocha Squash
• Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash – Not pictured above because it was a late addition. This is an heirloom acorn squash variety that you can treat like other acorns. 
• Dried Apples

We’re planning on going ahead with today’s on-farm pickup as regularly scheduled. We’ll see Salem members tomorrow evening at the Willamette Heritage Center. Please be safe out there! If you’d prefer to wait to pickup your share later in the week we totally understand. Just let us know and we’ll work something out.

Summer CSA sign-up time has arrived! We hope you’ll join us for a summer and fall of local, seasonal, and organic vegetables. Find all the details over on the Summer CSA page. 

Past members can find a link to the sign-up form in their email and we’ll be opening it up to new members on Jan. 22nd. After opening sign-ups to previous members last week we’re now 70% full for the upcoming season so reserve your spot now if you know you want to join us this summer. – (Many thanks to those who have already signed-on for the upcoming season. We appreciate your enthusiasm and support!)

Winter decided to show up to the Winter CSA season this week! The weather can be a game changer when it comes to farming, and all the more so for winter farming. We won’t know the full damage until things thaw out in the coming days. So far we’re happy to have not lost any infrastructure and, thanks to a couple of days of harvesting ahead of the storm, we think we’ve got some vegetables to share this week. 

We’re generally lucky with mild winters here in the Willamette Valley. Our low temps are rarely below 20 degrees F and it’s often more about mud management than worrying about anything freezing. It seems like every year we get treated to a reminder that we’re at the mercy of mother nature and this time it was a little snow and ice. Thankfully last night’s predicted low temp of 11F didn’t materialize and it only hit 16, the same as the previous night. It could be worse. It could always be worse.

We’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern since the arrival of the freezing rain and snow on Saturday. It quickly became a waiting game while we monitored the temperatures outside and in the barn and evaluated precipitation accumulation on greenhouses. The coldest nights called for stoking up the wood stove in the barn and running a heater in the well house to help keep the temps up above freezing. We bagged potatoes and sweet potatoes, cleaned onions and garlic, and hoped the greens in the coolers were holding. In anticipation of more freezing rain and ice we cleared the weakest greenhouses Monday. 

After a week of anticipation, and waiting, and trying to make timely decisions, and waiting some more, we’ll be happy to get back to a more predictable schedule. We’ve got a greenhouse prepped and ready to seed to late winter greens this week and soon we’ll be able to evaluate what’s what in the field and in the other greenhouses. Before we know it we’ll be starting seeds and the work of the next season will begin ramping up. There’s a list of winter projects to get to before things get too busy though. Is this ice storm over yet?

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:

Celery Root and Potato Gratin

• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 2 pounds celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
• ³/₄ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• ¹/₄ cup unsalted butter
• ¹/₈ teaspoon saffron, crushed
• 1 ¹/₂ cups gruyere or comte cheese, grated

If you plan to cook the gratin right away heat the oven to 400 degrees. Otherwise move on to step two.

Place the potatoes and celery root into separate large pots. Cover by two inches with cold water and add a teaspoon of salt to each pot. Bring the pots to a boil over medium heat. Cook the vegetables until tender.

Once the vegetables are tender, pour them out into a colander set in the sink. Drain the vegetables and let them sit for a minute or two steam-drying.

Rinse out one of the pots and add the cream, garlic, butter, and saffron. Bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Add a hefty pinch of salt and a few grinds of white pepper. Add 1/2 cup of the cheese. Stir it into the warm liquid till melted.

Place the celery root and potatoes into a mixing bowl (or the other blanching pot if it is big enough) and smash the mix with a potato masher. Add a pinch of salt then add the cream and saffron mix. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt or pepper if necessary.

Use a little softened butter to grease an 8-inch oval gratin (12 inches long). Spread the rustic chunky mash out into the pan. Smooth the top with a spatula, then crosshatch the top with the tines of a fork. Spread the remaining cheese out over the top.

Bake until the cheese is browned, about 30 minutes. Let the gratin cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

From Food52.com by Thirschfeld, https://food52.com/recipes/19995-celery-root-and-potato-gratin

Warm Farro and Mustard Green Salad with Maple-Roasted Acorn Squash

• 2 cups farro
• Sea salt, to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 acorn squash
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Vegetable oil, to cook
• Pepper, to taste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
• 1 bunch mustard greens
• ¹/₂ cup crumbled feta cheese, to serve
• ¹/₂ cup chopped walnuts, toasted, to serve

To cook the farro, place it in a saucepan with a sprinkle of sea salt, a bay leaf, and enough water to cover the farro completely. Cover the pan and bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender, 20 to 45 minutes, making sure to add water if needed.

While the farro cooks, preheat the oven to 375º F. Slice the acorn squash in half, and discard any seeds and guts. Cut into 1/4-inch slices and place on a sheet pan. Add the maple syrup and a drizzle of vegetable oil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake until tender and lightly browned, about 30 to 45 minutes.

For the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice with an equal amount of olive oil so that you have a half acid, half oil ratio. (This ratio allows for the citrus to stand out against the richness of the farro and the greens.) Season the dressing with salt and pepper, to taste. Dress the farro and mustard greens, toss well. Serve farro salad with the roasted acorn squash, feta cheese, and toasted walnuts on top. Nom!

From Food52.com by Nicole Franzen, https://food52.com/recipes/15369-warm-farro-and-mustard-green-salad-with-maple-roasted-acorn-squash

Curried Kabocha and Kale

• Curry Paste (use all–this recipe makes about 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 3 dried chile peppers (I used California peppers)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon galangal
• 1 tablespoon lemon grass
• 1 tablespoon coriander root
• ¹/₂ teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 tablespoon shallot
• 2 teaspoons kaffir lime zest
• ¹/₂ teaspoon coriander seed

• Curried Kale and Kabocha
• 1 pound kabocha squash (I like kabocha because you don’t have to peel it, but you can use acorn or butternut)
• ¹/₂ pound kale (rib removed)
• 1 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil

Cut the stems off the peppers and empty out the seeds. Chop the peppers. Cover with water and microwave for about 30 seconds.

I juice the lemon grass and galangal so that I don’t have to strain the paste, but you can chop the lemon grass ends and galangal into small rounds and strain when done.

Toast the cumin and coriander seed until they ‘pop’ (about 3 minutes)

Place all the paste ingredients in a mortar or blender and blend into a smooth paste. If you didn’t juice the lemon grass and galangal (and there are pieces) you should strain the paste.

Cut the squash and kale into 2″ pieces

Heat the oil in a pan and add the paste (use only 1-2 Tablespoons if using the pre-made paste) and heat until it separates.

Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil, then lower to simmer. Add the almond butter to thicken and salt to taste.

You can either add the squash and let simmer in the curry for about 20 minutes or until the squash has softened or steam the squash separately and gently mix the curry with the vegetables when ready to serve.

Throw kale into the pot and cover for 5 minutes. The kale doesn’t need to steam for long, as it tastes best on the crispy side.

Turn off the heat and stir in the kale.

From Food52.com by Edamame2003, https://food52.com/recipes/7870-curried-kabocha-and-kale