Welcome to the 5th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2023/2024 Winter CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Mixed Radicchio – Speckled green castelfranco or red and white chioggia radicchio varieties this week. 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.
• Arugula Rapini – A peppery green for salads or other dishes. We ate some on pizza last weekend. This is the rapini version, as the arugula is bolting and heading to flower. The stems may require a touch longer to soften when cooking. Don’t forget to play the pesto card when you’re looking for a sauce/spread too.
• Red Lettuce Heads
• Spinach
• Loose Purple Napa Cabbage Heads – We got these planted a little late last fall so they haven’t headed up quite as much as we’d hoped. But it’s time to get the greenhouse cleared for our early potatoes, so young napa cabbage is headed your way.
• LaRatte Fingerling Potatoes
• Purple Daikon Radishes – Our favorite purple radishes, great raw, roasted, or sauteed and eaten with ramen.
• Sweet Potatoes – Small but tasty! These are the last of our sweet potatoes for the season. We had several bags of small roots that had previously been sorted out. Rather than waste them we’re sending them your way to enjoy one more round of sweet potatoes.
• Carrots
• Leeks
• Yellow & Red Onions
• Garlic – This is the point in the winter that I start to remind you to use up your garlic and onions. It may not feel like it everyday, but we’re headed toward spring and these guys want to sprout. They’re generally still edible if you see a small green sprout but eat ’em up sooner than later.
• Sweet Mama Kabocha Squash – Another kabocha variety for you this week. Drier and flakier than other winter squash varieties, they make great additions to curries, soups, breads, and pies. 
• Dried Apples

Somehow we’ve already made it to the middle of February. Where has the winter gone? The days are noticeably lengthening, and we’ve recently had some lovely sunny stretches too. We woke up to 31F degrees here at the farm this morning, so winter is hanging on for sure, but heading into an enclosed greenhouse to weed or harvest this past week has been a good reminder that warmer days are ahead. 

We’ve also already sped through the first half of the Winter CSA season. We hope you’ve been enjoying the season thus far. Can we take a moment to marvel at the availability and diversity of vegetables right now? February is not a month generally associated with an abundance of fresh produce, at least not here in Oregon. And yet here we are, eating well from locally grown vegetables. This is eating seasonally at its height!

Our winter work days are often truncated by the short daylight hours and our general feeling that it’s the season for resting up. The past week has felt like the seasonal shift is beginning to happen though. While we still have plenty of winter projects to tackle in the weeks ahead, it’s also time to begin the work of this next growing season. Our days have been a mix of the two seasons. I started the first seeds for transplants of the year: tomatoes! And Jeff fertilized and cultivated the garlic. We weeded in the overwintering onions (darn grass), we harvested the remaining winter carrots and radishes, we weeded and fertilized the winter spinach. 

And there was lots of paperwork to get through this past week including our farm and personal taxes, updates to our organic systems plan for the coming growing season, and our annual Farm Service Agency budgeting paperwork. A little looking back at 2023, a little planning and projecting for 2024. 

There will be more of the same in the week ahead. It’s time to get things really going in the propagation house. And there are greenhouses to prep and sow with early potatoes and spring carrots. And there’s always that list of winter projects to reference whenever there’s a little downtime. 

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:

Kabocha Fried Rice

Neutral oil, for cooking
2 shallots, thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
6 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and diced
1 pound (about 3 cups) peeled kabocha cubes
¹/₂ cup vegetable stock
4 cups cooked long-grain rice, cooled
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 handful chopped scallions
Chile oil, for serving (optional)

1. Set a wok or large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the shallot slices and fry until golden brown, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or tongs to transfer the shallots to a paper-towel-lined plate. Season with salt.
2. Using the same skillet with the remaining oil, sauté the shiitake mushrooms over medium heat until fragrant and browned, about 3 minutes, adding more oil along the way if the pan looks dry.
3. Add the kabocha and toss in the oil (you can add more oil if needed). Arrange the cubes to sit in a single layer. Pan-fry, flipping occasionally, until the kabocha is starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock and cover the skillet with a lid. Cook until the kabocha is fork-tender and the stock is fully absorbed, about 3 minutes. Transfer about half of the kabocha to a plate.
4. Add the rice to the pan. Stir in the soy sauce. Toss until the rice is coated, using the back of a spatula to press and break apart any rice clumps. Taste and season with more salt or soy sauce if needed.
5. Fold in most of the fried shallots and scallions and turn off the heat. Garnish with the reserved kabocha and remaining fried shallots and scallions. Serve with a side of chile oil, if you’d like.

From Food52.com by Woonheng Chia, https://food52.com/recipes/86754-kabocha-fried-rice-recipe

Baked Skillet Pasta with Mushrooms, Spinach, & Balsamic Brown Butter

1 pound pasta, such as orechiette, fusilli, or casarecce
Kosher salt, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound mushrooms, such as button, cremini, shiitake, or a mix, trimmed and halved
3 tablespoons butter
1 large leek, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or thyme
¹/₄ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (red or white), or more to taste
2 cups (packed) baby spinach (can substitute arugula or other tender greens)
5 ounces to 6 ounces goat cheese, crumbled and divided in half
¹/₂ cup finely grated Parmesan

1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons salt and pasta; cook until al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1 1/2 cups water, then drain the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, in a 12- or 14-inch ovenproof skillet, warm olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté mushrooms, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent burning, until they release moisture and start to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Lower heat, and add leeks, garlic, rosemary, a big pinch or two of salt, and red pepper flakes. Sauté until leeks are tender and mushrooms are nicely browned, about 2 minutes longer.
4. Move the mushrooms to one side of the skillet. On the other side, add the butter, stirring it until it starts to melt, foam, and brown (this can happen quickly, about 2 minutes). Add the balsamic, then stir the balsamic-brown butter in with the mushrooms until evenly integrated.
5. In the same skillet, add the pasta, half the goat cheese, spinach, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup cooking water to the mushrooms. Toss together over low heat until creamy and integrated, adding more water as needed to create a loose, creamy sauce. (I usually add another 1/2 to 3/4 cup). Season with salt and add more balsamic to taste. Dot the remaining goat cheese over the top.
6. Heat the broiler with an over rack about 4 to 5 inches from the heating element. Broil the pasta for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until the goat cheese is melted and the tips of the pasta are browning. Serve warm.

From Food52.com by EmilyC, https://food52.com/recipes/84986-skillet-baked-pasta-recipe-with-mushrooms-spinach-brown-butter

Spice Peanut Sweet Potato Salad, From Deliciously Ella

• For the Salad
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 handful of parsley, chopped
• 45 grams dates, pitted and chopped
• 1 tablespoon (heaped) black sesame seeds (white sesame seeds also work—you’ll just need to toast them)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 handful of peanuts, chopped and toasted, for serving (optional)
• 1 handful chopped radicchio for serving (optional)

• For the Dressing
• 2 tablespoons date syrup or maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 1 lemon, juiced (you’ll use the juice)

1. Preheat the oven to 240°C (464°F, fan 220°C) .
2. Place the sweet potatoes in a large baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil, add the spices and some salt and pepper and mix well, ensuring everything gets coated. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, until they’re really soft.
3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, make the dressing, whisking everything with some salt until smooth.
4. Next, place the parsley and dates in a large bowl with the sesame seeds. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, add them to the bowl with the dressing and mix everything together. Sprinkle with toasted peanuts, if using, serve and enjoy.

From Food52.com by Ella Quittner, https://food52.com/recipes/80942-spiced-peanut-sweet-potato-salad-from-deliciously-ella