Welcome to the 11th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2024 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix
• Mixed Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Celery
• Thai Basil – Basil-y with a hint of licorice flavor
• Storage Onion – We accidentally grew some jumbo overwintered onions this year. Whoa!
• Mixed Cucumbers – Green and yellow slicers and a handful of lemons too.
• Zucchini – Lots of green zucchini and a handful of yellow summer squash, yellow zucchini, and light green Mexican zucchini too.
• Sweet Corn
• Romano Beans -flat podded fresh beans for use in any recipe calling for green beans.
• Mixed Eggplant
• Hot Peppers – Some shishitos (those Japanese roulette peppers that sometimes come up hot) and some quite hot Thai peppers.
• Bell Peppers – A mix of green and purple bells this week while we wait for the other sweet peppers to color up. Note, these purple peppers are equivalent to green peppers for this variety.
• Mixed Cherry Tomatoes & Slicer Tomatoes – We’re using a lot of the pint boxes for tomatoes and would appreciate it if you could leave them behind or return them for another go around. Thanks!
• Tirreno Tuscan Melons – A classic cantaloupe.

Boy howdy, we’ve made it to week 11 of the Summer CSA! We’ve got melons and tomatoes and zucchini and cucumbers and basil and more! Such summer abundance! August is when all the good stuff collides into some hefty shares and dinner is just a rotating medley of the hits. We hope you’re keeping up with the produce heading your way. If it feels like a little too much, don’t forget you can preserve some of the bounty for the future. Freeze some corn, pickle some cucumbers or beans, or can some salsa.

The past week has been quite a blur. I keep thinking things might ease up a little here on the farm, but now I’m thinking that’s probably just a survival strategy this time of year. I was looking at past August blog posts to gauge the timing on when we’ve brought in our onions for curing and I see I’ve written about the crush of August before. There’s just simply too many things that need doing and not enough days in the week to get it all done. So, we’ll triage and prioritize and some things will get done and others won’t. We’ll try to maximize the successes and minimize the failures and eventually it won’t be August anymore.

For anyone wanting a solar update, we don’t have too much to share. We had the final electrical inspection by the county last Thursday and now we’re waiting on the power company to switch out the meter so they know how much energy we’re using and how much we’re producing. We get to turn the system on for real after the meter switch, so hopefully the power company doesn’t take too long.

We made a big transplanting push this past week that included beans, bunching onions, celery, beets, cucumbers, chard, broccoli, and cauliflower. It’s the last succession of the season for many of these crops and we’re happy to get them in the ground. This week we’ll be getting the winter broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage in the ground too. Thanks to some long hours on the tractor in the heat this past week by Jeff, the ground is prepped and ready for planting once we’re through the harvest.

This week’s more moderate temperatures should make marking some other things off the To Do list a little easier too. We’ve got plenty of mowing, and cultivating, and weeding, and irrigating, and seed sowing to keep us busy this week.

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:

Summer Corn Chowder

6 medium ears of corn
6 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 medium poblano, finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 small celery rib, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
2 medium boiling potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¹/₈ teaspoon ground allspice
1 pinch granulated sugar
1 dry bay leaf
2 cups half-and-half, at room temperature
1 cup milk
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

1. Working over a bowl, cut the corn kernels from the cobs at about half their depth. Then, using the back of the knife, scrape the cobs over the bowl to release all the corn milk.
2. In a large saucepan, fry the bacon over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate or wire rack to drain.
3. Discard all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the pan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the poblano, jalapeño, and celery and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now stir in the tomatoes, potatoes, salt, allspice, sugar, bay leaf, and the reserved corn kernels and their milk. Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to sizzle.
4. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Stir in the cream and milk and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and season with black pepper to taste. Ladle the chowder into bowls. Crumble the cooled bacon and sprinkle that on top, along with the parsley.

From Food52.com by Nancy Jo, https://food52.com/recipes/142-summer-corn-chowder

Tortellini with Sausage and Green Beans

• Tortellini with Sausage and Green Beans
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 28-ounce can of peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
• 2 cups green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 Italian sausages, casings removed
• Salt
• 1 13-ounce package of cheese tortellini
• ¹/₄ cup Greek yogurt
• ¹/₂ cup basil, roughly chopped
• Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

• Tortellini with Pancakes and Eggs
• + Leftover portion of Tortellini with Sausage and Green Beans (use your discretion on how many this can feed)
• + Fried egg (1 per serving)
• + Pancake with butter (1 per serving)

Tortellini with Sausage and Green Beans

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in the garlic and onion and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add in the canned tomatoes with their liquid and a generous pinch of salt and allow the sauce to come to a boil. Then lower heat and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.

In another skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the green beans, stirring frequently, until they are slightly softened but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add in the sausage meat and use a spoon to break up the mean into small pieces. Cook until the sausage is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions. Once the tortellini are cooked, drain them and add them to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Add in the sausage and green beans and the yogurt. Stir gently until the tortellini is evenly coated and the yogurt mixed in completely.

Serve in bowls topped with basil garnish and Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste.

Tortellini with Pancakes and Eggs

Reheat whatever you have left of the Tortellini with Sausage and Green Beans and plate. Top with fried egg and serve with buttered pancake.

From Food52.com by Elettra Wiedemann, https://food52.com/recipes/73395-tortellini-with-sausage-and-green-beans

Canal House’s Marinated Zucchini

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
¹/₂ pound very small zucchini, trimmed and halved lengthwise
Salt
¹/₂ clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Pepper
A small handful fresh basil leaves, sliced

1. Working in batches as needed, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange the zucchini cut side down in one layer in the hot skillet and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Use a fork or tongs to turn the zucchini over, then cook them until tender, about 2 minutes, reducing the heat if the zucchini get too dark. Transfer the zucchini to a shallow dish and sprinkle with salt.
2. Whisk together the garlic, vinegar, and remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the vinaigrette over the zucchini and add the basil. Gently toss everything together and adjust the seasonings. Let the zucchini marinate at room temperature for about 1 hour before serving. Alternately, let marinate longer in the refrigerator. Tightly covered, marinated zucchini will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

From Food52.com by Genius Recipes via Canal House, https://food52.com/recipes/37393-canal-house-s-marinated-zucchini