Welcome to the 12th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2024 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Lettuce Mix
• Cabbage – Choose from green or red.
• Broccoli or Cauliflower
• Cilantro
• Beets
• Storage Onion – We accidentally grew some jumbo overwintered onions this year. Whoa!
• Garlic
• Mixed Cucumbers – Green and yellow slicers.
• 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.
• Jalapeno 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!
• Mixed Melons – Choose from Orange honeydews, called Honey Orange, and Piel de Sapo melons, called Lambkin.

Hello August, is that you? After a record hot July we’ve been enjoying the shift to cooler temperatures here on the farm. Throw in the rainstorm we had on Saturday and you’ve got a couple of happy farmers. We tend to think of August as a scorcher but we’ll gladly take the reprieve. Everything is just a little easier when it’s 75 degrees instead of 90 degrees. But that’s August, always keeping us on our toes.

Even with the pleasant working conditions, things seem to take longer than we’d hoped. Last week we returned to finish up our winter brassica transplanting next to our last fall brassica planting and discovered the back third of the beds had been taken out by wildlife. We’re thinking quail, but maybe squirrels too. Anyhow, what started as a big transplanting push turned into a transplanting and row covering project to protect the plants from further damage. We think the fall planting will rebound now that it’s covered, but we’ll have to wait and see.

In addition to quail mitigation and transplanting the past week also included sowing some fall lettuce, bok choy, and bunching onions, cultivating various crops, and lots of mowing. We said goodbye to the first rounds of cucumbers and brococli/cauliflower plantings, and beans. It sure is nice to wipe the slate clean this time of year.

In the week ahead we’ll be planting chicories for winter salads. Then there’s plenty more mowing and cultivating and hand weeding and seed sowing and more to get to. And we’ve got more rain in the forecast this week, which feels both strange and kind of amazing for this time of year. I guess that’s August for you.

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:

Beet and Cucumber Salad with Toasted Almond Salsa Verde

• For the Broasted Beets
• 1 bunch medium beets (about 6 golf ball-sized beets)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 orange

• For the Salsa verde
• 3 large shallots or 1 small red onion, peeled and minced (about 1/2 cup)
• ¹/₂ cup red wine vinegar
• ¹/₂ bunch flat-leaf Italian parsley, picked and chopped (about 1 cup)
• 20 sprigs thyme, picked and chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 sprig mint, picked and chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
• ¹/₂ cup salt-packed capers, rinsed, soaked, and chopped
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¹/₂ cup toasted salted almonds, roughly chopped
• 3 English or Japanese cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into a 1/4-inch dice
• 1 lemon
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2. Cut the beet tops off leaving 1/4 inch of stem attached to the beet.
3. Wash the beets and place them in a deep ovenproof casserole or gratin dish. Toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt.
4. Using a vegetable peeler, peel 5 or 6 long strips of orange rind.
5. Add the thyme, bay leaves and orange peel to the beets and toss well. Add enough water to come 1/4 inch up the sides of the casserole dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil so no heat or steam escape, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, checking every 20 minutes. The beets are done when they are tender when poked with a knife, it should go in smoothly and meet no resistance. They should be neither mushy nor crunchy.
6. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel them using your hands, a wet tea towel or with a pairing knife. Discard the skins and stems. Carefully cut the beets into into 1/8-inch thick slices and marinate them with the red wine vinegar and sprinkle with salt.
7. Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the macerated onions with a spoon (adding only some of the vinegar) and stir well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and more vinegar from the macerated onions if necessary. The salsa should be balanced with little bites of onion that add brightness and open up the other flavors present.
8. Add the chopped almonds to the salsa verde. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
9. Toss the cucumbers with the juice of half a lemon and season with salt. Let marinate for 10 minutes, and add more lemon juice if necessary.
10. Scatter the drained marinated beets onto a serving dish. Add the diced cucumber, and spoon the almond salsa verde over the vegetables. Top with pepper and serve immediately.

From Food52.com by Elena Goldblatt, https://food52.com/recipes/28218-beet-and-cucumber-salad-with-toasted-almond-salsa-verde

California Chicken Tacos with Corn and Red Cabbage Slaw

• Chicken:
• 1 5-pound roasting chicken
• 3 limes
• 1 pinch salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

• Other Fillings:
• 3 to 4 ears of fresh corn, husks attached
• ¹/₂ medium-sized red cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 bunch green onions, finely sliced
• 6 ounces queso fresca, crumbled
• 12 flour tortillas, warmed
• 1 dollop sour cream (optional)
• 1 handful Cilantro (optional)

1. Place chicken in roasting pan, or prepare for grilling as you normally would. Generously salt the cavity. Zest the limes, then cut them in half. Gently loosen the skin of the chicken: Start at the neck, work back towards the breast, and then finish at the legs. Push the lime zest under the skin, spreading evenly. Squeeze the lime juice over the chicken and place the squeezed limes in its cavity. Dust chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Place it in a 325° F oven for 1 hour 45 minutes, or grill as you normally would a whole chicken.
2. Gently remove the cornsilk from the corn so that the cob can still rest in it’s husk. Fill a large bowl or Ziplock bag with icy water and soak the corn for 15 to 20 minutes. Place corn in its husk on a medium-hot grill and cook for 25 minutes, turning as the husks char. Remove from grill and let cool, then remove kernels.
3. Place cabbage in a bowl with the corn kernels, sliced green onions, and crumbled queso fresca. Squeeze the juice of the three limes over the mixture. Set aside.
4. When chicken is finished cooking, let it cool and then remove meat, discarding the skin and bones. Serve the chicken pieces on a platter next to the corn, cabbage slaw, and warm tortillas.
5. To assemble: Place the chicken on a tortilla, add slaw, sour cream, and cilantro (if desired), and roll into a taco or burrito.

From Food52.com by Linda Burkhart, https://food52.com/recipes/28505-california-chicken-tacos-with-corn-and-red-cabbage-slaw

Meatballs with Tomato and Zucchini

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for frying
1 small onion, finely chopped
Salt
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
³/₄ cup chopped tomato (fresh or canned)
¹/₂ cup diced zucchini
1 pound ground chuck (85% lean)
1 pound ground veal
¹/₄ cup dry breadcrumbs
¹/₂ cup finely grated Parmesan
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. In a medium sauté pan, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and a large pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomatoes and zucchini, and a few more pinches of salt, and continue to cook until the vegetables are very soft, and most of the juices from the tomatoes and zucchini have cooked off, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine the meat, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Work everything together gently using two forks — be careful not to over-mix. Then, using your hands, gently work in the egg and the cooled vegetables until just combined.
3. Shape the mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add about half of the meatballs, making sure not to crowd them. Brown them on all sides, turning them with tongs, and then cover and reduce the heat to low finish cooking (they should take 5 to 8 minutes total). Drain the meatballs on paper towels, add a little more oil to the pan and cook the rest of the meatballs. Serve the meatballs on their own, or warm them in a pot of your favorite sauce.

From Food52.com by Merrill Stubbs, https://food52.com/recipes/23936-meatballs-with-tomato-and-zucchini