Welcome to the 18th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2024 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Mayan Jaguar Romaine Lettuce
• Brussels Sprouts Tops – We snap the tops off our Brussels sprouts to help the plants focus on making sprouts. At some point we realized these tops are really tasty and we should all be eating them. Treat them like kale in the kitchen.
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Dill
• Huckleberry Gold Potatoes – Purple-skinned, yellow flesh, simply lovely potatoes.
• Onions – We’ve made it to the end of the winter onions and we’ve got summer grown sweets too!
• Mixed Cucumbers – Green and yellow slicers and a handful of lemons.
• Zucchini – Lots of green zucchini and a handful of yellow summer squash, yellow zucchini, and light green Mexican zucchini too. We’re nearing the end of zucchini season, if you can believe it!
• Sweet Corn – We’re nearing the end of the sweet corn train this season. Enjoy!
• Shishito Peppers – Japanese frying peppers usually blistered in hot oil and eaten with a dash of salt straight up. Also great chopped up in other dishes. These are the roulette peppers where 1 in 10 might be hot.
• Numex Suave Orange Low Heat Habanero – It’s possible to enjoy a habanero pepper without the heat!
• Sweet Peppers – Mixed bell and Italian roasting peppers of varying colors. These varieties ripen to red or yellow.
• Mixed Cherry Tomatoes or 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!
• Spaghetti Squash

Hello October! Four months down and two to go in this year’s Summer CSA season. We’re really feeling the seasonal shift this week. It’s that brief period when the summer and winter squash crops overlap. Fall is happening.

The past week was all about winter squash. Prepping to harvest, harvesting, and storing. It was a lot of clipping squashes, handling squashes, toting squashes around. We endeavored to grow less squash this year, and we were successful. Last year we hauled in 6,960 and this year we brought in 4,557. That seems like plenty to get us through April, right?

Speaking of making it through to April, as we squirrel away squash and potatoes and onions and garlic and more for the fall and winter months, I wanted to highlight the Fill Your Pantry event being put on by the Ten Rivers Food Web in Corvallis. It’s a one-day chance to stock up on locally grown pantry staples like dry beans and various flours as well as all sorts of other tasty things to eat including storage vegetables, baked goods, and meats/seafood.

Note that we’re not involved in this event but do encourage supporting other local farmers and this is an excellent opportunity for that. Pre-orders are happening now. Check out the event’s How it Works page for all the details.

As we look ahead this week we’ll mostly be preparing for Saturday’s CSA Member farm visit. Members: check your email for a link to the details. We’ll be cleaning up the farm edges, readying the self-guided farm tour signs, and pre-clipping the pumpkins. It’s also (past) time to get the dry beans harvested, get serious about potato harvesting, prep ground for garlic and overwintered onions, crack garlic for planting, and harvest the flour corn. Fingers crossed that this lovely weather holds while we make some progress on these projects.

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:

Jane Grigson’s Celery Soup

¹/₂ pound celery, chopped (outside stalks or celeriac — about 2 cups)
¹/₂ cup chopped onion
¹/₂ cup diced potato
6 tablespoons butter
4 cups turkey or chicken stock
¹/₂ cup milk (optional, up to 1 cup)
1 teaspoon dill weed (2 teaspoons for fresh dill)
2 ¹/₂ tablespoons cream

1. Stew celery, onion, and potato gently in the butter in a covered pan for 10 minutes. Don’t let the vegetables brown. Add stock or water and 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed. Simmer for 20 minutes if you have a blender, 40 minutes if you use a food mill.
2. Blend or purée the soup. Pour through a strainer into a clean pan (to remove the last few threads of celery), adding a little milk if too thick. Bring slowly to just under the boil, seasoning with salt, pepper and more dill weed if required.
3. Put the cream into the soup dish, and pour the soup in on top. Swirl round with the ladle before serving, to mix in the cream.

From Food52.com by Genius Recipes, https://food52.com/recipes/26523-jane-grigson-s-celery-soup

Chile-Lime Chicken & Broccoli Salad

• For the Chicken & Broccoli Salad:
• 1 ¹/₄ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• ³/₄ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large or 2 small broccoli crowns (about 1 pound)
• 2 to 3 ears yellow corn, shucked
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ¹/₃ cup toasted almonds
• 1 cup cilantro (leaves and tender stems), coarsely chopped (or mix of cilantro, basil, and/or mint

• For the Chile-Lime Vinaigrette:
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest (from 2 to 3 limes)
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 ¹/₄ teaspoons chile powder (salt-free)
• ¹/₄ teaspoon (or to taste) red pepper flakes or cayenne powder
• 3 ¹/₂ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (regular or low-sodium)

1. To make chile-lime vinaigrette: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or jar with tight-fitting lid. Whisk or shake to emulsify. Taste and adjust the acid and seasoning. This dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance; just transfer to an airtight container, cover, and chill.
2. In a small bowl, toss the chicken with 3 tablespoons vinaigrette + 3/4 teaspoon salt to evenly coat. Let marinate while preparing the rest of the ingredients, or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours in advance.
3. While the chicken is marinating, prep the broccoli and corn: For the broccoli, remove leaves and trim the stem. Cut the head into quarters. Use a sharp knife, slicing blade of a food processor, or mandolin to cut the broccoli, stem and florets, into 1/4-inch slices. For the corn, cut the kernels off each cob, and combine with the broccoli.
4. Preheat broiler and set oven rack about 6 inches below the heating element. Line a half sheet pan with foil, and place a wire cooling rack into the pan. (If you don’t have a cooling rack that fits, that’s okay—just proceed with the foil.) Transfer the chicken to the wire rack, draining off excess vinaigrette into the bowl; arrange evenly so the chicken doesn’t overlap. Broil about 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, then flip and broil another 4 to 5 on the second side, or until the thighs are charred around the edges and 165 degrees F in their thickest parts. (Total cooking time will depend on intensity of your broiler.)
5. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Remove the wire rack from the sheet pan, if using. Toss the broccoli and corn on the sheet pan in the chicken fat, 2 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt, to taste. Use your hands to toss so you don’t tear the foil. Return the pan to the broiler, and cook until the broccoli and corn are crisp-tender and charred in spots, about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. To assemble the salad: sprinkle halved tomatoes with a few pinches of salt, then add to a serving bowl. Thinly slice the chicken, then add it to the bowl. Toss the chicken and tomatoes with 1 to 2 tablespoons vinaigrette. Add the broccoli, corn, almonds, and cilantro to the bowl—and drizzle in more vinaigrette, a little at a time, until the salad is lightly and evenly dressed (you may not need all of the vinaigrette). Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.
7. To stretch leftovers, add avocado or crumbled cheese, such as cotija or feta, to the mix!

From Food52.com by EmilyC, https://food52.com/recipes/83621-chicken-broccoli-salad-recipe

Dilled, Crunchy Sweet Corn Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

• For the salad:
• 1 clove shallot, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 3 ears of fresh, uncooked corn, the kernels scraped from the cobs with a sharp knife (about 2 3/4 cup)
• 4 Persian cucumbers, quartered lengthwise and sliced crosswise into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 long red sweet pepper, seeded, ribs removed and diced
• 1 small handfull fresh dill (about 4 smallish sprigs), minced
• ¹/₄ cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 handful crumbled Feta cheese, rinsed, as a garnish

• For the dressing:
• ¹/₄ cup buttermilk
• ²/₃ cup plain European style thin yogurt, stirred
• 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons minced Vidalia or other sweet onion
• 1 small clove garlic, minced and mashed with a pinch of salt
• ¹/₄ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

1. Salt the shallot slices in 1/2 t. salt and allow to sit about 20 minutes to draw out any harshness. Rinse well with water and pat dry with a paper towel. In a large bowl toss the corn kernels lightly to separate them, add the shallot and the remaining salad ingredients and toss again to combine.
2. In a smaller bowl combine the buttermilk, vinegar, onion, yogurt, and garlic and whisk to combine. Add the oil in a slow stream, whisking, until amalgamated. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.
3. Serve the salad slightly chilled, garnished with the feta cheese. Pass the dressing separately.

From Food52.com by CreamTea, https://food52.com/recipes/12928-dilled-crunchy-sweet-corn-salad-with-buttermilk-dressing