Welcome to the 2nd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Spinach
• Lettuce Mix – A mix of four lettuce varieties.
• ‘Encino’ Head Lettuce – A buttery leaf type great for any use.
• Dill
• Bok Choy – These bok choy have some flea beetle damage, which have picked up in the recent hot weather. Still tasty though!
• Red Ursa Kale
• Mixed Snap Peas
• Yukon Gem Potatoes – We’re using up the last of last season’s potato crop. Eat them up! Also, we suggest storing them in the fridge to slow the sprouting.
• Carrots
• Hakurei Salad Turnips – Some of these salad turnips got big while we were harvesting other things. They’re still crisp and tasty, good raw in salads or roasted/sauteed.
• Leek Scapes – This time of year leeks produce a tall stalk that eventually becomes a flower. Before they become too woody the stalks are a seasonal leeky treat that can be diced up and used in place of leeks or onions.
• Shallots from Storage – These are shallots from last year. We suggest you use them up sooner than later.
• Zucchini

Welcome to week 2 of the Summer CSA season! It was great seeing everyone last week and getting back into the swing of things after our month away from harvesting. This week we welcome the “even week” group of biweekly members to the party. We hope you’re enjoying the start of the season. Hurrah for vegetables!

As we get the season started, here are a few membership stats. This season we’re harvesting 117 shares each week spread over 90 weekly share members and 54 biweekly share members. Of those 117 weekly harvested shares 59 are picked up in Salem, 28 are picked up here at the farm, and the Linn Benton Food Share (LBFS) picks up the remaining 30 shares.

The LBFS has generously purchased shares at a pro-rated price from us for ten years now. It’s a great partnership and we’re happy to see the same fresh, organic produce that our members take home also head directly into Lebanon’s Soup Kitchen and food pantry system each week.

This past week was a bit of a hot blur to be honest. On Thursday I focused on propagation (the next round of sweet corn) while Jeff worked on prepping beds for a planting marathon. Despite the incoming heatwave it was time to get the winter squash in the ground and the sweet potato slips were scheduled to arrive in the mail on Friday. Friday was spent planting popcorn and most of the winter squash, including setting up much needed irrigation. Saturday we finished planting winter squash, covered it all to keep it safe from cucumber beetles, planted the fall pumpkin patch plus the next round of cucumbers and zucchini, then planted the sweet potato slips. Of course this all meant more irrigation set-up and managing irrigation lines across the farm. Sunday Jeff cultivated most of the morning while I picked peas. He helped finish harvesting the peas and zucchini and we covered the pumpkins etc. Monday we were back to harvesting. It’s been a hot, busy week and we’re ready to see some 70 degree days!

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you here next week!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

.

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Japanese Turnips with Miso

3 tablespoons white miso
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
3 pounds small (1 1/2-to 2-inch) Japanese turnips with greens*
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

Stir together miso and 2 tablespoon butter.

Discard turnip stems and coarsely chop leaves. Halve turnips (leave whole if tiny) and put in a 12-inch heavy skillet along with water, mirin, remaining tablespoon butter, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then boil, covered, 10 minutes.

Add greens by handfuls, turning and stirring with tongs and adding more as volume in skillet reduces. Cover and cook 1 minute. Uncover and continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until turnips are tender and liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes. Stir in miso butter and cook 1 minute.

From Epicurious.com via Gourmet, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Japanese-Turnips-with-Miso-354957

Eric Korsh’s Farm Lettuces Salad with Dill Vinaigrette

• Dill Vinaigrette
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup (25 grams) picked dill fronds (from about 1/2 bunch)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (19 grams) Dijon mustard
• 3 ¹/₂ tablespoons (50 grams) Champagne or white wine vinegar
• ¹/₄ cup neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed
• ¹/₄ cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

• Farm Lettuces Salad
• Lettuces of your choice (see note below)—enough for about 6 cups torn, washed and spun dry
• 1 cup crumbled fresh sheep’s milk feta
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• ¹/₃ cup chives cut into 1-inch lengths

Dill Vinaigrette

1. Cook the egg in abundant boiling water for 7 minutes and 15 seconds, for barely set yolks and fully set whites. Rinse and peel in cold water to stop it from cooking futher.
2. Blend egg, dill, Dijon, and Champagne vinegar until smooth. Note: For a lighter-colored dressing with more bits of green in it, you can pulse in the herbs toward the end—this is especially good to do if substituting more strongly flavored herbs like chives for the dill.
3. Mix canola oil and olive oil and slowly, with the blender running, drizzle oil mixture in until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Any leftover dressing will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, though the color and fresh herb flavor may fade slightly after a day.

Farm Lettuces Salad

1. In choosing the lettuces, the salad should be bright and fresh. The leaves should be light, but stout enough to hold the other ingredients. Use red oak, green oak, and/or butter lettuce.
2. Just before serving, toss the lettuce with dressing to taste (it should be just enough to lightly coat the leaves), plus feta, scallions, and chives.

From Food52.com by Genius Recipes, https://food52.com/recipes/37034-eric-korsh-s-farm-lettuces-salad-with-dill-vinaigrette

Creamy Lemon Tortellini with Sugar Snap Peas and Soppressata

kosher salt
1 lemon
¹/₂ cup crème fraîche (you can use sour cream in a pinch)
²/₃ cup grated Parmesan, plus more from serving
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces sweet soppressata (you can also use salami, or really any dry sausage), sliced into 1-inch-by-1/8-inch strips
8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
10 ounces cheese tortellini

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Finely grate the lemon peel and put the zest in a medium bowl. Squeeze the lemon and add 2 tablespoons of its juice to the bowl. Whisk in the crème fraîche, Parmesan, a couple pinches of salt, and black pepper to taste.
3. Set a sauté pan over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the olive oil to the pan; after about 30 seconds add the soppressata. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, giving the sausage an occasional stir, until it starts to crisp. Add the sugar snaps to the pan and toss through. Once the sugar snaps turn bright green (about a minute), remove the pan from the heat.
4. Cook the tortellini according to the package instructions (usually about 3 minutes), making sure not to overcook it. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then drain the tortellini well.
5. Set the pan with the sugar snaps and soppressata over medium-low heat and tip in the tortellini and the crème fraîche mixture. Gently fold everything together until well combined and heated through. If it looks at all dry, add a spoonful or two of the pasta water. Serve right away in shallow bowls with a shower of grated Parmesan.

From Food52.com by Josh Cohen, https://food52.com/recipes/71436-creamy-lemon-tortellini-with-sugar-snap-peas-and-soppressata