Welcome to the 16th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Green Leaf Head Lettuce – This is a deeply incised leaf-type of lettuce that we usually use in our salad mix. Enjoy!
• Savoy Cabbage
• Purple Cauliflower
• Cilantro
• Beets w/ Greens
• Red & Yellow Onions
• Sweet Corn
• Romano Snap Beans – Use as you would other types of snap beans.
• Cucumbers – Mixed green and silver slicers and lemons too.
• Zucchini & Summer Squash
• Jalapeno Peppers
• Poblano Peppers – The classic stuffing pepper, also good for flavoring any dish that is asking for a mild chile kick.
• Sweet Peppers – Mixed bell and Italian roasting peppers of varying colors. Most this week ripen to red but a handful ripen orangey-yellow.
• Tomatillos – A little like green tomatoes, tomatillos make excellent salsa verde and enchilada sauce.
• Mixed Tomatoes – Pints of cherries and slicers this week. 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!
• Asian Pears – Crisper than other pears, these hold up well to cooking but are also great raw. They ripen to yellow.

First off, many thanks to everyone who jumped into the Winter CSA when we opened up memberships last weekend. We very much appreciate your continued support. Choosing to stick with us through the months of December into April is only for the most intrepid of seasonal eaters and we’re glad to have you along for the journey. The Winter CSA is now full! Shoot us an email if you missed out on snagging a spot and we’ll see what we can do. Also, we’ll be in touch via email with everyone in January for the start of the Summer CSA sign-up season.

That all said about the winter season, we’ve still got ten more weeks of this Summer CSAing ahead of us. We’re just getting into the best part of pepper season and it’s time to double down on enjoying the summer treats. Tomatoes are winding down, zucchini is winding down, cucumbers are surely winding down. Eat them all up while we’ve got them!

We’ve been digging the cooler weather this past week or so. The push to get things done is on and the lower temps have made the work a little easier. Last week we managed the big clear out of the spring carrot and snap pea greenhouse and soon we’ll be planting fall greens in there. It’s always a daunting project to clear the pea trellising. debris, and drip tape, but it didn’t take too long once we got going. We also weeded some winter carrots, cultivated many crops, mowed some previously harvested beds and farm edges, and sowed the last seeds for scheduled transplants. It continues to be go-time!

In the week ahead we’ll be prepping that greenhouse for planting and perhaps planting some bok choy and bunching onions and spinach in there. The To Do list also includes beginning the apple harvest, weeding more winter carrots, more cultivating and mowing, and getting some beets and potatoes into storage. Heavy harvest season is upon us as we start to squirrel things away for fall and winter shares. We’ve also got an eye on the winter squash that are beginning to die back and will be making their way into storage in the coming weeks too. And don’t forget to mark your calendars for the CSA Member Farm Day on Saturday Oct. 4th. We’ll have more details on that event in the coming weeks.

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:

Cheesy Smash Burgers with Bacon & Poblano Salsa

For the onions and poblano salsa:

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning the salsa
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large poblano pepper
• 2 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon leftover pickling liquid from the onions
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the burgers:

• 1 1/2 pound ground beef (10 to 20% fat)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, for the skillet
• 8 slices cheddar cheese
• 8 slices cooked bacon
• Lettuce
• 4 Arnold®, Brownberry®, or Oroweat® 100% Whole-Wheat Sandwich Buns

Step 1 Make the pickled onions: In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the onions. Set aside.

Step 2 Make the poblano salsa: Set the poblano pepper directly on the grates of the stove over a medium-high flame. Cook until charred on all sides, about 8 minutes. If your tomatillos can sit on the grates, cook them in the same manner for about 4 minutes. If they are too small, you can hold them with tongs directly over the fire until charred and slightly softened.

Step 3 Transfer the poblano pepper and tomatillos to a cutting board and let cool. Use a paper towel to rub along the poblano and remove all the charred skin. Discard the seeds and chop finely. Chop the tomatillos finely. Combine the poblano, tomatillos, cilantro, oil, pickling liquid from the onions, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 4 Form the beef into 8 loose patties. Season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a cast-iron skillet to medium-high until hot. Add a small amount of oil to the pan. Cook 4 of the burgers, pressing down with a spatula to create a thin burger with jagged edges, until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Flip the burgers, press down again with the spatula, cover with a slice of cheese and cook until medium-rare, another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining burgers and cheese.

Step 5 Transfer two burgers to each bun and layer with onions (leave the liquid behind), salsa, bacon, and lettuce, and serve.

From Food52.com by Samantha Seneviratne, https://food52.com/recipes/85559-smash-burgers-poblano-salsa

Easy Pickled Beets (Refrigerator Method)

• 2 medium Whole Cooked Beets
• 1 cup White Vinegar, or other vinegar
• 1 cup Water
• ⅓ cup White Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Sea Salt

Remove and discard stem and skin from COOKED BEETS. Slice or cut beets to desired shape and thickness.

Pack beets into pint-sized mason jars, leaving ½ inch space at the top.

Whisk together VINEGAR, WATER, SUGAR, and SALT in a heat-safe bowl (for microwave method) or sauce pan (for stove method).

Heat this mixture using a microwave or stove just until boiling.

Pour the warm brine mixture over sliced beets in the jars.

Cool the jars of beets about 2 hours, or until they are room temperature.

Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours up to 6 weeks or longer at your discretion. Serve chilled.

From The Kitchen Girl by Traci, https://thekitchengirl.com/refrigerator-pickled-beets/

Enchiladas Suizas

• 1 medium white or yellow onion
• 4 large or 6 small tomatillos
• 2 poblano chiles (or 1 can of whole green chiles)
• 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 handful cilantro leaves and stems, plus more leaves for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1 pinch ground allspice or clove
• 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
• Zest and juice of one lime
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1 jalapeño chile, seeds removed (optional)
• 2 cup boneless cooked chicken, shredded, sliced or diced
• 8 corn tortillas
• 2 cup shredded jack or mild cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream, crème fraîche, or Mexican crema

Step 1 Heat the broiler. Peel and quarter onion. Remove papery husks and wash tomatillos. Cut poblanos in half lengthwise and remove stems and seeds. On a foil-lined sheet pan, place onion, tomatillos, unpeeled garlic cloves and poblanos skin side up. Broil vegetables until mildly charred, turning the onion pieces and tomatillos over after a few minutes to expose other sides to the heat source. Take care that the garlic doesn’t get too burnt.

Step 2 Scrape blackened skin from the poblanos, peel the garlic and put vegetables into a blender; include any juices from the baking sheet. (Drain and add canned green chiles, if using.) Add chicken stock, cilantro, spices, lime juice and zest, and salt and blend until completely puréed. Taste, and if you want it to be spicier, add the jalapeño and purée again until completely smooth.

Step 3 Pour contents of blender into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until slightly reduced. Taste and add more salt, if needed. If salsa is too thick, add a little bit of water to it. Lower oven temperature to 350° F.

Step 4 Make the enchiladas one at a time: Dip a tortilla in the salsa until just softened. Lay out on a plate, put some chicken across the middle of the tortilla and roll it up. Place in a baking dish or directly on an oven-safe dinner plate. When all of the tortillas have been made, ladle the salsa generously over them, sprinkle the cheese over the top, and place the baking dish or plates into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until chicken filling is heated through and cheese has melted. Serve with generous dollop of sour cream on top, and some chopped fresh cilantro.

From Food52.com by Zora, https://food52.com/recipes/26577-enchiladas-suizas