Summer CSA #17

Welcome to the 17th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

Escarole – A little hardier than lettuce, escarole will stand up to wilting or a little cooking. We like to use it as a base for warm pasta or salmon topped with your favorite sauce/dressing. Last night Jeff whipped up a tasty soup inspired by Italian Wedding Soup, though he forgot the pasta and added corn and a tomatillo and lots of butter.
Lacinato Kale
Mixed Cauliflower
Basil – Don’t forget that basil doesn’t like cold temps. We like to keep it in a glass of water on our kitchen counter, like flowers.
German Butterball Potatoes
Mixed Onions – These are the last of our overwintered onions so use them up sooner than later.
Sweet Corn
Mixed Snap Beans – Use as you would other types of snap beans.
Cucumbers – Mixed green and silver slicers and lemons too.
Zucchini & Summer Squash
Shishito Peppers – Known as a roulette pepper, 1 in 10 might be hot. They’re great with eggs, or anything else really, but traditionally blistered in hot oil and eaten with a little salt.
Thai Hot Peppers – A locally adapted Thai pepper that is quite hot.
Sweet Peppers – Mixed bell and Italian roasting peppers of varying colors. Most this week ripen to red or yellow.
Eggplant – Jeff has discovered that Eggplant Parmesan is delicious and suddenly we’re eating eggplant.
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!
Mixed Melons – A last taste of summer from our last-ditch second round of melons. The texture can be soft, but most of them are tasty sweet!

^{The sunflower spectacular at the front of the farm is in full bloom but starting to tumble over. The zinnias continue to be a favorite of the bumble bees and there’s the weekly sunset shot.}

The autumnal equinox passed yesterday, marking the arrival of fall and the equal lengths of day and night. The dark has overtaken the light now and the days will continue to shorten as we proceed toward the winter solstice in December and the shortest day of the year. Fall has been in the air for some time now. The telltale sign being the creeping in of the dreaded powdery mildew on the cucurbits. The summer squash and zucchini are headed out just as we begin to turn our attention to pumpkins and winter squash. It’s all part of the cycle of the growing season.

^{It was a foggy morning harvest today. Do you see Nugget overseeing the escarole harvest?}

We were treated to a lovely foggy equinox morning for a harvest day yesterday. For most of the morning the farm was wrapped in an isolating blanket of thick mist. It was just us and the vegetables and the song birds. The morning commuters making their way carefully down the highway were barely noticeable. By lunch the fog had lifted and the blue sky and sun returned as the harvest continued into the evening. It warmed up just enough to remind us that summer isn’t giving up so easily.

^{We’re still planting including bok choy, cilantro, spinach, overwintering onions, and direct sowing arugula.}

This past week we focused on harvesting and cleaning the dry beans, a run to the landfill, and mowing, and cultivating, and prepping that greenhouse for planting. It was slow progress but progress nonetheless. This week we’ll plant that greenhouse to fall spinach and bok choy and and lettuce and bunching onions and cilantro. It’s also time to harvest apples and think about the big winter squash harvest and get some cover crop seed sown and before we know it the CSA Member Farm Day will be here on Saturday Oct 4th.

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:

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant

3 pound eggplant
1 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 pound buffalo-milk mozzarella (if the balls are small, get two)

Sauce

Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 28 ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
Kosher Salt

Step 1 Peel the eggplant and slice it lengthwise into ¼-inch slices. Sprinkle each layer with salt and place into a colander, overlapping and salting as you go. After you fill the colander, place a plate on top and weigh it down with a heavy pan or a tea kettle filled with water. Let the eggplant sweat for at least 30 minutes.

Step 2 While the eggplant sweats, make the tomato sauce: Cover the bottom of a sauce pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the sliced garlic and let it cook until it sizzles (do not brown the garlic, as it will quickly become bitter). Add the tomatoes with their juices and a big pinch of salt. Coarsely crush the tomatoes using a potato masher or pair of scissors. Lower the heat and simmer until the tomatoes are reduced by almost half, stirring frequently.

Step 3 Heat the oven to 450°F. Cover the bottom of two sheet pans with olive oil.

Step 4 While the oven heats up, remove the eggplant from the colander and thoroughly pat dry each slice. Dredge the eggplant slices in flour, shaking off any excess. Place on the sheet pans and drizzle each slice with olive oil. Bake until browned on one side (about 15 minutes), then turn over and brown the other side. Repeat until you have cooked all the eggplant.

Step 5 Using a 7×11-inch baking dish spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom and layer the eggplant until it completely covers the bottom.

Step 6 Sprinkle the eggplant generously with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add another layer of sauce and then the eggplant. Continue to build the layers until you are about two layers from the top, then add a single layer of sliced mozzarella. Finish with a couple more layers of eggplant, sauce, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Finish the top with more Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Step 7 Lower the oven temperature to 400°F. Bake on the upper third rack for 20 minutes. Check in: If the dish looks especially liquid, remove it from the oven and discard a few spoonfuls. Bake for another 15 minutes or so. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

From Food52.com by Nancy Jo, https://food52.com/recipes/431-eggplant-parmesan

Mustardy Escarole Salad with Grilled Cheese Croutons

4 thick slices your favorite bread
4 thick slices Muenster cheese
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the grilled cheese
4 pinch kosher salt
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 head (about 1 pound) escarole, chopped

Step 1 Set a nonstick or cast-iron skillet on the stove over medium heat. While the pan heats up, make two sandwiches with the bread and cheese. Brush the outside of the sandwiches with a small amount of olive oil, then generously sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.

Step 2 When the pan is hot, add the cheese sandwiches. Adjust the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and cook for about 3 minutes, pressing down every so often, until the bottoms are golden-brown. Flip, cover again, and cook for another 3 minutes or so, until golden-brown all over and the cheese is melty.

Step 3 While the grilled cheeses are cooking, make the dressing: Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, Dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons cold water, and a couple pinches each of salt and pepper to a mixing bowl. Stir with a fork until smooth.

Step 4 When they’re done, transfer the grilled cheese sandwiches to a cutting board to cool while you make the salad: Add the escarole to the bowl with the dressing and toss. Taste and adjust as needed. Divide the salad between two bowls or plates.

Step 5 Chop the grilled cheese into bite-sized pieces, then sprinkle these on top of the salad. Eat ASAP.

From Food52.com by Emma Laperruque, https://food52.com/recipes/82240-salad-with-mustard-dressing-grilled-cheese-croutons

Donna Hay’s Pummelled Kale with Golden Cauliflower & Haloumi Croutons

2 kg (4 lb 7 oz) cauliflower (about 2 large heads), trimmed and cut into florets
1/3 cup (80ml/2 3⁄4 fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
250 gram (83⁄4 oz) haloumi, chopped
8 sprig marjoram
1/3 cup 45g/1 1⁄2 oz) slivered almonds, toasted
500 gram (1 lb 2 oz) kale (about 10 stalks), stems removed and leaves torn into small pieces
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (40g/1 1⁄2 oz) currants
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1/4 cup (60ml/2 fl oz) lemon juice

Step 1 Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Step 2 Place the cauliflower florets in a large bowl and add 1⁄4 cup (60ml/2 fl oz) of the oil. Toss to coat and divide between the trays. Roast for 20 minutes.

Step 3 Place the haloumi and marjoram in the bowl and top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Toss to coat, arrange over the cauliflower on the trays and roast for a further 20 minutes or until the haloumi and cauliflower are golden.

Step 4 While the cauliflower and haloumi are roasting, make the pummelled kale salad. Place the kale, oil, currants, lemon rind and juice in a large bowl. Toss to combine and, using your hands, rub the dressing into the kale for 8 minutes or until the kale is softened.

Step 5 Divide the kale salad between serving bowls and top with the warm cauliflower and haloumi. Sprinkle with the almonds and serve immediately.

From Food52.com, https://food52.com/recipes/82814-pummelled-kale-with-golden-cauliflower–haloumi-croutons