Summer CSA Share #26

Welcome to the 26th, and final, share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

Lettuce Mix
Savoy Cabbage
Cooking Greens Mix – A mix of kale, chard, and collards.
Cauliflower
Parsley
Yukon Gem Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes – In an effort to prolong their storage life we’re giving these out unwashed. You may want to give them a soak pre-scrubbing. Also, we don’t suggest refrigerating sweet potatoes as their ideal storage temp is between 55 & 60 degrees F.
Garlic
Yellow Onions
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.
Pie Pumpkin
Polenta – We grow a flint corn called Cascade Ruby Gold that grinds partially into flour and partially into polenta when milled. This week we’re sharing polenta and last week we shared the flour. You can use this polenta in recipes calling for uncooked polenta or corn grits like this one or this one. We like to cook it in our rice cooker at a 1 cup polenta to 3 cups water ratio. It’s even better if you stir in some butter and cheese once cooked. We’ve heard from members that the rice setting on an instant pot works too.

Welcome to the final share of the 2025 Summer CSA season! As we wrap up our 16th Summer CSA season and also celebrate Thanksgiving this week I want to take a moment to say thanks. Thank you for supporting our farm this season. Thank you for choosing to eat local and seasonal vegetables for the past six months. Thank you for showing up week after week. We appreciate your willingness to make the CSA a part of your lives.

As you head to winter markets and the grocery store produce department in the coming weeks we hope you’ll take some of your CSA experience with you. Perhaps you’ll look for a new or unusual vegetable to experiment with. Perhaps you’ll investigate further where your food was grown and by whom. Maybe you’ll be traveling and you’ll have the opportunity to experience regional foods in new places. We know there are many choices to be made when it comes to what you eat and we thank you for choosing our farm this past season.

^{It’s clean-up and bulk harvest time here on the farm. This past week we worked to get all the pipe out of the field ahead of winter freezes (bottom left), harvested muddy daikon radishes for storage (bottom right), and harvested some fennel seed (top).}

Here are some quick season stats:

As a reminder, this season we harvested 118 shares each week spread between 90 weekly shares and 56 biweekly share members. Of those 118 weekly harvested shares 59 were picked up in Salem, 29 were picked up here at the farm, and the Linn Benton Food Share picked up the remaining 30 shares thanks to our paid partnership with them.

This year each weekly share consisted of an average of just under 18lbs per week for 26 weeks. That’s 473 pounds of organic vegetables for each weekly share over the season. All combined that means Jeff and I grew and distributed approximately 55,620 pounds of produce this season. That’s nearly the exact same as last season somehow. The Linn Benton Food Share worked with us to distribute 13,952lbs of those organic vegetables that went directly to the Lebanon Soup Kitchen, food pantries, and gleaners. Not bad for a two-person operation, if I do say so.

^{We’re finishing off the summer season with some really fantastic cauliflower!}

We’ll see many of you in a few weeks for the start of the Winter CSA. We’re excited to see what the winter season has in store for us and hope you are too! For everyone else, we hope you have a fantastic winter! Keep an eye out for an email from us in mid-January as we gear up for the 2026 Summer CSA! Hopefully you’ll consider joining us for another round of local, seasonal, organic vegetables.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the vegetables! We’ll see Winter CSA members on December 16th (Salem) & 17th (on-farm) for the beginning of the Winter season.

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Spice Merchant Cauliflower Couscous

1 large cauliflower (about 1 ½ pound of cauliflower florets)
5 ounce raw cashewnuts
3 ounce sultanas (gold raisins)
5 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon za’atar
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon finely shredded lemon zest
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Step 1 Place the sultanas in a bowl and pour warm water over them. Leave the sultanas for about 15 minutes, until plump. Drain and discard the water.

Step 2 Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the cashewnuts and toast them for about 8 minutes, until lightly golden and gently charred. Stir frequently to make sure that cashewnuts do not burn. Let the cashewnuts cool. Cut the half of the cashewnuts into smaller pieces (or simply crush them with your hands).

Step 3 Break the cauliflower into florets, making sure to leave behind as much of the stem as possible. Chop the florets into smaller pieces. Transfer the cauliflower into food processor in batches, and pulse until the pieces are finely chopped and resemble couscous. Be careful not to over-process.

Step 4 In a large sauté pan, heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the cauliflower couscous to the pan and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Step 5 Remove the couscous from the heat and let it cool. Add the sultanas, cashewnuts, za’atar, cumin, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 6 Leave the couscous for about 15 minutes for the flavors to combine. Serve at room temperature.

From Food52.com by QueenSashy, https://food52.com/recipes/21165-spice-merchant-cauliflower-couscous

Spicy Chicken Soup with Sweet Potatoes & Cabbage

Broth

2 whole chicken legs
2 stalks celery, cut into ½-inch chunks
1 medium carrot, cut into ½-inch chunks
1 small yellow or white onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 bay leaf, dried or fresh

Soup

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 ounce sweet potatoes (about 2 medium), peeled and diced into ½-inch cubes
1/2 small green cabbage, thinly sliced
2 to 3 chipotles in adobo, finely chopped, plus adobo to taste
1/4 cup lightly packed parsley leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped
2 limes
Sour cream or crema, for serving
Diced avocado, for serving
Sliced white onion, for serving
Crushed Fritos, for serving

Step 1 Make the broth: In a medium Dutch oven, combine all the ingredients. Slowly pour 6 cups of water on top. Bring to a boil over high heat. If foamy white scum floats to the top, skim it off with a ladle, spoon, or small sieve. (Don’t worry about getting all of it—just try to get as much as you can without losing too much broth.) Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and cook for 1½ hours, until the chicken is tender and the broth is flavorful.

Step 2 Strain the broth into a large heatproof vessel (I use a big metal bowl). Return the broth to the Dutch oven. Transfer the chicken to a plate and discard the aromatics.

Step 3 Make the soup: Bring the broth to a gentle simmer. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add the sweet potato, cabbage, and chipotle, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Step 4 Meanwhile, pick the chicken meat off the bone, trying to maintain large chunks. Reserve the meat and discard the bones and skin.

Step 5 Add the parsley and reserved chicken meat to the soup and stir until the chicken is warmed through. Taste and add lime juice, salt, pepper, and adobo as needed.

Step 6 Divide the soup into bowls and top with sour cream, avocado, onion, and Fritos. Serve immediately. Store ungarnished leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

From Food52.com by Sohla El-Waylly, https://food52.com/recipes/87021-spicy-chicken-soup-sweet-potato-cabbage-recipe

Maria Speck’s Shortcut Polenta

2 cup (11 ounces) polenta, preferably medium-grind, not instant or quick-cooking
3 cup boiling water
3 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water, or more as needed
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup (2 ounces) finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Step 1 Start the polenta at least 8 hours ahead: Add the polenta to a 4-quart heavy saucepan and whisk in the boiling water. Cover and let sit at room temperature for up to 12 hours. (If not using at this point, chill, covered, for up to 2 days.)

Step 2 When you are ready to cook the polenta, add the broth and the salt to the saucepan and whisk well to loosen the polenta, breaking up any clumps. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Cook, whisking continuously and adjusting the heat to maintain a gentle bubble until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes (beware of splatters!).

Step 3 Decrease the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon every couple of minutes, and scraping the bottom until the polenta becomes creamy and thick, 10 to 12 minutes. The polenta granules will swell and become tender, and the polenta should retain an appealing toothsomeness.

Step 4 Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, Parmesan, and pepper. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve at once, passing more cheese around.

Step 5 Fine points: This recipe makes a polenta on the firmer side. You can add a bit more broth or water before you add the butter for a softer, more billowy polenta. Polenta can be kept soft in a crockpot, using the “Warm” setting.

From Food52.com by Genius Recipes, https://food52.com/recipes/40229-maria-speck-s-shortcut-polenta