Welcome to the 3rd share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025/2026 Winter CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Radicchio Head – Great for robust winter salads with punchy dressings and nuts and strong cheese and citrus. Holds up to a little warming too. We’ll eat it under oven baked salmon, rice, and creamy dressing for a quick dinner. Soaking in ice water or light cooking can help reduce the bitterness if needed. Click here for some more tips if you think radicchio and chicories bring too much bitter to the table.
• Purple Baby Bok Choy
• Arugula Rapini – This greenhouse grown arugula is beginning to bolt and head to flower, but is still tasty.
• January King Cabbage
• Brussels Sprouts – Pop the sprouts off the stalk and enjoy them in your favorite recipes. We usually just cut the sprouts in half, toss with a little oil/salt/pepper, and roast at 400 degrees for ~20 minutes. Don’t forget to check out the recipe index here on our website if you’re looking for suggestions.
• Pinto or French Fingerling 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.
• Carrots
• Alpine Daikon Radishes – Not as flashy as the red or purple daikons, these white roots are perhaps the sweetest of the varieties we grow. Great sliced or grated into salads, roasted or sauteed, they’re also the traditional variety used in Korean kimchi recipes.
• Cilantro
• Yellow & Red Onions
• Garlic
• Butternut Squash
• Dried Thai Hot Peppers – Use them to add some heat to dishes like chile or grind for a little pepper powder.
• Amish Butter Flavored Popcorn – You can knock the kernels off the cob and into a paper bag and pop them in the microwave. Most often we’ll use these directions and pop it on the stove top.
• Dried Apples – We grew them, we harvested them, we dried them.

We’ve found ourselves here in January once more, with it’s invigorating cold days and long contemplative nights. In January there’s time and space for the slow work of winter and imagining the season ahead. Soon enough our schedule will be filled with deadlines and the To Do list will be less forgiving. For now though, we’re appreciating the slow pace of winter on the farm.

It seems like we’ve kept busy these past couple of weeks, but I haven’t apparently documented the progress in photos. Jeff spent some time repairing irrigation pipe and thinking about improving pipe storage, something he’s been meaning to get to for years. What’s the best economical yet sturdy way to get irrigation pipe off the ground for winter storage? It’s an open question. I had a number of computery tasks to get through including some accounting and budgeting and diagnosing and fixing my laptop fan, which had developed an intermittent but very loud grinding sound. Then it was on to recording the arrival of seed orders and sowing the first seeds of 2026. I started some spinach and bok choy (which was promptly devoured by mice and will need to be re-started later this week) and Jeff direct sowed arugula and radishes in freshly tilled greenhouse beds. Future food! And then we bulk harvested carrots from a greenhouse before it was time to begin organizing another winter CSA share.

We did manage a quick trip to the coast for lunch and ocean viewing just after the last pick-up. Nugget was happy for an off-farm adventure to some new swimming holes. What a lovely drive that is.

And just like that it feels like winter is slipping away too quickly. It’s time to hunker down and get some more projects done before things get too busy. There are orchards to prune and equipment to maintain and last season’s tomato trellising to remove. And it’s about time to open the 2026 Summer CSA memberships! If things go to plan, we’ll be in touch this weekend with updated details and the launching of the 2026 Summer CSA season. Keep an eye out for an email if you’d like to join us for the upcoming season of local, organic vegetables.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you here again in two weeks!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

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Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Root-Veggie Slaw with Crispy Bacon

• 3 medium-sized carrots
• 2 parsnips (or maybe sub in other root veggies)
• 1 hard, green apple
• 1 head radicchio
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche
• the juice and zest of 1 medium-sized lemon
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoon whole grain mustard
• 4-5 piece bacon

Step 1 In an oven set to 375°F, cook bacon on a sheet pan until crispy. Remove from oven, and set one a rack over paper towels to drain.

Step 2 Peel and wash carrots, parsnip and the apple. Julienne everything using a mandolin at 1/8 inch. Roughly chop radicchio, and then toss everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Step 3 In a separate small bowl, zest and juice the lemon. Add mustard, crème fraîche, and honey; mix to incorporate. Season to taste.

Step 4 With your hands, mix together the dressing with the vegetables. Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces, and scatter across the top.

From Food52.com by Cristina Sciarra, https://food52.com/recipes/14562-root-veggie-slaw-with-crispy-bacon

Bánh Mi-Inspired Breakfast Sandwich

Bánh Mì-Inspired Breakfast Sandwich

• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon miso
• 1 toasted English muffin
• 2 pieces cooked bacon (preferably Sriracha Maple Bacon: https://food52.com/recipes/29457-sriracha-maple-bacon)
• Bacon grease or butter for frying the egg
• 1 large egg
• Salt and pepper
• Pickled veggies (see below)
• 1 handful chopped cilantro

Pickled Veggies (makes enough for a few sandwiches)

• 1 very large carrot, washed and julienned
• 1/2 English cucumber, washed and julienned.
• 1/2 daikon radish, washed and julienned (if you can’t find daikon, you can use a couple thinly sliced regular radishes)
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

Bánh Mì-Inspired Breakfast Sandwich

Step 1 Stir together the mayonnaise, sriracha, and miso, then spread as much as you want to use (ie. a generous smear!) on your toasted English muffin. Cut the two pieces of bacon in half and layer them onto the muffin (cutting the bacon in half is not necessary, but it makes it fit the muffin better.)

Step 2 Use either bacon grease or a bit of butter to fry the egg — with a pinch each of salt and pepper — to your liking, then put this on top of the bacon. Add pickled veggies and cilantro to taste, close up the sandwich, and go to town!

Pickled Veggies (makes enough for a few sandwiches)

Step 1 Put the carrot, cucumber, and radish into a bowl. Put the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Take off the heat and pour over the vegetables. Toss the vegetables, then refrigerate them. Let them rest at least 30 minutes (stirring occasionally) before using. These will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple weeks.

From Food52.com by fiveandspice, https://food52.com/recipes/30494-banh-mi-inspired-breakfast-sandwich

Hot-Honey Butternut Squash

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced (use two if they’re small)
• 1 Idaho potato, peeled and diced
• 3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 tablespoon hot honey (like Mike’s), plus more to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Step 1 In a large pot, heat the butter and sauté the onions and garlic until softened. Add the ground ginger and cumin. Do not burn the garlic. Next, add the squash, potato, and chicken stock and cook, covered, on high heat until the squash is cooked and softened. If you don’t allow the squash to cook fully, the texture will not be nice when blended, so that is an important step.

Step 2 Allow to cool. Blend in batches until the entire soup is puréed and creamy. Return to the pot, add the cream and hot honey, stir well, and allow to simmer on low heat for another 30 minutes. Finish by adding salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3 Please note you will most likely need to adjust the amounts in this recipe, because the flavor will depend on how large and sweet your squash is, how heavy your cream is, and also how hot your honey is, not to mention that small things, such as the age of your ground spices, can affect their flavor. So be ready to taste and alter a couple times before serving. Serve with a big crusty baguette or with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche and some chopped chives.

From Food52.com by Corinne Cuozzo, https://food52.com/recipes/38357-hot-honey-butternut-squash-soup