Welcome to the 17th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2026 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

• Mayan Jaguar Romaine & Eruption Red Romaine Lettuce
• Thai Basil – Popular in SE Asian dishes, this basil has an anise-flavor kick.
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Strawberry Paw Potatoes
• Yellow Onions
• Sweet Corn
• Mixed Eggplant
• Summer Squash & Zucchini
• Mixed Cucumbers – Mixed green and silver slicers and some lemons too.
• Mixed Bell Sweet Peppers – These sweet peppers ripen to red.
• Mixed Italian Frying Sweet Peppers – These are at various stages of turning red and yellow. Italian frying peppers can be used like bell peppers.
• Mad Hatter Hot Peppers – A new-to-us variety with a fun, unusual shape. These are a bishop’s crown type that are fruity/citrusy and have a mild heat near the seed cavity.
• Poblano Peppers – The classic stuffing pepper, also good for flavoring any dish that is asking for a mild chile kick.
• Mixed Tomatoes – We’ve got tomatoes! Pints of cherries plus lots of slicers of all sizes this week.
• Melons – More Honey Orange honeydew melons this week.

Today is the autumnal equinox, 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 and the shortest day of the year in December. 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.

This past week we endeavored to get through a bunch of greenhouse transplanting. Jeff finished clearing the houses and prepping the beds while I worked on threshing some dry beans on Thursday. Friday we stretched out the tape measure and got to hand transplanting. The spacing in the greenhouse is too tight for the tractor and transplanter, so it’s old school crouching/bending/crawling and planting in there. We proceeded to plant 50ish 128 cell trays of lettuce, spinach, cilantro, bunching onions, and bok choy. It’s nice to have that done.

On Wednesday we’d had another visit from the mobile tractor mechanic who has been helping getting our older diesel tractor running. He suggested swapping out a fuel priming pump before undertaking the more extensive work we’d assumed was up next. He ordered the part and said he’d be back Friday to get it installed. As we were getting going with planting he showed up with the new part, installed it, and seems to have gotten us back in business as a two-diesel-tractor farm. Whew! Fingers crossed that’s the final stage of that particular problem.

Friday evening our niece and her boyfriend and their two dogs arrived from Bend for a weekend visit. It was fun to catch up with them and Nugget got to practice her dog social skills, which are hit and miss when it comes to other dogs. On Saturday they helped harvest a couple beds of potatoes for this week’s share. There were also many board games played and trips to the river. Sunday we said goodbye to them until next time and got back to harvesting.

In the week ahead we’ll hopefully finish up the dry bean threshing, do some hoeing in the greenhouses, perhaps get some more potatoes dug, and get to some mowing and cultivating. It’s time to start getting things cleaned up for the CSA Member Farm Day on October 3rd!

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:

Pasta with Silkiest Eggplant Sauce From Francis Lam

• Salt
• 1 pound (450 grams) eggplant, cut into ½-inch (1.3-centimeter) slices
• 1/3 cup (80 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
• 3 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
• Leaves from 2 sprigs thyme or oregano, chopped
• 1 cup (240 milliliters) stock or water (Lam even uses water leftover from cooking lentils)
• 1 pound (450 grams) long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, whatever floats your boat)
• 2 tablespoon minced sun-dried tomatoes
• 6 leaves basil, cut into a chiffonade
• Freshly ground black pepper

Lightly salt the slices of eggplant, stack them back together, and let it all hang out for 20 minutes. This will season it and water will drop out, allegedly removing the bitterness, if it’s there.

Meanwhile, pour the olive oil into a wide, heavy saucepan, add the garlic cloves, and set over low heat. You’re just trying to get them friendly with one another, so don’t worry if nothing happens for a while.

Dry off the eggplant and cut it into chunks. When you start hearing the garlic sizzle a little and can smell it, drop in your eggplant and stir to coat it all with oil. Turn up the heat a little bit to medium-high, add the thyme, and stir. When the eggplant starts to turn translucent and soften, add the liquid and let it come to a boil, then turn it back down to medium-low. Let it bubble for a bit and cover it, leaving a crack for steam to escape. Stir once in a while, so the bottom doesn’t stick.

While the eggplant is softening, bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it, and cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is boiling, check on the eggplant. The liquid should be mostly absorbed or reduced after about 20 minutes. Once it looks mashable, mash it up with a spoon and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. It should be silky-smooth and garlicky and humming with oil.

Drain the pasta and toss with the eggplant purée. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, and pepper and gild the lily with some more oil to serve.

From Food52.com by Francis Lam via Genius Recipes, https://food52.com/recipes/86134-pasta-with-silkiest-eggplant-sauce-recipe-francis-lam

Thai Basil Pesto Potatoes

• 500 gram new potatoes
• 65 gram Thai basil leaves
• 20 gram coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 green bird’s eye chilli
• 5 gram mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon neutral flavoured oil, such as rapeseed/canola

In a pot of slightly salted water, boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until tender.

In the meantime, whizz the rest of the ingredients in a food processor until nice and smooth.

Drain the potatoes thoroughly, add 2-3 teaspoons of pesto and toss to cover evenly. Allow the pesto to sit on the hot potatoes for a minute or two to let the flavours soak in before serving.

From Food52.com by Thai Me Up Kitchen, https://food52.com/recipes/35234-thai-basil-pesto-potatoes

Frittata with Broccoli and Heirloom Tomatoes

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1-1/2 cup fresh broccoli florets, cut small
• 3/4 cup hard cheese like Asiago, Romano, or Gryere, grated
• 1-2 ripe heirloom tomatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick

Preheat the oven to 350F (170C).

Beat the eggs and cream. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onions, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

Transfer onions into an oven safe dish. Add broccoli florets, distributing them evenly over the onions.

Pour the egg mix over the broccoli. Add cheese over eggs.

Arrange tomato slices over the cheese in a pretty way. It will look stunning if different color tomatoes are used.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until tomatoes are wilted and egg mix is set, but still somewhat soft.

From Food52.com by Eat Already!, https://food52.com/recipes/21978-frittata-with-broccoli-and-heirloom-tomatoes