Produce Guide:

1) Winesap Apples

2) Cucumber Mix

(Armenian / Marketmore / 7802)

3) Mixed Cherry Tomatoes

4) Salanova Lettuce Head

5) Shishito Peppers

6) Mixed Heirloom Tomatoes

7) Purple & Green Shiso bunch

8) Jalapeños 

Friends of the Farm-

Happy Friday!

We continue to share the fruits of our orchard again this week with a new addition....Winesap Apples.

This week is back to school for many families and Apples as a signature of this week's produce box only seemed fitting. This week marks Winsap's first appearance on the heels of Gravenstiens leading the way in CSA boxes prior. Pink Pearls, Honeycrisp, and more varieties also represented in our organic orchards will follow.

If you're wanting to learn more about heirloom varieties of apples and their history and stewardship here in the United States I absolutely recommend picking up a copy of the book Uncultivated: Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living. Link here to read more. Written from the perspective of a Hudson Valley cider maker it's a great look into the story apples play in our county's history and what remains of them today with respect to farming / foraging and cider-making.

Perhaps this is a start to a Live Oak Farmer book club?!?!

This week's recipe is our own twist on a summer classic, the Caprese Salad. Utilizing the ingredients in this weeks box, you'll be surprised how quickly you'll become a fan of fresh Shiso and it's harmony with fresh summer tomatoes. Note, Shiso is also a really fun ingredient to get creative on cocktails! We engineered a fun twist on the Caprese that features this pairing with Shiso and plays on some other Japanese-inspired ingredients to bring it all together.  

Lastly, we welcome you to enjoy our weekly music playlist.

Variety strikes again! Country, instrumental, R&B, Funk, Reggae, and more grace the playlist this week. There's truly something for all ears this week. If there was any thread of theme to bring all this music together, I might argue it's the organ. There are a few tracks this week that come from a highly recommended compilation entitled, Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection of Music from the Arab World. These tracks, along with Johnny Hammond Smith's, Shifting Gears and two tracks from Orgone sit at the pinnacle of organ-laden funk this week. Kitchen dancing is encouraged! Enjoy!!

All our best from the farm,

Tom & William and Live Oak Farm team

Japanese-Inspired Caprese Salad

Ingredients:

all Heirloom & Cherry tomatoes, halved

5x leaves Shiso, chiffonade

12oz Mozzarella Cheese, thinly sliced

1Tbsp Soy sauce

1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar

Sesame Oil, for drizzle

pinch, coarse Sea Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Method:

Half your cherry tomatoes and thinly slice your bigger heirlooms and arrange on a serving platter. Thinly slice Mozzarella cheese and place in an every-other fashion between your tomato slices. You may also do in cubes if wanting to utilize more of your cherry tomatoes in a mixed salad form in a medium bowl. Chiffonade (cut long thin ribbons) your shiso and set aside. Dress salad with a drizzle of sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce to taste. Adjust with any additional coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper as needed.

Finish with prepared garnish of Shiso, serve and enjoy!

Live Oak Farm Events

We're excited to continue to announce new events as we enter the Fall season. We invite you to check out our refreshed website and new Events Calendar tab to see what's happening at Live Oak Farm in the weeks ahead. We'll be offering a few different dinner formats (pricing / menu / day of the week), as well as Harvest Festival, and Fall Open house for our community at no charge, as well as weekly yoga.