Produce Guide:

1) Tokyo Turnips

2) Pomegranate Crunch Lettuce Head

3) Escarole

4) Oregano

5) Red Round Sora Radishes

6) Portugese Kale

7) Bunching Onions

Friends of the Farm-

Happy Friday and welcome back to another week of Live Oak Farm CSA...

This week's big news is that we are prepared to announce our Dinner with Your Farmer Series dates & partners. We're excited to extend invitation for an evening of savoring our farm under the midsummer sunset. Taste the flavors and seasonality of our produce backed by the imagination of great local chefs. Great wine partners too!

Save the date, as our first tickets will go on sale next week (details below).

For our recipe this week we highlight a new addition to the farm - Portuguese Kale in a spin on a regional classic soup.

I myself have enjoyed a recipe similar to this one in Cascais, a beach community just outside of Lisbon, Portugal. Savory & aromatic this soup is a great culmination of many of this week's ingredients. This week's Oregano is the perfect fresh herb compliment to bring it all together too.

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

We jump right into it this week with a Jackson 5 groove, Momma I Got a Brand New Thing (Don't Say No). You can hear the yearning for independence from the Jackson brothers in this song and their search for independence in new family fame while still living as teenagers under mom's watch. Onto another family- Sly & the Family Stone with I'm an Animal which gives way to subsequent animal themed songs like Seabird (the Alessi Brothers) and I'm a King Bee (reimagined by The Stone Foxes). Finally, we bring it home with a great Friday night weekend send-off with Rosemary Clooney's, In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening. All this and more, enjoy!

All our best from the farm,

Tom & William and Live Oak Farm team

Portuguese Chourico & Kale Soup

Ingredients:

all Portuguese Kale

all bunching Onions, chopped

1 pound Portugues Chourico, casing removed

3 medium white waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold, ect) peeled & diced

1 can Garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed

1 can diced Tomatoes

2 Bay Leaves (fresh or dried)

3 sprigs Oregano, minced

4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 quart chicken or vegetable broth

Salt & coarse ground Black Pepper

Method:

Begin by heating oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add onions, kale, bay leaves, oregano, and garlic to the pot. Cover again and cook for 2 minutes to allow kale greens to wilt and braise. Add beans, tomatoes, chourico, stock and season with salt & pepper. Bring to a full boil.

Once boiling, back heat down to medium and continue to cook for 5 to 10 more minutes or until potatoes are fully tender.

Season with salt & pepper and a pinch of fresh oregano for garnish.

Serve hot with warm crusty bread, European style butter & enjoy!

(A fresh greens salad with sliced Radishes is also a nice complement)

LIVE OAK FARM at the Farmer's Market...

A reminder that you can now find farmers Tom & William each Thursday night at the Occidental Community Farmer's Market!

The market runs seasonally through October 28, 2023.

Market starts at 4pm and runs till 8pm / dusk.

Family-friendly with produce, live music, food vendors, and community fun.

Come say hello and support our farm and other local vendors each Thursday night.

Link here for market website, to view details and participating vendors.

Save the dates! This is our first roll-out of our 2023 summer farm dinner series calendar, and we're excited to share it with you our CSA members and newsletter subscribers.

If you've attended these dinners in the past you know how much fun a night at the farm is highlighted by hyper-seasonal produce and the creativity of guest chefs. We're proud to announce two new dinners that highlight local culinary programs from restaurants here in Sonoma County, Street Social and Bloom (Petaluma & Sonoma, respectively). We can't wait to share our farm's summer harvest with our guests as well as raise a glass in community with some really great wine partners by way of Darling Wines and Kivelstadt Cellars as well.

Mark your calendars and look out for tickets to be released this coming week via follow-up announcement and sales hosted via EventBrite. We hope to have you join us around the table for a memorable evening at Live Oak Farm !

Reminder - We Recycle! 

We encourage you to return your CSA boxes to your pick-up location, or leave cartons, boxes, and other farm CSA reusables at your doorstep for exchange on Friday delivery days. A big thank you to the many of you that already participate in our recycling efforts!

We thank all those who have recently joined us in this practice as well. Your recycling efforts are noticed & appreciated! Thank you!