Produce Guide:

1) Meyer Lemons

2) Winter Savory

3) Australe Lettuce Head

4) Bolero Carrots

5) Tokyo & Scarlet Turnips

6) Live Oak Farm Mixed Greens

7) Celery

Friends of the Farm-

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

We seem to have gotten all the teases and tests of Spring this year. In looking at the end of this week and the start of next I think we're now safe to say that we've finally made it! Warmer, drier weather seems to be sticking around for good this time and our outdoor transplants, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers and more can give a sigh of relief. The threat of frost now seems to be out of the picture and we can all hit our groove. It's big planting time and our team is in the rhythm of turning through our winter and early-spring greenhouse work to now get starts transplanted outdoors and backfill our greenhouse tables with trays of new seeds for future successions and early-fall planning. It's go time!

A big thank you to all of you who joined us last weekend in our open house and farm tours in participation with Sonoma County Farm Trails - Spring Tour! It was great seeing many of you out with your families and supporting our farm and others across the county. We also welcome our new CSA members that join us in their first week of membership from sign-up at this event! We'll be participating in the Fall edition come October along with many other farm events and invites to join us here before then.

For our recipe this week we feature winter savory as an herbal compliment combined with the pleasures of baked brie. Also use this herb where you would rosemary or thyme for a new enhancement to a classic roast chicken, savory soups, salad dressings, or marinades and beyond.

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

The playlist leans a bit country heavy this week with the likes of Johnny Paycheck, Travis Tritt, Junior Brown, and even a cheeky Brad Paisley track. Heck, we're farmers after-all. Hanging above the threshold of our barn is a disco ball. A permanent reminder to always keep it funky, our spirits soulful, and have fun & never take ourselves too seriously. Have fun with tracks Sexy After Dark (Joshua Ray Walker), Bumble Bee (Wilson Pickett) and Steve Earle's cover of Johnny Too Bad.

All our best from the farm,

Tom & William and Live Oak Farm team

Baked Brie with Roasted Garlic & Winter Savory

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic, sliced in half

1 round of Brie (18 oz.), chilled

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Winter Savory

Spread of mixed crackers, toasted breads, and assorted vegetable crudité

Method:

Begin by roasting the garlic. Prepare by slicing in half, separating its top from bottom (it will be easier if you cut this way so that you can more easily extract the roasted garlic cloves out later). Warm a saucepan with olive oil to medium heat and roast the garlic head halves for 5 minutes. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook until garlic is soft and beginning to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Using a cold wheel of Brie, prepare the cheese by thinly removing its top rind. (I like using the French Marin Cheese Company for a local option). Place on a small baking sheet. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from its head, directly onto the top of the cheese. Spoon a touch of the remaining olive oil onto the cheese as well.

Bake uncovered at 400F for 10-12 minutes until Brie is warm and soft.

Remove from oven and garnish with Winter Savory.

Plate and serve with mixed crackers, toasted bread, and mixed vegetable crudité. Enjoy!

CSA Pick-Up Member Housekeeping

a note regarding pick-up timeline....

With respect to CSA pick-up we strongly encourage pick-up when vegetables are at their peak. We put a lot of care into these harvests to ensure produce is at prime form for our customers. Our pick-up option is intended to be completed by Friday evening. We understand busy lives, but in the care of the veggies you pay for feel free to give us a heads up (email is great) if you know you aren't going to make pick up. We can either move your box to our cooler overnight or look to move you to home delivery option to ensure peak freshness as your needs / schedule dictate. 

Going forward we will be donating any boxes that aren't picked up by Saturday morning from the farm stand. We simply can't stand behind having produce sit until Sunday night, especially with only warmer days ahead. Thank you for your understanding.

Our partnered pick-up locations also thank you for timely pick-up.

Let us know if you have any questions or care to make edits to your current CSA membership (pick-up / delivery).

Space Remains to join us in our weekly

Vegetable Mission!

As we roll into week two of our new season of Summer CSA, we're just now building steam for more of the season's greatest hits.

We'd love to continue to share our produce with our expanded community. Your word of mouth in sharing the work of our farm, farm stand, and CSA program helps us delivery fresh produce to our those looking for a local source.

Help us too in making the most of our delivery time by recommending us to neighbors or local friends. Thank you!

If you haven't yet secured your membership or care to refer someone to our CSA program, space remains to still join us. Pro-rated rates are always available to jump-in, mid-season.

SUMMER CSA Season Schedule

Refer above for the breakdown by week of our full season schedule.

Going to be out of town for some summer travel? Or can't make it for pick-up one week?

Email [email protected] to arrange deferred pick-up or arrangements to gift your produce to a friend or neighbor in your absence or donate your box.

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!

Dinner with Your Farmer

Dates & Tickets Dropping Soon...

We are excited to return to our season of Farm Dinners here at Live Oak Farm! We are just working on finalizing a few of our last partnerships and tickets before announcement to you our CSA members and farm newsletter subscribers. Stay tuned!