News from Terra Firma Farm

I've been writing the Terra Firma CSA newsletter for almost 20 years, and for more than ten of those years, I've been using the same MS Publisher format. Over those 17 years, we have made hundreds of thousands of paper copies of the newsletter and dropped them off at sites throughout the Bay and Sacramento Areas. We've gone through several copy machines, and paid tens of thousands of dollars in repair contracts.

No more. This will be last TFF newsletter that we will copy onto paper at the farm and deliver with your box.

Welcome to the 21st century version of TFF's newsletter. This document was created using the email newsletter program Constant Contact and was sent to the email address of all of our subscribers. While we did print out and send one last newsletter -- an abridged version of this email = from now on we will let you decide whether or not you need a paper copy. If so, you will be able to print the newsletter after opening it in your email.

If you choose not to read it at all, you can throw it in the trash of your email program without affecting the environment in the slightest. However, it is important to remember that we count on subscribers to check the newsletter for important updates about delivery scheduling changes. So we will always send the email newsletter to current members, at the address listed on their TFF account. If you have another address you want to receive the newsletter at, send a reply with that address.

A printable email newsletter allows me to communicate with our customers in ways beyond simply words: sharing photos of the farm, links to other resources, etc. It also gives me the flexibility to change the format from week to week. And unlike a blog or a dedicated website, this format gives you a nicely formatted print version if you would rather read a hard copy. It means a lot to me that many of you asked me to make sure that the newsletter could still be read at your dinner table by family and friends.

We will be creating a new archive for the email newsletters and adding it to the TFF website while leaving the existing archive intact.

I am very excited about the possibilities of this new format, and I think that regular readers will find the change refreshing.

Thanks,

Pablito

In your boxes:

One thing we can say about 2010: It was a good year for Peaches. The cold winter helped set lots of fruit on the trees and the mild summer helped even out the ripening and keep a steady supply. We've had peaches in your boxes regularly since May, but we've now almost completed the harvest and this will likely be the last week of the season. September peaches are, much like the month itself, mostly a nostalgic taste of the real summer experience that is now fading into memory.

Some years we wait until October before we send you the first Winter Squash of the season. By then, most of the crop has usually been harvested and safely stored in the barn for the winter. This year, we have just begun harvest, and yet with fall already apparently in affect, it seems totally appropriate to put a Butternut squash in your boxes. It also gives you a nice opportunity to combine it with some of the lingering summer flavors in your box: sweet corn, tomatoes, and sweet peppers.

PRODUCE 101

We're currently using a tool that squirts vegetable oil onto the tip of every ear of sweet corn. This is supposed to kill the caterpillars that eat the corn -- and sometimes it does. But it also makes the end of the corn brown and mushy. Either way, your best bet is cut off the tips before refrigerating.

Roasted Butternut-Corn Chowder-- roasting the veggies in the oven instead of sauteing gives you time to do other things. The trick is to have the patience to not just eat them all as soon as they come out of the oven!
Peel a butternut squash, then cut in half. Dice the squash into 1-2 inch pieces.
Peel and chop 1 onion. Core and dice 2-3 sweet peppers.
Remove the husks from 3 ears of corn and cut the kernels off.
Combine all the vegetables on 1 or 2 baking sheets, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and 1 T. cumin powder.
Roast in the oven at 400 degrees, turning a few times, until the vegetables are nicely browned -- 30-40 minutes.
Heat 1 quart of vegetable broth in a soup pot and add the vegetables. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer half the soup into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
Return to the pot and add 1/2 C. heavy cream. Heat through (do not boil) and season with salt and pepper.

Other recipe links:

Here's a very simple recipe from the New York Times for creamed corn with a tangy twist:

Creamed Corn with Gorgonzola

Farm Day: Saturday, October 16th

That's the day you'll want to make the trek out to the farm for an afternoon of picnicking, pumpkins, and - we hope - a sneak preview of next year's strawberry crop.
Other attractions will include music by Arann Harris and the Farm Band, the amazing pedal powered Ride to the Moon, and the usual farm activities. Food this year will be entirely BYO, but we will have at least one winery pouring their selections.
As we did last year, we will be selling tickets to the event for $5, redeemable for pumpkins or produce. Look for an email in the next week or two with details.