News from Terra Firma Farm

We're just a month away from Farm Day, October 16th, 2-5 pm, and we've finally made tickets available through our Web Store (more info below). That doesn't mean we're ready for the event, but we will be soon.

We invite you to come up and visit, walk through our fields, and visit your winter produce while it is still growing. There will be tractor hayrides, a tour of the farm, and if the weather cooperates, a preview of spring in our recently planted strawberry field. We will have a large assortment of pumpkins for your family or household's jack o'lantern needs, as well as a variety of fresh produce for sale.

If your little ones still have any energy left after exploring the farm, they can spend some time in the bounce house. Bigger kids can take a spin on the bicycle-powered Ride to the Moon that was such a big hit last year, courtesy of our neighbor Anton from Somerset Farm. Live music this year will be courtesy of Arann Harris and the Farm Band.

As I mentioned the last few weeks, we will return to the "bring your own picnic" format that worked so well for years. We will provide water and juice; Berryessa Gap Vineyards will be sampling and selling wine. For more information, see Farm Day Tickets, below.

What's the Opposite of a CSA?

In Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), eaters make a financial commitment to buy food from a farm in advance, and then reap the benefits by receiving food every week. Making an investment in a CSA reaps dividends that some folks feel is more valuable than money.
Wall Street has taken a big interest in farming lately as well, but -- as usual -- both their motives and methods may be less community-oriented. As detailed in the L.A. Times this week, money managers hunting for a higher return in the wreckage of the housing and stock bubble have discovered a finite resource that they believe is recession-proof: farmland. They are creating mutual fund-type investment vehicles that pool together money to buy up large tracts and then hire farm managers to plant and harvest the acreage.
     Feudal serfdom is not a new invention: wealthy people have owned farmland for millenium and employed others to grow crops on it. And farming is an extremely capital intense industry even when land ownership is taken out of the equation. If done ethically, this type of joint mass ownership of farmland could provide an opportunity for younger farmers to make a career farming acreage that they could never afford to own.
Unfortunately, Wall Street's money making schemes almost always seem to have negative unintended consequences to those who don't reap the direct rewards. In the last decade, hard working people put their money into retirement investments run by bankers who demanded that companies offshore millions of American jobs. In the end, many of those people ending up losing both their jobs and their savings.
Farmers are not humanitarians, and all of us do our best to plant the crops that will produce the highest return. But Wall Street farmers will have much easier access to large amounts of capital, and will thus be more able to quickly shift from one crop to another -- even if that means growing food entirely for export. Unlike many countries, there are no rules about foreign ownership of land in the U.S. With China's growing middle class hungry for walnuts, almonds and other crops best grown in California, it's not impossible to imagine our state becoming an agricultural colony, with large chunks of land held by investment vehicles owned by the Chinese government.
    Looking on the "bright side", given the track record of investment bankers, it's far more likely that this Wall Street trend will end in a bust while the geniuses who thought up the idea walk away with millions. My advice for you: stick to an investment with a 17 year track record of healthy returns -- Terra Firma's CSA.
Thanks,
                      Pablito

In your boxes:

There are great things about the produce of each season, but early fall has to take first prize in both the abundance and diversity awards. Just look at what's in your box! Arugula and Tomatoes, possibly the best salad combination ever invented. Beets and Sweet Corn, two great tastes that taste great together, but are almost never combined. Green Beans and Grapes, two produce items that, umm, both start with "G" but otherwise have nothing in common!
We are growing a new variety of Arugula this season that looks a bit different: darker green and with a pointier leaf. It's a cross of cultivated arugula and the wild stuff (which doesn't grow well for us) that holds up better in the fridge and has a crisper texture.

Tomato Arugula Salad with Roasted Green Beans -
Vine-ripe tomato juice, extracted with salt and combined with olive oil, is the best dressing for arugula. No vinegar necessary.
Trim and dice 1/2 lb. of green beans and toss with 1 T. olive oil. Roast in the oven at 425 on a cookie sheet. When they are browned on one side, add 2 cloves minced garlic. Cook until nicely browned.
Meanwhile, dice 2-3 ripe tomatoes, place in a bowl, and salt generously. Allow to sit at least 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add 2 T. olive oil.
Combine arugula and the green beans with the tomatoes, then add 1/4 C. crumbled feta cheese and toss.

Spare Ribs with Vegetable "Sauce"

Most barbeque sauces contain tomato (paste), onion (powder), and corn (syrup and starch). This recipe takes the idea back to its roots and uses the whole vegetables to provide a sweet and tangy atmosphere for pork ribs.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on 1 lb. of pork spare ribs and allow to sit for up to 1 hour.
In a cast iron pan, brown the ribs on both sides under the broiler of the oven.
Dice 1 onion and add to the pan; remove the ribs and set aside. Turn the oven to 425 and roast the onions until they begin to turn brown.
Cut the kernels off 2 ears of corn and dice 2 beets. Add to the onion. When they begin to brown, dice 2 tomatoes and add to the pan. Cook until the tomatoes release their juices.
Add the ribs back to the pan and cover with vegetables. Continue to roast the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the corn begins to brown and the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

Farm Day Ticket info