News from Terra Firma Farm

Greetings!
Every fall, as our planet's weather makes its churning transition to winter, harsh dry winds flow down from the Shasta and Sierra mountains and funnel along the western edge of the Sacramento Valley. Similar to the Santa Ana winds of Southern California, they suck the moisture from soil, plants, and humans alike. While they can come any time of year, and can be hot or cold, they are most common from Labor Day until Thanksgiving. The pattern typically lasts for 3 days and nights.
2010 has been a rough weather year for us, and for California farmers in general, but in regard to the north winds, it has been unusually mild: when the winds have come, they haven't been strong, and they haven't lasted long. This week, however, seems to be making up for that.
Everyone hates working in the wind. It blows dust in your eyes, knocks down solid objects that don't normally need securing, and wilts the plants that we are trying to harvest. Since the wind started on Friday night, we shut the farm down for the weekend (Saturday is normally a work day this time of year). But it kept blowing right on through Sunday night and got even stronger Monday. With many of our fall crops maturing unusually quickly due to the hot weather that came along with the wind, we have lots to do this week and another day off was not an option.
The week before Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest weeks of the year for us, as we try to harvest, pack and deliver tons of produce for a holiday that comes on a Thursday. We will likely work straight through the weekend in order get all that produce loaded onto our trucks by Tuesday night for Wednesday's deliveries. Then we'll take a few days off and start the race towards our winter break at the end of December.

Pablito

Food Safety Legislation Update

There's an important vote in the U.S. Senate this week that will affect small farms like Terra Firma, which could end up being treated just like big agribusiness under Senate Bill S.110. Send an email or call your Senators asking for two amendments protecting organic and small scale farms: The Tester-Hagan Amendment and the Manager's Amendment. More information here.

Get More Mandarins

We've heard it before: The 2 or 3 pounds of mandarins in your boxes don't last very long. If you've got a household of three or four, they're probably all gone in a day. Well we've got the answer for you: 5 lb. boxes of mandarins, delivered along with your CSA box, for an affordable $8. With our new online ordering system, we are making the mandarins available to subscribers in two ways:
1) As a subscription option: You can order 5 weeks of mandarins for $40 by logging in, then going to "Subscriptions" and then clicking on "Change Subscription". If you want 10 lbs. each week, order two options.
2) A box at a time: Say you just need a few extra boxes for your Thanksgiving celebration next week, and then another one for that office party on December 10th. Log in to your account and click on the "Web Store" link in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This method can only be used to order mandarins for your next delivery, and not further in advance. Orders must be placed within 48 hours of delivery.

Bulk mandarin deliveries start next week (Nov. 23st) and go until Dec. 23rd.

Meyer Lemons

If you like vegetables, there's a pretty good chance you also use your fair share of lemons. That's because the flavor of lemon juice is one of nature's perfect accompaniments to all different types of fresh veggies: from asparagus to zucchini.
Our lemon season is primarily fall into winter (now), although with some luck it can extend until early spring. We mostly grow Meyer Lemons, because they are more resistant to cold temperatures. Meyer lemon season is similar to Satsuma Mandarin season, and the lemons themselves bear a passing resemblance to the mandarins, with a smooth skin that is easy to peel. When the lemons are fully ripe, the juice and flesh are sweeter than standard supermarket varieties.
We have a good crop of lemons on the trees this year, so we are jumping the gun on harvest just a bit: the rinds are still partially green and the juice still tart. For the time being, as long as you treat the lemons as, well, lemons, they should be a nice addition to your box. Just don't try to peel and eat one, yet.

Why is my broccoli purple?

In your boxes today, you should find a head or two of a purple vegetable that looks something like broccoli but also a bit like cauliflower. Technically the latter, Violet Queen really tastes more like the former. And if you cook it, it will also look alot like broccoli, since it will turn green.
Other than being useful as a conversation piece for a salad or crudite plate, Violet Queen is a vigorous variety that often fits nicely into our harvest schedule. Cold weather in November can sometimes slow the growth of our regular broccoli at a time of high demand -- Thanksgiving. That's not really an issue for us this year, as the unusually warm weather has accelerated most of our fall crops.
Meanwhile, on the paler side of the spectrum, our white Cauliflower is not enjoying the warm weather, which has allowed aphid populations to flare up and infest the majority of our early field. It's unlikely that we'll have enough cauliflower for the majority of the boxes until late December at the earliest.

Fall Vegetables with Garlic-Walnut Sauce
-You could also roast the veggies in this recipe rather than steaming. We are currently out of walnuts, we will send you some as soon as we get the new crop back from the processor. The recipe for the sauce is by Mark Bittman from his series of Thanksgiving recipes.
Steam 1 lb. of beets (red or gold) until tender, about 25 minutes, then trim and peel. Cut the beets into thick slices or chunks.
While the beets are cooking, brown 3 whole cloves of garlic in 2 T. olive oil for 6 minutes, then add 1/4 C. walnuts and cook for another 4 minutes.
Remove the garlic and walnuts into a food processor or blender and puree to make a smooth paste. Add 2 T. freshly squeezed orange juice plus salt and pepper to taste.
Trim 1 lb. of Purple Broccoli (or cauliflower or green broccoli) and cut into florets. Steam until just tender, then rinse well to cool.
Combine the vegetables and the sauce and serve atop a bed of greens.

Early Newsletter Next Week
With Thursday and Friday deliveries happening on Tuesday (Nov. 23rd), I'll be writing another newsletter in just a few days and sending it out early. So all subscribers can expect to get the Turkeyday communique from us on Tuesday afternoon. This should give everyone planning to use some or all of the contents of your box in a holiday meal plenty of advance notice about exactly what is and isn't in the box (you can find a partial list to the left).
With our new system, subscribers can also get a second box of any size -- even just for a week -- as long as you order it 3 days in advance. Just go to your account and click "Change Subscription" to add an additional box -- just remember to change it back the next week unless you want two boxes every week.