Greetings!   

   Around this time of year, people often ask me "are you done with the harvest yet"?  I generally explain to them that for us at Terra Firma, "the harvest" is a never-ending daily activity.  We are harvesting something, somewhere on our farm, fifty weeks a year.  In any given week, more than half the items in your CSA box were harvested just a day or two before you receive them. 

The majority of farm crops are stored for long periods, primarily corn and other grains, dry beans, and seeds like sunflowers.  In most temperate regions of the world, including Northern California, fall is harvest season for these crops.  They are planted in spring, grow through the long days of summer, and mature when the days start to get shorter and colder.   

Human society has evolved around storage crops for many good reasons.  Grains and dry beans are extremely efficient at providing carbohydrates and protein in a form that is relatively unperishable and lightweight, especially compared to fresh fruit or vegetables. Crops harvested in the fall keep well during the cold of winter in most places with no need for refrigeration or heat.  Very few crops grow well during the winter in temperate regions. 

Most of the important storage crops lend themselves to mechanical harvest -- they are dry, hard, and not particularly fragile -- and are grown on large acreages.  After harvest, they are commingled in storage with crops from other farms and become commodities.  While they may be profitable for some farmers -- depending on the price -- for small growers like us they simply don't pencil out.  It's perfectly fine to net $50 per acre on a crop if you are farming 1000 acres, but growing ten acres simply doesn't make sense.  This is why you won't see Terra Firma wheat, dry beans, or corn flour in your boxes any time soon.

Still, most of time, some percentage of the items in your CSA box were not harvested fresh that day or week, but rather at some point in the past.  They are then stored at a certain temperature until needed.  Among the crops we grow for storage are potatoes, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, winter squash, asian pears, walnuts, and pistachios.  Many of these are harvested in the fall, but onions and potatoes get planted and harvested twice a year.  Garlic grows through the winter,  is dug up in the late spring, and stores through January.  

The Butternut squash in your boxes today is one of Terra Firma's most important storage crops.  While we do also grow Delicata and Acorn squash, properly stored butternut keeps several months longer than either of those.  Butternut is more insect resistant than most winter squash, and produces almost twice as much per acre on our farm.  Like most winter squash, butternut is a versatile and nutrient-dense food.  Unlike most vegetables, it can be used in either savory or sweet recipes, and it keeps on your kitchen counter for weeks.  

We finished harvesting our winter squash field last week, and have a barn full of it that we will be using in your boxes for the next several months.  Meanwhile, the field has been prepared for the next crop, onions that will get planted starting tomorrow and harvested in May.  Terra Firma, the place of eternal harvest...  

Pablito