| What's Growing This Week: | |
Tomatoes (All)
Sweet Peppers (All)
Acorn Squash (All)
Asian Pears (All)
Walnuts (All)
Carrots (S,M)
Melons (S,L)
Zucchini (M)
Beets (M,L)
Basil (M,L)
Shishito Peppers (M,L)
Watermelon (L)
Cucumbers (L)
Items may be substituted without notice.
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Contact Us:
| terrafirmafarm.com
csa@terrafirmafarm.com
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| CSA Rates 2012 | Boxes are charged on Monday for the week's deliveries at:
$14 Small
$24 Medium
$32 Large
For a payment of $300, get a 3% bonus. Your account balance will be $309.
For a payment of$850, get a 5% bonus. Your account will be posted as $892.00
For a payment of $1,400, get a 7% bonus. Your payment will be posted as $1,498.
Vacations are charged weekly when notice is given as a fee, no charges occur during the vacation week.
$4 Small
$8 Medium
$11 Large
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Bulk Items
Still available, 10 lb. boxes of ripe tomatoes ready for saucing, jarring or canning. $15 each delivered to your drop site. You can buy boxes one at a time, or subscribe and a get a box every week. Go to your account page to sign up.
Do you love the Shishito frying peppers that we've been putting in your boxes and can't get enough? Now you can buy them in on the Web Store, 5 lbs. for $25. |
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Pledge of Authenticity
Terra Firma is a real farm. We grow 99% of the produce that goes into our boxes on our 220 acres of certified organic land in Winters. If we do buy produce from other farms, it's almost always from a neighboring farm and we give them full credit in the box list.
The owners of Terra Firma are involved in every aspect of making your boxes a reality: walking the fields, planting the crops, selecting and checking what goes in the boxes and finally delivering them to you. We eat the crops from our fields every day, just like you do. Thanks for supporting our efforts and enjoying the food we grow.
Paul, Pablito, & Hector
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Payments, Billing, and Changes
| Schedule vacations, change box sizes, make payments or sign up for autopay by logging in to your subscriber account at terrafirmafarm.com
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News From Terra Firma Farm
Community Supported Agriculture |
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Greetings!
Roughly speaking, all fresh fruits and vegetables fall into one of two categories: harvested fresh or stored. I'm not talking about the difference between fresh broccoli and frozen broccoli or fresh tomatoes and canned ones. Rather, I'm talking about whether a particular produce item needs to be eaten within a few days of being harvested, or whether it can be kept for longer -- weeks or months -- under the correct conditions.
Leafy greens, for example, are generally harvested just a day or three before they are eaten. Root crops, on the other hand, are usually stored for up to six months before being consumed. Yet Cabbage is a leafy green vegetable but it is commonly stored for two or three months without greatly affecting its eating quality. And Leeks are a root vegetable that are most often eaten within a few days of harvest.
Some fresh fruits are picked just days before eating: berries and cherries, for example. But many types of fruit can be refrigerated for a week or two: peaches, plums, apricots, and grapes for example. And the most commonly consumed fruits in the U.S. -- apples and oranges, are often stored for several months.
Nuts are not usually considered "Fresh produce", but they are often lumped in with fruit -- after all, they are tree crops (except peanuts). Almost all nuts commonly grown in the U.S. are storage crops, harvested once a year and then used until next year's harvest. Chesnuts are an exception: they must be used within two months of harvest and kept refrigerated or they will spoil.
Of the crops we grow, the following are harvested within a few days or a week of you receiving them: asparagus, beets and carrots (with tops) broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, leafy greens (except cabbage), tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, spinach, peas, zucchini, cucumbers, peaches, cherries, apricots, melons and strawberries.
The crops we grow that are harvested and then stored before sending them to you include: potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets and carrots (without tops), cabbage, citrus fruit, apples, asian pears, persimmons, winter squash, onions, garlic, walnuts and pistachios.
 | Harvesting butternut squash this week
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September is a big month for harvesting storage crops here and most places in the U.S. Crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, winter squash, pears, apples and nuts grow during the summer and mature between Labor Day and Halloween. All must be harvested before freezing weather arrives -- they are, after all, summer crops and are damaged by cold and/or rain.
In the last few weeks, we have harvested over 100,000 lbs. of these crops that will fill your boxes between now and the end of March.
Summer might still be hanging around, but the crops always seem to know when fall is here. We'll have peppers and tomatoes for a few more weeks but more and more your box will start to look like autumn. There's an Acorn Squash in your box today and the first Sweet Potatoes will be in there tomorrow. The first greens will show up next week and continue weekly from there, and our first broccoli is just a few weeks away.
Thanks,
Pablito
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Farm Day: Saturday, Oct. 20th, 2-5 pm
Terra Firma's annual CSA Subscriber Farm Day is a low-key event that features hay rides around the farm, pick-your-own strawberries, and a tour of some of our fields. For your Halloween needs, there will be an assortment of organic Pumpkins. You are welcome to bring your lunch and picnic in the shade of the orchard. Alternately, you can hang out at the farm for a while and then head to Winters for some wine tasting and an early dinner at one of our excellent local eateries.
Tickets for our annual Open Farm Day go on sale Thursday, September 20th on the Web Store. Tickets are first come, first served. They are $5 and can be redeemed for produce, pumpkins and possibly other items. Children under 12 get in free, but they will need a ticket to get a pumpkin.
Raindate is the following Saturday, October 27th.
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In your boxes
Fall is nut harvest time -- last week we harvested our pistachio orchard and the walnut orchard is next. We usually celebrate by sending out the last of last year's nuts, so in today's boxes you will find a bag of Walnuts. Organic walnuts should always be refrigerated or frozen until used.
The first winter squash of the 2012 season is in your boxes today: shiny black/green Acorns. These squash are not sugary-sweet, but rather have a nice balance of flavor. They are often cut in half and baked until tender and moist, then scooped out and eaten with butter, salt, or other toppings. They can also be half baked, then filled with a pilaf or other stuffing and topped with cheese, then baked some more. My favorite way to cook them, however, is to cut them in half from top to bottom, scoop out the seeds, and slice them along their natural serrations. Toss these slices with salt, olive oil and other spices and then roast on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees, turning them once so that both sides get nicely caramelized.
We've been harvesting the Shishito frying peppers green for a while now, but last week some of them started to turn bright red. The ripe peppers are very sweet and fruity when fried or roasted, and make a nice combo with the green ones.
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Recipe: Beet and Shishito Salad with Asian Pears and Walnuts
Early fall gives us the opportunity to combine ingredients that are not usually in season at the same time.
Boil or steam 3-4 beets until you can pierce them with a paring knife. Drop into cold water to cool. The skins should peel off easily. Cut the beets in half, then slice into half rounds.
While the beets are cooking, pan fry 1-2 C. whole shishito peppers in 1 T. olive oil. When they begin to soften, sprinkle with salt. Use a tongs to turn the peppers and remove individuals from the pan as they get seared on both sides. Place in a bowl to cool.
In a bowl, mix 1 T. soy sauce, 1 t. sesame oil, 1 T. olive oil, and 2 T. rice wine vinegar.
Cut the stems off the peppers and then chop them roughly and add to the salad. Toss with the beets in a large bowl, then add just enough dressing to coat the vegetables. Allow them to sit for 10 minutes, then taste and add more dressing if necessary.
Chop 1/2 C. walnuts and toast in a skillet until they begin to caramelize.
Mince fresh ginger to make 2 T.
Peel 1 Asian Pear and then cut 1/4" thick slices off it. Cut the slices into a small dice until you have 1/2 C. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and cayenne pepper and toss with the walnuts and ginger.
Serve the salad with a dollop of pear mixture on top or alongside.
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