News from Terra Firma Farm

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

Bulk Items

From time to time we have bulk bagged carrots available, 10 lbs. for $12. If you are interested, let us know and we will put you on the list.

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

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

News From Terra Firma Farm

Community Supported Agriculture

Greetings!

Carrots are one of our staple crops at Terra Firma, and have been one of the most consistently popular items in our CSA boxes for years. The handful of restaurants that we sell our produce to have always loved our carrots. But apparently, carrots are now trendy with chefs across the country, who are putting them in the spotlight on their menus, giving them a role previously reserved for meat or fish. Or at least so says the New York Times.

Carrot consumption has skyrocketed in the U.S. in the last fifteen years or so, probably mostly due to the fact that they are the vegetable most similar to candy (well, good ones are) while having thousands of times more nutritional value. While carrots are grown in several regions across the country, the main area is about three hours south of us, around Bakersfield. But due to the demand, the carrot growing region of California is expanding further north every year.

Carrots are not easy to grow. They may actually be the most difficult crop we farm. Their seeds are tiny and produce weak seedlings that are vulnerable to wind and hot weather for over a month. They require almost daily irrigation during this period. They also compete poorly with weeds, which flourish thanks to all that water. And because they are planted very densely -- just an inch apart -- they must be painstakingly handweeded at exactly the right time. If you wait a week too long to do this, the tiny plants vanish under the much more vigorous weeds.

Once the plants are 6 inches tall, they pretty much take care of themselves. The pests and diseases they are susceptible to can mostly be avoided by ensuring that you don't plant them in the same spot too often -- crop rotation. And while they can take forever to reach maturity -- as long as 6 months in the winter -- they produce an incredible amount of food. At Terra Firma, one bed (1/36 acre) will produce as much 5000 bunches of carrots.

On the downside, we harvest all our carrots by hand using a pitchfork -- most of them out of the mud during the wet winter. We have to remove most of that mud by hand in the field before washing the carrots, or we would never get it off. It can easily take one person an hour to harvest 20 bunches of carrots. The big carrot growers use machines that can harvest that many carrots in a few seconds.

And that is where one of the big differences comes in. We grow hybrid French carrots that are brittle, tender, juicy -- and which cannot be harvested with a machine. Supermarket carrots are very sweet (sometimes), but they are tough enough to be pulled out of the ground at 15 mph., run over several conveyor belts, and dropped into a semi-trailer with several tons of other carrots without breaking.

Carrots also have a season. They taste best during cool, wet weather. While they may still be sweet during hot weather, they will be less tender and have a stronger flavor. We take the hottest months of the summer off from harvesting carrots, although some years we have enough to put some into cold storage before the heat arrives and send them to you later. These are never our best carrots, but they are usually still better than supermarket ones.

Terra Firma subscribers have always known that there are two different types of carrots in the world. But apparently chefs are just figuring it out. And they are realizing that carrots like ours deserve a central place on the menu, not just an ornamental role on the side, steamed or boiled.

Whatever the trend, we have been growing the same amount of carrots at Terra Firma for over ten years -- about 3 acres annually in 10 different plantings. They simply take too much labor to grow for us to want to produce any more of them. We always want to be sure we have enough for you, our subscribers, so we plant a little extra. Because you never know when the heat or wind is going to wilt part, or a whole field, of seedlings. So sometimes we have a few to sell to the chefs. But if they want to get them every week, well, they have to sign up for the CSA.

Thanks,

Pablito

In your boxes
If there's a theme in your boxes this week, it's not Halloween. It might be "Greens", or it might be "Produce from the Far Shores of the Pacific".

Asian Pears, baby Bok Choy, and Tokyo Turnips are all crops that grow very well here as well as across the Pacific. Not surprising, given that plant breeders in China, Japan, Thailand and other Asian nations have centuries more experience at growing fruits and vegetables than any European agricultural tradition does.

Bok Choy is a wonderful vegetable. It is is mild and crisp, cooks quickly, absorbs other flavors nicely, and is loaded with nutrition. Unfortunately, you have to eat a lot of it to use the whole head. Enter Baby Bok Choy, a super-scaled down version that can even be cooked whole or in quarters. Same great vegetable in a smaller package, need I say more?

Tokyo Turnips are also a big innovation. Unlike traditional turnips, they have no thick, tough skin to peel. They are mild with just a hint of peppery flavor, and small enough to eat whole or in halves. Plus, you can eat them raw or cooked. The greens are also tender, and while retaining their peppery bite, are still approachable.

Spinach is often one of our first leafy crops out of the gate in the fall, but we had problems with the heat. The spinach in your boxes this week is "teenage" (as opposed to baby) which means you can still use it in salads, but you'll want to chop it a bit. Or you can saute it quickly and it won't disappear.

Most years, we hold off on harvest of our Leek field until our fall crop of Onions is finished. Normally, this happens in December or even January. But this year, our onion crop was a major disaster, and is now gone. So we're digging Leeks two months earlier than normal.

Leeks are essentially non-bulbing, non-skinning onions that are harvested fresh. They contain less water than onions and burn more easily when cooked, which is why they are often used in soups. But with a little attention, they can easily be substituted for onions in most recipes. Cook them on lower heat, and add some broth or wine if they stick to the pot. To prepare, cut the leaves off where they meet the shank, and then clean the shank carefully down at least two inches by cutting an "X" into it. Slice lengthwise or crosswise. Unlike onions, leeks must be stored in the fridge,

Recipe: Roasted Carrots and Turnips on a bed of Greens
Sure, this recipe title sounds similar to last week's. But it's not. Really. Just try it.

Peel one clove of garlic and mash with 1 t. sesame seeds, 1 t. cumin seeds, a dash of red chile flakes, 1/2 t. salt, and 1/4 t. black pepper to make a paste. Add 1 T. red wine vinegar and 1 T. sesame oil and mix well.

Trim 1 bunch of carrots and scrub. If they are thicken than your thumb, slice in half lengthwise. Cut the tops off 1 bunch of Tokyo turnips, then rinse the roots and cut in half. Reserve the greens.

Cut the leaves off 1 Leek and then cut down into the shank to clean it. Cut into quarters lengthwise.

Toss the carrots, turnips, and leeks with the spice paste. Place in a baking dish and roast until the carrots are tender and brown, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash baby bok Choy, Tokyo Turnip greens, and spinach to make 6 C. Cut the larger Bok Choy leaves in half from top to bottom.

Heat 1 T. olive oil in a wok until very hot. Add the bok choy and stir fry for 3 minutes, then add the other greens. Turn off the heat but keep stir frying until the turnips and spinach are tender. Season with salt.

When the carrot mixture is done, place the vegetables on the bed of greens. Deglaze the roasting pan with the juice of one lemon, then drizzle this over the veggies.