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!

Important Reminder: Because it's Thanksgiving week, you are receiving this newsletter on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. If you normally get your box on Thursday or Friday, you need to go pick it up today instead!

Thanksgiving is always a crunch at Terra Firma: a full week's harvest and deliveries packed into a half week of short days. This year the whole endeavor has been made more complicated by absences of key staff members due to family emergencies and injuries. On the plus side, the weather has decided to cooperate a bit: although our fields are a muddy mess from the weekend rain, the storm forecast for today never materialized.

It's been many months since we have shut the farm down for more than one day, and we are looking forward to some quiet time around here. I hope all of you have a happy holiday with family and friends, whether you're at home or on the road. We at Terra Firma thank you all for continuing to support our farm and our families!

Thanks,

Pablito

In your boxes
As advertised, your boxes this week contain the first ripe fruit out of our Satsuma Mandarin orchard. There's just a pound of mandarins in each box (more for Large boxes) because there wasn't much ripe fruit out there yet. We fully expect a much larger harvest next week and thus a larger share in your boxes. We will also make them available in bulk as soon as we have enough.

You also get a bag of Walnuts today. It's been several months since we've sent you any nuts, and they are an important ingredient in many people's holiday baking recipes. And since walnuts are already harvested and stored in the cooler, it is one less item for the field crew to have to pick. If you're wondering when you might see some pistachios again -- we are waiting to get the new crop back from the processor and are hoping to get some in your boxes before Christmas.

Sweet Potatoes come to you today unwashed. We don't have a good system here for drying the roots after washing them when it's cold and rainy. Wet sweet potatoes rot very quickly in moist air, and we wanted to avoid that even if it creates a slight inconvenience for you. If you wash your sweet potatoes more than a day or so before using them, take care to dry them with a paper towel or in a wire basket. Always store sweet potatoes at room temperature, as refrigeration damages them.

Asian Pears in your boxes may be...uh, "pear" shaped. Unlike most of their cousins, Yali pears have the fat bottom and skinny top of European pears. Don't be fooled though. Yalis are meant to be eaten just like the other varieties of asian pears we grow -- crisp like an apple. And since they are not as sweet as most other pears, they are almost the perfect "salad pear" tossed with greens or served with cheese. We have just a dozen or so trees of this variety, so you might not get any in your boxes, but if you do, now you know...

Cabbage is the perfect vegetable to have in your fridge the day before Thanksgiving. Why? If you're making a big meal the next day, you can make the salad as long in advance as you like -- no worries about wilty or overdressed greens. In fact, cabbage salads taste best when allowed to sit for a few hours. If you're not cooking for Thanksgiving, you can use the cabbage to make a salad the next day with whatever leftovers you bring home. Cabbage Salad with Turkey and Roasted Veggies, etc. And if for whatever reason you don't use the cabbage at all this week, well, it will still be there in your fridge Monday.

Recipe: Cabbage Salad with Cranberry Leek Vinagrette
This recipe can also be made with 3 T. chopped pancetta or bacon cooked with the leeks in place of the olive oil. To make a larger batch of salad, use the whole cabbage and double the amounts of everything else.

Combine 1/4 C. dried cranberries (sweetened) or currents with 3 T. balsamic vinegar. Heat in a microwave or pan briefly, then allow to soak for 15 minutes.

Cut one head of cabbage in half horizontally. Place the cut side of one half down and shred it.

Clean and dice 1 large or 2 small leeks. Heat 3 T. olive oil in a skillet and add the leeks. Saute over low heat until the leeks are soft and beginning to brown. Add a little water if necessary to keep them from burning. Remove from heat and stir in the cranberries and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the leek vinagrette over the cabbage and toss well to combine.

Chop 1/2 C. of walnuts and then toast them in a skillet until they begin to brown.

Cut 1 Asian pear into large chunks, discarding the core (you can peel first if you like). Cut the pieces into a small dice. Toss with lemon juice.

Grate 3 Carrots.

Toss the cabbage with all the other ingredients.

Recipe: Thanksgiving Leftovers Cabbage and Kale Salad.
This is an easy way to give your leftovers a makeover and turn them into a slightly more healthy lunch the next day. Obviously this is a very free-form recipe; once you have the cabbage/kale base and the dressing, you can add whatever you like.

Combine 1/4 C. dried cranberries (sweetened) or currents with 6 T. balsamic vinegar. Heat in a microwave or pan briefly, then allow to soak for 15 minutes.

Clean and dice 1 large or 2 small leeks. Heat 4 T. olive oil in a skillet and add the leeks. Saute over low heat until the leeks are soft and beginning to brown. Add a little water if necessary to keep them from burning. Remove from heat and stir in the cranberries and vinegar. Season with salt, pepper and a little mustard if you like.

Cut one head of cabbage in half horizontally. Place the cut side of one half down and shred it.

Remove and discard the thickest stems of 6 leaves of Dino Kale. Shred the leaves very finely.

Combine the cabbage and kale in a large bowl and toss with half the dressing. Grate 2 carrots and add to the salad. Let sit for at least 15 minutes, tossing to coat a few more times.

Meanwhile, hand shred cooked turkey meat to make 2 C.

Toss the salad with the turkey and 2 C. of whatever roasted vegetables leftovers you have: potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, etc. Taste the salad and add more dressing if necessary plus salt and pepper.