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

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

Three months in, the theme to the 2014 growing season is clear: All Spring, All the Time! While the season doesn't officially get started until late next week, don't tell the plants.

Asparagus is the groundhog of the vegetable farm, and as you are well aware, it showed up almost a month ahead of schedule this year, sticking it's pointy green head out of the ground in mid-February and liking what it found.

Peaches and nectarines were another early indicator, with some varieties starting their blooms in January. At this point even the latest-maturing varieties are well into their bloom. This is three weeks earlier than last year -- and last year was earlier than normal. Unless the weather changes quite dramatically, which it very well still could, we are expecting to start harvest in May. A late frost could damage some of the fruit, but right now there are lots of tiny peaches and tons of blossoms.

Our Strawberry field has pushed out its first blossoms, and there are already small green fruit. We normally expect ripe fruit around 6 weeks after the first flowers, so it's possible you will see them in your boxes by the third week of April. This is about the same time we began harvest last year -- which was our earliest berry season ever.

Grapes are also a month ahead of schedule right now. We normally wait to prune the vines until about now, since rain after pruning can bring disease into the fresh cuts. But with buds pushing out early, we were forced to start in late February between the storms. Now we are racing to catch up.

Grapes starting to leaf out
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As I mentioned in another newsletter, we also planted the first Tomatoes in February, two weeks early. Luckily the wet weather that followed wasn't too cold, and it's been warm ever since. I can't say the little plants look exactly happy, but they should quickly start growing with 80 degree weather forecast for this weekend. If all goes well you could easily see a few tomatoes in your boxes in just over two months.

As the old adage goes, March often has a bad tendency towards schizophrenia, and this winter's weather has already given us a very painful case of whiplash once. In past years, we have lost peaches and tomatoes to heavy rains and strong wind in late March. And a frost on April 5th burned the grapes just a few years back.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that spring sticks around until, um, Spring.

Pablito

This week's Boxes

We've been harvesting Ruby Red Grapefruits for a couple of weeks now, and making them available via the web store. This week they are in your boxes. Due to their thick peels, and to the location of the orchard, they appear to have avoided freeze damage almost entirely. They are rich and juicy.

We are aware that some people enjoy grapefruit much more than others. So despite having an abundant supply, we will only put them in the boxes every two or three weeks. You can get a 10 lb. box any time you like though, and some subscribers get one every week.

Frisee Endive is a close relative of the Escarole we put in your boxes two weeks ago, but much smaller. Frisee is used almost exclusively as a salad green, and has a mild flavor just slightly stronger than lettuce. Like their cousins, they will need to be soak and washed carefully as the February rains splashed mud all over them.

We're changing up the Beets in the Large boxes this week. They're not dark red and they're not gold. They are light pink outside, and when you cut them crosswise they are a bullseye of white and red. These are Italian "Chioggia" beets. When cooked they don't bleed, and they maintain their bulleye appearance. They also have the biggest, prettiest greens of any beets in our field right now, having grown back much more quickly after the freeze. These greens taste very much like green chard, and can be prepared the same way.

The baby Spinach in your boxes today is officially our first crop of 2014, planted just after New Year's. Like the asparagus, the spinach has gone through a week of rain. Make sure to wash it well just in case any grit remains tucked in the nooks and crannies.

Recipe: Leek-Asparagus-Mushroom Frittata

Cultivated wild mushrooms are available most of the year now, but around the edges of our fields, and in the forests around the Bay Area, wild mushroom season is peaking right now. The woodsy flavor of Portobellos or Chanterelles is a nice complement to spring vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Trim 1 bunch of asparagus and cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Toss with 1 T. olive and salt, and then pre-cook for 10 minutes in the oven on a baking sheet.

Whisk 6 eggs in a bowl with 1 C. grated parmesan or sharp cheddar cheese. Season generously with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary leaves.

Clean and thinly slice 1 large leek. Saute on low heat with salt and pepper until soft and beginning to brown. Meanwhile, mince green garlic to make 3 T. Clean, trim and slice fresh wild mushrooms to make 2 C. Add to the pan and cook until the mushrooms begin to wilt.

Pour the egg mixture over the leek and mushrooms slowly. Distribute the asparagus over the eggs so they are floating on top in a single layer.

Bake the frittata for 15 minutes. If you want to brown the top, set the oven to low broil and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Serve the frittata alongside a frisee salad dressing with a simple lemon and olive oil vinagrette.