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

We had several days of wild weather last week up here, with thunderstorms, heavy rain and even a tiny bit of hail totalling almost three inches. In a drought year, it's pretty hard to complain about. Even if we don't get another drop of rain this month, April is now than either January or December was. We're still just about 50% of normal, but at least we got a nice soaking to green everything up. We haven't irrigated in over a week and it will be another week until we have to. Every day we don't run the pumps we are saving water.

The timing couldn't have been better, as both our Strawberries and Peas waited to ripen until after the rain passed. It's impossible to harvest either crop during or just after rain. Last year we set a TFF record for earliest-ever ripe berries; this year we have beaten that record by three days. That doesn't mean we have enough berries for everyone this week (or peas) -- please see below for more details. But it is officially the first week of our spring harvest season.

In completely unrelated news, we have started an Instagram page @Terrafirmafarm. Our farm is a beautiful place that offers us amazing images almost every day, and we wanted a better format to share that with you than the space offered in this newsletter. You can follow us or not, it's up to you. I don't promise that we'll post every day, but we just might.

Thanks,

Pablito

This week's Boxes

Any time we start a new crop, we are never sure how much of it we will harvest from the field for the first few days, and if that will be enough for all, some or none of your boxes. Monday was our first pick of Snap Peas, English Peas, and Strawberries. This made for a bit of a chaotic day, especially since the farm was still a muddy mess from the rain just days before.

In the end, we figured out a way so that all of you get a certain amount of at least one of these items. With warm weather expected all week, our harvest for next week's boxes will be more abundant and we will be able to share the wealth.

An important note about the Strawberries, which are in the Large boxes only this week: the heavy rain splashed lots of dirt up onto the strawberry plants and berries -- more than we have ever seen. It's always a good idea to wash berries just before eating them, but in this case it is a must.

Asparagus in this week's boxes is also quite dirty due to the rain. You can't see the dirt; it hides in the crevices at the tips of the spears. Make sure to soak your 'gras in a cold water bath before preparing.

Snap Peas have both edible peas and pods. To prepare them, simply remove the "tab" at the end and any string that may come off with it.

English Peas are longer and fatter than Snaps, with a tough skin. Pop the pods open and remove the peas inside; they are sweet and tender.

Both types can be eaten raw like a snack, or just lightly cooked.

Salad mix this week is a mixture of baby lettuce, arugula, and red spinach.

Chioggia Beets produce an abundance of greens, more than other varieties. We have sent you a bunch of the leaves, sans roots, this week. They are very similar to green chard or bunching spinach, extremely nutritious and mild in flavor.

The Green Garlic in your boxes is starting to bulb up and may have a layer or three of tough skin on it that you should remove before using. We will be switching to another field that is slightly less mature the next time we send it to you.

Recipe: Asparagus-Green Garlic Tapenade
This is basically a chunky sandwich spread. Eat it on toast or add to a grilled cheese sandwich before grilling. It is also a flavorful addition to a quinoa or other prepared salad, or to a pasta dish.

Trim 1 bunch of asparagus. Slice stems fatter than your pinky in half lengthwise. Mince the asparagus on an angle. The pieces should be on the small side of bite-sized.

Remove any tough outer layer from 1 stem of green garlic. Finely mince the garlic, including the green stem up to the leaves. You want 1/2 C.

Remove the pits (if any) from 1 C. of brined "country-style" olives. They can be black or green or a combination. Finely dice them.

Heat 2 T. olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat. Add crushed hot pepper if you like. When the garlic is soft, add the olives and raise the heat. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add the asparagus and cook until it is tender but not mushy. Season to taste with salt.