There are many reasons for a farmer to love Solano County.  It has abundant water from Lake Berryessa, an amazing system to deliver that water, and a hundred square miles of the best agricultural soil in California.  It has mild weather, abundant rainfall, and lots of sunshine.  It has a diversity of landscapes that create a wonderful sense of place:  from the oak woodlands of Blue Ridge Mountain foothills to the untouched bluffs on the north side of the Sacramento River and the salt marshes along the Napa River and SF Bay.

 Despite its natural beauty, though, Solano County’s dominant feature is the 60 mile stretch of I-80 that bisects it from southwest to northeast.  This freeway — essentially the only route from the Bay Area to the Sierras — is both a blessing and a curse.  From the perspective of TFF and other Sacramento Valley farmers, I-80 makes for an easy day’s drive to our backyard market — the Bay Area.  The same convenience, however, made Fairfield, Vacaville, and Dixon a resource for homebuilders and buyers pushed out of the Bay Area by high prices and tough land use policies.  County and local governments have seen this development for years as the Midas touch, and have done almost nothing to preserve and protect either Solano County’s agricultural base or its natural beauty.  Only time will tell if the incredible expansion of population and growth in the county will be sustainable, but the bankruptcy filing by Vallejo — another Solano County city — is telling.

 A few years back, data was compiled and a report was issued that surprised the powers that be in the county:  it turns out that agriculture remains its biggest industry.  This despite decades of neglect from government officials who saw the main purpose of farms as keeping the property taxes paid until the asphalt trucks could get the land paved over.  Since then, the county has announced its intention to “protect” its local agriculture producers, and promote them in any way possible.  Last year, voters in the county passed ballot measures intended to preserve farmland for future generations.  Not to sound cynical, but this measure would have made a much bigger difference in 1998, before the  cities here had annexed most of the good farmland and marked it for conversion to sprawl.

 Unfortunately, a few well-publicized government programs cannot reverse decades of ingrained behavior overnight.  In the halls of Solano County’s government, progress means pavement and agriculture is the past.

 Early in 2008, we made the decision to relocate our office and packing facilities to a site adjacent to our fields in Solano County.  Because this site already has two existing warehouses and a large paved area, relocating there doesn’t require us to destroy any farmland.  All we needed was a mobile office trailer and improved electrical facilities for our coolers.   But when we approached the county to get this work approved, it became clear that the memos from the county leaders about supporting agriculture, developing more locally grown products, and saving farmland never made it to the Building Department.  At this time they are refusing to issue a permit for our new electrical connection until we bring our new mobile office into compliance with seismic safety standards and disability access laws.

  I believe that at some point in the future, historians will look back at the past twenty years in our country and the world, and marvel at how little consideration we gave to preserving farmland and open space.  Neighborhoods were approved where every house was built on a street with a dead end, and thoroughfares were widened to make way for the increased traffic, wasting even more precious land.  Somehow, it was okay with the planners and building inspectors in Solano County and everywhere else to pave over the best farmland in the world.   But they darn well made sure that the soil under our new office was earthquake safe before they let us hook up our produce coolers.

IN YOUR BOXES
Over the holidays, I sautéed some kale with garlic, then stirred in a half dozen eggs and scrambled them.  My mom walked up to the stove and took a small bite, and then exclaimed “Wow, that’s good.  What is it?”  I told her it was kale, and she said “Oh, it’s not bitter at all.”  I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard people say this about kale, but it was a bit annoying that my mother still didn’t know.

With the recent freezes and cold weather, our winter greens are among the only crops that are really happy right now, and the Medium and Large boxes got an extra helping this week.  I trust that you will find, like my mom did, that the greens in your boxes this week are not just amazingly nutritious, but also delicious.

We grow two types of kale at Terra Firma.  Our primary variety is the super-dark green, almost black Dino Kale (also called Lacinato or Cavelo Nero) with the crumpled looking leaves.  But for years we’ve also been growing Red Russian Kale — in today’s boxes — a dramatically different looking variety that turns purplish red in the winter and has softer leaves with a serrated edge.  Our main reason for growing the Red Kale is its ability to continue to produce new leaves into the spring, well after the Dino Kale has gone to seed.  However, it also has its own qualities that make it a nice change from its crumpled cousin, primarily a softer, less chewy texture when cooked.

French Fingerlings are my favorite potato, and based on the responses we gotten from subscribers when we put them in the boxes, they have a few other fans as well.  In the past, some of our fingerlings have developed an acerbic taste when kept in cold storage for too long, but our new potato cooler keeps them slightly warmer and seems to have corrected that problem.  These potatoes are waxy, meaning they hold up well to high heat without falling apart.  That makes them perfect for roasting or boiling for potato salad.
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Thanks,

Thanks, Pablito

Valeria~ Low Tech Ordering Form:  You can cut and paste this little table into an email to me at Goldenbell, HERE , then fill it out.  Payments can be included with your next csa payment or separately by using paypal.  Account name - (name on your box including any initials please)_____________________________________ Number of 5 lb Mandarin boxes you'd like to order ______________________________________________ Your Pickup site:________________________________ All orders by Sat will be delivered next week, and normally we'll need seven days notice.  If your order misses the deadline for the current week, it will be delivered on the next delivery date for your csa box.  The boxes will be labelled with your name.  (update) Mandarins are available through January, so if you'd like to add to an existing weekly or intermittent order just let me know!