Paul Underhill (Pablito) $ — this week’s NAVELS are second year transitional — meaning they have been organically grown for two years but are not yet certified. #—SATSUMAS are organically grown, but not certified.

What’s Growing This Week:  Leeks Green Garlic Carrots Escarole Sweet Potatoes Broccoli Navel Oranges Satsuma Mandarins  Salad Mix Watermelon Radish

 Pablito....

THE BAY AREA STOPS HERE
As my years at Terra Firma have passed, Winters seems to grow ever closer to the outward-expanding Bay Area.  I am almost certain that we are the nearest 5,000 person town to the Bay Bridge.

Most of us here at Terra Firma enjoy the smallness of our town, but I am also careful not to assume that everyone else in Winters — especially longer term residents — agree with us.  My journey to Winters began in a big city far away, and I have made a choice to live in a smaller, simpler place.  Others haven’t made that choice, and if they are in the majority, it would not be my place to try to stop them from growing Winters.

A meeting last week about a proposed development that would almost double the population of Winters in 4-5 years gave me an opportunity to compare my feelings with others in our community.  I was very  happy to hear speaker after speaker get up and rip the development proposal to shreds, on environmental, social, and economic grounds.

Winters is in a unique position to turn its small size and hometown character into a major asset in today’s world of minimalls and cookie-cutter housing developments.  Luckily, a good chunk of the population has realized this.   They have seen neighboring communities, obliterated by new development, make attempts at rectifying their mistakes.   They have seen refugees from other places move here.  Unfortunately, our local elected officials haven’t figured this out yet — they still buy the developer’s arguments that growth brings automatic prosperity and financial freedom.  They haven’t seen the studies of the last ten years that squarely refute this idea.  But they will soon.

 Terra Firma is an organic farm, and we believe in the philosophy of organics.   But if any one philosophy has shaped our farm, it has been that sustainability is based on a size-appropriate outlook.  Our nation’s fascination with eternal growth is unhealthy and unsustainable. When a closeknit town of 5,000 people increases by 50% over five years, every intelligent person knows that  the town will no longer be the same.  What we don’t know for sure is exactly how many people a town can bring in annually and still maintain its character.  It would depend greatly, I think, on whether or not the new developments were specifically designed to help integrate the new residents with the existing community.  Most current development in California does exactly the opposite — in the name of efficiency.  The developments proposed for Winters are no different.

 Individuals’ relationships with their families, their neighbors, the natural world, and their communities are not economically efficient.  In fact, corporate America is fighting a war to insinuate itself into every minute of our free (wasted) time, and they are winning.  Every minute we spend watching TV, commuting, talking on the phone, surfing the Internet, is a minute that we interact with the world through the filter of a corporation.  On the other hand, every minute we spend on a hike through the woods, at  a home cooked meal with our families or friends, or at a town hall meeting — is a lost opportunity to some corporation.  (And even these activities may require “consumer spending” beforehand.  Skinnydipping in a lake or ocean may be one of the few true escapes).

Rapid development and the lifestyle it creates overwhelm people’s abilities to make personal and community relationships, creating a vacuum that is filled by consumer goods and culture.   It weakens the foundations of our civil society by discouraging public participation.    And it overwhelms slow-growing locally owned businesses.  Chain stores fill the gap, funneling profits out of the community, locating management in distant cities, and distributing ownership around the country to stockholders who are completely unaccountable.  I know that most of our customers have extensive experience with the problems of our modern world, and that participating in Terra Firma’s CSA is a part of your effort to solve them.  Our farm is not an island — we have chosen to locate in a place that we feel reflects our own values.  And now, we will become part of a locally grown effort to keep Winters a sustainable, human scale community — one where people still know each other’s names and watch out for each others kids.   I thought you might like to know that.

OOPS
I know I said that Satsumas were finished.  That was because I hadn’t had time to check the orchard.  Actually, there were enough left for today’s boxes and there may be enough for as much as two more weeks of fruit in your boxes.

TRYING NEW THINGS
Folks who have encouraged us to broaden our horizons will be thrilled to see a new item in today’s box — Escarole.  This is a European green that is both eaten in salads and cooked, and while it often has a bitter aftertaste, I think you will find TFF’s escarole as sweet as lettuce — though a bit chewier.  Bay Area restaurants can’t get enough of it right now.
As a salad green, you may want to remove the tougher outer leaves (you can use them for cooking) and focus on the blanched inner portion.  Wash carefully, since there are many places for grit to hide, then chop into pieces and toss with a strong dressing.

As a cooking green, escarole is nice because it has a juiciness that kale, chard, and others lack.  Cook as you would spinach — with garlic and olive oil — but make sure to chop the leaves and cook until the white ribs soften slightly.  Last week I made a pizza with lightly sauteed escarole, as well as a fritatta (recipe included).

 Watermelon radishes make another appearance — thanks for all the positive feedback the first time.  These are an mild and beautiful addition to a salad as long as you remember one thing — to peel the strongly flavored skin before slicing.  The “watermelon” analogy is very useful — eat the red meat, and throw the green rind out.  These radishes also make a nice fresh “pickle” when sliced thinly and marinated in rice vinegar with a little sugar and a few sesame seeds.

JANUARY IS NAVEL ORANGE MONTH
Get our juicy, sugar-sweet navel oranges in 10 lb.  bags for $6 per bag/week.  Just call or e-mail, then add the amount to your next check.
 
 

Thanks,            Pablito
 
 

Recipes............................

Carrot-Radish Pickle — This is the type of “pickle” that is usually served at Japanese restaurants, in a shallow bowl on  each table.
Peel the tough outer skin of 1 watermelon radish and cut in half. Place each halve face down and cut into very thin half rounds.  Cut 2 carrots into rounds as thin as possible.
Combine 1 C. rice vinegar with 2 t. white sugar and 1 T. very thinly sliced fresh ginger (canned sushi ginger is okay).  Salt to taste. Toast 2 T. sesame seeds until lightly browned, and combine with the vinegar.
Place the vegetables in a shallow dish and cover with the dressing for at least 1 hour, but preferably refrigerated overnight.
You can make a salad by adding the pickled veggies to some salad mix and turning the marinate into a dressing by adding a small amount each of sesame and olive oil.
 

Produce 101: preparation & storage  GREEN GARLIC looks like a small leek, or a green onion with flat leaves.  It is an immature garlic plant, and can be substituted for bulb garlic in almost any recipe.  Remove the roots, then chop both the white and green parts and rinse under water in a colander to remove grit.   1 T. green garlic is equivalent to 1 t. bulb garlic. SWEET POTATOES should be stored in a warm, dry place.  Do not refrigerate or expose to extended cold periods or moisture, or they will quickly soften and break down.  Wash them just before eating.

Prepay by 5th of month  please

Up/downgrades are $5 per week per increment.
 7 days notice required  on upgrades & vacations
 

Vacations & Billing Inquiries
We need seven days notice before a vacation hold or other change of service.
Contact Valerie through voicemail at (530) 756-2800, or e-mail Goldenbell@aol.com

MAILING ADDRESS:
Terra Firma Farm
P.O. Box 836
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 756-2800
www.terrafirmafarm.com
Goldenbell@aol.com
 

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