Magic
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Community Supported Agriculture Newsletter January 18, 2005 1/18/05 |
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Magic |
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Pablito....
REST IN PEACE — MAGIC, 1995-2005
If the only part of Terra Firma you’ve
visited is our website, you know about Lulu, our bulldog mascot.
But if you’ve ever visited the farm, you most likely know Magic.
She was my constant companion through nine years at the farm, and she passed
away last Tuesday night.
Magic was an awesome dog. She was
a mutt that I rescued from the pound when she was a puppy, but she was
one of the most beautiful dogs I’ve ever seen. She was mostly black
Lab, but with white and tan markings on her face, legs, and hindquarters.
When you were walking behind her through the fields — she was always out
front — you could always see the white back of her tail, sticking out from
above whatever crop or weedpatch she was trotting through. She had
white and brown “eyebrows” over her eyes so that even when she was coming
towards you from far away you always knew it was her.
Magic had a wonderful disposition.
She was sweet towards everyone unless they seemed threatening to her, in
which case she gave them a wide berth.
She particularly loved little girls, and they could sense her gentle and loving nature. On Farm Day, you always knew where Magic was, because there was always a crowd of girls around her, cooing and petting her softly the way she loved. The girls at the farm were forever to be found up on the tailgate of my pickup, their arms wrapped around Magic’s neck as she sat in the bed.
Magic spent a lot of time in the bed of my truck. It was her home away from home — the place she always knew I would come back to, even if I was nowhere else to be found. Her favorite spot was the spare tire, a round platform bed that she could curl up in and nap while maintaining an unrestricted view of the surroundings. Other times she sat in the back corner, her head hanging over the tailgate at an impossible angle, a version of the hangdog look that would invariably make passersby in any location stop and pet her.
However much Magic could fool you into thinking she was the perfect lapdog, though, she had a wild heart. Spending so much of her time with me, she knew the whole area west of Winters like the back of her hand. If we were at one farm, she sometimes grew bored and would simply decide to walk back to the other farm — 4 miles away. On late nights, she would sometimes decide to go home on her own — 5 miles in a different direction — if she thought Melina was there. No one ever saw her walking along the road — she knew her way back through the orchards and along the creek, although no one had ever shown her the way. Sometimes, after spending the afternoon patiently waiting in the truck, she would take off minutes before I was ready to leave. I would call her for ten minutes and then see her running back towards me from far across the fields. Other times I would give up and leave, then come back two hours later and find her in the spot where the truck had been, waiting.
Magic and Lulu were about as different as two great dogs could be. Magic was only two years old — still a puppy too, as far as she was concerned — when Melina got Lulu. Though she was always an attention-monger, Magic was no match for her little sister, who never seemed to even notice how much people liked her. Magic also let Lulu get away with thinking she was the boss — even letting push her off the tire in my truck (until I put a second one in so they could each have one). If Magic started digging for a gopher, Lulu would rush up and butt her head in, pushing Magic out of the way. .
They had spats, but they always stayed friends. When Lulu was gone with Melina, Magic was quiet and restrained. When her sister and mom were here, she was animated and happy. And Lulu, forever the little sister, always stuck as close to Magic as Magic would let her.
We buried Magic under a giant pistachio tree near our house at the new farm, at the edge of the vineyard. Although we’ve been living here for over a year, Magic was just beginning to get used to this place. She always stuck close to the house unless we were out on a walk. So different from the way she wandered around our other farms —
— her puppyhood playgrounds. One
of her dog friends from those days, Sophie, also died recently. Sophie
was our former Harvest Manager Ann’s dog, and she and Magic used to spend
hours watching the squirrels in the orchard and then chasing them.
They never caught one, but they never gave up.
I think everyone — myself included — always
expected that Magic would die on the side of the road during one of her
jaunts. But in the end, she died at home, in her bed — for no apparent
reason and far too soon. She was a wonderful dog, and she had
a great life. We will miss her.
Pablito
IN YOUR BOXES
Collard Greens make another appearance
in the Medium and Large boxes today. In the contest for hardiest
winter green, they appear to be beating Kale hands down this year, continuing
to grow despite all the rain, frost, and fog we’re having this year.
As I mentioned before, Collards really need to be cooked in a certain amount
of liquid to soften them up, and it takes more than a few minutes for them
to reach that point. Alternately, you steam or parboil them for a
few minutes and then sauté until tender. Cutting them into
small pieces helps. That said, collards are loaded with nutrients,
especially if you eat the liquid you’ve cooked them in — and they have
a mild flavor.
I apologize if you took last week’s spinach and tried to make a salad with it. It was from an older planting, and the leaves were quite tough — good only for cooking. This week, rest assured that we are harvesting a new field of spinach which should be perfect for salad as well as for light sautéing.
Take a little extra care in washing this week’s baby Bok Choy. Separate the leaves and soak them briefly, then rinse off each leaf individually to remove silt and debris that rainstorms splashed into every possible nook and cranny.
Dry weather before the holidays gave us the opportunity to finish harvesting all of our fall planted potatoes — a minor milestone compared to the last two years, when we were still struggling by February to pull the spuds from the winter mud. These are still technically “new” potatoes with fairly tender skins, so they may bruise when we wash them. Take care to store them in the fridge in plastic bags. We have a good supply socked away, so you’ll be seeing them frequently throughout the rest of the winter.
Thanks,
Pablito
Recipes..............
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Catfish wrapped in Collard Leaves
— You could also use the concept of this recipe to make any “packet” type
recipe, but use the collards instead of parchment paper, banana leaf, or
foil that the recipe normally calls for.
Make Remove the stems from 1 bunch of
collard leaves, then blanch by dipping in boiling water for 1 minute.
Set aside 8 nice leaves and chop the rest into small pieces.
Dice 3 canned tomatoes, pit and chop 1
C. kalamata olives. Clean and dice 1 leek. Peel and mince 4
cloves of garlic. Toss these ingredients together with the chopped
collards, plus 1 T. olive oil plus salt and pepper to taste. Divide
the mixture in half.
Lay out 4 collard leaves and cover each
with a layer of the filling. Place a catfish fillet over each leaf.
Use the other half of the filling to top the fillets. Top each fillet
with another collard leaf, then use toothpicks to “sew” up each filet.
Grill or broil the packets on an oiled
pan for 4-5 minutes on each side.
Serve with brown rice or roasted potatoes,
and garnish with wedges of lemon.
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| Monthly | Quarterly | Yearly | |
| Small box | 52 | 150 | 580 |
| Medium Box | 78 | 222 | 870 |
| Large Box | 104 | 295 | 1160 |
**being offered only to existing everyother week subscribers, as the small box has better variety and is more tuned to the smaller household appetite. The weekly schedule is also much easier to remember, and saves us all a lot of problems at the pick up sites. |
43 | 124 | 480 |
| Vacation Credits: | Small | Medium | Large |
| Vacation credits are lower to discourage overuse, and to reflect actual cost to the farm | $8 | $12 | $16 |
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
Account Balance Inquiries The account sheet is hiding under the sign off sheet each week with your account balance on it. Mid month I've been e-mailing statments, so if you're not getting it send me an e-mail requesting to be added to the list. To be able to read the statements you need to be logged in as an administrator on a PC, and virus programs may corrupt the file. Some Mac operating systems do allow the file to be viewed.
MAILING ADDRESS:
Terra Firma Farms, Inc
P.O. Box 836
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 756-2800
www.terrafirmafarm.com
Goldenbell@aol.com
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