Pablito....

The process of transitioning a farm to organic certification is tricky and expensive.  The USDA organic standards dictate that crops cannot be considered organic until the field or orchard producing them has gone through three full years without application of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.  During this time, the produce is still considered conventional, or possibly “transitional” — and worth less than organic.  Before the USDA took over organic standards, “transitional” produce was any produce that was one year into the organic certification process.  Now, there is a separate certification process for “transitional” which involves more fees.

 During the three year period, crops may actually require a higher amount of organic fertilizers.  That’s because while highly soluble chemical fertilizers are either quickly used by the plants or washed into the subsoil, organic fertilizers are slow release biological compounds that remain in the soil for years.  In theory, an organically farmed field would need less and less fertilizer over time as the soil is improved and the leftover materials continue to release their nutrients.

 Orchards that have been conventionally farmed for years often have limited root systems accustomed to being “spoon-fed” highly soluble fertilizers.  Organic farming requires the trees to “learn” to take up nutrients from the soil instead, meaning they need a larger, more healthy root system.  During the transition to organic farming, some trees go through a period of “shock” where they sacrifice fruit yield as they focus their resources on expanding their root systems.

Translation:  when transitioning a new piece of land to organic, we spend more on crops in order to get less.  If that sounds hard, it is.  In fact, the transition process has probably been a significant obstacle in the growth of organic farming and has probably prevented many people from experimenting with it.

 At the current time, we are transitioning 65 acres of open field at our new “home” farm that we recently purchased.  Any crops we plant there will not be certified organic until April of 2005.  We are choosing to leave most of the land fallow and grow only cover crops during the transition rather than take a risk growing transitional crops.  It’s kind of like making mortgage payments on a house and not living there or even renting it out.

 With perennial crops, however, you can’t choose to do nothing for three years.  You have to tend them and harvest each year.  On a small part of our new farm, we have planted some grapes and asparagus that may begin producing this year.   We hope to put those in the CSA boxes, as we have done in the past with “transitional” items.  While this serves our interests, we also think that the two crops in question will also be an asset to the boxes, both before and after they are certified organic.

 On a similar note, last year we began transitioning a unique citrus orchard that we feel greatly complements our existing varieties.  The folks who planted the orchard sought out the most flavorful exotic citrus they could find and selected varieties which grew well here in Winters.  They sold the fruit at the Davis Farmers’ Market for years, but are now in the process of retiring.  Their orchard includes two types of Grapefruit/Pomelo crosses:  Melogold and Oroblanco.  These are large, fragrant, juicy fruits with none of the bitterness often associated with yellow grapefruit.  There are also two types of gourmet oranges:  Blood Oranges and Page Mandarins, a small,  intensely sweet tangerine.  You might remember getting some of these wonderful fruits last year.  If not, you’re in for a treat.

 We have been farming this orchard now for 18 months, using only organically approved fertilizers and no pesticides.  We have restaurants and other customers clamoring for the fruit, but the real reason we are farming the parcel is to share it with our CSA subscribers.  Nonetheless, if anyone has any objections about getting this “non-organic”  citrus this year, please let us know so that we can make decisions accordingly.

MUD SPUDS
We didn’t get many of our fall planted potatoes harvested before the rains this year, and we’ve been watching the weeds grow over the field since November.

Out of frustration, we finally attempted to hand-dig a few last week — the ones in your boxes today.  We quickly regained our patience, though, while trying to separate potato-sized clumps of mud from actual potatoes.  We’re now content to wait for dry weather before we dig any more spuds.  Let’s hope this week’s forecast of no rain is on target.  Those spud-fed gophers are getting bigger every day.

IN YOUR BOXES
Garlic makes a triumphant, if short-lived, return this week to your boxes.  Old timers will see it immediately, but new subscribers maybe won’t.  Green Garlic, or garlic shoots, are immature garlic plants that you can use the same way you’d use green onions.  Except they taste like garlic, of course.  Right now, you can use the entire plant — white base and all the leaves.  As the garlic plants mature and grow, the stems will get bigger and the leaves tougher (and thus less edible).

Our earliest green garlic is always a product of the reject pile from our own head garlic the year before — the ugly or damaged heads split into cloves and platned.  Unfortunately, the beautiful garlic crop of 2003 didn’t have many culls, so we didn’t have much to plant.  So we have just a small amount of green garlic ready for harvest now.   The remainder of the garlic we planted this fall, from “seed” we purchased specially for planting, is still tiny and hard to find in the fast growing weeds.  It may be months before we have green garlic again.  So enjoy.

We’re also out of bulb onions after this week, so look for leeks to become the primary “onion” in your boxes, as well as occasional Green Onions.  There’ll be a primer/reminder to aid in using these “winter onions”, as well as lots of recipes.

Along with the navel oranges in today’s boxes, you will find one or two Oroblanco grapefruit.  As I mentioned on page one, these are a cross between a yellow grapefruit and a Pommelo ( a very large, grapefruit-like citrus that is very sweet but with dry flesh).  Oroblancos have the best qualities of both fruits.  Due to the thick rind, it’s easiest to eat these by cutting them up, or cutting in half and eating with a spoon.  Please note the fruit is not certified organic — yet.
 

 Pablito

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

Potato Gratin with Spinach and Herbs —  I got a new potato cookbook, just in time.  It’s called “A Passion for Potatoes” by Paul Gayler, and it has dozens of delicious looking recipes for spuds and sweet potatoes.  You can use 4 individual gratin dishes for this, or one larger one.  You can substitute green garlic or leeks for the onions.
Slice 1 lbs. potatoes lengthwise, about 1/8th inch thick.    Place in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, then melt 1/3 C. butter and pour over them.  Let the potatoes soften about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, lightly whip 6 T. heavy cream and combine with 7 oz. diced cream cheese and 2 T. chopped mixed herbs or 2 t. dried herbs.
Thinly slice 2 onions.  Wash and drain 2 C. spinach leaves.
Heat 2 T olive oil in a pan and sauté 2 thinly sliced onions, cooking on low heat until they caramelize.  Add the spinach leaves along with 1 T. butter, and cook until they soften.
Preheat the oven to 375.   Heat each gratin dish, then drain the potatoes and arrange them in a layer on the bottom.  Spread the onion/spinach mixture over them and top with the cream cheese.  Arrange another layer of potatoes on top.  Press down lightly and place on a baking sheet, then bake for 30 minutes — until the potatoes are crisp.
 

Produce 101: preparation & storage  BUNCHED SPINACH is not tripled washed at the farm like our baby spinach.  It needs to be thoroughly soaked and rinsed, 2-3 times.  Sometimes especially curly or savoyed leaves will need an additional rinse under the tap. %  — OROBLANCO Grapefruit are not certified organic.  They are midway through the transition period, having gone 18 months without input of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.

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.

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

Quality Oraganics

What is CSA?

What do I get?

Sign-up& Rates

Homepage