What’s Growing This Week: · Green Garlic · Carrots · Salad Mix · Sweet Potatoes · Asparagus · Kiwis · Navel Oranges · Chard (M, L) · Tangelos (M, L) · Leeks (l) · Potatoes (l) · Spinach (l) <>· Green Cabbage (l)

A BUSY PLACE

April is a busy month at Terra Firma, in all of our fields and orchards.  And April got a head start this year — my Farmersense says we’re at least two weeks ahead of schedule over a “normal” year.

Whatever month it is, harvest is always the biggest job at TFF.  We always have at least half a dozen crops getting harvested.  Early April is never our busiest harvest month, but we’re still picking asparagus, salad mix, spinach, carrots, beets, chard, leeks, green garlic, and tangelos.  Next week we’ll start pulling red grapefruit off the trees.

This time of year we have many fields getting harvested for the last time.  For example, all winter long we harvest cabbages as needed each week.  But in April, cabbage heads begin to go to seed.  So it is important to harvest all the useable heads in the field before they do so.  They keep nicely in the cooler for a month or longer, and provide us with an extra vegetable item for the CSA later in the month.

Once we have finished harvesting a field, the next step is to mow it.  We have been mowing dozens of acres of winter vegetable fields, as well as many more acres planted with soil-building cover crops that have grown all winter.  After the vegetable or cover crop is mowed, the field is then prepared for the next crop, using several tillage tools pulled by the tractor.

April is also a good — er, bad — month for weeds.  They grow like crazy this time of year with the abundant moisture still available in the soil from the winter rains combined with long, sunny days and warmer nights.  All of our orchards — citrus, pistachio, apricot, walnut, and stone fruit — will get tractor mowed during this time period.  And by the time we finish the job, some of them will need to get mowed again.

Unfortunately, the tractor mowers can only get so close to the trees.  To mow the weeds closest to the trunks, we rely on weedeaters.  For the next several weeks, we’ll have people out in the orchards with these gas-powered scythes.

Of course the weeds don’t just grow in our orchards.  They also spring to life in our overwintered vegetable fields —- crops such as strawberries and onions that are growing but which we haven’t started harvesting yet — as well as our spring planted tomatoes, corn, and peas.  For the next several weeks, the crew will be burning off some of accumulated calories of winter, hoeing weeds in these fields.

There’s one big job at Terra Firma right now that we don't always have to do in April.  Some years Mom Nature does it for us.  Although we ended up with a slightly-above average rainfall year this winter, spring 2008 is acting a lot like its predecessor.  It’s been warm and dry now for over a month, and we’ve had regular periods of north wind that dehydrate the top layer of soil.   So we’ve been running the pumps almost every day, and our irrigators are keeping plenty busy.  In another week or two, it will be time to start watering the orchards, too, as the trees finish flowering, leaf out, and begin to require more water.

The weather has also allowed  us to get a head start on our spring planting of summer crops this year, with new records set for our earliest ever planted tomatoes, sweet corn, and green beans.  The first Summer squash went out last week, right on time.  The mild March weather has been extremely kind to the plants this year, and they not only survived the month but have thrived and are growing in the warmth.  In a different type of year, the corn and bean seeds might have rotted due to rainy weather and cold soil.  And the tomatoes might have been stunted by too many frosty nights in a row.

Despite having gotten an early start on our summer planting, April is always one of our busiest planting months, and this year will be no exception.  Over the next four weeks, our farm will go through its second rapid transformation of 2008.  A month ago, it was covered in vegetation — winter vegetables and cover crops.  Right now, it is primarily bare earth, beds ready for planting.  A month from now, most of that bare ground will be planted into more tomatoes, corn, green beans, squash, melons, watermelons, summer onions, and sweet potatoes.

There are plenty of months at Terra Firma when we work outside in less than ideal conditions — summer heat, winter rain.  But April isn’t one of them.  The weather is delightful right now, sunny and warm with just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable.  There are flowers everywhere and the whole world is lush and green

We’re looking forward to a bountiful spring and summer, which will mean lots of work and long hours, but right now it’s all pure possibility.

IN YOUR BOXES

Apologies to anyone who may have encountered aphids in their cauliflower heads last week.  Aphids are tiny insects whose nymphs (young offspring) are grey with no wings.  They can be found in any part of northern California, and are extremely well-adapted to several weeds that grow in this area and flower during the spring — many of which are related to broccoli and cauliflower.  So when the weather is right — like it is now — they move into our late winter fields and take up residence in the nooks and crannies of certain plants.  Due to their preference for tight spaces — such as leaf crevices and florets — it is almost impossible for us to control them.  Conventional growers use systemic insecticides that are taken up by the roots of the plants and distributed through the entire plant so that the aphids actually kill themselves by feeding.

On the plus side, by the time the big outbreak occurred in our fields this year, harvest was almost over.  The cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and kale fields have now been mowed (and the aphids with them).  We hope you enjoyed all these crops this winter and that  any disappointment caused by aphids in the last week or two was minor.

If you’ve recently recommended TFF’s CSA to a friend, you may have heard that we currently  have a hold on people signing up.  That’s because we decided last month to wait until May 1st before adding any new subscribers.  We took this action because we wanted to make sure that all existing subscribers continued to get the broadest possible mix of fruits and veggies available to us during this transition period between winter crops and spring bounty.

Please make sure to include your account name, the one on the sign off sheet ~ on the box, in every correspondance to Valerie

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

Tangelo-Ginger Muffins — Tangelo peel, or zest, is right up there with lemon zest for its intense concentration of flavor.  You can use it in sauces, salads, and of course in baked goods.  This is a recipe that uses both the zest and the juice.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Use a vegetable peeler or citrus zester to remove the zest from 2 tangelos.  If using the peeler, mince the zest finely.  Combine with 2 T. fresh ginger, finely minced.

Juice the 2 tangelos and reserve.

In a bowl, cream 1 stick of softened butter with 3/4 C. brown sugar.  Beat in 2 eggs and the ginger/zest mixture.

Add 1 C. of plain (unsweetened) yogurt.

Sift together 1 C. white flour, 1 C. whole wheat pastry flour, 1 t. ginger powder, and 1 t. baking powder.  Combine with the other mixture in a few swift strokes.

Fill a muffin tin with the batter and bake 18-20 minutes, until a knife inserted comes out clean.

CSA membership fees ~payment due day is first of month.~~ Quarterly discounts are given for any 3 month period only if paid in advance.
They are given as an extra credit when the payment is applied, you won't see your monthly rate change.
 

For mid-month changes,  Up/downgrades are $5 per week per increment.  Small to large is $10.

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.  Include your account name in full (what's on the sign off sheet).

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.  We can't resend them, and it wouldn't work any better the second time anyway.

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

New?  Sign up! 

Pickup Sites

Online Payments

Member's Answer Zone

Back to Basics

Newsletter Archives

Is it safe to eat Spinach?