What’s Growing This Week:  Potatoes Beets Kiwi Asparagus Red Grapefruit Carrots Red Kale Leeks Rutabegas

 Pablito....

SUMMER’S ALMOST HERE
Uh… No.
Here we are in April, the sun is shining, the rain has stopped.  The apricots are leafing out and the oranges are blossoming.  All around us, the world of plants is reproducing, celebrating the end of winter.
So are the vegetables.  This is NOT a good thing for you, or us.

You see, for the last six months, we have been enjoying vegetables that produce “vegetative growth” or roots during cool weather and short days.  Over thousands of years, humans have identified plants that produce edible parts during this growth phase, and bred them over time to enhance these features.  For example, someone pulling up a wild carrot and tasting it might have liked the flavor.  They took that plant and grew it under ideal conditions, over many years until the thin, woody root became more tender and larger.

(At this point I will insert a comment about how radically this technique differs from, say, inserting a pig’s gene into a carrot to make it resistant to herbicides.  Gene splicing scientists are truly showing their lack of respect for our intelligence when they claim that they are doing the same thing that plant breeders have done for generations.)

As I was saying, we humans grow carrots to eat the root, just as we grow spinach to eat the leaves, and leeks to eat the stalk.  However, our use of these plants doesn’t change the fact that they are natural beings with their own internal mechanisms and motivations.  Carrots, for example, do not grow roots for our benefit, but rather for their own.  That’s because carrots, like every other plant in nature, exist for the main purpose of reproducing — developing flowers that, when pollinized with the flowers of another plant, will produce seeds to grow another generation of carrots.  The bigger and healthier the carrot root, the more energy the plant has stored up to funnel into the reproduction process.  Anyone who has ever seen the different life stages of a carrot plant will understand this viscerally:  a carrot seedling is a weak and scrawny plant; a mature carrot is mostly root with a few wispy leaves.  But a carrot in the midst of reproduction is a thick stemmed bush with flashy foliage that can grow to three feet tall before sending out dozens of large, umbrella-shaped flowers.  At this point, if you tried to eat the root, you would break your teeth on it.

What triggers this change in the mild mannered carrot?  The same thing that causes trees to blossom and bulbs to bloom — the switch from the short, cool days of winter to the longer, warmer days of spring.  And carrots are not the only plant to experience this transformation — the same thing happens to beets, chard, kale, and just about everything else we grow  in the winter.

The annual spring flowering, or “bolting” of our winter fields would be much less problematic if there were lots of new crops to replace them.  But we must remember that the warm, spring weather has only been with us for two weeks.  Prior to that, it was still cold and rainy.  Very few things grow well in January — the last time we were able to plant, and of course the crops we began planting two weeks ago aren’t ready yet.  Neither are the spring-loving strawberries or fava beans, which unfortunately don’t respond to the warmth quite as quickly as the winter crops.  And the summer crops — tomatoes, squash, corn, beans — that we’ve planted in the last two weeks need over a month of warm, dry weather to grow before they begin to produce.
So, as in every year, we ask you to be patient with us and Mother Nature while we go through these annual transition.  With luck, we won’t have to wait all that long this year — and with the thermometer reading 88 degrees here today, it seems that Mother Nature is on our side right now.

In the next few weeks, you will see a few things from other producers in your boxes — almonds, mushrooms, and maybe others — while we transform our green winter fields into brown ones ready for the plants of summer.  The asparagus will keep producing until it gets really hot — at least another month, we hope — and new plantings of salad, arugula, spinach, cilantro and other spring crops will be ready soon, too. But you will notice that for a month with such a bountiful image, April really doesn’t compare too favorably to December, January and the other supposedly bleak winter months.
 

Thanks,            Pablito
 

Paul Holmes, founder and co-owner of the farm,  at the market

. .

Strawberry Festival This is going to be a slightly new concept for us — it will be like Farm Day in some ways, but different in others.  First of all, it is a party.  There will be music, beverages, and snacks plus activities.  And of course, lots of strawberries.  We are also going to charge admission — $10 per car, so that we can spend a little more time and effort on the event.  Second, it will also be open to general public, so feel free to tell your friends and anyone else you think might like to spend a beautiful spring day picking delicious strawberries. So, when is it happening?  Well, we won’t know for sure until we start harvesting the first strawberries (we want to make sure we have plenty for everyone).  But it will likely be one of the first three Sundays in May, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.  If you are interested in helping out at the festival (in exchange for free admission) or you have any good ideas for fun activities, please contact Valerie ASAP.  If you really, really enjoy our Fall Farm Day — don’t worry, we’ll be doing it again, as usual.

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

Rutabaga Fries — This will be the one and only week of the year that we include rutabagas in your boxes.  You may think you don’t like them, but try this simple recipe anyway.  You will be surprised at their sweet and mild flavor.
Pre-heat the oven to 400.  Peel 2-3 rutabagas (this is important), and cut into thin rounds or half-rounds.  Toss in a bowl with 3-5 T. olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced green garlic.  Place on a baking sheet so that all the slices are in contact with the metal.  Roast for 30-45 minutes, flipping once if possible.  The fries should be crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside when finished.
 

Produce 101: preparation & storage  GRAPEFRUIT has not been growth with any CCOF prohibited materials, and will be transitional next year. POTATOES are the last of our winter crop, and some may be cold-damaged (brown inside).  We have added extra to make up for this. LEEKS and GREEN GARLIC can be substituted for onions and garlic in most recipes, but you may want to increase the portion by 25 to 50% — unless you’re eating them raw.

Terra Firma Basics
San Francisco/Sacramento/Davis Prices
Every Week: Every Other Week:
$70 Monthly $37 monthly
$200 Quarterly $106 quarterly
$780 Yearly $412 Yearly
$16 weekly vacation adjustment
Subscriptions automatically renew - and arenot cancelled for late payment / So tell us if you choose to cancel.

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 em
 

                                                                                                   New?  Sign up!