LEMONS are from our neighbor Everything Under the Sun, and are QAI certified organic.

What’s Growing This Week:  Strawberries (all) Salad mix(All) Spring onions (all) Asparagus(All) Fava beans (all) Carrots (m,l) Garlic( m,L) Lemons (M,L)# “All” means that item is in all 3 types of box, “S” means small, “M” medium, and “L” large.  Quantities will vary depending on box size.

 Pablito....

LOTS OF NEWS
The smiles of children can do a lot to brighten a rainy day…. Beth Sonnenberg, host of our Central Berkeley drop-off and coordinator of the Edible Schoolyard Project at Martin Luther King School came out to the farm on Sunday with a group of 24 sixth-graders.  It was pouring rain and windy the entire time, but that didn’t seem to slow them down at all.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen too many kids as happy as they were when I told them the rain was going to ruin all the ripe strawberries, so they might as well pick as many as possible… We did manage to spend a few minutes looking at ladybugs and potato plants between splashing in mud puddles. The teachers may not have achieved all of their goals for the trip, but I was happy to send a busload of kids back to the city with heads full of fond memories of our farm that I hope will last them a long time.

EATING MORE TO GET LESS
Thanks to Michele T. for the wonderful letter, good ideas, and the article describing the plummeting nutritional value of vegetables (I’m not sure which magazine it’s from).  It seems that a sharp eyed nutritionist noticed that the USDA’s latest numbers for nutritional content of broccoli, carrots, onions, and other vegetables were mighty low.  He compared them to the USDA’s own numbers from 1975 and found an astonishing drop — on average, calcium had dropped 27%, iron by 37%, Vitamin A by 21%, and Vitamin C by 30%.  When questioned, the USDA could not explain the changes.

 Organic farmers, although biased, have a reasonable explanation for this trend — conventional farmers are depleting the natural nutrients in the soil and are not replacing them.  Vitamins and minerals in vegetables and fruit don’t come from thin air — they come from a relationship between the plant and the soil.  We are all confident that when someone decides this matter is worth doing a study on, they will find clear evidence that organically grown crops outperform conventionally grown ones across the board in nutritional content.  Put quite simply, we are putting back into the soil what we take out, and we are creating a living soil environment that is constantly producing new nutrients through the interaction of worms, microbes, and other soil organisms.  Conventional farmers put into the soil only the basic raw ingredients needed to make plants grow — nitrogen and phosphorus — and they destroy all life in the soil by using toxic chemicals.

 More evidence that our society still doesn’t know the extent of the damage that we have done to ourselves and our environment by farming  as if we weren’t actually going to eat the crops we grow...

WE LOVE OUR CUSTOMERS
Michele’s above-mentioned letter is full of the kind of positive feedback that keeps us going through hard times.  In the last year, I have had the occasion to interact more with conventional growers through my efforts to infiltrate the local Farm Bureau.  If I had to sum up the differences between them and me in one word it would be: customers.  Here at Terra Firma, we feel like we have an agreement, a contract between ourselves and our customers.  On the one hand, it makes us accountable in a way that most farmers could not handle.  Everything we do is affected by how we feel it will serve you.  On the other hand, it eliminates the feelings of isolation and desperation that most farmers are currently experiencing due to the overall depression in the agricultural economy.  While I sympathize with other farmers, I don’t share the view that they are victims of forces beyond their control — they are the prisoners in a jail they built themselves.  We, on the other hand, have seemed to have found a way to farm that succeeds because we are connected to our customers,and we can respond to their needs.

MORE IN THE NEWSLETTER
Michele would like to see us profile our employees in the newsletter — or preferably, have them profile themselves.  I am going to try to make this happen — more than I have in the past — because there are many people involved here at the farm, and I would like you to get a chance to meet them.
Another suggestion is a little trickier — a request for a list of what we are planting.  I hope that someday this will be a feature of our website, but for various reasons, I don’t want to use so much space in the newsletter for it.  Similarly, other subscribers have asked us to post a list of next week’s contents either in the newsletter or on the website.  Unfortunately, this is impossible.  While we always make a draft list on Fridays, it is a rare week that we don’t significantly change the list by Monday morning.  Fact is, 72 hours is a very long time here at the farm, and you wouldn’t believe how much can change over a weekend.  Your best bet is to check last year’s newsletter for that week, on the website.

HOW TO EAT FAVA BEANS
We grow fava beans for many reasons.  The plants are winter-hardy and grow to enormous heights, so they are actually a soil-building cover crop as well as a source of vegetables.  They are also a hardy addition to our early spring boxes, which can otherwise be fairly insubstantial.I  know many of you have been eagerly awaiting the first favas, and just as many of you won’t have the slightest clue what to do with them.

Fava beans are related to lima beans, but are softer and milder tasting.  Unfortunately, they are also a bit more labor intensive.  The adjacent recipe details how to prepare them — the drill is the same no matter how you are going to use them. It takes a while, but you can learn to do about 2 lbs. Of beans in 15 minutes.  Kids can often be convinced to do this, but you may want to send them outside to avoid a mess. Alternatively, you can consider this activity equivalent to meditation, as long as you’re not in a hurry.   I recommend shelling the beans as you get the beans home, even if you aren’t going to cook them soon — you will save a lot of space in your fridge.  If you cook the beans and don’t use them, you can refrigerate them — either plain, or marinated with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil — and use later.

BUY BULK BERRIES!
Yes, for the first time ever we will be offering our subscribers full flats of berries for making jam or large quantities of smoothies/margaritas.  These berries will be slightly cosmetically challenged, but very flavorful 2nd year fruit.  Having made margaritas for 20 people yesterday, I can safely say that one flat of strawberries will make 1 gallon of puree.  I’m not sure what that translates into in Cups (for jamming).
Flats of strawberries are $18.  Order by phone or email by 12 noon Friday of the preceding week and add the amount to your next check or send one in separately.

Thanks,            Pablito
 
 

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

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler — Unfortunately, rhubarb is almost impossible to grow in the heat of the Central Valley, so you’ll have to get it at the store or farmer’s market.  Or, you could plant a few crowns in your backyard if you’re in one of those shady, foggy locations.  Rhubarb is a perennial and requires almost no care after the first year.  After a few years, you’d probably have extra that you could send up here for us…
Peel one 12 inch stalk of rhubarb and cut into chunks.  Trim the tops off 1 basket of strawberries and cut inhalves or quarters.  Toss the fruit in a 9 inch square baking pan with 1-3 T. sugar, depending on how sweet you want the cobbler, and 1 T. flour.
In a bowl, cut 1 stick cold butter into 1 C. brown sugar, then blend loosely with 1 C. whole wheat pastry flour.  Crumble the mixture over the top of the fruit, then bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling around the edges.
 
 

Produce 101: preparation & storage  L#LEMONS are from our neighbor Everything Under the Sun, and are QAI certified organic.  They should be refrigerated, since they are not waxed or otherwise preserved from drying out. FAVA BEANS , unlike green beans, are a significant source of protein and carbohydrates, and are surprising filling.  They also have lots of iron and Vitamin A.  They have a short season here, so enjoy them while they last.

Prepay by 5th of month  please, for the month, or get the quarterly rate for prepaying for any three month period.

Up/downgrades are $5 per week per increment ~ ie up one size +5, up from small to large +10.

Vacations & Billing Inquiries
We need seven days notice before a vacation hold or other change of service.
Contact Valerie through e-mail Goldenbell@aol.com, or  voicemail at (530) 756-2800
To donate your box to Foodrunners, please call 415-929-1866 or go to  www.foodrunners.org

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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