Heirloom Tomatoes Tuesday drops have moved to Wednesday Starting June 6th: Same place,  same times,  different day

What’s Growing This Week:  Cherry tomatoes (all) Green beans (all) Summer Squash (All) Corn  (All)# Apricots (all) Basil (all) Onions (ALL) Beets (M,L) Garlic (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.

SPEAKING OF THE MEDIA
Does anyone know a good film director?  Following the success of Traffic, someone needs to do a similar dramatic exposition of the illegal immigration issue.  One, say, that examines the complicity between our wonderful life in California and the economic misery in Mexico that we benefit from so much.

 Hmmm.  The central characters could be a husband and wife — Jose and Maria Sanchez — paying $1000 for a risky  border crossing to land menial jobs in the U.S.  He works for a labor contractor in Salinas, she washes dishes in a trendy Baja Grill in Monterrey.  She is sexually harassed by her boss without fear of retribution, and he picks berries all day while Silicon Valley commuters race by in their Lexuses.

 Same dramatic contrast, different issue.  Hazy shots of the barbed wire border that keep desperately poor people from sharing a tiny part of the riches they can see on the other side.  Close ups of the billion dollar army created to keep them out.  Crystal clear images of affluent anti-immigration Americans, sipping wine and munching crudite while discussing the character defects of the Mexicans who landscape their mansions and take care of their kids.

 Then the Anglo characters.  A conservative businessman — Jim Hughes — running for office with a clear lead.  Until his liberal opponent  Davis Gray reveals that Hughes’  Salinas Valley vineyards were managed by a labor contractor — Martin Ramos — who hired illegal immigrants and provided them with false papers.   Gray wins the election, but Ramos — himself a former farmworker — is convicted to thirty years in federal prison.  Ramos’ workers — Jose among them — are left unpaid when his company is forced into bankruptcy.   In a final moment of triumph, the bankruptcy court orders their back wages paid, just before they are all deported by the INS.

 Gotta work on that ending.  Oh, I know.  Back at the border, the camera follows the van taking Jose back to Tijuana, then zooms east two hundred miles into the desert.  There, a group of men and women, unwitnessed, crawl under an unmaintained section of border fence into the U.S.

And at the hospital, a close up of Maria holding her newly born son.  Out in the hallway, behind a white counter, a nurse is entering information onto a computer screen for the child’s birth certificate.  Birthplace:  Salinas, California.  Nationality:  U.S.A.

HOW WE GROW TOMATOES
At various points during the spring, I have documented the progress of our tomato crop.  With the first appearance of cherry tomatoes in this week’s box, almost six months of work, worry, and planning come to fruition.  As you might remember, we plant the seeds of our first tomatoes immediately upon returning from our year-end vacation — January 7th this year.  But our planning for the crop actually begins well before that, when we plant a special early cover crop (this year, a type of fava beans) in October.  This is to ensure that the cover crop will get a good head start and be ready to turn under by mid-February.
Then we sit down in December and piece together our notes from the previous season in an effort to decide what and how much to plant, discard poor varieties, and decide which new ones to try.  Since we grow over 30 varieties of tomatoes, this can take all day, and usually does.

Around mid-February, the plants are getting taller in the nursery, and we start to look for a break in the rain to prepare the field.  Ideally, the cover crop should be turned under three weeks before planting.   No such luck this year.  The beds were covered with plastic mulch just days after incorporating the fava beans.

Once the tomatoes begin to grow, it is a race to keep up with them.  The stakes must get pounded in while they are still low enough for the tractor to fit over the top.  Then, we start trellising them.  Every 7-10 days for 3 months, the plants get a new line of twine to keep them growing up straight and off the ground.  As of last week, the earliest planting of cherry tomatoes had grown taller than the stakes (6 ft.), and are now growing back down towards the ground.

 All this so that we can let your tomatoes ripen safely above the ground, in the shade, and harvest them when they are ripe and delicious — instead of hard and green.  Mixed cherries this week, with Early Girls coming next week.  Heirlooms are a story for another newsletter, but they could happen as early as July 1.  Enjoy.

CHERRY TOMATOES           
Cherries are always the first tomatoes we harvest, since they ripen much more quickly than full size fruit.  We grow many varieties of cherry tomatoes, most of which we combine in our “mixed medley”.  In addition to the tiny round red Sweet 100s, other red varieties in the mix include plum shaped Juliet (larger) and Red Grape (smaller), pointy-tipped Reisentraub, and Pink Quartz.  There’s the tiny orange Sungolds as well as Yellow Pear, bi-color Isis Candy, and pale Snow White.  To round everything out, we’ve got Black Plum and Green Grape.  I recommend combining them, since the different textures and flavors tend to complement each other well.  As the season progresses, you will see some of these varieties individually in your boxes as well.

WHITE VS. YELLOW
Last week’s yellow corn was an aberration in our normal sweet corn field, an extra-early variety that is made to sprout better in cold soil.  For the next month or so, the corn will be all white.  However, I am experimenting with planting a yellow variety in later plantings, and we’ll see how it does.  If you have any opinions about this matter, please let us know.  For the record, we were rather pleased with last week’s corn and will certainly be planting it again in the early slot next year.

FRUIT??
Apricots are the only fruit item in this week’s boxes.  In the next week , we’ll have peaches and possibly plums, in addition to apricots.  And soon after that, we’ll begin harvesting one or more varieties of melons in the boxes as summer gets into full swing.
Thanks,            Pablito

Recipes

Pesto — Pesto will keep in the fridge for a long time, especially if you wait to add the cheese.  Then you can pull it out and use on sandwiches, add to soups or sauces, or use in pasta.
Pull the leaves off 1 bunch of basil and place in a food processor with 1-3 minced cloves of garlic.  Puree roughly, then add 1/4 C. olive oil and 1/4 C. chopped walnuts.  Puree until smooth.  If using immediately, add Romano cheese to achieve desired consistency.  If not, wait until before using, since pesto keeps.

Pesto Pizza with Cherry tomatoes, etc.
Mix 1 T. yeast with 1 C. warm water and 1 t. sugar.  Let sit 10 minutes.  Add 1/4 C. olive oil and 1/2 t. salt.  Sift together 1 C. unbleached white flour, 1/2 C. whole wheat bread flour, and 1/2 C.  Corn flour, then add to the liquid mixture.  Knead the dough until combined, then allow to rise for 5-10 minutes.  Roll out onto a pizza or baking sheet.
Cut 1 basket of cherry tomatoes in halves and toss with a little olive oil and salt.  Spread pesto over the entire pizza, then distribute the cherry tomatoes.  Slice onion thinly to make 1 C., toss with a little oil, and distribute.  Liberally dot the pizza with chunks of goat cheese, feta, or other tangy cheese.  Bake at 350 until cooked, about 25 minutes.
 

Produce 101: TFF SWEET CORN is a supersweet variety, which means it stays sweet for several days.  However, it still gets less sweet with time.  We recommend eating it within two days of receiving it, and keeping it moist and cool until them.  Some subscribers freeze the ears they don’t eat quickly, to preserve the freshness.  I find that three or four day old corn is actually better for soups and other recipes than the fresh stuff, since it develops more starchy “corn” flavor. Grossed out by CATERPILLARS?  Simply cut the tips off the corn while the husks are still on, and dispose of them.  Or alternatively, give the ears to you kids and let them remove the caterpillars (and then play  with them).

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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