Pablito .... 

GOOD QUESTIONS
Subscriber emails provided me with two topics for today’s newsletter.  Thanks  for providing me with inspiration this week.

ORGANIC PESTICIDES?!
The first question regarded  the use of Rotenone as a pesticide in organic farming, and about which pesticides are actually allowed organically.
Rotenone is material that is allowed in organic farming, but is heavily restricted. It is highly toxic to fish, for one thing. However, we do use a variety of naturally occuring pesticides -- if we didn't, we wouldn't be able to grow broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, tomatoes, onions, and others.   Some of these have been around since before synthetic chemicals became widespread.  Others are the result of recent scientific advances that have allowed us to identify, isolate, and manufacture naturally occurring crop protection compounds.

 The biggest differences between the materials we use and conventional agricultural chemicals is how concentrated they are, how long they last, and how they are absorbed (or not) by the plant. Many synthetic pesticides are highly concentrated and don't break down in the natural environment, and they are used with other chemicals that allow them be absorbed into the plant and thus eaten by the consumer. Organic pesticides are also usually effective on just a few types of insects, and are non-toxic to other creatures. Because Rotenone is one of the exceptions to this rule, most OG farmers don't use it.

 All pesticides used in organic farming can simply be washed off; most of the pesticides we use have biodegraded long before we ever harvest the crop. A good indication of this is the "harvest reentry" period dictated by the EPA -- the amount of time after you spray that you have to wait before sending any workers into the field or harvest the crop for consumption. Some synthetic chemicals, such as the one being sprayed in all the conventional walnut orchards in Winters right now, require a 30 day period or longer.  Most organic pesticides have a rentry period of 24 hours; many have none at all.

SMALL BOX QUESTIONS
One subscriber wrote to ask why, as a Small box subscriber, she hadn’t gotten any grapes, edamame, or figs  — as the larger size boxes had gotten recently.
Basically, the Small box is exactly what it says it is -- small. We are limited in the number of items we can put into the box each week by the price. We grow alot of great produce, but we can only put 5-7 items in the Small box each week. This is simply one of the limitations of the CSA idea.  It is not practical or economically efficient for us to put smaller amounts of 10 items in your boxes.

Earlier this year, we did a survey about increasing the price/size of all our boxes, but Small box subscribers overwhelming voted to keep their price and thus volume/variety the same. Medium and Large boxes voted to increase; thus widening the "gap" between them and Small box subscribers. The Medium box now costs close to double what the Small box does; the difference in price is not just due to getting more of each item but also a larger number of items. In particular, the larger boxes are now getting much more fruit, and varieties of fruit, than the Small boxes.

  When we made the changes in box size, we anticipated that some Small box subscribers would feel like they were missing out.  We considered adding a fourth size box, but decided it would simply be too confusing to try to explain the differences between the four sizes.

With the Small box, we have been trying to provide a box mostly of items that everyone uses and likes. Figs and edamame are a good example of items that some people might consider "extras" or "exotics" that they wouldn't want to get instead of items like tomatoes, peaches, corn, potatoes, etc. We put them in on a rotating basis, which means that during the summer, you might get them once every three weeks where the larger boxes get them every week or every other week.   Over a three or four week period, you will get every item we grow at least one time.

 I hate to sound like a marketer, but if you like what you are seeing in the Medium boxes better than what you’re getting in your Small box, you can always switch — and switch back if you find it to be too much to handle.  Our season of true abundance runs from May through the end of September.
We are always doing our best to keep all our customers happy, within the limits of what we do, and for the most part, it seems to be working.
GRAPE FOOTNOTE:  Our main grape season is just about to start, and all subscribers will see grapes regularly in your boxes in September, though not necessarily every week.  When the vines mature, we hope to have grapes through October.  Since this is still the first year for most of them, though, we’re not sure how long the season will last.

IN YOUR BOXES
Well, the incredible heat of July and early August served to help us answer the question:  “Which grows better here in the summer, green beans or edamame.”  The answer is clearly the latter, as our green beans have been a near complete loss due to the heat.  The edamame, on the other hand, are producing quite nicely — so we hope you like getting them frequently (especially Medium and Large boxes).  There are several plantings remaining in the field, so we expect to have them through Labor Day and beyond.

With the onset of “cooler” weather — just 98 degrees this afternoon! — our later plantings of green beans should be ready to harvest in another week or two, and continue into the fall.  A return to triple digits, however, will cause more of what we have been seeing all summer — stunted plants and gnarled, tiny beans.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

We’ve got another week of Gravenstein apples to complement the peaches and melons in the fruit department of today’s boxes.  There’s a lot of competition for space as we approach the end of August.   A few weeks worth of peaches remain on the trees, several melons fields have not even begun ripening, our largest block of grapes is almost ripe, and we are busily harvesting Asian pears and squirreling them away in the cooler.

Wondering about peppers?  Our first planting was a disaster, due to the heat.  Our second planting is shaping up nicely, and we’ll have sweet bells next week.  This week, though, an experiment:  In your (M,L) boxes, you’ll find one or two types of mildly spicy peppers:  Anaheims and Anchos.  These peppers are most commonly used to make “chile rellenos”, but can also be roasted, cut into strips, and served on tacos or quesadillas.  Let us know how you like them..

Thanks,

       Pablito

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

Produce 101: preparation & storage  # PEACHES or NECTARINES and APPLES in today’s boxes are from our newest orchard, which was farmed conventionally until last September.  The trees have not received synthetic fertilizer since then, and the fruit in your boxes has not been sprayed with any synthetic pesticides.  ANAHEIM chiles are long and sort of pointy, and are either green or red; ANCHO chiles are dark green or purplish, squat, and smaller.

We Up/downgrades are $5 per week per increment.

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. 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.

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

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