IMPORTANT DELIVERY INFO
Thursday and Friday deliveries will be changed due to the holiday next week.  Those deliveries will be made on Tuesday, November 21st instead.  Please make a note of this schedule change.

THE ORGANIC FARMER SENATOR
Congratulations to John Tester, Democrat from Montana, who last week became the first organic farmer to be elected into the United States Senate.  He’s not a back-to-the-land liberal like me and many other organic farmers I know; but was a third-generation family farmer who converted his grandparent’s 1700 acre homestead to organic crops because it was the only way he could afford to stay on the land.  I guess 1700 acres is just a small spread in Montana.  And that land isn’t worth the $10,000 an acre much farmland in California is currently fetching from speculators, so Tester is going to be in the minority of Senators who aren’t millionaires.

 I like that Tester describes himself as a Populist, not a Liberal. There is a long but mostly forgotten tradition of farmers in the U.S. supporting similar causes:  fighting corporate monopolies, opposing tax breaks for the wealthy, and making tools available for people to ascend into the middle class and work their way up.  There is talk among certain elements in the Democratic party that if they can focus on the issues that appeal to the middle class, especially economic ones like health care, and environmental issues like global warming and alternative energy, they can cement a majority for years to come.

 In the recent election, in most states, only rural areas were still solidly Republican.  This despite their continued slide into an economic abyss throughout the Bush Presidency.  Assisted greatly by the American Farm Bureau, the Republicans for years have tried to convince rural people that their economic woes are entirely due to the Democratic party and its government regulation and environmental agenda.  But most rural people know that it’s really about economics.  With a new pragmatic, populist agenda, the new Democratic majority may have an opportunity to win back even the rural vote.

 Just by resolving a single issue — the estate tax — populist Democrats might score a big win among farmers.  John Tester, who inherited his land from his grandparents, might be able to explain how farmers like him are different from wealthy trust fund kids.   Republicans have been happy to leave the two lumped together as long as it served their purpose — putting a sympathetic face on the fight to eliminate a tax that primarily impacts the superwealthy.  Never mind that everyone in Washington knows that the federal government will go broke without it.

Currently, farming families must prepare for the financial consequences of the estate tax with the expensive help of lawyers and accountants.   Democrats have a real opportunity to find an innovative way to let farmers avoid the estate tax completely.  New, temporary legislation passed this year allows a much more useful tax deduction for farmers who protect their land through conservation easements.  Exempting easement protected land from the estate tax completely would go a long way towards the permanent protection of important farmland.  It would help unite farmers and environmentalist, who have been cynically divided by the Republicans.

 Tester might be the only organic farmer in Congress, but he has numerous compatriots in his party.   The shift to Democratic control of the House and Senate will almost certainly lead to increased support for sustainable agriculture research, support for conservation programs, and funding for farmland preservation.  The new Ag committee leaders in both houses, especially Tom Harkin in the Senate, have been pushing new ideas in these areas for years, but have been consistently frustrated by the Republican leadership.  It is time for the Democratic party to fully embrace economic incentives as the primary method of encouraging eco-friendly agriculture and focus on the positive contributions that farmers are making to the environment.  In doing so, they have the opportunity to bring farmers and environmentalists together for the benefit of the whole country.

IN YOUR BOXES
The color scheme of today’s boxes is orange.  It’s a color many people (especially those from east of the Rockies) associate with fall, so how appropriate that some of our featured fall fruits and veggies just happen to fit right in.

We harvested our butternut squash back in September, about the same time we harvested the Delicata and Sweet Dumpling.   But since those winter squashes don’t store very well, we’ve been holding off on sending you the butternut until the others were gone.  This week’s butternut arrives a week early so you can get a headstart on that pumpkin pie you’ve been thinking about serving for next week’s holiday.  If you still make pies with regular pumpkin, canned or fresh, you will find that butternut makes a creamier pie that doesn’t need as much sugar.

There will be no winter squash in your Thanksgiving week boxes.  Potatoes and sweet potatoes will fill the carbohydrate slot, so plan accordingly.
Fuyu Persimmons are. not the “pucker up” variety that everyone has had a bad experience with.  These are eaten like apples, and they are ready to eat right out of the box, no ripening-until-they-turn-to-mush necessary.  They are crunchy and sweet, although some may want to peel their skins, which are a bit tougher than apple skin.

Gold beets are the orange/yellow alternative to their dark red cousins.  They are cooked the same way — steamed, boiled, or baked.  And used in the same dishes — salads, soups, or side dishes.  But their color doesn’t bleed, so they can be used in recipes without dominating the color scheme.  They have a slightly different flavor, and their leaves taste more like spinach and less like, well, beets.
 And what about the most apropos orange produce item, the orange?  Well, you just might find a small bag of Satsuma mandarins in your boxes… next week.
 

Thanks,
  Pablito
 
 

Please make sure to include your account name, the one on the sign off sheet, in each and every correspondance.  Thank You!

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

CSA membership fees ~payment due day is first of month
 

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.  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

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