Don't forget... Terra Firma Vacation December 24 through January 6 (no box deliveries)

What’s Growing This Week:  Splendar Apples Broccoli Carrots Arugula Sweet potatoes Leeks Satsuma Mandarins Red Cabbage

 Pablito....

MODERN ANXIETY
Fifty years ago on the spot where I am writing this newsletter, Grace and Jack Faye planted a walnut and apricot orchard by hand.  They are both gone, but the trees they planted are still here.  The apricots still produce each year, although they are beyond their prime.  The walnut trees, too, still make nuts, although plant breeding in the interim has made it difficult for anyone to farm them and compete with newer, more productive varieties.

Every year, farming publications boast of the thousands of new acres of orchards and vineyards that are planted in California.  What is amazing to me is not that so many are planted — but that any are planted at all.  These plantings, like the Faye’s orchard, are long-term ventures — many of which will outlive the people who plant them.  The leap of faith required to plant a tree on a square of ground on this Earth in the 21st century, where the pace of change seems like it will do nothing but continue to increase — blows my mind.

 Demographers have already mapped out what the Central Valley of California will look like in 20 years.  Under current trends, massive tracts of farmland along the edges of I-5 and Route 99 will be paved for homes and businesses.  Much of this red-ink area is covered with recently planted orchards, other parts will no doubt continue to be planted.

 When I meet older farmers, they express amazement and pessimism at my decision to pursue a life in agriculture.  “The way you farm,” someone told me today, “You can’t just be good at farming, with all that entails.  You have to be a good marketer, financial analyst, supervisor.  All that and you still don’t know if you’re going to be able to make a living farming.”  Older Americans today are benefiting from technologies that many of them never imagined were possible when they were starting their careers.  Their kids and grandkids have jobs that were not yet invented twenty years ago.  My parent’s generation has demonstrated an amazing ability to embrace these changes.  So it gives me pause to hear people of that generation question whether farming has a future at all in our rapidly changing society.

 I wonder how recognizable the immediate world around me will be in twenty, thirty years.    Will still be possible to earn a living farming in the U.S. at all?  I wonder, too, about all the teachers and bus drivers — not to mention minimum wage workers.  What will we all be doing in 20 years?

   I  have a reason for pondering these concerns.  Terra Firma will soon reach a crossroads that has been so distant for so long that we haven’t spent much time considering it — in a year, or two, we may be in a position to purchase a farm of our own.  One factor making this possible, though, is the demise of viable conventional farms in Yolo County that is currently taking place.  The same devaluation of land that makes it more affordable for us will exert greater pressure on local politicians to give in to the demands of developers to build housing here.  While I have lots of respect for farmers who are fighting to preserve rural areas, I have no interest in being an island of agriculture in a suburban sea.  Like environmentalists, farmers never win the fight against developers — at best you can battle them to a draw.

At the same time, friends who are paying down mortgages on their farms express wonder at our willingness to lease farmland.  Organic farming is a long-term process of investing in your soil; how can we continue to make this investment in land that can be taken away from us at any time?  Good question.

 I have never much believed that one person can own a piece of land.  Maybe my perspective would be different if I was farming land my grandfather had handed down to me.  I have my own relationship to the land we farm — I like to work with it, learn its ways.  I don’t enjoy trying to alter it to suit my own needs.  The lines we draw in our fields can and are easily erased by wind and rain.  It makes me sad to see land destroyed, permanently reshaped by humans, whether I have ever farmed it or not.  I like to believe that the land outlives us all, individually.

I am not so sure that I could survive seeing a piece of land that was supposedly mine paved over, covered in asphalt.  Or even just surrounded by it on all sides.  I realize that not everyone feels the same way I do — this is not a 21st Century view of the world.  Or maybe… Maybe it will be, some day.

 This is what happens when a week goes by without me working on a tractor… Thanks for your patience.

BEST BOX OF THE YEAR!
That’s what Valerie said about last week’s box.  We hope you find this week’s to be just as delightful.  You’ve got colors, textures, flavors and nutrition across the whole spectrum.  Cabbage fans will be happy to see the color red (purple) in the box this week.  A late planting of arugula seems to have survived the weather, but the frost does bring out its spicier overtones.  Tossing it with pasta just before serving will mellow it out just a bit.  And we’ve upped the ration of mandarins in an effort to boost everyone’s immunity against colds and flu this month.

CORRECTION
The web address for the hiking trails in Yolo County should be:  yolohiker@yahoo.com.

Thanks,            Pablito
 
 

REPEAT INFO — VACATIONS & MANDARINS Please note that Terra Firma will take our two-week annual hiatus from delivery the weeks of December 25 and January 1st.  The final box delivery will be on Friday, December 22, and the deliveries will resume on Tuesday, January 9th.   Nonetheless, the monthly price for December and January are identical to the other 11 months of the year, as per our pricing system based on 50 deliveries per year.  If you are a very recent subscriber, you may be exempt from this policy — contact Valerie if you’re not sure. Remember our bulk mandarins, in 10 lb. Bags.  Orders for each week must be received:  for Tuesday delivery, by the prior Thursday; and for Thursday and Friday delivery by Monday of the same week.  You can also include requests for multiple weeks with your monthly check.  The price is $9 for ten pounds.

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

Red Cabbage, Arugula, & Carrot Slaw — Another coleslaw alternative, this goes really well on sandwiches.
 Cut a red cabbage across it’s “equator”, then shred at a 90 degree angle to the first cut, to make 2 C.  Grate carrots to make 2 C.  Wash arugula and roughly chop to make 1 C.
Make a dressing with 2 T. lemon juice, 1 T. honey, 1/4 C. milk, 1/2 t. crushed fennel seed, and 1/4 t. salt.  Add either 1/3 C. olive oil or 1/2 C. mayonnaise, and whisk.  Toss with the vegetables and let sit 1/2 hr. before serving.
Cabbage, Carrot, & Potato Wontons
Dice potatoes to make 1/2 C., then steam until tender.  Mash with 1/4 C. plain yogurt, 1/4 t. salt, 1/4 t. five spice powder, and 1/4 t. Chinese chili paste.  Grate carrots to make 1/2 C., and shred cabbage to make 1 C.
Spoon 1 T. potato mixture onto a wonton wrapper, then a little cabbage and carrot.  Moisten 2 edges of the wontons with water, then fold over the filling to make a triangle.  Repeat to make 24 wontons.  Steam the wontons for 5 minutes in a vegetable steamer and serve with tamari.
 

Produce 101: preparation & storage  LEEKS grow partially underground, and need to be carefully washed.  Cut the leaves off where they meet the stem and discard or use in stock.  Then cut an “X” down into the leek and rinse well under water. SATSUMA MANDARINS in your boxes today come from our CCOF orchard. SPLENDOR APPLES come from the Apple Farm in the beautiful Anderson Valley of Mendocino County.  They are CCOF certified.  Expect to see apples regularly for the rest of this month.

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
 

                                                                                                   New?  Sign up! 
 

Quality Oraganics

What is CSA?

What do I get?

Sign-up& Rates

Homepage