If you’re having a hard time believing it’s Thanksgiving already, you’re not the only one. November isn’t what it used to be at Terra Firma or in Northern California in general. Sure, we’ve had quite a bit of rain. But every time the rain stops, the sun comes out and it warms right up.
The biggest difference for us here in the Sacramento Valley now is the complete absence of fog, which used to hang around for days. There were weeks at a time when the temperature during the day in our fields as it was in our coolers — and the nights were colder. That type of weather kept crops like broccoli and spinach from growing much. We were always worried about running out of vegetables as a result.
Late fall is different for us now. It was 85 degrees on November 15th. And the combination of abundant rainfall and warmth has turbocharged most of the vegetables we grow. For the most part, this is a good problem to have. I can’t remember a year when the crops looked quite so amazing before Thanksgiving. And I’m not entirely sure but I believe we’ve only had green beans — which normally get killed by frost by mid-November — in your Thanksgiving boxes once before.
Most people tend to associate the Thanksgiving holiday with starchy vegetables that keep well in the winter. But with our new November weather, your box this week is mostly chock full of tender, fresh green items. There’s butternut squash in your boxes today, but no sweet potatoes or potatoes.
On the farm, this abundance of fresh crops translates into busyness. But we’d really like the crops to slow down a bit now so that we can slow down, too. Winter has always been short in Northern California, and it seems like it’s getting even shorter every year. Everyone’s looking forward to getting a few days off this week.
Happy Thanksgiving from our farm family to yours,
Pablito