Member News

Summer Solstice Sweet Corn

Everyone has their own “quintessential” summer food.  If yours is a fruit or vegetable, there’s a pretty good chance that Terra Firma grows it:  Tomatoes, Peaches, Watermelon, and of course, Sweet Corn. Sweet corn is not easy to grow organically. … Continue reading →

Countdown to Summer

The strangest June we’ve had in years continued this weekend as an extremely rare series of thunderstorms plowed through Yolo and Solano counties yesterday complete with hundreds of lightning strikes and even hail.  We got a little soaking of rain, … Continue reading →

Peaches and Climate Change

The 2017 peach crop on our farm and throughout the state is a mixed bag, some varieties are loaded while others are light thanks to the long wet spells that came during bloom.  But because Georgia and South Carolina lost … Continue reading →

Why aren’t Farmers using more water now that the drought is over?

The timing of the first real “heatwave” of 2017 here this week on the farm coincided with another “first” for the year.  We started irrigating crops a few in late April, but it wasn’t until Monday that we started watering … Continue reading →

Is Imported “Organic” Food really Organic?

When Terra Firma Farm started back in the late 20th century, we were the 17th organic farm to become certified organic in the Solano-Yolo counties region.  Back then, organic farms certified each other, banding together to create standards and check … Continue reading →

The Year of the Fungus

One of the secrets to the success of organic agriculture in California is something that non-farmers often assume is a liability:  the lack of rainfall in our state. Yes, water is the source of life for everything on earth, including … Continue reading →

The Weed Killer you’ve never heard of

All across California, from front yards to farm fields and orchards, you can see patches of soil or entire fields where nothing grows.  Or better to say:  nothing is being grown, on purpose.  Circles of dirt around trees in parks … Continue reading →

Spring Update

Like most farmers in California, we’ve missed a lot of deadlines here at Terra Firma this spring. And we’re still missing them.  Because we’re at least a month behind in much of our spring work.  And it’s not like we … Continue reading →

The Crop that will save California?

A few years back, the citizens of our state went to the polls and voted to legalize recreational marijuana.  This ended a number of injustices, the worst of which was long prison sentences for users and sellers of a fairly … Continue reading →

Strawberry Season Starts Today!

Terra’s Strawberry season started last Thursday when we picked the first few boxes of berries.  Thankfully, the weather dried out enough on Monday afternoon that we were able to harvest again, and those berries are in your boxes today. One … Continue reading →

First Harvest of our New Asparagus Field

Over the last ten years, we’ve planted a number of perennial crops at Terra Firma: apricots, citrus, grapes, peaches, persimmons, walnuts, and asparagus.  Perennial crops have an advantage over annual crops in that they don’t need to be planted every … Continue reading →

Watching the Grass Grow

For a few weeks back in February and March, we got to experience a pleasure that has been rare the last few years.  Any time the sun came out and the sky cleared, you could look east from many of … Continue reading →

Just in Time for Spring

Spring Equinox was Monday, and just in time we are officially starting asparagus season.  We had a bit of a false start this year, but it’s here now for real, and should continue through April and well into May. In … Continue reading →

Good News about Groundwater

Yesterday we did something on the farm that we haven’t done since early November:  we turned a pump on to irrigate a field.  It was just one field, and we didn’t water for very long.  The ground in all of … Continue reading →

Waiting for the Mud to Dry

A lot has changed since the first humans figured out that you could stick a seed in the soil and grow food.  But one thing has remained the same:  with a few exceptions*, you can’t plant in wet soil. For … Continue reading →

How does an Orange become Organic?

Why is some of Terra Firma’s citrus fruit Certified Organic, and some not yet? There’s a pretty simple explanation and it helps explain some of the quirks of how we farm and get you such a wide variety of produce. … Continue reading →

The View from Below

As you probably have heard, over the last week a series of events occurred at Lake Oroville — the second largest reservoir in the state — that caused the mandatory evacuation of almost two hundred thousand people living downstream in … Continue reading →

Dear Diary

Fifty years before Terra Firma came into existence, George Hemenway tended dozens and dozens of acres of fruit trees and vegetables on much of the land we currently farm.  He kept a handwritten daily dairy of his work on the … Continue reading →

Ferment It!

In most parts of the world, preserving crops was historically as or more important to human survival than growing them:  the yin and the yang of agriculture.  Humans discovered a number of different ways to turn ephemeral products into shelf-stable … Continue reading →

It’s Official: The Drought is OVER!

Monday morning, the National Weather Service office in Sacramento issued a Tweet: “Are you ready for the next series of storms? Use these dry days to prepare for (another) stormy week”.  We took their advice.  Now on Wednesday morning, the … Continue reading →

Resolutions for a Rainy New Year

Happy New Year. If you have New Years resolutions that involve eating healthier, spending quality time with family and friends, cooking more, or spending less, then 2017 could be a great year to make them a reality. On the other … Continue reading →

Well-Traveled Pistachios

At Terra Firma we are pretty proud about how few miles there are between our fields and your forks.  Our delivery trucks drive fewer miles a year than lots of commuter Priuses.  But the pistachios in your boxes today have … Continue reading →

Longjohn Season

Longjohn season is here at Terra Firma.  Here at the farm, it’s something we look forward too all year. If you live in the Bay Area, you probably don’t wear long underwear very often.  Unless you’re a frequent visitor to … Continue reading →

Finding Solace in a Box of Veggies

Farmers have a pretty well deserved reputation as glass-half-full types.  It’s not a coincidence that many cautionary phrases have their origins in agriculture — “Don’t count your chickens…” The election left most people I know feeling pretty pessimistic.  I think … Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving

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 … Continue reading →

Generations of TFF Subscribers

There are lots of great things about our annual Farm Day:  meeting both new and long-term subscribers for the first time, getting in-person feedback about what we are doing as well as hearing so many people talk about how joining … Continue reading →

SoCal Creep and Drought Children

You may remember a few years back when winter in Northern California was a time when you huddled indoors, cooked soup, needed an umbrella to walk anywhere.  You didn’t plan outdoor activities after Halloween unless they involved mountains and snow. … Continue reading →

Does my Drone Bee have a Headphone Jack?

Last week while the media was focused on the release of the newest Iphone and the “controversy” over its lack of a headphone jack, a different company announced that it had created a tiny drone that could take the place … Continue reading →

A Nation United…by Drought

Everybody knows that California is experiencing a drought and that agriculture is having a major impact on groundwater.  But these are not just issues just affecting our state. If you’ve ever flown across the Great Plains and looked out the … Continue reading →

The Green Leaves of Autumn

Fall Equinox is just a week away, and in others parts of the U.S. it is primarily characterized by trees turning bright red, orange and yellow.  At Terra Firma it means fields of leafy greens taking the place of summer crops … Continue reading →

Delicata Fajitas

A tasty vegan version of the classic dish. Cut 2-3 delicata squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and pulp, and discard.  Place the squash cut side down and cut into 1/2 inch thick half rounds. In bowl, toss … Continue reading →

Say Hello to Winter (Squash)

It doesn’t feel anything like winter today, what with hot weather reaching all the way from the ocean to the mountains.  But in your boxes, Winter Squash season starts this week. Winter squash is not just for winter anymore, if … Continue reading →

Abundance and Scarcity

Scarcity and abundance are the yin and yang of agriculture, coexisting in a complex dance that affects both farmers and eaters around the world. Late summer in Northern California is a time of abundance that can feel overwhelming at times, … Continue reading →

Dust, Water and Food Safety

By the end of 2016, our farm and every other farm growing fresh produce in the U.S. will be required by the Food and Drug Administration to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act finalized last year. This well-meaning legislation … Continue reading →

Asthma Prevention, Amish-Style

Last week the New York Times covered a study by a group of prestigious researchers who were seeking to understand the huge rise in the number of children with asthma over the last thirty years.  One group of people in particular … Continue reading →

Another August, Another Fire

By now you may have heard that California’s newest wildlife is right here in Winters.  It started yesterday afternoon just few miles west of Terra Firma, and overnight has spun up to well over 1000 acres. At the current time, … Continue reading →

Another Kind of Tomato

Don’t look now, but we are almost mid-way through our annual Tomato season.  As has been the case most of the last few years, the first half of the season was a pretty wild ride for us.  In the past, … Continue reading →

Robots in the Garden

Gardening is big business.  Every year, tens of millions of people head out to their local nursery, hardware store or home improvement chain store to load up on soil amendments, bedding plants and perennials.  They spend a day or two … Continue reading →

New Ways of Storing Water

The drought isn’t making nearly as much news as it did last year, but you may have heard that the state recently allowed local water districts across the state to drop their mandatory conservation requirements.  Many of the state´s reservoirs … Continue reading →

Reliving Summer Memories…and Making New Ones

One of my earliest memories of food is sweet corn and tomatoes that my family used to get from our local farmstand every summer.  There was just one small farm left in the New York City suburb where I grew … Continue reading →

The Original McGyver

A farmer friend of mine sells his produce at the farmers’ market every Tuesday in Berkeley.  You probably know him if you ever shop there.  Yesterday morning when he jumped in his loaded market truck and went to start it … Continue reading →

A Maze of Tomatoes

If you’ve driven on I-80 north towards Tahoe in the fall, you’ve seen the signs for the “World’s Biggest Corn Maze” just outside of Dixon.  There, people come out for the day to get lost among the paths cut through … Continue reading →

Brand Recognition? Not for Peaches

A long time ago, before there were people who specializing in developing brands that resonated with consumers, there were fruit and vegetable variety names.  These names were not chosen to resonate with the shoppers who would purchase them.  Almost all … Continue reading →

Changing of the Guard

We have a changing of the guard in your boxes today, a handing-over of the Produce Crown from one queen to another:  Strawberries to Tomatoes. Taken together, these are center of the galaxy of crops we grow at Terra Firma: … Continue reading →

The Many Winds of May

We have many flavors of wind on the west side of the Sacramento Valley.  Some are large-scale phenomena that affect the entire region while others are more localized.  Each one of them has a profound affect on the climate here … Continue reading →

Crooked Branches

There is an old Spanish proverb that is used in reference to both childrearing and training of trees and vines:  “El palo que nace chueco jamas se endereza” (A crooked branch will never straighten). If you travel to a region … Continue reading →

Mayday! Mayday! (Peaches)

No, that’s not a typo or a mistake on the CSA box list for this week: peaches are in your boxes today.  I actually picked the first one on Saturday, the last day of April. When we planted our first … Continue reading →

Many Hands to Grow Your Food

Spring is (one of) the times of year around here when there is always more to do than there is time to get done.  Which might explain why the illustration I made for last week’s newsletter was backwards and upside … Continue reading →

Spring is for Lightweights

When you’re shopping for fruits and vegetables, more is less — money per pound, that is.  The highly detailed graph below illustrates how heavier items like potatoes and apples cost less than lighter ones like greens or berries. There are several … Continue reading →

The Most Ephemeral Fruit

Thirty years ago — the summer of my sophomore year of college — I was riding a motorcycle across the English countryside to a musical festival with my first-ever girlfriend.  Suddenly an intense fragrance hit our nostrils:  strawberries ripening in the … Continue reading →