There's a "boneyard" out behind our farm shop -- the area where we fix tractors and repair machinery. To most people, it looks like a pile of junk, but to a farmer it is pure treasure: piles of metal objects of various shapes and sizes that can be cut and shaped into new uses. On Saturday afternoon I was perusing the boneyard for a particular size piece of metal for a planter I was [MORE ...]
When we started growing "heirloom tomatoes" at Terra Firma back in the 1990s, we were among a small group of growers seeking a market niche in a landscape of mostly inedible supermarket tomatoes. It was extremely challenging to make a living growing varieties bred by backyard gardeners who were mostly interested in flavor. Most of the heirlooms available back then yielded poorly and were heavily damaged when packed in the same manner as commercial [MORE ...]
If you live west of the Carquinez Strait, you may have heard rumors about a number of intense heatwaves impacting areas away from the coast. Even normally cool places like Tahoe have been hot, and the Pacific Northwest went through an off-the-charts event that killed hundreds of people and did tremendous ecological damage including massive wildfires. One thing that climate change is revealing is that the areas least prepared for intense heat can no [MORE ...]
In last week's newsletter I discussed the complications of getting a particular crop to market for a holiday that creates extra demand for that crop. But holidays, particularly 3-day weekends in the summer, cause all kinds of other problems for farmers who grow fresh produce. Like many other businesses -- stores, amusement parks, restaurants, hotels, etc. -- we are actually busier for the holiday. Our crops don't stop growing and our employees don't get [MORE ...]
The week before the Fourth of July is generally one of the busiest weeks of the year for us at Terra Firma Farm. We grow just about all the fruits and vegetables people associate with the Independence Day holiday, especially sweet corn, tomatoes and watermelons. And thanks to our location and its microclimate, we are able to harvest abundant amounts of these items a few days before the holiday. Most other farms north of [MORE ...]
Hiding indoors from the extreme heat this weekend, I watched a documentary entitled "My Octopus Teacher" -- a wonderfully up close look at the daily life of this unique creature. The octopus reminded me a bit of agriculture, its tentacles operating semi-independently of each other but still connected to the ever-adapting body. As the drought in the Western U.S. receives more attention, the number of posts in the media and social media addressing "problem" [MORE ...]
One of the keys to successful fruit and vegetable growing has always been finding good varieties. But "Good" means different things to different farmers. To some, it simply means high-yielding and thus profitable. To others, it means "appealing to consumers": tasty, attractive and user friendly. The farming world is full of produce that achieves one goal but not the other. At Terra Firma we have always striven to find varieties that achieve both. A [MORE ...]
Growing tomatoes takes a combination of good planning, specialized farming techniques, and the right location. But in the end, nature decides whether we'll have a good crop or a bad one, a short or long season, an early or late start. We've raced against approaching storms and finished planting in the rain. Other years, we've had multiple frosts that require late-night intervention to prevent the young plants from freezing. We've had wind storms and [MORE ...]
There's never a good time for a heatwave, but the timing of the particular heatwave we're having right now could be worse. If it doesn't last too long and the weather cools back down soon, it could kickstart our summer season into a higher gear without too much of a downside -- a dress rehearsal to get us ready for the main event. With the warm spring we've had, our summer crops have been [MORE ...]
Earlier this spring, I mentioned in a newsletter that you would likely see "farm shaming" occurring in the news and social media: attacking farmers in California for their use of water. The shaming has begun.* Every Californian lives in a glass house where water is concerned. Without the vast, costly infrastructure that delivers water from one corner of the state to the other, our state could not support a fraction of the population it [MORE ...]
The first time I visited "the farm that would later become Terra Firma" was early February of 1992. Among the other activities that were happening that day, the crew was planting potatoes: dropping the cut pieces of potato (aka: "seed") in the ground and covering them with soil. It was a warm, sunny and dry day. A few days after I visited, it began to rain and basically didn't stop for the rest of [MORE ...]
Onions are often described as "Humble", but they are actually sophisticated world traveling gourmands: grown all over the world not for mere sustenance, but rather to make other foods more flavorful and enjoyable. Their ubiquity makes them relatively abundant and affordable thanks to thousands of years of breeding and adaptation by farmers and more recently, plant breeders. Like most food crops, onions are sensitive to the weather and the time of year. They can [MORE ...]
Summer is ramping up pretty quickly here at Terra Firma. I know this probably comes as a shock for those of you who live within a few miles of the Pacific Ocean, but temperatures since early April have been running 10-15 degrees above average for areas without a coastal influence. It's been very warm, verging on hot. That warm-to-hot weather has been great for our summer crops. Our tomato field looks amazing, and we [MORE ...]
Standing in the dry bottom of Lake Mendocino last week, Governor Newsom declared a drought for Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. After the driest winter on record for many areas north of San Francisco, many people are wondering stopped there. Farmers are chief among those wondering, given that many of them around the state have already received notice that they will be receiving limited amounts of water from the state and federal reservoirs this year. [MORE ...]
If you only ever shopped at big supermarkets, you might be excused for thinking that there are only a few types of lettuce: iceberg, romaine, green leaf and red leaf. Produce departments with a little more diversity might have Oak or Butter leaf types. Over the years, the market for whole head lettuce has dropped as packaged, washed salad mixes have become popular. But while that has been happening, lettuce breeders have also developed [MORE ...]
April is always a busy month across the farm fields of California, and Terra Firma is no exception. It marks the real start of planting season for the summer crops that will fill up our CSA boxes in July, August and September: Green Beans, Corn, Zucchini, Melons and Watermelons, Peppers and of course Tomatoes. But April is not always a busy harvest month here. After a very wet winter, April can be a time [MORE ...]
Thanks to everyone who answered the survey I posted in last week's newsletter asking about summer vacation. We got over 250 responses, which is a really great sample size at almost a quarter of our active subscribers. What we learned is that just about everyone is planning on taking a month's vacation this summer. So, based on the information we garnered in the survey, we have made the momentous decision to do the same: [MORE ...]
Now that last week's blustery storm is just a distant memory, 2021 seems to have turned the seasonal page on winter just as the calendar announces the start of Spring. People are doing their best Puxatawney Phil impressions: poking their heads outside, blinking their eyes, and venturing out into the warmer weather to enjoy a few activities outdoors. Asparagus is the groundhog of the vegetable world. After going into hibernation with the first fall [MORE ...]
Walking through Terra Firma's field of Snap and English peas, all you can see is lush vegetation and an abundance of white flowers -- exactly what a farmer wants to see. But bend down to inspect the just-forming pea-pods, and you see something else. There, underneath the canopy, is a sprawling weed, growing almost flat on the ground. It has sprouted and grown up directly under the pea plants, and like them, it is [MORE ...]
We have always grown garlic at Terra Firma, even before our farm received its name. Garlic grows all over the world, and is fairly ubiquitous among international cuisines. There are varieties that grow better in areas with very cold winters, and others that thrive in the tropics. For us at Terra Firma, Garlic is an "overwintering" crop, planted in the fall and harvested right at the start of summer. Garlic doesn't produce seeds like [MORE ...]
There is always something to do at Terra Firma if it's not raining, and we all know it hasn't been raining much this winter. So we've been busy and the farm is already getting pretty "full". From April through October, you could say our farm planting schedule is written in stone. It is very rare that we miss a planting of any of our crops during the dry season. But from November through March, [MORE ...]
When Covid 19 arrived in California around this time last year, our local area was the epicenter for a brief moment, with infected passengers from cruise ships in Asia disembarking at Travis Airforce Base causing a small outbreak at the hospital where they were taken. For the rest of the year, the virus pretty much left Terra Firma alone. Despite dire warnings, there were very few cases among agricultural workers in Yolo and Solano [MORE ...]
Just a few months ago during the historic heatwave that gripped our state, I remember reading that officials at the Independent System Operator (ISO) that controls the power grid in California had "never foreseen" such massive electricity demand. "Historically", coastal regions never experienced extreme heat at the same time as inland areas. The geographical extent of the heat, combined with the reduction in output from solar panels due to wildfire smoke, led to extensive [MORE ...]
With travel and holiday gatherings out of the picture, I got to spend a chunk of time earlier this winter with my nose in a book and my feet up next to the woodstove. One book I read was a science fiction novel about a planet where -- you'll have to bear with me here -- certain insects were infected with a human-created nanovirus that allowed them to evolve over a thousand years into [MORE ...]
Every season offers its own particular challenges at our farm. Some are new while others are familiar. Each of them ends up affecting the contents of your box eventually. Winter is no exception. In past years, we have had hard freezes in December that killed or damaged any number of our crops in the field, including one year where we lost the mandarin crop halfway through harvest, but not the rest of the citrus. [MORE ...]
We're approaching the one year anniversary of the first time that most of us ever heard the term "Covid-19". Like many of you, I have spent probably hundreds of hours "doom scrolling" through media coverage of the virus and the pandemic. I consider myself fairly well-educated about it. But I have always been concerned that this virus was simply too difficult to understand, even for a college-educated, science-oriented person like myself. And it hasn't [MORE ...]
By the time you read this, we will have a new President. And in a break from the policies of his predecessor our new President Joe Biden today is announcing proposed legislation to provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. Many, if not most, are now and have always been "essential workers". In particular, they feed our country: tend, harvest and process our crops. They prepare our [MORE ...]
Amidst all the bad news we've had since the start of 2021, I thought it might highlight a few positive trends that are unlikely to see much coverage in the press or on social media. First and foremost: the vast majority of workers on farms in California got almost an 8% raise this year. That the third raise in three years of more than 5%. This raise is due mostly to California's annual mandated [MORE ...]
2020 was a year of enormous loss and tragedy for our country. In December, we lost a local and state hero, lifetime farming advocate, and TFF subscriber: Richard Rominger. Rich was a Winters farmer who became a leader representing California agriculture first as State Secretary of Agriculture during Jerry Brown's first term, and then later at the federal level as a Deputy Secretary of Agriculture under Bill Clinton. Later in his life, he became [MORE ...]
For most people, the 2020 holiday season is playing out very differently than it does most years. Thousands of people -- whether patients or providers -- will be spending it in crowded hospitals away from their loved ones. Many others are out of work, struggling to pay the rent. Most people have drastically altered their normal plans for festivities and get-togethers, and will have to make due with gifts sent by mail, phone calls, [MORE ...]
The big news this week may have been the delivery of the first Covid vaccines, but we were also excited to get our first real rain at the farm. The rain wasn't much -- just over an inch -- but it was enough to settle the deep dust, clear the air, and provide sufficient water that we were able to turn off our irrigation pumps for the first time since March. This is the [MORE ...]
There's just a few weeks left in 2020, and I think we're all looking forward to giving it a shove out the door and into history. With most TFF subscribers and employees telling us they are planning on sheltering-in-place for the year-end holidays, we are cutting our annual "vacation" back by a week. We'll be taking just one week off from deliveries this year: the week of Dec. 28th. We will be making just [MORE ...]
Here at Terra Firma, we take advantage of many forms of "technology" in our daily operations. Of course we rely heavily on cell phones for communication between the dozens of staff members who are coordinating what needs to get done, where, and when. We also use Slack for internal communication, as well as the less-well-known Farmigo platform that helps us manage your CSA accounts. We have an Instagram account. There is one extremely popular [MORE ...]
2020 has been a terrible year for so many reasons that it's easy to imagine many people will have a hard time finding much to celebrate on Thanksgiving. And in the twisted logic of this messed up year, that might not be such a bad thing, since Covid 19 seems to excel at spreading itself through celebration. At Terra Firma, next week will mark the first time since March that any of us will [MORE ...]
To celebrate the arrival of our first fall Lettuce in your boxes today, I'm going to do a deep dive into that vegetable. For decades, 100% of the lettuce consumed in the U.S. was "head lettuce": entire lettuce plants harvested by cutting at the root and sold that way. The most popular type by far was "Iceberg"; other types included Romaine, Red Leaf, and Green Leaf. As the 20th century drew to a close, [MORE ...]
Just a quick post today, given that many people's attention is likely elsewhere. Thanksgiving Schedule Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is coming up quick! Thursday and Friday boxes will be delivered on Tuesday, November 24th. Weds. boxes will delivered as usual. We will post a draft Thanksgiving Box list on the website next week. We will also be sending out an email with a link to a special order form for anyone who wants [MORE ...]
With everything that is going on right now, most Californians can be forgiven for not noticing something that -- in any other year -- would be a huge story and major topic of conversation: A large part of our state has experienced no rain since March. That in itself would not be alarming except for the fact that the same area received about half its normal rainfall last winter. Of course we've all been [MORE ...]
For decades, any time the media discussed farming and climate change, agriculture was addressed as a culprit to be blamed for its contribution. This put farmers dealing with the daily realities of a changing climate on the defensive. Instead of helping us adapt to the challenges, it appeared likely that the government was going to force new regulations on us that would make it even harder to survive economically. Yesterday on NPR, I heard [MORE ...]
Alicia here, to announce that you, our CSA members, raised a total of $10,640 for our olive oil producer and beekeeper, who experienced much loss and damage to their supplies and properties as a result of the LNU Complex Fire in August. Andrea, our beekeeper, and Susan, our olive oil producer, will each receive $5,320. We are deeply grateful for all of the donations we received, big and small. Below are updates from them. [MORE ...]
I guess it's been a while since I have updated the template for the newsletter on the email program I use; they informed me yesterday -- for the first time that I am aware of -- that I could no longer use the template because it is incompatible with their new software. I suppose for some people designing a new template is something they can knock out in an hour and still get their [MORE ...]
I once again find myself writing this weekly newsletter while a new giant fire burns just 30 miles away from here (the fire poses no risk to Terra Firma). I used to love Autumn, now I find myself hating it. We escaped relatively unscathed from the horrendous hot, windy weather that caused the Glass Fire. We've learned over the years to make sure that all our fields are well-irrigated prior to this type of [MORE ...]
While humanity spent twenty years denying, blaming, and arguing about how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, climate change has arrived. And we have spent almost no time planning for how we will adapt to the new reality. On our farm, we have been making small tweaks in response to ten years of individual weather events that, when put together like pieces of a puzzle, now provide a portrait of our new climate. Mostly hotter [MORE ...]
It seems that if 2020 has a theme, it will be about not taking basic things for granted like spending time with friends and relatives, having a home that hasn't burned down, having clean, breathable air and enjoying time outdoors. For our food supply, refrigeration is the equivalent of fresh air for humans. Without it, fresh food would not exist for most people. I'm not talking just of the refrigerators and freezers in our [MORE ...]
It’s 7 a.m. on Wednesday, half an hour past sunrise. It should be sunny. Instead, it is still pitch black outside, with just a disturbing red-orange glow to east. Massive fires to the north have covered the Sacramento Valley with a giant high cloud of smoke, and a new fire is currently threatening communities around Oroville. In the future, 2020 will certainly be remembered for the worst pandemic in modern memory. But it also [MORE ...]
Last week's giant LNU fire destroyed hundreds of homes and dozens of farms in the Pleasants Valley area of Winters and Vacaville. Two of the farms destroyed belonged to long-time TFF subscribers who also happen to be suppliers to the CSA. Susan Hassett of Buzzard's Roost Ranch produces organic olive oil that we have featured in our boxes. In addition to losing her home, the irrigation system in her orchard was destroyed -- although [MORE ...]
I have never been terribly worried about wildfires impacting Terra Firma's operations dramatically. Despite our location at the eastern edge of the fire-prone Coast Range, most of our fields, our office, and our packing shed are safely ensconced in a large area of irrigated orchards and other farmland. For a fire to reach us, it would have to burn through several miles of leafy green foliage that is kept hydrated all summer. By now, [MORE ...]
Most of the produce items in your boxes right now are not washed between leaving the field and entering your house. Cooking at high temperatures, when applicable, is a reliable way to kill bacteria. For items you plan to consume raw, you should do the following, you should take the following steps to ensure they are safe to eat: For Melons and Onions, washing the peels is not effective. Use a separate cutting board [MORE ...]
Last week, as part of our obligations under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2015, we conducted our annual "Mock Recall". That involves tracing a single product shipped on a single day and finding out how much the buyer still has on hand as well as how much has already been sold. For many of our crops, it's a simple task -- over half of what we grow ends up in your CSA boxes. Contrast [MORE ...]
Most organic growers in California grow cover crops to protect their soil and build fertility naturally. They are not harvested for a crop, but rather fed back to the soil. The primary season for growing cover crops in our area is winter, when the harvest season for most crops is over and rain provides natural irrigation. But at Terra Firma, we plant just as much acreage of winter crops as summer. Our winter-harvested fields [MORE ...]
August is our fruitiest month at Terra Firma. The late season peaches and nectarine varieties we harvest this time of year have complex flavor profiles usually associated with fine wine. Not sugary sweet, they are smokey, rich, and tangy. All the peaches we grow generally set fruit within the same 4-week period, but these ones spend fully eight or ten weeks longer on the trees than their early-season cousins. Most of them trace their [MORE ...]