Member News

A Rant and a Recipe

Skimming one of the numerous articles in the news media this week about the federal government shutdown, one number jumped out at me: $23,000.   That’s the amount that an entry level TSA worker makes.  This year, even Terra Firma’s lowest … Continue reading →

A Wet Start to 2019

Happy New Year! I would guess that most people, given the choice, would prefer rain to come during the week while they are at work instead of on the weekends.  Obviously if you work outside, as mostly we do here … Continue reading →

Was 2018 a Good Year?

The question that everyone asks a farmer in late December is “Did you have a good year?”  They are generally referring to your crop or crops, and for some farmers the question is easily answered.  For example, our neighbors who … Continue reading →

It’s Hard to Fool Weeds

Every year as fall transitions into winter, and again as winter changes to spring, something amazing — and a little terrifying (for a farmer) happens in our fields.  The weeds in our fields change.  The warmth- and sunshine-loving weeds that … Continue reading →

Making Aromatic Memories

When I was a child, we often drove past a General Foods factory where they made bouillon cubes.  I still remember the smell of homemade soup cooking wafting through the car windows.  This week, you will smell that same fragrance when … Continue reading →

Know your Farmer, know your Food (is safe)

There’s nothing like finishing six days worth of farm work in two and a half days and then coming home to find out that the federal government has issued a recommendation that no one eat any Romaine lettuce — especially … Continue reading →

Happy Wet (we hope) Thanksgiving!

The person who invented the three-day summer weekend was not a farmer — it’s hard enough to stop work for one day during that time of year when days are long and crops never stop growing, much less three. Thanksgiving … Continue reading →

Fire & Ice, on the same day

The past week has been a nightmare for the thousands of people in California who have been displaced from them homes, many of them permanently.  And while some disasters are highly localized, the smoke from the fires has covered much … Continue reading →

A Halloween Bug Tale

Happy Halloween! Just in time for the season, we’ve got a horde of scary black and orange monsters rampaging through our fields.  Unfortunately, they are not cute kids dressed in costumes, but rather unwanted insect visitors.  And they are feasting … Continue reading →

Too Much Plastic!

I wanted to address a few issues that subscribers have communicated with us recently in this week’s newsletter. First: Plastic.  We have entered the time of year when there starts to be more plastic in your boxes.  Several subscribers have raised … Continue reading →

Caring for Carrots

Carrots are challenging for us to grow here most of the year.  If they could talk, they would tell you that their preferred climate would be drizzling, foggy and cool.  And yet, in order for us to harvest carrots in fall … Continue reading →

Sixteen Weeks of Tomatoes

We harvested our first few tomatoes this year way back on June 20th and sent them along to you.  Since then, they have been a regular component of your boxes each and every one of the sixteen weeks that have … Continue reading →

2018 Pistachio Harvest: Just in Time

All over California right now, tree trunks are being mechanically shaken so hard that nuts rain down everywhere.  Almonds and walnuts are shaken onto the ground by metal claws attached to a hydraulic arm attached to a tractor.  They are … Continue reading →

Blockchain will not make your Salad Safer

By now most people know the term “Blockchain”.  They know that a small group of people fervently believe it is a technology that is going to change the world, or at the very least make them rich.  But few people … Continue reading →

The Mystery of the Missing Garlic

There’s no such thing as “perfect” in farming.  Unfortunately, that is rarely obvious — especially to consumers.  For every spotless, perfect, uniform piece of fruit or vegetable in the store, there is an ugly, pockmarked, moldy or otherwise entirely unperfect … Continue reading →

Our Weediest Crop

The most common meaning of the word “Weed” is an unwanted plant that poses a threat to more desirable plants.  But on the farm it’s not always easy to tell them apart from crops. Tomatoes, peppers and potatoes are all … Continue reading →

Almonds, Vanilla & the Giant Pool of Cash

Almonds and Vanilla, often combined in desserts, coffee drinks and other tasty products, are fascinating examples of global trade’s enormous impact on agriculture.  They are grown almost at opposite ends of the world from each other, but as crops they … Continue reading →

Varieties of Spice (Onions)

For farmers and gardeners all over the world, the one subject that elicits the most discussion and the strongest opinions is what “varieties” of crops they grow.  Ok, I lied, it’s actually the weather.  But after that all-important subject, “varieties” … Continue reading →

Fall Fakeout

We woke up on Monday morning to a welcome chill that seemed to last most of the day.  It felt an awful lot like the first hint of fall.  This “Fall Fakeout” is fairly common for our area, and it … Continue reading →

An Everyday Verdict against Monsanto

Last week, a jury in San Francisco sided with a school groundskeeper who sued Monsanto alleging that his terminal cancer had been caused by their failure to warn users of the dangers posed by their herbicide Roundup.  They awarded him over … Continue reading →

August is the Thirstiest Month

August is a thirsty month at Terra Firma.  And it’s not just our employees, who we keep constantly supplied with jugs of iced water so they can stay hydrated and safe in the heat.  It’s the crops — summer vegetables, … Continue reading →

A New Kind of Fire Weather

Wildfires in Northern California have been in the headlines for weeks now, and our hearts go out to the victims who have lost their lives and their homes as well as the thousands who have been displaced. “Fire Weather” is … Continue reading →

Grilling Sweet Corn 101

We are more than halfway through Sweet Corn season at Terra Firma.  That means that the moths have finally found the ears and the caterpillars have been chewing on the tips of the corn.  If you are squeamish about them, … Continue reading →

Refrigeration: Keeping Produce Cool for…80 years?

Humans excel at taking technology for granted.  Take cell phone and internet service, for instance.  In just twenty years, they have gone from being a rare luxury of the privileged to an absolute necessity for modern societies.  They don’t fail … Continue reading →

Where’s the Garlic this year?

We have a long tradition of growing garlic at Terra Firma. In fact, Paul Holmes was growing it here in Winters during the first incarnation of the farm, before we changed the name. Most years we harvest tons of the … Continue reading →

4th of July Pyrotechnics

People in the Bay Area who had never heard of Yolo County got a geography lesson when they woke up on Sunday to smoky skies and falling ash.  Terra Firma subscribers, on the other hand, may have been wondering “Is … Continue reading →

Clandestine Corn Farmers

Corn has an image problem.  In recent years, in certain circles, among people who “know a few things”, and so think they know everything. “Everyone knows” that all corn is genetically modified.  That it’s subsidized.  That it’s a monoculture.  A … Continue reading →

Introducing Terra Firma’s 2018 Class…of Tomatoes

Gather round, folks, and you’ll hear the story of a tomato… Terra Firma Farm has a reputation in these here parts for harvesting some of the first tomatoes of the season each year.  It’s part luck: we have a tiny … Continue reading →

The Spiral(iz)ing Popularity of Vegetables

Everyone knows that one of the best ways to eat healthier is to eat more vegetables.  And yet for decades, American consumers have tended to flock to faddish diets that promised to help them lose weight, lower their cholesterol, help … Continue reading →

Farm Robots? Yes Please.

You may have seen a video on social media recently of a new “Weed Pulling Robot” that promises to eliminate one of the most costly and time consuming activities on farms while reducing worldwide herbicide use by 20%.  The solar-powered machine appears … Continue reading →

Everyone’s a Winner…with Legumes

On any given day of the year, you can find legumes growing at Terra Firma.  Peas are harvested in the spring.  Green beans are a summer and fall crop.    We also grow leguminous cover crops — vetch in the winter and … Continue reading →

The Pest You Can Barely See

How’s this for a clickbait grabber:  “This tiny insect you’ve never heard of and can barely see is the most destructive pest in the world!” And it’s true.  Thrips are tiny insects, barely visible to the naked eye, that feed on … Continue reading →

First the Good News

It can be hard to stay positive in our world today, and it’s hard to escape the bad news even if you try.  When you’re writing a weekly newsletter like this one, the “experts” will tell you to make sure … Continue reading →

Turning on the Pumps

For farms in California, water is the lifeblood flowing through them and keeping them alive.  At Terra Firma, the “heart” of our farm is the big natural gas engine that pumps water to our fields from the Putah South Canal … Continue reading →

A Berry Abundant Week

Most of the fresh strawberries grown and eaten in the U.S. are grown in California, and most of those are grown in a narrow strip along the coast.  The mild weather that humans enjoy so much is also perfect for … Continue reading →

No Pre-Chopped Romaine Here

Most people like convenience, and all businesses love efficiency.  When these two concepts come together in the same product, it can overcome any lingering doubts that might exist about things like…safety.  This seems to be what happened when someone decided … Continue reading →

How Far is Too Far

A few people noticed that the Minneola Tangelos in last week’s boxes were not exactly local — they came all the way from Oceanside in San Diego county.  For many years, we had our own Tangelo orchard that we tended … Continue reading →

Casualties of a Trade War

You’ve probably heard by now that our Tweeter-in-Chief started a trade war with China last week by raising tariffs especially on steel and aluminum imports.  China returned fire this week by announcing tariffs primarily on agricultural goods including pork and … Continue reading →

Spring Update

We got a few days off last week thanks to the late season storm that dropped quite a bit of rain on the farm, but this week we are hitting the ground running.   The mostly dry spring this year … Continue reading →

Four Years in the Making

In early February an oversized gopher saw its shadow in Pennsylvania and people took it as a sign that Spring was here.  That prognostication turned out to be incorrect. As vegetable farmers, we have use a different indicator: Asparagus. Like … Continue reading →

Terra Firma Birds

Yesterday afternoon as I was about to turn into my driveway, a Great Blue Heron flew right in front of my truck, just a few feet overhead.  It was an amazing sight to behold so close up. For most of … Continue reading →

Luck of the Draw

Agricultural freezes are not dramatic disasters like hurricanes, tornados or wildfires.  Even if they occur on a large scale, whether or not crop sustains or escapes damage comes down to little details.  How cold it gets in a particular area … Continue reading →

What the Hail?

One fine spring day in 2001, I was working on the tractor on a gorgeous afternoon in late winter.  It had been rainy and wet for weeks, and I was taking advantage of a break in the weather.  I don’t … Continue reading →

Skating Rink or Peach Orchard?

My first lesson about the risks that cold weather poses to fruit trees came from reading John Nichol’s “New Mexico Trilogy”, which included the Milagro Beanfield War. In the fictional valley where the novels are set, the farmers never got … Continue reading →

Good Content vs. Good Neighbors

Over the many years I’ve been writing this newsletter, there have been many stories I’ve wanted to tell but couldn’t.  Some of the most “interesting” things that have happened on the farm involved people.  But our farm is a small … Continue reading →

Happy Februly!

February is a sleepy month on most farms, even at Terra Firma.  The cold, wet weather of December and January has taken a toll on our winter vegetables, slow down harvest.  And the orchards and other permanent crops are still … Continue reading →

Protecting Groundwater, the Organic Way

Nitrate pollution is one of the more vexing problems facing rural areas in the U.S. and around the world.  It is caused over decades as fertilizer, manure and sewage run off into surface water or are leached through the soil … Continue reading →

A Few Changes for 2018

2018 is a new year, and new things are happening at Terra Firma.  We have a new staff member, Alicia Baddorf, who is going to take over most of the correspondence and communication with our CSA subscribers.  Alicia started two … Continue reading →

January Fog brings June Fruit

It’s been five days since we’ve seen the sun at Terra Firma.  Two hundred feet outside my office window, there’s a crew harvesting cauliflower.  I can hear them chatting but I can’t see them through the fog. Totally unlike the … Continue reading →

We Made it through a tough year, Thanks to you!

California is a place of weather extremes, but 2017 might take the prize for “Most Extreme Weather Year, Ever”.  We went from dams failing in the Wettest Winter ever to a crazy hot Summer that sparked the most destructive wildfires … Continue reading →