Vierra Farms

“It’s in my blood, I can’t help it!” David Vierra says of his passion for farming. Ellard Vierra, David’s grandfather, was instrumental in settling the Sacramento River Delta in the 1920’s, and he farmed full-time until the mid-1960’s.

About Asparagus

Farm News

We are thrilled to bring you asparagus this spring, as in many years past, from our friends and farming partners at Durst Organic Growers. Jim and Deborah Durst have been growing organic crops since 1988, continuing the Durst family farming legacy that began in northern California in the late 1800s.

Snake Sighting

Farm News

As the truck and trailer came to a skidding stop on the gravel road, I jumped out of the truck, then remembered to turn off the diesel engine in the hope of getting some good audio of the hissing. That glimmer on the end of the serpent was what I suspected, a rattle,-- each nub the result of one skin shed. It was a beautiful and huge rattlesnake, the back half still in the gravel road, the front starting to make its way up a bank on the side of the road.

Atmospheric River

From the Fields - Thaddeus

Next to our farm there is a creek bed that winds out of the hills. Its banks show off the roots of oak trees and its deep spots untuck channels of gravel. It is clear that water has flown down it in times past. Appropriately named “Dry Creek,” it has contained little more than a puddle for the last eighteen months.

A Season of Change

Farm News

There is no denying that nothing is the same. Each week, we wonder how much will change next week, and in the back of my mind, a breeze gently begs the question, “Will it ever return to normal?” This is what I am escaping from as I leave the desk, my inventory, my crop plans, my fulfillment challenges behind to exercise my heart. It is hard to start the run, but it doesn’t take long for me to remember that I am healthy and happy to be using my heart—this small act gives it the love it needs to keep me strong.

What a Week!

We are so fortunate to be part of such a robust local food system. As the news of society’s reaction to COVID-19 spread, we all wondered what, if anything, was going to change. It was my wife, Moyra, who delivered the news. While we sat around the kitchen table after dinner, she logged on to customize our weekly Farm Fresh To You box (yes, we get one too), “Thad, everything is sold out, even the radicchio.” We looked at each other. “Radicchio is sold out?” Radicchio is great, but it never ever, ever, sells out and I knew we had a field full of that stuff. It has been an around-the-clock process from that moment to catch up to the unprecedented demand.

Canyon Fire

Farm News

With the summer harvest on us, we were watching the weather closely – hot, low humidity and windy. A note of caution was sent to the irrigation team as these are the conditions that are ideal for drying out crops. Late in the afternoon, rumblings of a fire up the valley were heard. The rumblings soon turned into fact and a huge plume of smoke could be seen rising into the sky; it looked like a cloud. Turns out the weather that dries out crops grows wild fires too.

Farm Spring

Farm News

The hustle and bustle of the farm is intense this time of year. All of my beautiful cover crops that were grown over the winter need to be incorporated into the top soil before we can plant the next crops. I was proud to see that my kids were not as tall as the cover crops this year – had I turned them loose in the middle, they likely would have never found their way out of the maze of grasses and legumes! With the tall, green tops come thick, deep roots. With all of that come more organic matter for the soil, more carbon sequestered from the atmosphere – more good stuff. Also with that comes a need for it to break down and be fully incorporated into the soil so that we can inject our drip tape and run our transplants, seeders and cultivators.

Investing in the Future

From the Fields - Thaddeus
 
Mandarins are so good. I remember in high school, a teacher asked me what my favorite crop was, and without hesitation, I responded “Satsuma Mandarins.” The smell of the petite, white blossoms in the spring is without a doubt the best smell in the world. The fruit, easy to peel, easy to eat and healthy for our body, is also amazing. Couple all of that with the fact we harvest them during a time of year when our farm doesn’t have a ton of other fruit options, and you can begin to understand my love for this crop.

Tyto Alba Rodent Warriors

Farm News

There is a problem in my orchards that is literally growing with the trees. At first, I only noticed evidence of this issue here and there. But in the middle of the summer, I was driving by my fig orchard and noticed that an old tree—which was fine in the spring—was dead. In an orchard filled with lush green fig trees, this one was completely brown. I knelt down at the base of the fig tree, and I could see that a little animal had eaten a thin layer off the bark, all the way around the tree right where the trunk met the soil. The tree had been girdled to death. The vital movement through the bark that connects the roots to the leaves stopped. Voles!

Thanksgiving on the Farm

Farm News

Thanksgiving is the time on the farm that I most adore. The first rain has always hit the farm, stirring up the fresh smell of moist dirt and washing the dust from the long, hot summer off the trees, tractors and buildings.

Our Farm Ecosystem

Farm News

There is a project down by the creek that gets a certain focus each November. The project is the invaluable space that is defined by the area that butts up to the edge of our fields and extends to and along the border of Cache Creek. It is here that we are slowly, but surely making progress in turning a pile of noxious, invasive weeds into a unique farm ecosystem.

Late Summer Harvest

Farm News

The summer is such a busy season! There is literally activity everywhere. The harvest of summer crops is still in full swing. Heirloom tomatoes are so tall, and reaching for the sky, it makes it a little more difficult to navigate when searching for the perfectly ripe tomato.

The Answer is Always Yes

Farm News

I’m a Yes-kind of person. Early on in my Suzie’s Farm career, I wrote a blog post called The Answer Is Always Yes. It opened the door to many opportunities, meetings, engagements and relationships. It felt a little crazy at times, like the plates were wobbling, like the train was careening off the tracks but it was fun and adventurous and worth it. Life felt full of purpose and mission. I believed it then. I still believe in Yes. Saying Yes to Life is what the farm does.

Summer's Bounty

FARM NEWS

The canal is running as fast and full as it is able to. The rain water from last winter is sitting, flowing out of the reservoir, down the creek, into the canals, and ultimately to the thirsty farms that are filled with this season’s crops.

Come Out to the Farm

FARM NEWS

Not only are we busy farming in these few weeks before spring, but we are also busy planning to have you, our customers, at our farms during this spring, summer and fall.

Spring Priorities

A post shared by Thaddeus Barsotti (@farmerthaddeus) on Mar 4, 2017 at 3:36pm PST

FARM NEWS

The rain has been a blessing, but there comes a time that every farmer, including this one, is done with the rain and ready to start farming. There has been about a ten-day break in the storms rolling over the farm and that has been just enough time to being to get the tractors out the equipment yard and into the field.

Rolling with Mother Nature

Farm News

After years of drought, I had almost forgotten what rain, not to mention storms, can do to our farm. The heavens opened up, flooding some our fields with remarkable effects.

Rain!

A photo posted by Farm Fresh To You (@farmfreshtoyou) on Jan 8, 2017 at 4:59pm PST

FARM NEWS

There is a thought about the weather report that farmers use - if the forecasted storm is early, it is going to be a good one; if it is late, it will not amount to much. The big storm that was forecasted showed up early and did not disappoint!

Compost Season

FARM NEWS

Just as fall beings to turn to winter, we place one large order. It shows up one huge trailer at a time pulled by the clattering of a diesel semi truck and for a whole day a set of these truck and trailers focuses only on our farm.