SF Chronicle profiles Massa Organics

The San Francisco Chronicle had a nice little profile of us in Sunday's food section, as part of a larger piece on brown rice. They also taste-tested several kinds of long grain brown rice, but left us out because we grow medium grain. But our great customers stood up for us in the comments section!

Willie and Me

I never thought I would be on the same webpage as Willie Nelson, but here it is on Farm Aid. Actually, I happen to know that Willie has eaten our rice! My friend Karen prepares the meals for the bands and artists that do shows at our local University. She often serves our rice, and Willie insists on being served food produced locally.

Maybe we need a new slogan: Eat the rice that Willie Nelson eats!

In a related post on the Farm Aid Blog, they note that we are their first tweeting farmer.

Bloggers on Massa Organics Rice

Here's a few recent posts about our rice on other people's blogs:

I'm Mad and I Eat: "The rice was tender Massa brown rice. Probably not kosher in Chinese cooking, but it's the rice of the moment at my house, and it worked perfectly."

Rice Rice Baby: "It is so tender and fragrant, I think it will become the household staple, replacing white rice. (How does this hippie whole-grain mania take over at such a late age? Well, I can tell you it's because the rice is really good.)"

Rancho Gordo: "My long-winded point is that good brown rice (like Massa's), nopales, beans and some good sausages make a fine weeknight meal."

My Daily Diner: "...one egg, asparagus, red onions, and brown rice from Massa Organics. After tasting their brown rice, you really understand that all grains are NOT created equal."

Recessionista: "Not all rice is created equal. Nutty, healthful Massa Organics brown rice, grown on a fourth-generation family farm in Chico, CA, by former biologists, is both responsibly grown and good for you."

Eat, Sip, Ride: "My brown rice of choice is Massa Organics."

Flaming weeds in the orchard

Being organic almond farmers means that we can't use herbicides to kill weeds around our trees and sprinklers. We've tried several methods to kill the weeds, but no method is perfect. Our current effort involves using a propane torch to flame the weeds. The flames don't actually burn the weeds, but instantly boil the water out of the plant, which causes it to die in about 24 hours.

GMOs in Germany

I took a quick trip to Germany last month to go on a speaking tour about US perceptions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). I wrote an essay about it, and it was published today on the Ethicurean. If you are interested, here is a direct link:

http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/03/04/rice-gmos/