Massa Organics

Win a Gift Box!!

2010-12-07T13:25:00.001-08:00

Win one of our rice/almond gift boxes! We're having a slogan contest--comment here or on our Facebook page with your most creative, funny idea for selling rice at a farmers market. How would you get customers to approach our market stand? We'll pick our favorites and send gift boxes to the top three entries--a $25 value! Photos of your sign ideas welcome! Good Luck!

Easy Almond Butter Cookies

2010-09-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

I made cookies last night! This is very rare for me, but I was intrigued by a very simple recipe that I saw posted to Twitter by @katmulkey. Here it is, in it's entirety:

Easiest almond butter cookie recipe ever: 1 cup almond butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg. Bake at 350. Eat. Share.

So I did. Super easy, very yummy. Enjoy.

Organic Almond Harvest

2010-08-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

We started almond harvest today with our "new" shaker and a crew of 5 helpers. Normally almonds are shaken onto the ground and then swept up after drying on the ground for about 10 days. This is very efficient, but the tractor-mounted sweepers make a terrible amount of dust! We're shaking the nuts onto tarps, which are then dumped into carts. We take the nuts to an area out of the orchard to dry, then pick them up using shovels and rakes. It's more labor intensive to do it this way, but creates more jobs and MUCH less dust! This is our first year harvesting with a mechanical shaker, but it's going well, and in the end I think it will be just as efficient as fully mechanized harvesting. Note in the video that harvest takes only one minute per tree!

Pancakes!

2010-06-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

Ever since we started grinding our wheat berries into flour, our family's favorite breakfast has been whole wheat pancakes. We use a simple recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, scaled up for our family of 7 of course! Here's the basic recipe, which makes about 12-15 pancakes. We triple it and usually end up with 40 or more, which the kids promptly devour! I often add an extra couple of eggs from our home flock of chickens, just to add a bit more protein. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup Massa Organics whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons cooking oil

In a mixing bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl combine egg, milk, and cooking oil. Add to flour mixture all at once. Stir mixture until blended.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle. Cook till pancakes are golded brown, turning to cook second side when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and slightly dry edges.

Whole Wheat Baguette Recipe

2010-02-25T23:07:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have tried our flour, here's a simple baguette recipe from Theo, a customer in Berkeley:

1 lb Massa Organics whole wheat flour,
1 heaping Tbsp wheat gluten,
1 Tbsp salt,
1 Tbsp yeast;

Combine dry ingredients, then mix in 2 cup cool water until the
consistency of cookie dough; let the dough autolyze (sit for a while while
the gluten forms), then knead; roll into baguettes and coat with poppy
seeds; bake 25 minutes at 400°F.

Meet Us in "Earthbound"

2010-01-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

Raquel and I are featured in a new video series called "Earthbound: Created and Called to Care for Creation" from Seraphim Communications. Well, actually Mason and Lily, our 4-year-olds, are the stars of the show, but we're in it too. Earthbound is an educational DVD funded in part by the Lutheran Church (ELCA). The producers, who did a masterful editing job, were kind enough to post our segment online so that we could use it. It provides a really great overview of what we do and why. Check it out!

And if would like to see the rest of the Earthbound series, it is available for purchase at the Seraphim Communications website.

EarthBound: Massa Organics from Seraphim Communications on Vimeo.

Massa Organics Gift Boxes!

2009-12-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

Looking for a unique food gift for someone in your life? How about a Massa Organics gift box of our great tasting farm products? Our Rice & Almond gift box contains one 2-lb bag of the "best brown rice" (Saveur magazine), one jar of our addictive almond butter, and a half pound of our delicious roasted almonds. We also have an Almond gift box, containing one jar of almond butter and one pound of roasted almonds. We sell both gift boxes on our website for $25 each. Happy Holidays!

Transparency

2009-10-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Many people are asking for transparency in our food system these days, wanting to know how their food was produced. This has long been one of our goals as well. We have been working to reconnect our farm to the community, so that you know who produced the food you buy from us. In that spirit, here is a short video I shot this summer of our young pekin ducks foraging in our organic rice field. Turn up the sound and listen to them. This is a production system that allows the ducks to fully express their "duckiness," as opposed to how most ducks are raised: in confinement barns with no access to swimming water. We think this is better.

As a side note, we started this experiment of raising ducks in the fields because we had a section of the field that had a very thin stand of rice. It wasn't a big enough area to bother replanting, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try this duck production system. The rice plants in the rest of the field are much denser than what you see here.

Duck Orders

2009-10-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

The whole purpose of raising ducks in the field, of course, was to have duck meat to sell. We've been busy with rice harvest and other things, so the ducks have been sitting in our freezer waiting for us to get to them. But now it is time!

We're taking orders for the ducks this week, and will deliver them to our farmers markets for pickup. We only have about 100 ducks to sell, so it will be first come, first serve. If you want to make sure you get one (or more), you must order ahead by contacting us via email or phone: 530-519-8628. We are delivering this Saturday, October 24. We will deliver to the San Francisco Ferry Plaza, and the Berkeley Farmers Market. You must be there to pick up your bird! Please don't order one if you can't be sure you will be there.

The ducks weigh about 3.5-4 lbs, and we'll be charging $5/lb, meaning most birds will cost between $15 and $20.

Friday afternoon note: We still have ducks available!

Integrated Rice/Duck Farming Part II

2009-10-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

So to continue where I left off...

We ordered 120 pekin ducks, which are the standard meat breed. The day old ducklings arrived in the mail, and I have to say, there are few things in this world as cute as 120 little yellow baby ducks running around. Our kids had a great time helping us take care of them.

Ducklings need to be kept warm for the first couple weeks, so normally we would raise them inside under heat lamps. But because we started this project in June, it was plenty hot enough to start them in a brooder outside. We quickly realized that the brooder we had built for them was going to be too small, so we immediately built one three times as large. Once we finished that, we knew it was going to be too small as well, because ducklings grow like nothing you have ever seen! Luckily, by the end of the second week, they were large enough to move into the rice field.

The whole goal of integrating ducks with rice farming is to turn your weeds and pests into duck food, so that not only do you get a weed-free rice crop, you also get ducks to eat. There are several side benefits, but that's the main goal. We turned the ducks out into a smallish section of the rice field that we had fenced off for predator control (as a side note, when John was building the fence in the flooded field, I asked how it was going. His answer: "Worst. Job. Ever.").

"The Power of Duck" says that the ducks should be stocked at about 100 ducks per acre. For this trial run, I didn't want to fence that large an area, so we fenced off about a quarter acre. This is plenty of room for the ducks to swim and forage in, but it turned out to be too small an area to produce enough food to support them. They quickly ate all the weeds in the field, but left the rice plants alone, just as they were supposed to. Thus, we supplemented their natural feed with what else but organic brown rice and wheat!

We grew the ducks for about 9 weeks before we harvested them. I know that the conditions in which they were raised were more humane than probably 99% of the meat ducks in this country. They essentially lived in a pond that allowed them to fully express their "duckiness." They were not raised on slats in a barn with no access to swimming water. These ducks had it good, and you can taste that in the finished product. I am really happy with the taste of the meat. It's superb.

We did learn a few things. I already mentioned that our stocking rate was too high, and that we had to supplement their feed. They also trampled some of the rice in their pond, which would not have been a problem if we had used a larger section of the field. I also think that pekins are not the right breed for integrated rice/duck production. They are a little too large to move effectively between the dense rice plants, and they are not active enough in their foraging abilities. Pekins have been bred to sit around and eat all day, gaining weight quickly for industrial meat production. They did well enough in the field, but didn't forage well enough to gain weight quickly. As such, they are a little on the thin side, with the carcasses weighing out at 3.5-4 lbs. We're currently researching which breeds to try next, and I think we're going to try Saxony and Welsh Harlequins next.

It was fun to have the ducks on the farm, and it has been a goal of ours to bring animals back to the farm. We're going to try raising ducks again, as I think with the right breed and the right stocking density it could be very successful.

Rice Harvest 2009 (Video)

2009-09-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

Integrated Rice/Duck Farming Part I

2009-09-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

We spent the last couple months raising ducks in our rice fields, which is an odd thing to do around here, as ducks are widely considered to be pests in rice fields. Wild ducks eat the seeds of newly planted rice and tramp the seedlings into the mud. This creates open patches of water, which draw more ducks, and pretty soon you have a big problem. So what were we thinking?

Well, several years ago I was turned on to the idea of integrating ducks into rice farming by a unique book called, "The Power of Duck" by Takao Furuno. Mr. Furuno is a rice farmer in Japan who had been struggling with his fight against weeds in his organic fields. Recognizing his problem as an opportunity, he started thinking of the weeds, bugs and snails in his fields as duck food, turning his problems into tasty duck meat.

The key to his system is releasing small ducklings into the paddy fields at the right time. Ducklings do not harm young rice plants as adult ducks would, but they do eat weeds and bugs. They also help fertilize the rice. Once the grains start to form on the rice, he harvests the ducks for meat. This is critical, as the ducks have now become large, and love to eat the developing grains of rice.

This idea is a very elegant agro-ecological production system. It has been something of a boon to small rice farmers in Asia, who used to toil many hours weeding their rice by hand. The system has also been extended to include small fish raised concurrently with the rice and ducks.

I've been wanting to try this system ever since I first read the book, but never seemed to have the time to do it. This year presented an opportunity, and we finally just decided to go for it on an experimental basis. We ordered 120 pekin ducks, which are the standard large, white meat duck that most people are used to. We chose pekins more for this reason than for any other characteristics of the breed, such as foragaing ability.

This post to be continued...

Almond Harvest Preparation

2009-08-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

Almond harvest starts in a day or two, so we're cleaning up the orchard one last time. Here, John is flaming the weeds in the tree rows with our industrial size flamer--we upgraded from what we now call the "homeowner" version a couple months ago. Here's a video of the homeowner flamer. The new flamer is at least 4 times faster, way more effective, and sounds like a jet roaring through the orchard. These flamers burn liquid propane.

Arugula Pesto Wheat Berries

2009-08-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Wondering what to do with wheat berries? Here's a nice recipe (and plug for Massa Organics) from 101 Cookbooks. Thanks Heidi! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/arugula-pesto-wheat-berries-recipe.html

Summer Rice Salad Ideas

2009-07-24T13:25:00.001-07:00

Summer is the perfect time for a rice salad. Here are a few ideas taken and modified from a recent New York Times article:

1. Mix leftover Massa Organics brown rice with lemon or lime juice, soy sauce and a combination of sesame and peanut oils. Microwave if necessary to soften the rice, then serve at room temperature, tossed with sprouts, shredded radishes, chopped scallions, bits of cooked meat or fish if you like and more soy sauce.

2. Cook and cool Massa Organics brown rice. Toss with olive oil, loads of lemon juice, tons of parsley, some chopped tomatoes and, if you like, toasted pine nuts.

3. Mix cooked Massa Organics brown rice with orange zest and juice, olive oil, maybe honey, sliced oranges, raisins or dried cranberries, chopped red onion and chopped almonds. Serve over greens, or not.

4. Cook Massa Organics brown rice in watered-down coconut milk (be careful that it doesn’t burn) and a few cardamom pods. While warm, toss with peas (they can be raw if they’re fresh and tender), chopped cashews or pistachios, a pinch of chili flakes and chopped raw spinach.

5. Toss cooked, cooled farro, wheat berries, barley or other chewy grain with chopped-up grapes. Add olive oil, lemon juice and thinly sliced romaine lettuce; toss again, with ricotta salata or feta if you want. (OK this isn't a rice salad, but we sell wheat berries too!)

6. Toss cooked Massa Organics brown rice with fresh sliced apricots, cherries, pecans, and enough lemon and black pepper to make the whole thing savory.

71. Cook a pot of Massa Organics brown rice. While it’s still hot, toss with raw grated zucchini, fermented black beans, sriracha, sesame oil, sake and a touch of rice vinegar. Add bits of leftover roast chicken or pork if you have it, and pass soy sauce at the table.

Finally, don't forget the other rice salads we've posted on our blog in the past:

Cranberry Pecan Rice Salad

Summer Fiesta Salad

Ensalada de Tricia

Enjoy!

Chaffin Orchards Delivery

2009-07-23T23:39:00.001-07:00

We've formed an informal partnership with Chaffin Orchards, a neighbor of ours who raises some amazing grass fed and finished beef (we have a freezer full!), as well as pastured poultry and eggs, award-winning olive oil, and some of the best heirloom peaches you've ever had. They have a very integrated and diversified production system, and are as sustainable a farm as you are likely to find. They don't do any San Francisco Bay Area farmers markets, but do make deliveries to their customers there on an regular basis. As a added bonus, they are now offering our rice!

Chris is planning a delivery trip to San Francisco next Wednesday, with an additional stop in Sacramento. I highly recommend their products! It's also a great opportunity to pick up some of our rice without having to fight the crowds at the farmers market or pay for shipping. Here is a list of what Chris will have on the truck next week:

Grassfed beef

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 375 ml bottle $8

Pastured Free Range Eggs: $6.50/dozen

Organically farmed Heirloom Peaches at $1/lb!!!!

Pet Food made from their grassfed beef.

Massa Organics Brown Rice $4/2-lb bag or $30/20-lb bag

If you'd like more information about this, please email me (greg(at)massaorganics(dot)com)and I'll forward the details. Chris needs the orders by Monday at 6pm so that he can get everything ready for delivery.

Don't miss out!

Stacking hay

2009-04-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

This week we picked up our baled organic hay crop. Below is a series of photos showing how that gets done. The first shot is of my two younger sons, Mit and Mason, standing on a bale watching Stacia pick up the bales. We hired our neighbor to do all of the baling and stacking because we don't have any of this specialized equipment. This machine, known as a harrow bed, is really amazing. It picks up 1200 lb bales on the go, and stacks them automatically. Very cool!

Kids on the tractor

2009-04-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've had our younger kids on the tractor with me a couple times over the last few days, and it never fails to make them sleepy. The kids are always excited to go on the tractor with me, but soon realize that we just go around and around the field, and the scenery never changes. Usually I can get an hour or two out of them. I took these photos with my cell phone. The first photo is Mit, our 5 year old, and the second is Mason and Lily, our 3 year olds.

Raking Hay

2009-04-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

After the swathed hay sits in the field for a week to cure, it needs to be raked into a windrow and baled. The rake, as shown in the video below, is a series of large vertical disks with fingers on the edges of the disks. It is pulled by a tractor, but the rake itself is ground-driven. It pulls two rows from the swather into one giant pile of hay that snakes around the field. After this step, the baler comes in, picks up the row, and compresses it into hay bales. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos or video of the baler because they did it in the middle of the night.

Fan Mail

2009-04-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about direct marketing is that we get feedback from our customers. It is so fun to hear what people are doing with our rice/wheat/almonds. I don't usually post these on the blog, but this one is about our wheat flour, which is currently only available at Chico farmers market. We're thinking about expanding our flour sales to other markets this summer--any interest out there in freshly milled organic flour?

Mary writes:
"I bought 5 lbs of whole wheat flour on my visit to Chico Farmers Market last week. It is superior to any flour I have ever used, and it makes a noticeable difference in the quality of our bread. I added toasted wheat berries too for added crunch--they too are delicious. I don't know if it is because the flour was freshly milled or because of the wheat variety you grow (probably both!) but it's fantastic."

Making Hay

2009-04-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

We cut our first organic hay crop this week. Hay is a great crop to rotate with rice, because we harvest it in April, and still have time to plant a rice crop in May. Our hay is an oat/legume mix, and is headed for an organic dairy once we get it baled. To make hay, you cut the plants just after they have gone to flower using a machine called a swather. The swather cuts the plants and leaves them in a row on the ground, where they will sit for about a week to "cure." Once they plants are dry, the baler will come in and make bales. If you bale hay too green/wet, it will start composting in the bale, and potentially catch fire.

I'm using hay as the third crop in our rotation of rice, wheat, and hay. The more crops you can have in an organic rotation, the better your weed control and yields of each crop will be. Weeds are our biggest problem in rice, so we're hoping that extending our rotation will help. Plus I feel more like a real farmer rotating crops like farmers used to do!

Here's a brief video of the swather mowing our hay.

Happy Easter from Massa Organics

2009-04-12T23:01:00.001-07:00

Smiling Wheat

2009-04-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

The wheat crop is starting to "head," which is what we call it when the panicle emerges from the sheath. The panicle is the cluster of flowers where the grains will eventually form. In the top photo, the heads are just emerging. Rice looks very similar to this when it heads, and the Thai people call this stage "smiling rice." So we'll call it smiling wheat. In just a few days, the entire field will look like the bottom photo, with fully emerged heads ready to be pollinated by the wind.

Working Ground

2009-04-06T23:59:00.002-07:00

The first step in preparing a rice field for spring planting is often the chisel plow. This tool breaks the top crust of matted straw from last year's crop, and opens the ground to aerate and dry the soil. This field has essentially been flooded for most of the time since last May, so the soil is compacted and anaerobic (lacking oxygen). Believe it or not, to grow a good crop of rice, we'll need to dry it out before reflooding and planting.

SF Chronicle profiles Massa Organics

2009-03-30T07:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-04T23:27:00.000-08:00

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/

Almond butter salad dressing

2009-02-25T23:06:00.001-08:00

Our new employee John came to work today with this salad, and I convinced him to write it down for me. It's his own creation, and I thought it was quite good.

John's Massa Organics Almond Butter Dressing
(serves about 8-10)

¼ cup Massa Organics Smooth Almond Butter
3 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
1 teaspoon fresh wasabi
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

John served it on a shredded cabbage, kale, julienned carrot, and cilantro salad. It was topped with our sliced Almonds.

John has two blogs:
betterfitranch.com
foodformfunction.blogspot.com

Arancini recipe

2009-02-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Below is an article that was recently published in the Hartford Courant newspaper. Arancini are really delicious and fun, and our brown rice works every bit as well as the leftover risotto that he calls for in this article. (By the way, our rice makes a fantastic risotto as well!)

At a 2007 fundraiser for CUESA, the organization that runs the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, Paul Aranstam of Americano Restaurant made Arancini with our rice. Here we are with chef who was serving them:

Need A New Way To Use Leftover Rice? Try Making Arancini
By J.M. HIRSCH | Associated Press
February 19, 2009
Arancini may sound like a species of spider, but they are an incredibly easy and delicious way to use leftover rice.

The term, which is Italian for "little oranges," refers to small balls of rice that are stuffed with cheese or meat (or both), rolled in egg and breadcrumbs or flour, then fried until crisp on the outside and meltingly soft inside.

Arancini traditionally are served as appetizers, especially as bar food, but also would make a fine side. Cubes of mozzarella are the conventional choice for the cheese, but anything that melts well would be fine. Likewise, just about any cooked or cured meat can be used. Roasted chicken, bits of grilled beef or sausage, crumbled bacon or slices of prosciutto all are great.

Here's how it works — no recipe needed.

Because it is so thick and sticky, leftover risotto is best, but just about any rice will do. If using risotto, use your hands to shape about 1/3 cup of it into a bowl in the palm of one hand. Place small pieces of your fillings inside, then cover with a bit more rice and shape into a ball.

If using plain leftover rice, for each cup mix in 1 teaspoon of softened butter and 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese. Microwave for 15 seconds, or enough to just barely melt the cheese and butter to form a sticky rice. Shape the arancini as described above. If you have trouble getting the balls to hold together, you also could mix an egg into the rice.

Once the rice balls are formed, roll them in a lightly beaten egg, then in either all-purpose flour or fine breadcrumbs. In a large, deep skillet over medium-high, heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil to 365 F. A few at a time, fry the rice balls for about 1 minute a side, or until lightly browned all around. Transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Arancini are best eaten right away. Keep the batches warm in a 200 F oven as you fry others.

If you don't have leftover rice on hand and decide to make some specifically for arancini, consider adding a few strands of saffron, which is a traditional ingredient that gives the rice balls a bright orange color.

2009-02-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Back in October, Raquel and I had the opportunity to attend Terra Madre, the biennial international meeting of Slow Food International (SFI). The Terra Madre Network brings together food communities, cooks, academics and youth delegates for four days to work towards increasing small-scale, traditional, and sustainable food production. Below is a report we wrote for CUESA, the organization that selected us to attend Terra Madre.

----------------------------------

Opportunity for cultural exchange was everywhere at this year’s Terra Madre, which hosted 7000 people from 153 countries. We spoke with rice farmers from Madagascar, India and Thailand, learned about the wild almond groves in Uzbekistan, and ate sausage made near the tiny Portuguese village where Greg's grandfather was born.

We did bring back a few nuts-and-bolts ideas that will be directly applicable to our farm. We learned about some interesting grains that we could experiment with, such as einkorn, one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat with a more easily digestible form of gluten than modern wheat, and fonio, a small-seeded millet from Africa.

From a philosophical perspective, there was even more to take home — some of it new, and some a confirmation of what we already believe. For example, one of our farm goals is to grow and market our rice without harming small farmers in other parts of the world. This means that we won’t be exporting our rice cheaply, but it also means that we won’t grow Basmati or Jasmine rice, because we wish to avoid stealing the genetic heritage of generations of small Thai or Indian farmers who developed those varieties. Growing those varieties here in California would impact the ability of Asian farmers to export their rice to the more lucrative US market. Our discussions with some farmers from Madagascar who grow pink rice confirmed this for us. Conversely, there are other grains — such as Red Fife wheat from Canada — that are so close to extinction it would in fact be beneficial to grow them and increase the seed supply and demand.

In the minds of some Americans, Slow Food seems to have an elitist membership and message. However, we found the international organization to be remarkably populist. Their mission of “good, clean and fair food for all” resonates with us, though the implementation of that ideal is difficult at best. There is plenty of “good” food at farmers’ markets everywhere. But “clean” food is becoming scarce in today’s globalized food system. Even on a local scale there are problems: we learned this week that a fungicide used on non-organic almonds and grapes in California is directly linked to a higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease. “Fair” food may be the most difficult to achieve, as making good, clean food available at a fair price to everyone in the food chain (including farmers) is a real challenge.

The trip to Terra Madre was a whirlwind — and much too short. We left our five children at home, split between two babysitters, so we had little extra time to spend on vacation! But we feel very privileged to have been part of this “gathering of the peasants of the world.”

We are most grateful to Slow Food San Francisco and CUESA for making our trip possible.

Greg Massa and Raquel Krach
Massa Organics

Pancake recipe!

2008-11-30T23:50:00.000-08:00

The following recipe comes from Suzanne, one of our great customers in Chico. She grinds our wheat berries to flour using a KoMo grain mill that she purchased at www.naturaleurope.com. Enjoy!

Massa Organics whole wheat pancakes

In large measuring cup, melt 2 T butter (in microwave), add 1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt, heat till warm, stir in 1 egg. In a separate bowl mix: 1 cup fresh ground (warm) Massa whole wheat flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda. Stir in wet ingredients till just mixed. Add small amount of warm water if batter seems too stiff. Cook on hot griddle. Yummm!
Thanks so much for the delicious rice & wheat. Suzanne

Thanksgiving

2008-11-21T22:54:00.001-08:00

A few months ago, a parent at our kids' school asked for help in putting together a shipping container full of relief supplies to send to Ethiopia. His friend operates an orphanage there, and described the situation as very dire. Food is in short supply, and the kids have nothing at all. Many people in our community stepped up and donated all sorts of things, from soccer balls to food, diapers to school supplies. (See a description of the project here. That's our rice and wheat on those pallets).

Two weeks ago, one of my close friends (a fellow farmer) had a hemorrhagic stroke while visiting San Diego. His situation was also dire. His paralysis is now easing, and he appears able to understand speech, though he can't talk himself. He was moved out of the ICU this week, and hopes to be able to move to a rehab facility closer to home soon.

This week, I'll be giving Thanks for life, health, family and food.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Rice pudding with pistachios, raisins

2008-10-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

It's here! This is the rice pudding we have been serving as samples at the Davis Farmers Market. It's one of the most requested recipes we've ever had, so here you go! Now you can make it at home. Enjoy!

Rice pudding with pistachios, raisins
Serves 6
1 cup Massa Organics brown rice
2 cups water
2 qt whole milk
1 cup Brown sugar
6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
1/2 cup shelled natural pistachios
1/2 cup golden raisins

Cook brown rice according to package directions.
Simmer milk with cooked brown rice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamomin in a 7- to 8-quart heavy pot, stirring often, until reduced by half, 45 to 50 minutes. Discard cardamom. Pudding should thicken and the brown rice will start breakdown.

Heat ghee or butter in a heavy skillet over a medium heat setting until melted, then cook pistachios and raisins, stirring, until nuts are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir half of pistachio mixture into rice pudding and sprinkle remainder on top.

Recipe courtesy of:

Rhonda & Tony Gruska
Monticello Bistro
5 East Main Street
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 792-8066
monticello-bistro.com

Almonds are ready!

2008-10-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

You may have read my previous post about almond harvest back in August. Well, the nuts are finally ready for sale! We'll have raw, roasted, and sliced almonds, as well as almond butter at many of our farmer's markets this weekend. They are also listed on our website now if you don't have a market near you.

So, why does it take so long between harvest and eating? Basically, there are several steps of post-harvest processing, and they all take time. First, once the nuts are knocked off the trees, they need to dry in the sun for about 10 days. This allows the hulls and shells to dry out enough that they can be removed easily by the hulling and shelling machinery without damaging the nuts. Once they are dry, I haul them to a processor for hulling/shelling. Of course, once there they have to wait in line. The hullers run 24 hours a day this time of year, but there are a LOT of nuts to process in California--about 1.5 billion pounds this year. After shelling, our nuts went to another processor to be sorted. Sorting takes out all the damaged nuts, half kernals, etc. The perfect nuts are then packaged, and sent to the freezer for about a month to make sure there are no viable insect eggs hitching along. (The alternative to this step in non-organic production is fumigation or pasteurization.) Only after all of this are the nuts ready to be sold. Of course, I've been eating them all along--even right off the trees--so I know they are fantastic!

To celebrate the release of our almonds, here's a new recipe for you--our first recipe on this blog that doesn't include rice! This recipe comes from Marianne Brenner, a local chef and columnist in Chico.

Hot-Sweet Black and White Sesame Almonds

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups raw whole almonds

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the spices, pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and mix well.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet and cook over medium heat until melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the almonds and cook, stirring, until they are coated with the sugar syrup.

Add a small amount of the sesame seed mixture to the almonds, stirring all the while. Add the remaining mixture, a little at a time, and toss until all the mixture has been used.

Transfer nuts to the prepared sheet and arrange in a single layer; separate the almonds with a fork or your hands and set aside to cool before serving.

Come Visit Us! (volume 2)

2008-10-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another chance to live the dream! Come visit us on the farm next weekend as part of the Sierra-Oro Farm Trail Passport weekend. On October 11-12, you can visit us and 25 other farms and wineries in the Chico-Oroville area, including our neighbors, Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company. After a visit, make a risotto with our rice and their Northern Gold Cheese--you won't believe how incredible it is! (For a great farm blog, check out Mandy's Dairy Princess Diaries).

The tour is lots of fun, and there is truly some incredible food in this part of California--olive oil, jam, grass-fed beef, wine, wine, wine, and of course, Massa Organics brown rice, wheat berries, and our newest addition, organic almonds! We'll be serving some interesting rice dishes made by our friends at Roots Catering--you'll see rice in a whole new way. We'll also be hosting our local chapter of Slow Food, who will be selling box lunches using all local products, put together by local chef and columnist Marianne Brenner. See you next weekend!

Come visit us!

2008-09-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Admit it. You've always wanted to visit a rice farm. See some wildlife, sit in the cab of a combine, and touch the walls of a strawbale house. Well, now you can live that dream! On September 28, we are hosting a tour group from the San Francisco Bay Area, and there are still tickets available. The trip is sponsored by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), the organization that runs the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco. We are actually the second stop on the tour, the first being Carl Rosato's Woodleaf Farm. Check out the tour description and buy tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/42326.

Slow Food Nation

2008-08-29T23:25:00.001-07:00

Today was Day 1 of Slow Food Nation in San Francisco, and what a busy day it was! I had lots of great conversations with interested people, and reconnected with people that I haven't seen in a while. We served a sample of Brown Rice Peach Crisp, which everyone loved! Come early Saturday if you want a shot at tasting it before we run out. If you miss out, not to fear, because you can make it at home--the recipe is below.

Come visit with us--we're booth number 6 in the marketplace at the SF Civic Center.

New Post on Culinate.com

2008-08-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to writing another post for Culinate.com in preparation for Slow Food Nation this weekend in San Francisco. Here it is below, and here's a link to their site.
--------------------------------------------

A Sense of Place

We’re rice farmers, and as I mentioned in my last post here on Culinate, we’re unusual among rice farmers in that we direct-market our organic brown rice at farmers’ markets. We’re up to nine farmers’ markets a week now, and this week, we’ll also be selling rice in the Marketplace at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco.

The rice we grow is called Calrose, a high-quality, medium-grain rice unique to California. It’s the variety that grows best in our soil and climate. But it’s also the most common variety grown in California. So what qualifies our farm for recognition at Slow Food Nation?

Quite simply, we do a better job of growing tasty rice than others do.

The biggest difference between our rice and others you may have tried is the taste. Many of our first-time customers are surprised simply to discover that rice has any flavor at all!

The key is that we let our rice fully mature on the plant, which leads to a more complex flavor. It’s nutty but sweet, able to stand up to the most flavorful dishes on your plate or even to become the centerpiece of a meal.

People often ask if we grow jasmine or basmati rice, both aromatic long-grain rices. The answer is that we could grow them, and many in California do. But the jasmine we would grow would be inferior to our Calrose, and bear little resemblance to the jasmine that comes from Thailand, where the variety originated.

Jasmine rice responds best to the climate, soil, and farming methods of Thailand, where it attains its full flavor and aroma.

Another reason for us to not grow jasmine is that that variety was developed through the efforts of many successive generations of Thai farmers. Jasmine is their genetic heritage, and growing it in California feels wrong — like stealing something precious.

Visiting with Thai rice farmers, as well as hosting them on our farm, convinced us that we should stick with what we do well, and let them do what they do well.

This is another of Slow Food’s principles: Food has a story, which should not be taken out of context.

If you’ll be in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend, come see our booth at the Civic Center. I’ll be there all day on Friday, and helping out the rest of the weekend.

Brown rice peach crisp

2008-08-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today's sample dish at the Chico Farmers Market was a big hit!

ROOTS CATERING BROWN RICE PEACH CRISP

Ingredients:
• 2 Cups cooked Massa Organics Brown Rice
• 2 Cups fresh peach (sliced)
• ½ Cup brown sugar (divided)
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger (grated)
• ½ c. whole wheat or regular flour
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. cloves
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

Directions:
1. Combine rice, peaches and ¼ c. brown sugar and ginger.
2. Pour into a 9x9 buttered pan
3. Combine flour, remaining ¼ c. brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
4. Cut in butter.
5. Sprinkle mixture over rice
6. Sprinkle nuts on top
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Almond Harvest has begun!

2008-08-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, rice prices were extremely low, and we decided we needed to diversify our crops and marketing. That led to planting 30 acres of organic almonds, as well as direct marketing our rice. Four years after planting, we're harvesting our first crop of almonds! Our trees are small, so we're hand harvesting by knocking the nuts off of the trees onto tarps. The nuts are loaded into a cart and then spread out at the edge of the field to dry in the sun for about 10 days. The next step is to take them to a processor that will remove the hull and shell. The photos below show the kids out there doing the jobs, but in reality we had a very hard working crew do most of it!

Rising from the ashes...

2008-07-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

As you might remember, we lost half of our wheat crop to a fire in June. We harvested the other half, had it cleaned and bagged, and today, nine months of work came together for us in two loaves of sourdough bread! Our friend Dave Miller of Miller's Bakehouse in Yankee Hill, CA ground some of our wheat to flour and baked some bread with it. It is so much fun to taste great bread made with wheat that you planted, tended and harvested.

Look for wheat to appear at our farmers market booths soon, as well as on our website. And maybe if I can convince Dave to grind it for us, we'll have flour too!

How to cook brown rice

2008-07-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

We've had a couple requests for basic cooking instructions, and really, I should have posted them here long ago. I'll cover several methods, and you can choose which one you like.

1. Directions on package: Rinse rice and drain. Combine 2 parts water with one part rice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and cover. Cook approximately 45 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Let stand for a few minutes, then fluff with fork and serve. **This method works best with small amounts of rice (a cup or two). For larger amounts of rice, you might like to drop the water down to 1 3/4 parts water to 1 part rice. In our rice cooker, we use less water than 2:1.

2. The finger method: Rinse rice and drain. Place desired amount of rice in saucepan and add water. The correct amount of water is reached when you touch the rice with the tip of your index finger, and the water level rises to your first knuckle. I'm told this is the method people in Japan use. *This method seems accurate for almost any quantity of rice, at least for my fingers! Also works well in our rice cooker.

3. The Saveur Magazine method: When Saveur featured our rice in the May 2008 issue, they kindly included this unique method, which many of our customers have described as an epiphany in cooking brown rice. Here it is, adapted from the Saveur website:

1 cup Massa Organics brown rice
Kosher salt, to taste

1. Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over high heat. Add the rice, stir it once, and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink.

2. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat. Cover the pot and set it aside to allow the rice to steam for 10 minutes. Uncover the rice, fluff with a fork, and season with salt.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #111

First Post on Culinate.com

2008-07-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

In preparation for Slow Food Nation, held in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend, I've been asked to guest blog for Culinate on the basics of rice farming. My first post went up this week, and with permission from my Culinate editor, here it is (but please also visit their site!).
---------------------------------
Rice dream
What rice farming is really like
By Greg Massa
July 10, 2008

Most people in the U.S. don’t realize it, but rice is the most important food crop in the world.

Two-thirds of the world’s population (more than 4 billion people) eat rice every day, and for too many people, a bowl of rice will be their only meal. Global rice production totals more than 400 million tons, much of it consumed within just a few miles of where it was grown.

The exception to this local consumption of rice is the United States, where half of the crop is exported and the largest purchaser of rice is Anhauser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser beer.

U.S. rice is a globally traded commodity, and most rice farmers have no idea what happens to their rice once it leaves their fields. The grains get commingled with rice from other farmers, with no thought as to whose rice might actually taste good.

As a commodity, rice prices tend to be so low that farmers make just enough to keep farming another year. With little profit and no connection to people who actually eat rice, it is a very unsatisfying way to farm.

This is the world of rice farming that I have known since I was a kid. I’m the fourth generation of my family to grow rice in California — a 92-year-long string of rice crops. The system of rice growing and marketing that I grew up with turned me off of farming, and my wife, Raquel, and I actually worked as tropical biologists in Costa Rica for about five years before returning to the farm.

What drew us back were the opportunities for hands-on conservation and social work that farming provided. We are converting more and more of our family’s farm to organic farming methods, while also raising our five children (all were adopted, three of them from foster care).

The biggest change we have made in the way our farm operates is to actually take responsibility for the marketing as well as the production of our crop. This is a highly unusual thing for a commodity farmer to do. Most farmers do well with production but let large grain corporations handle the marketing; the farmers end up taking whatever price they’re offered for their crops. This is not a strategy for staying in business long-term, so for the last two years, we’ve been direct-marketing our organic brown rice through farmers’ markets, restaurants, schools, and hospitals.

As far as I know, we are the only rice farmers in the country to sell rice at farmers’ markets. The monetary return is better, but the most positive aspect of the way we market is the connection that our farm now has to our community in northern California. Where once we had no idea whether our rice ended up in a can of beer or got put on a ship headed for Japan, we now have people calling our cell phones asking for tips on the best way to cook our rice.

It is a powerful experience the first time someone tells you their kids loved the rice they had for dinner last night, and that yours is the only rice they will buy from now on.

Direct marketing has been a powerful tool for us. We are now free to focus our efforts on growing great-tasting rice, rather than just high yields. Our kids have a more tangible understanding of what we do, and are proud that their pictures adorn our packaging. And in true Slow Food tradition, we have connected our customers to a previously anonymous food.

Farmers Market Samples this week

2008-07-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

From the Ferry Plaza:

sesame seeds
soy sauce
seaweed

From Davis:
A very popular and tasty Indian rice pudding! I'll post the recipe as soon as I get it from Marisol. Check back here!

What's happening on the farm

2008-07-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick list of what will be going on this week...

1) Almond hulls are starting to split, meaning harvest is only weeks away. Soon the nuts will start to dry and ripen. We should have nuts at our market stands by October (it takes time to process the nuts, including a month in the freezer for post-harvest sanitation.)

2) Our wheat was cleaned last week, and will be bagged on Monday in 50-lb sacks. Our main market for the wheat will be bakeries, but we'll likely sell wheat berries by the pound at the farmers markets as well. Look for it in the next couple weeks, and let me know if you are interested in larger quantities. I already have a few orders for 100 lbs each. I'll be looking for some recipes for you. Here's one.

3) The rice is in the tillering stage, meaning that side shoots are forming from the base of the plant. Each tiller is capable of producing grains, so the more tillers the better.

4) Tractor repair. The small tractor that we use for mowing our orchard broke down last week. I hope to have it back soon (at a cost of $6000!). We're also replacing the cylinder teeth (which separate rice grains from straw) in our old combine this week.

5) Rice deliveries. Almost every week I end up driving somewhere with a pallet of rice. This week it will be Davis, to restock our storage area for the Davis and Sacramento farmers markets.

6) Paperwork! I'm still trying to get the insurance to cover our losses from the wheat fire that happened last month. I also need to start preparing for our annual organic inspection with CCOF. And of course there are always bills (see item 4).

I promise a more interesting post soon...

Bad Air Day

2008-07-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Actually, it is more like a bad air month. Our area of northern California was hit by a lightening storm three weeks ago, and the mountains have been on fire ever since, We started with hundreds of fires, and are now down to about 30 or so. Several of them have combined into quite large fires, and have caused a terrible amount of damage. Many thousands of people have been evacuated. The air has been calm, so the smoke is just hanging in the valley, and we have a layer of ash on everything that sits outside. The air quality is now defined as "hazardous," and we are being urged to stay inside and not work or play. Visibility today was less than half a mile. At times, the sun actually disappears like we're in a thick fog. Effects on the crops are minor compared to people losing their homes and the damage to our lungs, but I expect rice yields will be somewhat reduced by the lack of sunshine and excessive smoke this month.

Guest Blogging at Culinate

2008-07-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to be a guest blogger for the Dinner Guest series at Culinate. I'll be doing a series of 5 or 6 posts over the next two months. My first post went up today, so please visit them and check it out!

We're in the LA Times!

2008-07-06T23:22:00.001-07:00

Today's LA Times has a very nice story about us titled, "Spreading their ideals organically." The story covers our strawbale home, farming philosophy, and our foster care work. Unfortunately, the photos that appeared in the paper didn't make it to the online edition, but you can read the story on the Times website:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rice6-2008jul06,0,4577023.story

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Wheat Harvest

2008-06-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Note (7-3-2008): I actually posted this a week ago, but after several people told me it was really geeky I took it down. Now they've convinced me to put it back up. It's still geeky, but if you haven't ever been on a combine before, you might find it interesting. --Greg
-------------------------
6-20-2008

We harvested what remained of the wheat yesterday, and I shot the following video. YouTube reduced the video quality quite a bit when I uploaded it, but you can still see everything. Check it out!

Feeling Lucky

2008-06-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

First, we're ok, and the house is ok. We were very lucky today. Some burning debris blew off of a truck going down the highway near our house. It ignited the grass on the edge of the road, and 40 mph winds blew the fire into our wheat field. The fire burned about 20 acres of wheat in just a few minutes. It mostly burned itself out when it hit the rice field next to the house, though it continued down the highway and started to burn up the driveway. We also had a spot fire break out next to the house from flying embers. Luckily we had four guys here working on the addition to our house and they were able to wet everything down and protect the house until the fire crews arrived. Raquel was here with four of our five kids and had to evacuate to get out of the intense smoke. I arrived just as she was leaving, but there was little I could do at that point except make sure that the house and tractors were safe. Fire engines from seven local fire departments showed up and put out what remained of the fire, and then spent several hours mopping up and making sure that the fire was really out.

About half of our wheat crop is gone, and the electrical panels for two irrigation pumps burned up. But we are all just fine, and very grateful for that.

Brown Rice Lasagna

2008-05-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a really interesting and delicious recipe with a unique twist: Lasagna with rice instead of pasta!

Roots Catering Brown Rice Lasagna

For the Rice:
• 3 c. Massa Organics Brown Rice
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. salt

1. Cook rice as directed on package along with salt.
2. Beat the egg in a separate bowl and add rice to egg ¼ c. at a time until the egg is warm. Mix well.
3. Press rice into a well oiled standard loaf pan.
4. Place plastic wrap onto the surface of the rice and cool completely in the refrigerator.

For the Marinara Sauce:
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 2 c. tomato puree
• 2 c. diced tomato (canned or fresh)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 oz. onion, diced small
• 1 oz. celery, diced small
• 1 oz. carrots, diced small
• 2 tbsp. basil (dried)
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. fennel seed
• ½ tsp. oregano
• ½ c. red wine
• 2 tbsp. honey
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Saute the vegetables in olive oil on medium heat for 5 mins.
2. Add red wine and reduce by half.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, plus 2 c. water
4. Simmer for ½ hr. or until sauce is reduced by about 2 cups, stirring occasionally
5. Season with salt & pepper

For the vegetables:
• Use a combination of your favorite vegetables to equal 2 cups, small diced.
• ¼ tsp. red chili flakes ( or more to taste)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt & pepper to taste

1. Saute ingredients in olive oil on medium low heat for about 5 minutes and set aside

Putting the lasagna together:
• 1 c. grated parmesan cheese
• ½ c. ricotta cheese
• ½ c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Invert the rice onto a cutting board and cut in 1/3 “ slice horizontally.
2. Oil another loaf pan and place some of the sauce on the bottom.
3. Arrange some of the sliced rice to cover the pan.
4. Layer cheese, vegetables and a little more sauce
5. Repeat process one more time ending with rice layer topped with a bit more sauce.
6. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes at 350 until temperature in middle reads 140 F.

FULL SERVICE CATERING
EMPHASIS ON LOCAL FOOD & PRODUCTS
AUTHENTIC ETHNIC CUISINE
ORGANIC & HEALTHY SELECTIONS
PERSONALIZED MENU CREATIONS
www.rootscatering.com
(530) 891-4500

Shrimp problems

2008-05-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Late Spring is the most critical time of the year for rice farmers. If you don't get an adequate plant population now, there is little you can do later in the season to increase your yield. And once you have planted the field, there are many factors working against you. As you perhaps saw in the video I posted, we plant the seeds by air into flooded fields. For a few days, all you can find in the fields is rice seed. Then things start to happen. Weeds appear, and race the baby rice plants to the air and sun above the water. The soil-borne eggs of several species of freshwater shrimp hatch after a few days under water. Most of these shrimp species are harmless, but one, the tadpole shrimp, nips the root off the rice plants, effectively killing them. The shrimp also root around in the soil, digging up plants that have rooted, and muddying the water so that little light penetrates to the young leaves. When the weather is warm, algae blooms are possible. The algae forms on the soil surface, where it does little harm, but after a few days, gas bubbles collect underneath the algae and it rises to the surface of the water. Then you are in trouble, as the floating algae forms thick mats that rice cannot penetrate. And to top it all off, Spring is the season of high winds in the Sacramento Valley. If the winds come when the rice is only a few inches tall and shallowly rooted, the wind-generated waves can pull the baby rice out of the ground. They float along with the waves and eventually pile up in the corner of the field, where they die.

All of these problems can be mitigated to some extent (except the wind), but you may have only hours to correct the problem before it causes damage. This year we had a period of very hot temperatures (over 100 degrees F), which caused the shrimp to grow very rapidly. They ate about 6 acres of rice seed before I caught them, so now we have to replant part of the field. The problem is that the weeds are now two weeks ahead of the rice, and will likely outcompete them if we don't do something about them. Draining the field is not an option (takes too long, and will hurt the rest of the field without shrimp damage), so we came up with a unique but drastic solution: "stomping" the field.

A stomper is a large cage roller that is used to push rice straw into the mud after harvest. Mixing the straw with mud helps to decompose the straw over the winter, so that the field will be ready for planting the following spring. A stomper has not been used as a pre-plant tillage implement--until yesterday! I took the stomper out in an effort to kill all the weeds and prepare the field for replanting. I have no idea if it will work, but organic rice farming is not for the faint of heart, and we needed to do something. My initial observations indicate that is did a good job of dislodging many weeds, and pushing the rest of them into the mud. It's a bit like running an eggbeater through the field, so the water became very muddy, which will help kill the weeds also by blocking all the light.

Below is a video I shot from the seat of the tractor, so that you can see what I mean. To run in water like this, you need a tractor with tracks instead of wheels, so I took our old Caterpillar D7 out there. My grandfather bought this tractor just after World War II, and it is still in use on our farm!

Brown Rice Horchata

2008-05-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

Last week at a very hot farmers market in Chico, we served brown rice Horchata made by our friends at Roots Catering. To say it was good is an understatement. Horchata is a smooth, creamy, sweet rice drink from Mexico. It is traditionally made with white rice, but this brown rice version was easily the best I have ever had. Give it a try!

ROOTS CATERING BROWN RICE HORCHATA

1/2 c sugar
Meat from 1 coconut, peeled and chopped
¾ c. Massa Organics Brown Rice, soaked overnight, and drained
1 c. blanched almonds, toasted
1 cinnamon stick
¼ c. half-n-half
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Put sugar and 5 tbsp. water into a small saucepan, cover, and boil over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar dissolves, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow syrup to cool.
Put coconut and 1½ cups water into a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids with a rubber spatula to extract as much coconut milk as possible, and set aside.
Put rice, almonds, cinnamon and 2 cups water into clean blender and puree until smooth. Strain mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible, then return strained mixture to clean blender.
Add ¾ cup of the coconut milk, syrup, half-n-half, vanilla and 2 cups ice cubes to blender and puree until ice is well chopped and drink is frothy. Divide between 2 tall glasses and serve immediately.

ROOTS CATERING
FULL SERVICE CATERING
EMPHASIS ON LOCAL FOOD & PRODUCTS
AUTHENTIC ETHNIC CUISINE
ORGANIC & HEALTHY SELECTIONS
PERSONALIZED MENU CREATIONS
www.rootscatering.com

Planting Rice by Air

2008-05-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a very amateur video I shot yesterday of how we actually plant rice in California. We do all of our land prep (i.e. disking, leveling, spreading compost), then flood the field. Next we load pre-germinated seed into a crop duster and fly it onto the field. That's what the video shows. You can actually see the seed hit the water. The planes all have GPS navigation systems so they know exactly where to drop the seed.

Those are our pet ducks in the foreground.

Why live on a farm?

2008-05-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Summer is back! It's now 9pm and it is still 90 degrees outside. Good rice growing weather.

Last night was so gorgeous that I had to go outside and take a few photos. I'm no photographer, but I thought these were nice enough to share. The first one isn't so spectacular, but I wanted to point out a couple things. The peak in the background is Mt. Lassen, a volcano. The golden yellow field is our organic wheat crop, which is only a few weeks away from harvest. In the foreground is one of our organic rice fields, which was just flooded and planted this week (more on that later.) These photos were taken from our backyard. Enjoy!

Bale Stacking Accomplished!

2008-05-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a great day here at our house. We had a bale raising party to stack the bales in the walls of our 800 square foot addition to our straw bale house. We gathered at 9am and the walls were complete by 3pm.

I’m up to 86 people in my count of participants here throughout the day… THANK YOU to all of you for all of the different parts you played!
It took many muscles to lift those eighty pound rice straw bales, more to saw notches in them, and even more to fill all the cracks with mud and straw. We had a lot of kid helpers moving gravel, pounding nails, mixing mud and straw, sweeping, and moving excess straw to where it needed to be. We had so many other helpers preparing and serving food, running errands for us, caring for the children, and our friend Tricia even got four two year olds to take naps amidst the chaos of the festivities. And it truly was a festive occasion. We feel so blessed to have had so many friends, relatives, and acquaintances gather to help us build our new rooms. We even had reporters and photographers here to capture the action and community spirit of the event, so that hopefully we’ll be able to further share this incredible experience.

We're in Saveur!

2008-04-26T22:51:00.000-07:00

Check out the new May issue of Saveur magazine for a GREAT article on our farm and our brown rice! The cover of the magazine says we grow "the best brown rice," while the editor's letter describes our rice as "great, damn great." We couldn't be more pleased with it, and extend our very sincere thanks to writer Peggy Knickerbocker and Editor in Chief James Oseland.

One note on the recipes that accompany the article is that some of them call for other types of rice than what we grow. I can assure you that our rice would work very well in all of those recipes, and that we have cooked the rice in all of those different ways. In fact, one of our favorites is to cook it in coconut milk as described on page 76 of the magazine.

Cranberry Pecan Rice Salad

2008-04-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe for a great salad that has gotten lots of comments whenever we serve it as a sample at the Chico Farmers Market. This recipe is courtesy of our friend Karen Avis of Fresh Approach Catering. Enjoy!

Massa Organics Cranberry Pecan Rice Salad

2 cups Massa Brown Rice
1 bunch Parsley
1 cup dried cranberries
¾ cup Pecans
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 Orange
Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste
Sliced red onions to taste (optional)

Cook rice according to directions. Let cool for at least ½ hour. Gently stir in: Chopped parsley, cranberries, coarsely chopped pecans, onions and zest. In a bowl: Whisk olive oil, orange juice and salt and pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour to blend flavors.

MO Brown rice tomato soup

2008-04-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the recipe for the soup served as a sample at the Chico Farmers Market on April 12. Recipe courtesy of Roots Catering (contact info below).

Massa Organics Brown Rice Tomato Soup

2Tbsp. Olive Oil
28 oz. good quality canned diced tomato w/juice
1 ½ C. diced onion
1Tbsp. chopped garlic
½ C. chopped celery
½ C. chopped peeled carrots
¼ C. dry basil
1 qt. vegetable or chicken broth
1 C. cream
2 C. cooked Massa Organics Brown Rice

Cook rice according to package direction and cool.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom 3 qt. pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery, carrots and cook for five minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown.
Add broth, tomatoes and basil. Cook until vegetables are very tender.
Warm cream.
Puree soup and add cream.
Season with salt and pepper. Adjust consistency with more broth.
Warm soup, add rice and serve.

FULL SERVICE CATERING
EMPHASIS ON LOCAL FOOD & PRODUCTS
AUTHENTIC ETHNIC CUISINE
ORGANIC & HEALTHY SELECTIONS
PERSONALIZED MENU CREATIONS
www.rootscatering.com
(530) 891-4500

Ducks, ducks, ducks!

2008-04-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Ideas for new posts go through my head all the time, but few of them actually make it to the blog it seems. But today I have to tell you about the ducks. Every day for the last two weeks, we have had almost 1000 ducks in the fields surrouding the house--mostly mallards, but also lots of wood ducks, American widgeon, and two species of geese. It's fun to have so many birds around to welcome you home.

So, here's the reason the ducks are here. This is planting season in the Sacramento Valley, so all the rice fields are dry and being plowed to prepare the seedbed. I know it sounds odd, since rice grows in flooded soil, but rice grows much better if you dry out the soil thoroughly before you re-flood and plant. It has also been a very dry spring, so the natural wetlands have pretty much dried up and there is very little duck habitat out there. Here's where we come in: we actually did our seedbed preparation very early and quickly, and then flooded the fields. We're not planning to plant for at least a month, but I wanted to fool the weeds into thinking it was time to grow. My plan is to dry up the field again, and then lightly till the weeds to kill them. So, just when other farmers' fields look like duck deserts, ours look very inviting, full of water and nicely sprouting weeds for food. The ducks are a real asset this time of year. They eat and trample the weeds, and spread plenty of nice organic fertilizer around the field. The mallards are ground nesting birds--many of them will probably end up nesting in our adjacent wheat field because it has good cover and protection from predators for them. I expect to see lots of baby mallard back in our rice fields in a couple months!

Organic rice farmers have to play games like this, because weeds our our biggest production problem, and can literally wipe out a crop. Last year, we had 20 acres that we couldn't harvest because the weeds took over and destroyed the rice. So this year, we are switching methods of weed control and hoping to do a better job of it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Speaking of ducks, here's a shot of our new pet ducklings. The kids are having a great time with them. Our two year olds wake up in the morning asking about them!

Rice and Sesame Pancakes

2008-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

A recipe sent to us by a farmers market customer...

Rice and Sesame Pancakes, adapted from The Pancake Handbook, by the cooks at Bette's Oceanview Diner

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbl baking powder
1.5 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract (optional)
1.5 - 2 cups cooked rice (my adaptation is to more than double the amount of rice called for. Their recipe only uses 1/2 cup.)
2 tbl toasted sesame seeds

Combine dry ingredients, minus rice and sesame seeds. Combine wet ingredients and stir into flour mixture. Add rice and sesame seeds. Cook in the normal way.

Summer Fiesta Salad

2008-04-06T22:54:00.001-07:00

We got a jump on summer with the sample dish we served at the Chico farmers market this week. I've had a few requests for the recipe, so I'll post it here. It's a bit out of season for some of the ingredients still, so let me extend an apology to all the locavores out there. Unless you canned some fresh corn last summer, you may have to wait a while to make this dish.

Summer Fiesta Salad

2 cups Massa Organics brown rice (uncooked)
2 cups fresh corn (off the cob)
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
½ red onion, chopped

Dressing: Combine together:
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp, crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice according to directions. If using fresh corn, boil for 3 minutes and cool. Combine ingredients in bowl and mix with dressing. Chill for at least 2 hours for flavors to set.

Recipe by Karen Avis, Fresh Approach Catering

Recipe from the Ferry Plaza

2008-04-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

Today's sample recipe from Boulettes Larder, served at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, is fairly simple, but very delicious:

Massa Organics rice
Carrot tops sauteed in butter
Piment d’ Espelette, crushed

I had to do a bit of research on the Espelette pepper, as I hadn't seen it before. Apparently it is a "cultural and culinary icon" of the Basque region of Southwestern France. The taste was described to me as sweet and mildly spiced. Enjoy!

New review of our rice!

2008-03-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

I guess we're not very good at keeping up with this blog! I have lots of ideas for posts during the day, but by the time we get home, get the kids fed and in bed, I just don't seem to have the energy left to sit and write. Sorry about that!

Anyway, we got a nice writeup in the food section of the Sacramento News and Review yesterday. Here's the link:

Nice rice Palatable rice and farming practices. By Kate Washington, SN&R, 03.27.08.

Ensalada de Tricia

2008-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

Our good friends Tricia and Kari came over the other night with a great tangy rice salad of Tricia's creation. Here's the recipe:

2 cups uncooked Massa Organics brown rice
3 or 4 Tbsp pesto
Olive Oil
3/4 cup diced walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup Chopped julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup artichoke hearts (in water), chopped
6 green onions, chopped
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Cook rice according to package directions, and then cool. Mix in the other ingredients, and drizzle with olive oil to taste.

MO brown rice with puntarella and sesame

2008-03-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here are the ingredients for the sample dish served at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on March 1, 2008:

Massa Organics brown rice, cooked
braised puntarella chicory, chopped
black sesame seeds
butter

Puntarella is an Italian chicory, and had something of a broccoli flavor to me. If you can't find puntarella, I think you could easily substitute broccoli de cicco, which is a slender, heirloom variety of broccoli from Italy that is pretty common in farmers markets now. Enjoy!

Brown rice in the NY Times

2008-02-21T22:59:00.001-08:00

Mark Bittman, who writes a column for the NY Times called the Minimalist, wrote a piece on brown rice this week. The website includes a 5 minute video of his method for cooking brown rice more quickly (one of the most common complaints about brown rice is that it takes 45 minutes to cook). Essentially he partially cooks it ahead of time, then finishes it off while preparing the rest of the meal. It's not really faster--the cooking is just broken down into two steps. Still, it could be useful when you need to make dinner quickly. Personally, I think it is easier to just cook extra when you have time and then reheat it in the microwave. Other people have told me that brown rice cooks very quickly in a pressure cooker--only 10 minutes!

Farming with Wildlife II

2008-02-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent photos of wildlife on the farm. We had two weeks of stormy weather earlier this month, and had huge flocks of swans, ducks (mostly widgeon), and sandhill cranes that stayed on the farm. It was really fun to wake up and see the swans out of the kitchen window every morning. Not so much fun was chasing 300 geese out of our young wheat before they trampled and ate it all--one morning I went after them five times during a 90 minute period. I'd scare them up, and they would wait for me to leave and then go back to eat breakfast in the wheat. However, last week the weather turned sunny and warm, and most of the birds have left us again, on the way to their breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska. It's sad to see them go...

The photos are mostly swans, with some mudhens (coots) and a river otter thrown in.

brown rice sushi

2008-02-18T22:22:00.000-08:00

I often tell people that our rice is extremely versatile--good for everything from risotto to sushi rolls, or just served plain. To put the rice to the test, some friends invited us over recently to try making California rolls. We're definitely amateurs, but they still turned out pretty well! You can read their account of the evening here. Enjoy!

Boulettes 2-9-2008

2008-02-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

All the days of sitting through farmer's markets in the rain paid off yesterday! The sun came out for all three of our Saturday markets (Chico, Davis, and San Francisco), and we had a good day. I guess everyone was out of rice after all those rainy farmers markets. Here's the ingredient list for the delicious sample we were serving in San Francisco yesterday, as made by the wonderful Boulettes Larder:

Massa Organics brown rice
collard greens, chopped into strips
black and white sesame seeds
roasted garlic, minced
olive oil

Saute the collard in olive oil with the other ingredients, and add to the cooked rice. This dish got lots of positive comments from customers at the market. Enjoy!

Boulette's 2-2-08

2008-02-04T22:41:00.000-08:00

From the Ferry Plaza farmers market on February 2:

Massa Organics brown rice
mixed nuts
rosemary
olive oil
pink peppercorns

Drowning at the Markets

2008-02-04T22:40:00.000-08:00

January was a tough month for those of us who sell our products at farmers markets here in Northern California. It seems like every single market we attended got rained on or blown out! We've lost money on several markets this past month, but I feel strongly that it is important to be there, even when the weather is bad. Our rice has a strong following now, and isn't widely available outside of farmers markets or our website. So, when someone needs rice and they expect us to be at a market, we need to be there. Besides, you never know who might walk by. For example, on a wet Tuesday in Berkeley a few weeks ago, we sold very little, and lost about $50 after paying the market fee and the salary of the guy who works the market for us. But, one bag of rice was sold to someone who loved it, and that person opened the door to a much larger account for us. Our new customer's first order totaled about $400 worth of rice, so really, that wet Tuesday doesn't look so bad after all!

Farming with wildlife

2008-01-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

It's field trip week here on the farm. On Tuesday we have an Elderhostel group of 45 people visiting for a couple hours. This will serve as a dry run for another tour to be held on Saturday as part of the Audubon Society's Snow Goose Festival. Tours are usually fun--the people who come are generally very interested in farming, wildlife, and everything that happens on a modern day rice farm. It seems most people just enjoy being out in the open space, and away from their lives in town for a few hours. There is a bit of pressure to make field trips interesting, but the real worry is what to do when the wildlife doesn't show up!

We have tons of animals on the farm, but unfortunately I can't make them magically appear when the tour bus drives in. We have big showy animals like deer, coyotes, great horned owls, and the occasional bald eagle; elusive animals like beaver, river otters, opossums, and wood ducks; we have turkeys nesting in the orchard, and mallards in the rice fields. Winter brings sandhill cranes; in spring, thousands of blackbirds sing to us from the oak trees around the house; summer brings the insects, which brings swallows and swifts flying low over the fields; in fall, I see tiny rails darting out of the rice ahead of the combine.

All these animals are here partly because of the physical location of the farm, and partly because of the way we manage our land. We're not "clean" farmers, meaning we don't kill every weed or tree that isn't producing a crop we can sell. We leave plenty of edge habitat, and have worked to revegetate areas of the farm that are not in production. For example, an old railroad bed runs the length of the farm, and comes quite close to the Sacramento River at the corner of our property. As a bare railroad bed full of spiny starthistle, it is of little use to us or wildlife. But about 10 years ago, we started slowly revegetating that strip of land, planting oaks and other native plants, and giving a helping hand to plants that were already there. Some spots were more successful than others, because a raised railroad bed of dry gravel that was likely sprayed with herbicide for 50 years is a really harsh environment. But we now have a develping wildlife corridor, which brings animals onto the farm from the river's riparian forest. After a soaking rain, we see all sorts of footprints in the mud, from animals using this section of the farm as a highway of sorts.

This sounds great, of course, but it has its drawbacks as well. Three years ago we planted 30 acres of organic almonds trees adjacent to the corridor. Everything was fine, until the deer discovered the tender young trees. We planted 3300 trees, and the first year, probably half of them had their leaves eaten by the deer! And even though I checked the orchard at all hours of the day and night, I never saw a single deer. It drove me nuts to go out every day and see more leaves gone. I tried everything I could think of, and even bought a solar powered, motion-detecting burglar alarm with a light and siren. I set it up near where I thought the deer were entering the orchard, so that when they would come for dinner, the siren and light would scare them so bad they'd never come back. Maybe it worked for a while, but it didn't take long before Tony hit it with the mower, sending it crashing to the ground and smashing the solar panel.

In the end, the trees grew a little more every year, and eventually got big enough that the deer browsing didn't bother them so much. Now the problem is that the bucks rub their new antlers on the bigger trees, scraping the bark off and leaving a big wound on the tree.

Farming with wildlife is no easy task, but seeing the animals is one of my favorite parts of farming (even when they may be doing a little damage). As former biologists, Raquel and I are committed to sharing the land with wildlife as much as possible. We'll keep encouraging the animals to come, and sometimes cursing them when they do.

Boulettes Larder Recipe 1-12-2008

2008-01-13T23:31:00.000-08:00

Raquel and I had a great time in San Francisco this weekend, including a gorgeous day at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Here is the ingredient list for the samples we were serving this weekend. Enjoy!

Massa Organics brown rice
walnuts
pine nuts
sage
parsley
olive oil
salt

Crazy week!

2008-01-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

We've been absent from the blog for a while now. We took a break for the holidays, with the intention of starting back up in the New Year. But then an enormous storm blew in off the Pacific, with wind gusts approaching 70 mph for more than 12 hours straight. The power went out, trees blew down, roofs ripped off our barns--it was a very wild day! We were actually fairly lucky, in that our strawbale house stays nice and warm with our woodstove, and our electricity was out for less than a day. I have friends that have been out for a week now! Still, our wireless internet connection went down for 5 days, which these days seems almost as bad as the electricity going out. But we're back up now, and will back at the blog soon.

Raquel and I will be at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco this Saturday. If you are around, stop by our booth and say hi!

Boulettes recipe for Dec 22

2007-12-28T21:55:00.001-08:00

As mentioned before, generally, Boulettes soaks our rice overnight, then cooks it with a bit of sea salt in the water. The other ingredients are added to the hot rice after cooking. All proportions are "to taste." Here is the dish served at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market on Dec. 22, 2007:

Massa Organics brown rice
herbs
apple cider vinegar
black currants
new olive oil
flax seeds

Harvest video

2007-12-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

Way back in October, we took some video of rice harvest. Since many of our customers live in urban areas and don't see rice fields very often, we thought it would be fun to post the video on YouTube so that people could see what harvest is like. Of course, I only got around to posting the video this week!

Rice harvest is completely mechanized in the United States, and uses very large, very expensive machinery. Much of the rest of the world still harvests by hand or with small equipment. You can see some of this if you search YouTube. In our case, we use a John Deere 9760 STS with a "stripper header." When you watch the video, the header is the blue and white thing on the front of the combine. Stripper headers are a relatively new technology, which greatly improves the efficiency of harvest by stripping the grain off the plant and leaving the plant stem standing in the field. By contrast, the older style headers cut off the entire plant and feed it into the combine, which then separates grain from straw. This takes much more time and fuel.

Here's the video of the combine with a stripper header:

Here is a video of the combine dumping rice into a truck.

Here is a view from the driver's seat. It's not great quality, but you get the idea.

Boulettes Larder recipe for Dec. 15

2007-12-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

See post from December 8 for more info about how Boulettes Larder cooks our rice.

saturday's ingredients-

walnuts
black currants
extra virgin olive oil
sherry vinegar
herbs (rosemary, parsley, some people said lavender - it might have been a homemade herbs de provence, but we're not sure)

Chard Dolmas

2007-12-14T15:51:00.000-08:00

A good customer in Chico sent us this recipe recently. He notes that it is simple and easy, and would also be good with other veggies or spices added to the rice mixture. We'd love to hear your modifications to the recipe. Enjoy!

Swiss Chard Dolmas

1 bunch Swiss chard
3 cups cooked Massa Organics brown rice, at room temperature
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dried dill
Salt and pepper

Combine rice, olive oil, vinegar and dill in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Wash and trim the stems from the Swiss chard. Bring a large kettle of water to a boil and blanch the largest whole Swiss chard leaves for about 1 minute, until just tender. Remove the leaves from the water with tongs and transfer to a large cutting board. When the chard leaves have cooled, place the leaves face down one at a time on the board and use a sharp knifeto remove the thick central spine from the leaves, about two-thirds of the way up, leaving the fan of the leaves intact. Overlap the lower halves of each leaf to form a half-inch seam.

Place two heaping tablespoons of the rice mixture in the center of each Swiss chard leaf, leaving the edges free for tucking to form the ends of the roll. Fold the lower edge of the leaf upwards around the rice, tuck in the sides and continue rollling to the upper edge. Transfer Swiss chard rolls to a baking dish and brush with olive oil. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, until rice is heated all the way through.

The Sickle of Honor

2007-12-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we were asked by the local representative of the Pesticide Action Network if we would be willing to participate in absentia at a ceremony honoring rice farmers at PAN’s international meeting in Penang, Malaysia. They asked for a photo and two bags of rice for “symbolic international sharing.” Today Greg and I found out that we’d actually each been awarded the Sickle of Honor from PAN International. The handle of each is engraved with: “TO RAQUEL KRACH (GREG MASSA), DEFENDER OF RICE FARMERS’ RIGHTS, FROM PAN, 2007”. It was presented at their meetings earlier this month and was accepted for us by a California PAN representative. Said accepter arrived at our home this afternoon, sickles in hand. He also brought us a nice cloth bag, a Book of Rice, and a DVD of “Rice – The Life of Asia.” We’re bummed we couldn’t be there, we would have enjoyed the two Malaysian “rice harvest” dances.

Recipe from Boulettes Larder

2007-12-08T22:38:00.001-08:00

Those of you who are lucky enough to be able to shop at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market in San Francisco are probably familiar with Boulettes Larder, a fantastic food shop in the Ferry Building. And, if you have bought our rice at the market, you probably know that Boulettes makes a rice dish for us to sample each week--a new one every week. Now that we have a blog, I thought it would be a good place to post the ingredients for the weekly sample dish.

Generally, Boulettes soaks our rice overnight, then cooks it with a bit of sea salt in the water. The other ingredients are added to the hot rice after cooking. All proportions are "to taste." Here is the dish served today:

Massa Organics Brown Rice
toasted sage
black currants
extra virgin olive oil
black pepper
plum vinegar

Enjoy!

Our Strawbale House

2007-12-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

If you’ve ever wondered why there is a house on the front of our packaging, the answer is that it’s our house. It’s a Straw bale house, that we built with the rice straw out of our fields that surround the house. This is one of the photos we gave to the illustrator when we were designing the bag. We wanted to show you that we were living with our numerous children in the middle of the fields, which is why we work so hard at farming in a safe and healthy manner.

The house has been a labor of love, and one that unlike our children, we actually birthed. We are reliving that process now because we have outgrown the original 1600 square feet we built. We started with two kids, and now have five.

Gestation begins with baling the straw, and since rice harvest is just over, we baled the straw a couple of weeks ago. Looking out over the field of bales, you start to imagine how all those individual blocks will come together, and visualize the finished project. Mostly I dream about the extra space for beds, toys, computer and piano. Maybe Daddy with even get his office back.

Having a whole lot of baled straw around is pretty fun. The kids played for hours on the big stacks over the Thanksgiving break, and we even loaded up a few on the trailer and took a “hay” ride around the farm. (We don’t have livestock, so we don’t actually grow hay.) Stay tuned for the updates on the building process. We’ve almost got the permits and contractor ready to go (we’re not doing it all ourselves this time). Sometime in the late spring or summer we’ll be having a “bale-raising”, a community building project to get the bales stacked in the walls. See you then!

Wheat crop update

2007-12-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here are a few visitors to the wheat field--sandhill cranes, one of my favorite birds. They come to the farm in the fall and spend the winter with us before heading back to Canada and Alaska in the spring. They are huge birds, standing 4-5 feet tall, with 6 foot wingspans. They like to dig around in soft soil looking for invertebrates to eat. I usually don't worry about them in the fallow rice fields, but I'm a little concerned about them in my young wheat field. When the plants are small like this, it doesn't take much to uproot them. It's a tough transition to suddenly think of my winter friends as a pest!

The wheat crop has been in the ground for a couple weeks now, and even though we haven't had any rain at all, there was enough residual moisture in the soil to sprout much of it. The concern now is if there is enough moisture in the ground to keep it going until it does rain. We've had a very dry fall, and I saw several wheat fields being irrigated last week. I'd rather not have to turn on the pump, because organic wheat planted in an old conventional rice field isn't likely to have a huge yield, and I need to watch my costs very closely. Pray for rain!

My Birthday at Monk's

2007-11-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

So we meant to post this last week, and then we got the word about the special Tuesday night dinners at Monks’. So just take it as a good review…

It was my birthday last week, and usually we manage to go out to dinner and celebrate one way or another. This year we managed to arrange babysitting and had a grown-up’s night out. We’d been talking to Chef Richie at Monk’s Wine Lounge and Bistro about possible uses for our rice in his restaurant, and this was our chance to meet him and sample his art. It is so much fun to meet the people who cook with our rice, and especially chefs. Chef Richie was no exception. He made us a risotto with fresh root vegetables, and a local cheese. It was served with a chive oil and our choice of steak or chicken or shrimp. It was delicious! Most people think of brown rice as such a hippy, healthy and wholesome food, and it is, but until I had this risotto, it had never tasted so rich, and delicate. Paired with a great wine, Massa Organics brown rice made for a very sophisticated eating experience. The ambiance at Monks’ was great, and next time I’m going to go on their live jazz night. “Next time”… listen to me. We don’t get nights out like that very often so who knows when we’ll be spending four hours again in a restaurant. So, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting, and my wonderful husband who arranged such a fabulous birthday night out.

Monk's Wine Lounge features our rice

2007-11-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

Our newest favorite restaurant in Chico will be featuring our rice on December 4 for their monthly winemakers dinner. Chef Richie is a master with risotto, so check it out! Here's the menu:

MONK’S Wine Lounge and Bistro
128 W. 2nd St. Chico, CA 95928. (530) 343-3408
www.monkswinelounge.com www.roberthallwinery.com
chefrichie@msn.com

Winemaker Dinner: Tuesday December 4, 2007
(and the 1st Tuesday of every month at Monk’s)
Tonight featuring: Robert Hall Winery
Reservations Recommended
The below prices do not include tax or gratuity

Four Courses with Artisan breads and Arbequina olive oil $35
*You may order any dish a’ la carte at the below prices. The full dinner is not mandatory.
1/3 glass of four Robert Hall wines paired with each course $12
*Additional pours are also available from the wine list including more Robert Hall selections

Menu
Hors D’oeuvre $12 Wine selection: Viognier
Miller’s kamut flour, porcini, kale, toasted Coy Farm almond and brie crêpe with chive oil

Small Bowl of Soup, or Small Salad $7 Wine selection: Chardonnay
Tomato Bisque with crispy Massa brown rice and two sesames
or
Arugala tossed in Linda’s cranberry dressing with toasted pine nuts, a farewell
to 2007 Coy Farm pears and Pedrozo Family Dairy Black Butte Reserve cheese

Choice of Main Course $17 Wine selection: Meritage
Massa brown rice risotto with porcini, spinach, walnuts, ginger and soy glaze butter
or
Grilled Rocky chicken breast and roasted market vegetables over rigatoni carbonara
or
Grilled natural/finest quality New York steak from Chico State Farm
with potato, parsnip and Castello triple-cream Danish blue gratin, and Bordeaux glaze

Dessert $4 Wine selection: Port
Petit warm Tin Roof Bakery chocolate mousse brownie, eggnog crème anglaise,
toasted Coy Farm almonds and tangerines that Kevin and I picked this morning

different season, different crop

2007-11-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

These are scenes we'd usually be seeing in the Spring, when it's time to plant the rice. I mentioned that we were planting a winter wheat crop on some transition land. This is where that 100 tons of compost went last week. We have a great worker, named Tony, who spent a day lightly working it into the soil with a "spring tooth". Then it was time to plant. With rice, we broadcast the seed from a crop duster onto a flooded field, but for the wheat we direct seeded. In the first photo Tony is loading the seed into the dril which he then pulls with the small tractor. The drill has a rolling metal disc that cuts a slit in the ground, and the seed drops in before the soil falls back over it. Six hours later, the 40 acres was done. Ah... mechanization.

I mentioned that this ground is in "transition". It's ground that was previously planted in conventional rice. To certify it as "organic", no chemicals can be used on it for three years. This is one of the deterrents to farming organically, because there is such a long period of the lower yields organic brings, but without the higher return on the product. A conventional crop of wheat like this would normally have the seed treated with a fungicide even before it goes in the ground. A chemical fertilizer would be added to the ground preparation before planting, and finally, a number of applications of the herbicide 2,4-D would take place over the growing season.

After planting, Mason and Lily (aka "The Babies") check to make sure the seeds were placed at the right depth. Plus they just like to play in the dirt. Who can resist a huge field of dirt to play in? Needless to say, I do a lot of laundry!

Apple brown rice stuffing recipe

2007-11-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

For your Thanksgiving turkey:

Apple Brown Rice Stuffing

Tasty Massa Organics brown rice instead of boring white bread stuffing. Crisp apples compliment the nutty flavor of the brown rice.
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1 1/2 cups brown rice, uncooked
3 1/2 cups Apple Juice, divided
1 Fuji apple, diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup rice bran
1/3 cup slivered almonds

Prepare rice according to package directions, using 3 1/4 cup apple juice for the liquid.
Cook diced apple, chopped onion, sliced celery, raisins, poultry seasoning, thyme, and pepper in butter in a large skillet until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Stir in the cooked brown rice, bran, slivered almonds, and remaining apple juice.
Use as stuffing for poultry or pork roast, or bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Makes 8 servings.

First post!

2007-11-12T19:21:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Massa Organics farm/family blog. This is our first attempt at blogging and I'm not sure how we'll do, but we've so enjoyed interacting with our customers so far in this new business, and we thought the blog might bring an additional opportunity to build on these relationships.

This is Raquel, the wife/mother/daughter-in-law of the operation. I grew up in LA and before I met Greg I wasn't aware that rice was actually grown in California. Honestly, when we first met in college, I wasn't all that impressed with that part of Greg's "background", it sounded pretty hokey. And I definitely thought farming a crop that had to be grown in flooded fields was ridiculous when we all know we're living in a desert. Wow, did I have a lot to learn. But six years later, when we decided to move "home" and farm, it was (surprisingly) my idea. And here we are, 17 years later, and Greg is a brilliant farmer, and Northern California is not a desert, and organic rice farming is a beautiful beautiful thing. We want to share it with you, and hope that none of your kids will grow up as ignorant as I did.

It's November 12th, and we have just finished harvesting the rice. The combines have not yet been put away, and so they provide ample play space. Even farm kids LOVE tractors, and after "chicken", "tractor" is one of their first words. In earlier generations it was pretty common to harvest late into the fall, but not for us due to shorter-season rice varieties and bigger harvesting equipment. But it has been a pretty wet, cold fall for us, so the rice took quite a while longer to ripen. After the crazy weather, and a number of mechanical setbacks, it was big relief to see that truck full of grain pull out of our driveway on to the highway.

We have a field of 40 more acres that is officially in transition to organic production. We left it fallow this summer, but it will have a winter wheat crop on it starting next week. Today we had guys in giant trucks out there spreading 100 tons of composted cow manure on it. This field is about 200 meters from our house. Sometimes our kids have to sit on the porch for a few minutes while they are having a "time out". Mit (above, swinging wildly) took a turn out there tonight, unfortunately, but tonight he had added incentive to shape up his behavior: "Dad it smells really gross!''.

Rice for dinner tonight, of course. We hadn't had it in a few days because I'd forgotten to cook it in time. That's a complaint we get a lot, that brown rice just takes too long. So, today at about noon I remembered to put on a pot and it was ready to go in plenty of time. We often cook it with just water, but tonight it was with broth and butter. (For those who don't like it too sticky, this is a good solution.) We hope you'll share some of your favorite ways to use our rice. If we can share them that will be even better.

We're happy to answer your burning rice farming questions, so fire away.