Sanctuary

The last few years we noticed that butterflies had a tendency to hang around, specifically Monarchs. We decided to try our an experiment this year by purchasing 5 milkweed

 plants to see if we would get any caterpillars and if so how many we could feed with that many plants. It turns out we hatched out caterpillars most of the ye ear and we have the last dozen or so waiting to hatch out this weekend. I think the experiment was a success and we will definitely will pick up some more next year.

All sorts of lambs

January brought the birth of more lambs and a third round at the beginning of March. January babies are doing well. We lost one of the March babies after mother rejected her and we tried to do everything to keep her going, but she probably had a respiratory infection due to aspirating some mecunium. So it looks like we'll have 5 lambs for slaughter starting around May, which works out well because we'll be starting to shear then.

January lambs came out mostly black and love hanging out with the ram.

Baa, who did not make it through the week.

Extremely blurry picture of new mom with her two March lambs. She would not let Baa get near the other lamb.

We heard that there is a place close by that has dairy sheep, so we might see about adding that onto the homestead so that we can have milk year round, with any luck.

Lambing season?

We've chosen our sheep for their durability, wool, meat, and they're plan awesomeness. We have Navajo-Churros and a Shetland ram. We normally only have them lamb once a year and 2015 we thought was the earliest because they were mostly born in January, but it turns out we have an anomaly. We woke up yesterday morning to find two new lambs outside. This will be the first year that we've ever had two lambing seasons from the same ewe. And now for the viewing:

The lambs seem to be doing well, even with sporadic showers throughout the day. Happy 2nd day of Life!!

Having Children and Raising Children on a Farm

The old saying "It takes a village to raise a child" is very, very accurate. When Jed and I found ourselves thinking that we were prepared to have children (ha! What fools we were. Little did we know what we were getting into.) we thought that we would have to make some changes but as with farming, you never, ever know what you are getting yourself into. Things we did not take into consideration:

Pregnancy: All women react and respond differently to pregnancy. As my mother had six children and continued to work on things, I assumed that I would be able to keep up with my farm chores and that the only hinderance would be the fact that I would have a baby stuck on my torso. Well, that was not to be the case. I have a tendency to turn into a big baby (I pretty much just puke, sleep, and cry the whole time.) and was too exhausted to keep up with most chores. I wish, wish, wish I could have warned a couple of people about this as they were preparing to venture on their journey as well, but I find that we always think that it will be different with us, and as sometimes it is I felt it better to keep my mouth shut. So for any of you thinking about starting a family while working on your garden or your farm, just be sure you have a proper support group as you might find that you are unable to keep up. For the partner; your pregnant parter might turn insane and you'll be in charge of all the house chores and taking care of the farm. Make sure you have proper support for you too as you'll need help taking care of everything and yourself.

Farm/Garden after birth: Well, I can honestly say that no amount of books or experience with other people's babies will ever really prepare you for you venture into parenthood. I've watched other people cut back on farming/gardening because it's a lot to take care of. Plants are living creatures as well and have to be taken care of, but your small human will take up most of your time. If you do not have any help, remember that you might have to take time away for a bit and come back to it when your child is old enough to enjoy helping you. Taking care of a small human takes a lot out of you; physically, mentally, emotionally, this is where the village comes in. Make sure you have support. Forget the farm/garden if you must, take care of yourself and your child. Even in a two parent household it will suck the energy out of you. Don't be afraid to ask for help and to see if someone can help you so that you can take a shower, brush your teeth, possibly eat, and if you're lucky sleep.

Farming/Gardening with a toddler and beyond: It's awesome. There seems to be no other environment that is more natural for a child then in the garden. Exploration is at a max during this time period and the need and want to be outside exploring the tastes of the garden, the smells of the plants, the physical activity of digging, pulling plants, eating the fruit when you don't think your parents are looking, climbing trees, chasing the animals, collecting the eggs, etc. We, personally, had a rough go at it since Ivan had a speech delay, but he has flourished in the physical aspect since he's able to run around and be him. He loves the rewards of the fruit as they ripen and the feel of the tree as he climbs higher and higher with no sense of self preservation. Don't worry about the time you took away from the garden, but get back to it so that your child will learn to appreciate and love nature and the plant world. That and it gives them something to do to distract them and you as well. Enjoy the time in the garden and definitely enjoy the fruits of you combined labor (if you get any) although to to get at least one because the little guys seem to sneak out as soon as anything ripens and they eat it first.

On the Value of Seed Diversity

I love talking to people about seeds because they are usually surprised of the varieties of different fruit and veg. Most of us are aware of many different types of tomatoes but when I ask people what type of garlic they like they tend to get confused and let me know that there is only one type in the store, unless it's a better class of store and they might have elephant garlic as an option as well. Well, there are many, many different types of plants/trees, some of those we have records for but they are now lost. In prior generations, families would hold on to certain seed types that worked well in an area. The seeds would be handed down from generation to generation only picking the best that would withstand the conditions that were present in that location. As we moved through the 20th century this practice was lost by most modern families and those unique seed verieties are now lost. In an attempt to preserve some of that past as well as the unique diversity of types grown in different regions, countries have gotten together to create seed vaults. The following TED talk is by a gentleman who works with the seed vault in Norway:

How to save seeds? Well, there are many, many books on saving seeds but if you are more of a kenetic learner it is always worth finding a gardener or farmer who saves their own seeds. Volunteering time in exchange for experience is always good as they get a hand and you get first hand knowledge of the preservation of seeds. Give it a try this next year and see if you can develop a seed type specific to your location or for your family. We've lost many different types of seeds/plants, now let's see if we can make a few more that can acclimate to our changing climate.

An Acquired Taste

Occasionally I'll send Ivan off to pre-school with home goodies like duck/goose breast prosciutto, home cheese, bread, and sauerkraut. The teacher told me later on that she thought that he was just going to throw it away, but when he scarffed down the saurkraut and the rest she was surprised. I was amused because that is what we eat at home and to assume that children only consume things that come in the kids menu at restaurants says a lot about the food choices they have at home and when they eat out. I also found it amusing because what we eat at home is "normal" for him and odd for others. The fact that he has constant exposure to foods from around the world and home cooked foods makes me happy. I was amused that Ivan had not eaten at a McDonald's until this summer when his grandmother took him. I think the part that amused me the most was the fact that he would only eat the fries because he found the other food too odd.

Normal food is relative. Headcheese made at home adds to the diversity of foods that we eat.

I decided to write about home food today because during my lunch I drank the rest of my adult coconut, finshing it off by taking the straw out and just pressing the coco to my lips and drinking like out of a cup. There was a gentleman in his vehicle in front of my car who was watching this in odd fascination. I was wondering how odd it was that he was just staring until I came in and realized that most of my coworkers don't drink from coconuts (in spanish we call them coco) except for some of my hispanic coworkers. I think they thought it was even weirder that I just threw the coconut down outside in the sidewalk to break it open so that I could the meat. Most had never had fresh adult coconut. I had to assure them that fresh baby coconut was better beyond compare but the fact that I had to talk to someone about coconuts. I seriously thought people ate coconuts, mangos, guayabas, hicama, and others on a fairly regular basis just like apples and bananas, but apparantly I was not anywhere close to the mark on that one.. In fact they don't eat fresh coconut (or any of the above mentioned fruit) at all.

Conversations with my coworkers always makes me aware of how different foods are in other countries/cultures compared to American culture. I grew up eating sun dried shrimp and fish along with fruit at pretty much every meal. I find that this has been brought into our home food and I'm very thankful that I have a husband that is very adventurous with food, (Even when I have to explain myself when I'm feeding him dried, salted worms.) my husband being very American and growing up thinking that TacoBell was Mexican food. It's nice that he'll gladly experiment and that we both enjoy food from all over the world. It's also interesting to meet with people who say they hate certain types of food only to have them eat an entire meal with gusto only to be told that what they just ate was the type of food they dislike. So I guess my advise would be, sometimes foods are disgusting, but try to bring in a little bit of the exotic into your home, especially if you have kids, so that they grow up thinking that fruits and veg are a normal thing. It might actually help them live longer and live healthier.

In Defense of Microclimates

Do you ever find areas around your home/apartment that are either hotter or colder than other areas? Have you noticed that the areas closer to your home/apartment hardly ever have frost or certain areas with have all the shade so that you can't grow any of your sun loving plants? Well, if that's the case... use them.

If you can't change your location then use what you have and grow what you can. Do a bit of research on what plants grow in the conditions that you think you cannot grow anything in and use it to your advantage. If you love working with fibers and would like to grow your own dye plants then see if you have a shady area that you can grow some plants in. If you live in an area with an HOA that doesn't allow food crops but that allows flowers add some black eyed susans, woad, indigo, etc.. that are not used for food, but that you can still use for dying fabric, yarn, thread, or trade with others for their food crops. If you have a spot that is colder than others but that gets some sun during the year see about adding some dwarf fruit trees that require a few more chill hours so that they won't get frost damage so that you get something delicious out of a spot that was troublesome before. As I said before, gardeners seem to be eternal optimists if you find a spot that does not work, or you don't think it will work get together with another gardener and I'm sure you'll think of tons of options that could work for you.
Example: When Jed and I lived in Morro Bay we lived in a tiny apartment that could probably fit in our present day living room. I had no place to plant but what I did have was a sidewalk that was facing west. I asked if I could incorporate planters onto our sidewalk and with the go ahead I was able to line the sidewalk with planters. In those planters we (the royal we, Jed is not really a plant sort of person) were able to grow potatoes, onions, herbs, a kefir lime, raspberries, as well as other cool weather crops that require long dark hours. Remember, no matter how hopeless it seems, even if it's a north facing window sill, if you want some fresh veg, you can always find ways of growing some. For those of you addicted to Pintrest, I'm sure there are tons of fabulous apartment ideas that can work for different living situations. Take a look around and try it out. The worst that can happen is that you won't end up with veg, the best is that you will enjoy fresh veg from your labors.

Turning Desert into Grasslands

I stumbled upon a TED talk by Allan Savory regarding the reversal of desertification of lands into grasslands and I was amazed by it. If you would humor me and let me go into detail on one portion of it, in the talk he speaks of doing research and coming to the conclusion that the loss of grasslands on a portion of land that they wanted to turn into a reserve in Africa was due to overgrazing. One thing he mentions is that all scientists know that overgrazing has caused the loss of vegetative growth and thus has deteriorated grasslands into deserts. With this in mind they took out the livestock and as the grasslands continued to dwindle he put forth data to suggest that the elephants were overgrazing and that they would have to decrease the quantity of elephants to a number that could be supported by that land. After another group of scientists came to the same conclusion they ended up killing over 40,000 elephants in an attempt to save the preserve. That number stuns me and haunts me. I could not live with myself knowing that my decision caused the death of so many animals, endangered animals. What happened after the 40,000 elephants were taken out of the picture? The land deteriorated even worse. As he states, his decision is one that will haunt him to his grave.

His wish to make amends and his search to find the cause for that desertification caused him to realize that mimicking nature was the only way to heal the land and to bring back the vegetation. What was he to do? Bring the livestock back into the deteriorating grasslands and mimic nature. I'll let you hear him describe it in his own words:

As you might expect, I find myself trying to dig up and read as much of his research as possible. One thing he mentioned on the TED Radio Hour is that the need to cover the soil is something that every gardener understands. Yes, yes we do. The lack of cover increases evaporation and worsens our soil. The need to not till but to treat the soil as it was intended brings me back to reading the books Edible Forest Gardens Vol 1 and 2, by Jacke and Toensmeier in which they reference research referencing practices of Native American in what was mistakenly called "wilderness" rather than the food forest that they had established. I find myself combing through more scholarly journals (Thank you Google Scholar!) In an attempt to find additional information on techniques to create an environment in which the forest feeds itself and those who maintain it. As I find more and more research I'll be sure to post it, not only because I find the information fascinating but because I think it is valuable knowledge that all humans should possess. 

Persnikety Plants

Have you ever tried to grow some veg only to have it bolt (go to seed), had horrible outcome, or just simply die? Well, it might not have been you, it might have just been the plant. I know that sounds like a cheesy breakup line, but did you know that some plants depend on certain amounts of light hours to produce, or that they need heat/cold to make them sweet? Let me go into a bit more detail. I have a coworker who said that she tried planting onions once but that they did horrible. I asked what time of year she planted them and she said that she planted them with her tomatoes, while there are some onions that are not dependent on light hours, most are and most are short day dependent, which means they are planted in autumn for a spring harvest.

We grow our kales and chards near the house where they get plenty of shade and protection from the sun and heat. They become sweeter once the temperature drops and they have a tendency to sprout babies.

This was most likely the case for my coworkers. Other examples are people trying to grow broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and other brassicas during the summer only to find that they go to seed really fast and are pretty bitter. One of the things about the brassica family is that it usually needs a cold spell or cool weather to give it that sweet taste. Paso, does not really have this environment until summer decides it's off to some other place to dry, autumn is bypassed, and winter just grabs a hold with it's high teens. Places that could grow brassicas well are coastal communities and those places that have shorter summers. If people in Atascadero/Paso would like to plant brassicas we usually have to plant them in September so that they have grown out of their baby state by the time the cold comes in. So don't go thinking that you're a horrible gardener because it might just be a bit more information can make a big difference on the outcomes of your crops.

Everything is connected

I'm a sucker for the TED radio hour and I find myself listening to it every week. It's one of those things that I look forward to, just like listening to StoryCorp. One of the episodes I listened to seemed to lodge itself in my head. I keep going back and listening to the sections on Rewilding and to Listening to Nature, both seem to speak to my home in what I would like it to turn into. I'm not going to release bison onto my property, frankly because our property is too small but the idea that I can work with nature so that it can help me figure out how to repopulate the vegetative growth that can flourish here as well as listening to what the property needs by being able to listen to the layers of sound coming from the land. So that you can listen for yourself here is the link to the show: Everything is Connected

Two other TED talks that I really enjoyed listening to were by a gentleman named Dan Barber. For you foodies out there you'll know who that is, but for most of us who don't follow the foodie movement his talks were a delight especially since I had no clue who he was.

The first talk is in relation to a fish and the fish farming industry. I loved the farm he visited as I would one day love to have a farm that follows those principles. This talk was titled: How I Fell in Love with a Fish.

The second talk makes me wish I could take a vacation to Spain to visit the foie gras farm he went to and to just sit and talk with the farmer in regards to his seed types/plants/trees and how everything interacts as well as see if he had any documentation on what his parents/grandparents/great grandparents did to improve the soil/land. This second talk is titled: A foie gras parable.

Although there are many, many TED talks that I enjoy listening to these are the ones that I keep coming back to. Something about them makes me want to put my hands back into the soil and remember that my goal is not necessarily for the farm to be profitable in my lifetime but maybe my children/grand children/ great grandchildren will find a way for others to love this land as much as we do.

Future additions

I was thinking about listing out all the fruit and veg we have growing on a perennial basis, but then I figured it would be easier if I just name the new items I would like to add to our homestead. I find that when I give people the tour of the place, when I can, that most get glossed over looks because I name many things they have never even heard of. With that in mind, I'll keep adding my new and diverse types of edibles to expand our growing cycles but also place name plates on all the different plants to give a little bit of information on them.

Honeyberry (image from Gurney.com)

Starting off with replacements that were well loved by the chickens and turkeys: Aronia, honeyberries, pawpaws, pears, stevia, and jostaberry.

Veg and some fruit that I would like to add: Jujubes, loquats, chilacayote, chayote, oca, malibar spinach, yacon, taro, good king henry, salt bush, ramps, beach plums, sunchokes, scorzonera, yams, sea kale, achira, air potatoes, hibiscus, fiddleheads, chinese artichoke, edible daylily, moringa, and pepino melons. To start.

Of course this does not include spices/herbs we would like to add but that includes another longer list. We'll see what we can buy locally and what we can get shipped to our location. 

Most of those mentioned above fall into the veg category as our fruit section seems to be growing well but our perennial veg section largely consists of collard greens, eggplant, kale, chard, asparagus, cardoons, and artichokes.

I find that as more and more of the backyard gets covered with plants they help stabilize the soil for more plants to grow. If I can only find the right balance for the time being then I can get a somewhat forest system going to help feed itself so that the moisture retention would increase. As we receive more and more rain this year the plants are able to help hold onto that moisture for a little longer than in previous years and it takes less and less watering on my part to keep them alive. Of course I still need to water when it gets anywhere beyond the 104 degrees that tends to send all plants into shock and kill them, but with any luck the system will stabilize with age and even if we go into more years of drought they and their offspring will be able to survive on the water that is present.

Experience

Have you ever read a gardening book and it tells you what zone you are in? Have you tried planting items that are supposed to be suited to your zone only to find out that they die horrible deaths or that it never reaches the temperatures you need to produce fruit? Yeah.... Even with the micro climate charts it is really, really difficult to actually know what will and will not work until you try. We're in our sixth year on the farm and we've improved the land a lot but it's taken six hard years to figure out what will actually survive here as there seems to be no consistency in anything other than climate of death. As a gardener/farmer we tend to be like scientists and be eternal optimists that something will turn out and we'll get interesting results.

Here are a couple of things we've learned so that hopefully things can go smoother for others.
1) If at all possible acquire plants/trees from a local nursery (aka: one that propagates/grows locally) the plants will be adjusted to similar growing conditions to your location though not exact.

2) Bareroots are awesome as they are affordable but if you have really short or non-existing falls/springs then they might not work out so well for you. If you live within a city microclimate then they work out well, but if you're out in the open you're lucky if they leaf out and then you're lucky if they stay alive through one of the extremes. Here are two possible options:
             
a) Buy potted trees when they go on sale, usually autumn so that you can plant them out. They've had a year to adjust to your local climate and that is what they need. They need to be eased into your location. Keep in mind that if you buy the small potted trees (olives, pomegranates, pawpaws, etc) they will still need a year in your environment before you want to plant them out as if you put them in during autumn when they are suggested and your autumn is really short it's best to overwinter in a bigger pot and plant out in the spring once the temperatures have increased.

b) Once you get the bare roots home then pot them in a 1 or 5 or 10 gallon container depending on what is most appropriate for the root ball and baby them for a year. Plant out in the fall if it goes on for more than a month or early spring once everything is dormant to give it time for the roots to acclimate to your soil environment. You can also pick up bare root plants/trees on sale late spring at the big stores once everyone had picked up all they want. This way you can get cheaper trees to add to your landscape.

3) If you have animals in your landscape, be prepared for them to eat everything and leave you with nothing. All ruminants spend their time plotting ways to destroy your trees. Even turkeys and chickens will try to figure out ways to break off branches to piss you off the most, so just be weary and understand that you will most likely lose a good portion of your produce to them, if they don't kill the plant/tree outright. Also, if you have poultry or fowl.... buy in bulk so that they get some and you get some. If you want chives, buy one for you and 5 for them. If you want grapes, buy one plant for you and three for them. Eventually when you get enough produce coming in they will consume less because they know you are not babying that plant. They will only focus on those plants that you care for the most.

4) Propagate, propagate, propagate. Your plants that thrive in your environment are kind of used to your living conditions. They know the changes in temperatures and rainfall and have set it into their DNA that it sucks here, but maybe I can survive; those are the plants you want. If possible, in the winter take the scions from your pruning and propagate so that you can have more of those to put around the property. If you already have 15 versions of that growing around your property.. who know? propagate them still and hand them out (I do at the kid's day at the park or for families who would like to add fruit to their place.) or you can sell them to local gardeners for some extra cash. (I don't because I'm a horrible business person, but that's me.)

5) Diversify: Try different things, even things that all the books say will not work in your area, you will never know until you try. For example, I have citrus out side as well as mangos, guavas, figs, and olives even though it gets so cold outside that things die from exposure. Placement is key, I have them closest to the house so that the house shelters them a bit. Also keep this in mind for items that flower out early when you are aware that you normally get a late frost. They usually say that our last frost is in April, but the climate does not know about our guidelines and tells them to jog on. I had tomato plants planted out last year and then a late June frost came by and killed all that were away from the house. You never know until you try.

6) Failure is mandatory, get used to it. Things will fail, things will suck, and things will go horribly, horribly wrong. Farming/gardening is like trying to herd a pack of ADHD cats on cocaine. Keep in mind that every plant is a living things and it will do what it wants to do, the best you can do is provide an environment that it likes that will let it thrive and then it gives you some loving back by giving you it's awesome delicious babies. Even if you don't have farm animals to help the failure process along things will work or they won't. Those that work out well: keep the seeds/propagate and keep going. Write it down, keep it in mind, and go on to the next year/hurdle because it's non-stop action when you're trying to provide for yourself and your family year round. One of our awesome discoveries for the year: Miniature highland cattle can hop over hog panels. I would have never believed it until I saw Ira do it. Sooo, even though he did not destroy anything through the process I am now acutely aware of the fact that I need cattle panels for all cattle, not sure the normal sized ones.

7) Enjoy your triumphs; eat those delicious plant babies. Toast to the year of that plant by holding on to some of the babies/cuttings to plant out next year. There will be good times as well as all the suckage. Enjoy those home meals. Enjoy a delicious tomato sandwich from one of your beauties from the garden. Enjoy tons of home grown pesto from your basils, garlic, and eggs from your chickens. They will be amazing and you will never be able to choke down anything else. =) You have worked hard and deserve the amazing rewards so feel free to enjoy it when you can.

Chicken Pretties

As I lay here in bed, I have the melodious sound of Trouble our cat happily crunching away on another defenseless rodent who foolishly attempted to eat some of our produce. ... The other day at work a lady told me that with any luck the doctor would put me on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy, I think she was trying to be nice but I felt like saying, "Why on earth would you wish that on anyone?" Stuck in bed without being able to do anything is not really my idea of fun. Working on the farm is the only thing that keeps me sane(ish) and to take that away is just pure torture. Although I must admit that I have seed catalogs at the moment to keep me company the thought of ordering anything just to have it sit there staring at me is not really that fun either. So as not to dwell on the suckage.... lets look at one of the pretties we made this year:

Front view, although the pistachio and the fence slightly obscure it.

Side of the coop as if you walked out into the orchard area: Size: About 9ft wide by 17ft long by about 13 ft tall.

Bottom section of the blue opens up to allow easy cleaning of the straw on the upper story.

Top section of the coop is designated for roosting animals: Chickens and Turkeys. There are also 11 nesting boxes for them to use with hinged doors to allow for easy extraction of eggs.

Plenty of ventilation on both stories so that it will promote a healthy living environment.

Most of the material we used on it was purchased at Restore or we used from bits left over from previous projects. The birds like it just fine but I've found that the cycle of straw is the best thing ever! Cycle goes something like this: Add bale or two of straw to second story. This allows the chickens and turkeys to scatter it about a bit and to allow them to poop in it while roosting. For cleaning I first take out all the straw at the bottom and scatter it on crops or sectioned off garden areas. I then drop the straw from the top section into the bottom section. The ducks and geese go through the straw, but the best part is that the bulls still fit into the bottom section and they roll in the straw, kick it around, and poop in it as well. The chickens then come back in and scatter everything about leaving amazing compost to spread on the crops come cleaning time. Also, Jed gave me a garden hoe for Mother's day and it's one of the best presents ever!! I used it to clean up the coop, along with my pitchfork... I'm only lucky person to have found a husband who knows me so well. =) Love you Jed!!!

Stagnation and Growth

I find myself 19 weeks pregnant, extremely dizzy, exhausted, nauseous, paranoid about my pregnancy, and pretty much bedridden for the sake of our child. This means that I have not gone outside to visit the trees or the garden since about August. This Autumn was very warm (126 F was the highest it got) and very dry so most of the plants died because Jed is an awesome blacksmith, but sadly his gardener genes were all burned up by the forge. Some of the more hardy plants survived and that's what we want, the hardiest plants to survive extreme weather fluctuation. (6 degree to 131 degrees F so far) And since I can't go outside, I'll see about updating our blog.

As it happens, right before I got pregnant I had made a list of items which I wished to finish before winter set in and as it so happens, two major projects were finished: the chicken coop and the gate to the orchard area. The rest of the homestead continues to grow. The fruit garden seems to be doing well but the animals got wind of the Stevia plant and consumed it essence until nothing but its memory was left. Did you know that comfrey could actually die? Normally our comfrey grows and propagates like mad but this one was subjected to one too many feedings from the geese and it gave up the ghost. (I was about to write "Gave up the goat," which is an awesome statement on its own.) With any luck I'll add clovers and other edibles, including flowers to that garden so that it can continue to grow.



The side garden is pretty much set. The quinces gave us fruit, the strawberry spinach provided fabulous greens, the currants, gooseberries, and pineapple guavas grew, the tomatoes and parsley flourished providing tons of edibles to the birds, the valerian thrived, the raspberries, grapes, and blackberries might actually provide enough fruit for the birds and us next year, and the sage, comfrey, fennel, horseradish, and thyme expanded. Other than occasional annuals, I think that area is set in regards to perennials.

 This year we added a few more tropical plants because you can take the Mexican out of Mexico, but we still want our fruit no matter where we might be living. My lovely friends from work gave me a guayaba (guava for all the English speakers) and a yellow mango. I'll see about adding other types of mangos and guayabas s the years progress but I'll made do with those for now. It's currently sugar cane season in the US (for some odd reason they only provide it during Xmas, probably because of the Posadas) and I was going to see if I could propagate some for next year. But as Jed and others will have to do the planting for me... I might just wait and see.

Things I'm falling behind on: Fall planting: Garlic. =( I normally plant around Oct 31st/Nov 2nd because there is no better time to plant garlic than when the barriers between the land of the living and the land of the dead are at their weakest point. I was able to pick up some plants/trees in July for planting.. but as I can't be outside for that long... mind you I can't really be standing up for that long, I'll have to wait to see when I can organize people to help me with those chores. Which is a pity since garlic is so fabulous and it's one of those crops that we look forward to every year. I'll see if anyone is interested in exchanging garlic in pounds for helping me plant. We'll also have to see how pruning will go this year as I'm pretty sure I won't be able to climb the almond tree. I'll have to see if I can do many little batches and then propagate in little batches as well. 

Living off of 2 inches of rain a year...

We haven't posted in a while, mostly because we're usually super busy and my work does not allow me to access this site from that location and by the time I get home I'm not thinking about going online. Interesting updates:

We have mini bulls and are looking forward to mini cows:

Enough time has passed so that it looks like if we have an actual tree in the back yard, smallish yes, but tree like none the less:

We received our first real rain in 4 years last night. =) I'm hoping that it continues.
We're still planting everything in the world as well as trying to do too much. We'll post up our current and upcoming projects soon.

Walking

I've been going for walks during my break and my lunch hour. I find that the noise and bustle of Paso contrasts drastically to the sound of out at home. At our house we do have vehicles passing, the noise of the airport, and the highway off in the distance, but sometimes there aren't cars/trailers/motorcycles/atvs passing by the house or airplanes/helicopters overhead. Sometimes it just gets really quiet and you can hear the frogs, crickets, livestock just going about their day or night. Sometimes you're just outside and you can hear the sound of the wind in the trees. I think that is something that I really appreciate out where we live. I can see the stars and I can hear the wind; two things that I really can't do while I walk in town. I find my walks, although refreshing, especially on days like today where I end up walking while it's raining, lack the mellow sounds of my home. It's nice having a home to look forward to at the end of the day.

Continuing with the edible landscaping

I've made most of the front an edible landscape with raised beds, but I hope to make all the fence line be more of an edible hedge/barrier.

Pathway into the house. From the gate to the door: Lamb's ear, oregano, winter savory, chard, sage, comfrey, mint, horseradish, and some more chard. Ultra dwarf lemons and limes in pots.

One of our raised beds: Softneck garlic with lettuce and an heirloom tomato in the center. Yes, we were watering it because we hadn't received enough rain. =) Luckily, it's rained the last couple of days.

Fence line along the driveway, Along the fence: Mint, grapes, lemon balm, rosemary, grapes, thyme, feverfew, rue, grapes, pomegranate. Sharon's strawberry bed right in front of that. It's no longer a bed as we've let them spread out and are letting them grow as ground cover along that whole side of the yard.

Looking at nothing

I sometimes find myself amused at what Jed might think I actually do when I get my "garden" time; I seem to walk around and look at the ground, plants, trees, grasses, seeds, and sometimes I just seem to be looking at nothing. I was thinking about this yesterday as I walked around the homestead. I was lucky enough at my work to be stationed really close to home and thus there are some nights that I actually arrive home fairly early (around 5:15pm) and so I get to play while there is sunlight.

Yesterday I was able to check on all the trees to see how they are all doing. I find that one of the female pistachios has a ton of potential nuts while the other (closest to the coop) is just barely waking up. Pistachios have a tendency to fruit biannually and so I'm checking to see if my calculations for the previous years will show that we have fruit from the trees on alternating years so that we have pistachios every year rather than a huge harvest one year and none on the next. I check to make sure none of the birds have gotten into any of the new trees and that there aren't any nests in the new plants. I touch the ground to see how much moisture it has, how warm it is, if there are active worms in there, if the seeds are germinating, if I need to add additional mulch, and many other things.

Yesterday I walked around with a turkey egg in my hand while looking at the trees. The feel let me know that they had enough calcium and maybe just a little extra. The shell was hard with extra little calcium deposits on it. The coloring is nice and the shape is fair. It tells me that I might need to provide a little more water for the birds to drink. It also tells me that the turkeys are laying a little later than previous years, which makes me want to add a tom to our flock as soon as possible.

I look out at the grasses to see where bacteria is active the most (around the trees) and where I need to let the sheep roam. It tells me where we have a tendency to walk and where I could use a little bit more help with the soil.

I stare out at nothing to get the feel of the whole place, to see the cows and sheep interacting and how the place will look in another 5 years when the trees are all in production. How the sheep and cows will move around the trees and what I can do to keep the animals from devistating the orchard while enjoying its benefits. I imagine the tall canopies of the trees and the grape vines all along the borded, the berry bushes covering some trouble spots and the stream just a little bit deeper, the strawberries flourishing in the back and the fruit production all around. I guess I look into my perception of the future of the homestead as well as the present and compare it with the past. All those images amaze me and fill me with joy to think of what the future holds.

The mist that we call rain

California has had one of its driest years in record and so it seems that we have no respite from the drought. We've had a couple of showers in Feb that did bring in a couple of inches of rain, but that accounts for all the rain we've received since July of 2013. I just took a walk around the block during my work lunch break and there is water outside. The sky is gracing us with a steady mist that we Californians like to call "rain." I'm hoping that the rain continues as we planted the corn (Wapsi Valley) a week ago. All the trees are blooming and leafing out, which makes me happy. I'm hoping that if we do end up getting an El Nino summer that the rain will allow all my trees to grow well this year and hopefully we'll have a good harvest next year. So far it looks like if we'll have an all right harvest of apples, peaches, and almonds. The pistachios are letting me know that I do not have a say on whether they provide nuts or not, so we'll see how this year goes for our pistachio production. We're adding another type of potatoes (Purple Vikings) as we've grown those before and they worked well for us. This year I was able to propagate a bunch more grapes and managed to plant about a dozen two nights ago, just in time for our rain. I'm hoping they do well. The types that propagated well were the flame and the Red Globe, both would be used for home eating, jam, juice, and raisin production so it's not like if they will go to waste. The chickens will also have dandy time jumping and eating those. I think they greatly enjoy it when they are able to feast on the elderberries throughout the summer. A couple of new grape additions to the house were the concord, champagne, black manuka, and crimson. The champagne and crimson are not looking so good, we'll see if they leaf out at all. The rest of the grapes are happy and thriving. So far all of the grapes out front seem to be growing well. The different types that we now have on the farm include: Red Globe, thompson, perlette, flame, crimson, concord, black manuka, champagne, and crimson. We seem to have the full range of colors going on, but we'll see what this year brings with quantity and quality. If it turns in to a not so hot year we might end up with a poor quality harvest, but the plants might grow very well. As I always end up having left over propagated grapes (a couple dozen went up north yesterday with Jen and John - Thank you guys!!) I was playing around with the idea of offering the grape plants for a dollar on craigslist next year just in case if people were interested. I'll have to think about it a bit more before then, but it's an idea. Raspberries were added to the mix again this winter. I found a brandywine purple raspberry to add to the fall golds, indian summer, heritage, and cumberland. We'll see how this summer treats them but if they all survive and thrive then we'll also have the full range of colors for our raspberry selection. We're hoping to have raspberries for fresh eating as well as jams as they seem to disappear just as quickly as they appear. I have another small order of strawberries coming in to help with the Ivan quota of strawberries. If all goes well I'll also get to add yellow and white strawberries this year (at latest late fall 2014 or early spring 2015) so that we can mix up the variety of strawberries on the farm. Boysenberries continue to thrive and grow. I pulled up another 31 runners from one plant this year and was able to hand off some to my classmates. This is another plant I'm thinking about selling next winter if all goes well. I was able to plant many along the north border and they are still driving so hopefully we'll have a couple of good growing years and then the third will allow for production. Blackberries continue to drive and we have many growing in the front yard along the northern border. I'll have to be very vigilant with these so that they do not take over the whole northern part of the property. The currants have turned out to be very vigorous and hardy, which is exactly what we need on the property. The gooseberries seem to be coming back stronger and the blueberries are waking up. The asparagus is growing and I have a few more to add to our mix so that the whole family can have tons of asparagus to eat every year. We're hoping to add a few more different types of perennials so that we won't ever have a (hopefully) bad year; if one thing fails we'll still have many other veg/fruit varieties to fall back on. I'm also leaning more towards the perennials because I find them easier to take care of. The pineapple guavas are growing well and I'm thinking about adding a few more to the property. Our Patterson apricot seems to have died due to borrers. I cleaned, painted, and protected, but I don't think it was enough. I'll have to be that much more vigilant with our trees. I was able to protect the Ranger peach and another one of the small apples, but that one just didn't make it. We did get a few more apricots to the property this year, so hopefully that will help us with the apricot productions. The sad part was that they would have been in production this year as the tree was of adequate height and growth. As you can tell, I (Rosie) tend to focus a lot on the vegetative part of the homestead. There is something so peaceful, relaxing, and productive about working with the plants that I have a tendency to focus on them. I'll leave it here for now, but I'll keep updating the plant list as the year progresses.

The Winter that never came

We're getting close to the middle of winter here and it has not brought any relief. We have not recieved any rain as of early 2013. From 2012-2013 we received about 3 inches of rain and we have not received any since then. Our town does not even have a rain chart as there is none to report. But in other news... Our first sheep of the season has made it onto the homestead. It was born on the 20th of January by Sheepie #1. Darth Sheep sheepie is looking HUGE and we'll see what she ends up with. I was finally able to clean out the front yard: pruned the grapes and got them ready to propagate, pruned the apple tree, cleaned out the boysenberries, watered the garlic, and got things ready for the almond tree pruning. Added some more trees to our list: Italian prune (to make up for the one that Anush killed), Smyrna Quince, Russian Quince, Arkansas Black Spur Apple, Hudson's Golden Gem, Seckle Pear, Warren Pear, Chicago Fig, Another fig that starts with a K, Royal Medler, Rainer Cherry, Bing Cherry, Candada Apricot, Harcot Apricot, Anna Apple, and some more I'm probably forgetting. Now we've really, really hit our tree limit and we'll see if they all live and grow well. We'll have to keep watering them as the sky and weather do not seem to want to work with us. My goal is the have fresh fruit from March until December with dried/jam/preserved fruit for the rest of the time that we do not have fresh fruit available. The only trees left to prune are the Ranger peach and the Almond out front. After that we'll hopefully be winterized and be ready to bring on the Spring. We have the old potato quadrant that is ready to be planted with other veg and the south-eastern quadrant ready to be planted with our future potatoes. We'll have to till it soon to see if we could start our plants. We're in the middle of constructing our Poultry Palace/Chicken Palace and we're working on the roof at the moment. It should be done shortly so that our chickens can have something to lay their eggs in as well as a location for our ducks and geese to nest in. Since we tore down the old chicken coop we found ourselves with pieces of a metal garage door and other metal bits around the back yard. They were able to be moved off site this weekend thanks to a guy who picks up metal and appliances for free in our area. Now we just need to clear out the left over pieces of detritus and the back yard might be a bit more organized. It seems as though we're busy but slow all at the same time. Ivan makes everything last so much longer than it needs to be, but that' life. We're hoping to be able to get to more projects soon.