Cold Spell This Week

We had a lot of visitors this week. First we had a school group of 31 third graders from S.F. and camped out for four days. Then on Saturday we had a CSA member potluck. CSA members from Mendocino County and from S.F. came and camped out till Sunday. They toured, asked questions, helped with chores, and ate really good food!

            An Alaskan storm blew by this week, threatening frost. We had just transplanted the rest of the tomatoes, some eggplants and peppers. These are summer crops that will not survive a frost. So we franticly got to work creating these small temporary hoop houses for all these crops; ten beds of 90 feet each so about 900 feet of hoop houses. The wind was blowing hard icy gusts at us, picking the remay fabric out of our fingers and threatening to tear the sheets in half. We entered the kitchen later that evening cold, chapped, and worried. Would our warm weather loving plants live? Would they survive the night? But we had done all we could and we had done our best, now is the time to put trust in something Higher. For me my trust will always be in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He would answer our please, and reward our efforts. The next morning was bitter cold as we went out to check our heat loving crops. And there they stood snug in their little hoop houses. We were so relieved that they had survived! The storm has passed and the air is warm again, the garden is thriving. The hay is being cut and bailed, and things seem to be balancing out once more.

Time Flies When Your in the Sun!

Well my tan is officially on? I also spend more time awake then I do sleeping and 99% of these hours are in the sun. Our C.S.A. is in full swing now. We are supporting about 100 families in Mendocino and in San Francisco total and the number keeps climbing. Every Tuesday and Friday morning we are harvesting, cleaning, and boxing produce. I’m in charge of the pac-choy, which are getting so big now that I have to use a small cart to harvest them.

            We have now transplanted the tomatoes. We have planter corn, beans, cucumbers, and squash. There is one bed of squash and cucumbers that I started in the green house then transplanted into the garden to have a head start. So there is a whole bed in the garden that was planted by me!

            I’ve been barrowing Gabe’s bike lately to round up the animals! I was nervous the first time, I wasn’t sure I could maneuver the bike properly. It was amazing, how after two years of not riding a bike, that my body still remembered. Like a flashback into Peace Corps I was whizzing down the dirt paths! My body remembered how to twist and lean as I chased the cows and the seep down the path. Dust filled my grinning mouth; the sun beat on my shoulders and gleamed off everything, giving a golden lining. It seemed so familiar, so comforting, such a joyful moment.

            Today we had a lunar eclipse! We all drove up the mountain and had solar viewers and watched the moon pass over the sun in a glowing ring of fire.

PVC Princess

Sorry I’m so far behind in my updates, but my weekends have been a little busy and crazy lately.

            The weather has improved. The sun is out and warming the plants. The mountains are just speckled with snow and in the valley bottom we bask in the brilliant sunlight and warmth. The lambs and calves are growing. The pea tendrils are stretching out and climbing up the trellises. We continue to plant, sow, weed, hoe, and cultivate.

            We had our first CSA harvest. It was successful, though many of the plants were still small. Everyone was so excited and thankful for these wonderful vegetables. Each of us apprentices were assigned a plant or two to harvest, wash, and divide for Covelo CSA members, Willits, and Ukiah. There was a lot of counting. But I enjoyed learning how to harvest veggies I’ve never harvested before.

            So since we have all these new and growing plants in the field, they need lots of water, which means irrigation! Because of the field rotations the irrigation has to be very portable. So we had to bring out a lot of PVC piping connect it, flush water through it, and find all the breaks or cracks and fix them. These pipes are pretty old so there were quite a few repairs to do. I learned quickly: cut, sand, primer, pvc-cement, press, twist, hold for 30sec, then move on to the next repair. I am a PVC-pipe pro!

            Some new local farmers came to have an irrigation tour. I said, if you want to really learn how it works, you need to help fix it first. There isn’t a better way to get to know the quick and dirty of how portable irrigation works.

            After inspecting over 2,340 feet of pvc pipe we have the garden irrigated! But it’s not over yet; we only have half the field yet to garden!