Spring on the way….
The garden is way too wet for any form of moving soil around. So, our seed potatoes are still laid out in a south facing window for “chitting” (a method of preparing potatoes or other tubers for planting), basically waiting for them to form decent sprouts before sticking them in the ground. Some are ready to go… but will rot if we put them in too soon.
Tomatoes and peppers are slowly growing in the green houses; onions have been ready to go in for weeks, but we’re trying to keep them as cool as possible until we have the chance to get them planted. Daffodils, though, are magnificent! (No, not my entry… but I intend to have some of these charmers on the farm next year. I bought some at the Daffodil Festival in Fortuna.)
Last weekend, friends came up to help us. There were to be four, but circumstances were such, that just two were able to make it. But work they did! We spent hours on Friday late afternoon, then all day Saturday, hauling and spreading wood chips, to smother (for a time, anyway) weeds between the raspberry rows. Cardboard was placed first, then wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow lugged from end to end. The tractor was invaluable until the end of the pile…. when we got to shovel the chips into the wheelbarrows directly. The plan is to get my grandkids to help do the same thing in the new patch of raspberries on the other side of the garden when they come up for Easter. We’ll just see how that pans out…..
That same weekend, I had a hankering for doughnuts…. homemade doughnuts. It’s been years since I’ve tried making them. An online search proffered this scrumptious recipe. Of course, I didn’t follow the recipe completely… I cut them bigger and thicker. Oil temperature is a key factor. Too hot, and they’re awful… too cool, and they’re oily beyond redemption. I’m planning to do them once again for Easter, since my nephew Steve won’t be here to bring his cinnamon rolls this time.
When the Willits Bypass was constructed years ago, acre upon acre of land through which it passes in the Little Lake Valley was designated as mitigation land, and the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District appointed to manage it. (Every couple of weeks, a newsletter comes out with photos and videos, mostly of the wild critters in the preserve, possums, racoons, beavers, bear, fox, coyotes, elk. To sign up for it: https://mcrcd.org/) As another part of their job, they offer hikes into and around the valley…. birds, plants, eco-systems, animals…. one of which I had the pleasure of attending last week, with the Audubon Society. Most unusual sighting, an American Bittern, which flew out of the tules a few feet in front of the group, then dove back in seconds later. Marisella, our guide, says it’s one of her favorite birds, and isn’t seen often. (American Bitterns are medium-sized herons with thick, compact bodies. They have shorter legs and thicker necks than typical herons and a slightly hunched posture. The daggerlike bill is long, straight, and sharply pointed. The wings are broad but the wingtips are somewhat pointed. It’s larger than a Green Heron, smaller than a Great Blue Heron.)
At the upper end of the valley, hoping to see some of the 100+ Tule Elk (which we did), or possibly find some their shed antlers, we encountered this adorable Pacific Forest Frog.
Speaking of wildlife sightings, our avid hunter and fisher person, cousin Bill, managed to pull an enormous bass out of the lake yesterday. He said there are MANY more!
Progress on the Mobile Chicken House! It’s been moved into the pasture, and the little chickens are occupying it…. most of the time. Thursday night, Kashaya and I took all the young chickens out of the van (what an incredible pile of manure sits under their roost…) put them in cages, then drove them to their new home…. filled with dry straw and left-over lavender…. all 37 hens and 1 rooster. The next day, out they came as usual, mingled with the other chickens from the big house, then proceeded to make their way over to the old van area, which we had fenced off, and found multiple places to roost outdoors, on the big logs, in the corner of the garden fence, up on Ruby, the guard dog’s shelter. That night, with flashlights and headlamps, we duly collected them, placed them in cages, and again, put them in their new home.
They’re getting the idea that they live somewhere else, but Kashaya did have to pick up a few errant hens last night. Perhaps by tonight, everyone will find their way home.
There’s still time and space:
for summertime gathering in camp Summer on the Farm
Artstays in August and September Artstays at Emandal
Cowboy Poetry in October Not JUST Cowboy Poetry
Houses year-round A needed getaway!