Happy Earth Day! Hug a Tree.

Ben makes fun of me sometimes because

I was raised by hippies.

Growing up in central California and being schooled by teachers who graduated from such universities as those that are located in Berkley, I didn't realize that other kids around the country DIDN'T celebrate Hands Across America.

I didn't realize that they DIDN'T have school rallies on Earth Day, talk about recycling in elementary school, and release balloons with messages of peace attached to their strings during school assemblies.

(I'm not joking.)

(*NOTE: Ben grew up in Alaska! With all the marijuana that's grown up there, I'm shocked and surprised that there wasn't more of an influence of Peace, Love, and Rock 'n Roll. Whatever.)

Well as a native Californian, I am proud to say that we commemorated Earth Day this year by planting our own family fruit orchard at the Ranch Headquarters.

Now, I'm not into extremes, but I have to admit that I'm a huge fan of the whole "green" idea. I was practicing before it was trendy. When my elementary teachers started teaching us about recycling and vermicomposting I grabbed onto it. I love it!

But for some reason over the years when I have searched for recycling centers in whatever new town I was living in, I was labeled as some sort of an Earth Mother. I've never minded that label, except that it wasn't being suggested as a compliment.

I don't "get it."

I'm glad that being green is becoming trendy and popular. No, I'm not a fan of Al Gore. Yes, I realize that he used computer-generated images of glaciers in his movie and tried to pass it off as reality.

I don't have to be a Vegan to support the idea that we need to be more responsible for ourselves. Whenever you go camping it's a solid UNWRITTEN LAW to leave the place "better than when you found it." So, why aren't we that diligent with the Earth?

You know, with a few simple habits we can have households that produce (almost) no waste.

(...I'm just sayin')

"Psssst, (still) don't tell the guys we celebrated Earth Day....they'll make fun of me again."

*Not pictured: One more Apple tree, another Pear Tree and a Plum tree. (Still searching for apricot and pomagranate trees to add to the club.)

Fresh Start

Remember a year ago?

When we planted a quarter-acre vegetable garden?

That was too big.

It was great when we were feeding the pigs from it, but not so nice when I was out there picking weeds. It was my very first try at a garden of any sort. I had wanted to plant a garden every spring for YEARS. With all that bottled-up green thumb energy, by the time I actually had the opportunity to put those dreams into action, I went a little overboard. I didn't want to look back and regret not planting on a larger scale.

Fertile farm ground + abundant water + all the space you can imagine

The scale was too large.

We decided to tone it down a little this time and plant a fruit tree orchard over part of it. Is this the right time to mention that I've wanted to plant fruit trees for YEARS? I didn't grow up with gardening. NONE. Yet, I have always admired the ability to take care of something, feed it, water it, watch it grow, and actually feed your family from it. There is a reason why it is so therapeutic to dig around in the dirt. It's good for the soul.

We are planting our own little orchard, just outside The Cottage. It will be next to the Picnic Spot, the Swing, and the first thing we see when we look out our front door. I'm going to make walkways and place a park bench in the center of the orchard. I even have a water fountain out in the shop; I think it belongs out there now, too. Can you picture it? It will take a few years, but I think it will work.

Two families live at the Ranch Headquarters: we live in The Cottage, and our partner lives in the other house with his family. Tonight after dinner we spent our time burning the former garden spot and getting it ready to become an orchard.

There is something cleansing about a fire in the spring. A fresh new start. I like it. It feels good.

These are the trees we have so far:

2 Fuji Apple

1 Santa Rosa Plum

1 Japanese Plum

1 Bing Cherry

1 Black Tartarian Cherry

1 Desert Gold Peach

1 D'Anjou Pear

(We still need a Bartlett Pear Tree, so it can stand next to the D'Anjou tree and they can pollinate each other--I learned this last night after a Google search. Go figure.)

I would also like to add an apricot tree and a pomagranate tree (although those look more like bushes.)

I also have:

2 Blueberry bushes

2 Blackberry bushes

4 Red Raspberry bushes

2 Thompson seedless grape vines

2 Red Flame grape vines

(I've just learned that the Red Flame are wine grapes. I'm not interested in making wine. Oh well, maybe they will just be pretty on a trellis.)

Emma is ready to work:

Check-out Emma's pretty hair flower with a button center:

I demonstrated to Rich how to take a picture with my camera:

The kids are ready:

Ben almost caught himself on fire while checking ESPN scores on his cell phone...

(the rest of us were UP wind--on the other side of the fire.)

Should I remind anyone here that Ben used to be a Firefighter?

No? Okay.

All the kids ended up back at our house, watching "Bee Movie."




Tomorrow, WE PLANT!

Monster Garden

Today's harvest sitting on the dining room table.

I'm afraid we have created a MONSTER!

People tried to warn us not to plant more than one or two zucchini plants.  But on planting day those who were in charge of planting row #5 were just a little enthusiastic and ended up planting NINE (two to three seeds each).  Do the math: we have somewhere between 18-27 plants (since nobody was designated as "plant thinner").

The plants started producing this week.

The monsoon season has also officially begun.

Take a look at the picture above.  Every day we find that many zucchinis plus one or two more.  The other thing I have learned about zucchinis is that if you DON'T pick them and leave them for one or two days then when the daily monsoon moves in, they soak up the rain and blow up like water balloons.

I wish you ALL lived close-by.

You would be receiving a bag full of fresh vegetables every day.

I'm making Stuffed Zucchini with these bad boys for dinner tonight.

Four rows of sweet corn.

Our first butternut squash is growing!  That's going to make some yummy baby food, I hope. 

(Note:  Whoever was in charge of row #1 planted 6 of these (12-18).

HEEEEEEELP!!!

For some recipes and ideas of what the heck to do with zucchini, go HERE.

(I have it bookmarked.)

Planting a Garden....Farm Life-Style

Watering the spot for the future 1/4-acre family garden at the headquarters.  Those little storage tanks are for fuel (one diesel, one unleaded) because that's what you do in farm life: buy fuel in bulk and store it around the farm.

Well, it's spring time on the farm....

So it's time to grow something.

We've decided to have a big family garden this year...

It's about a quarter-acre.

I've learned that it is pretty handy to prep the ground for a family garden when you live on a farm.

This is what you do:

Step 1. Water the ground (it isn't city water, so it's free).

Step 2.  Hook the ripper up to the tractor.

Step 3.  Drive the tractor around the designated spot (it's doesn't take long).

Voila!

Ground is prepped and ready for rows.

Although THIS area has never been gardened before, so we uncovered a few surprises:

Some old rusty pipes...

Some sporting equipment...

And some old tree roots.

(yes, that's Ella being carried in my sling)

Luckily, I received more help from three-year old Erin...

Than I did from Tank...

No seriously, Tank, just relax.

Just CHILL, we've got it covered!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

~Photo: New Pumpkin plants in our kitchen window.

In an effort to more fully embrace the farm life experience (and live more "Green") I wanted to get a good garden started this year...

But I've run into a few obstacles:
1.) I've never done this before
2.) We're moving to another farm soon
3.) For some reason the windy season is extra long this year
4.) It's difficult to get a variety of started vegetable plants (other than peppers and chiles) when we live in the middle of NOWHERE in the Southwest.

(All of these factors make starting a good garden quite difficult.)

Don't worry, though. Of course, I came up with a solution: I've been starting my seeds indoors with Jiffy-7 pellets. Over the next few weeks, I will nurture my little seeds into plants, which I will then acclimate to the outdoors and plant into the ground at the new location.

Ta-Dah!

After asking around for advice on LOCAL gardening, I've made a list of this year's schedule. I am mostly excited that EVERYTHING grows great in this valley except citrus (the chilly winter season is too long). A lot of people don't realize that the high-desert Southwest can be so fertile and crop friendly, but it's true.

This is what's growing in my windows right now:

Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins

White Lumina Pumpkins

Zucchini Squash

Butternut Squash

Yellow Squash

Cabbage

Eggplant

Cucumber

Green Beans

Peppers

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

Sunflowers

When we move and start the garden, we will add:

Sweet Corn

Peaches

Apples

Red Corn

This is what we will plant in the Fall:

Broccoli

Potatoes

Onions

Peas

The OTHER new (Green/Organic) adventure our family is starting after we move:

Vermicomposting!

(Oh yes! I expect to have the darkest, richest, soil in all the land!)

Learn all about it HERE.

Interested?  Find a bin HERE.

Find the worms HERE.