Updates of the First Winter

Greetings Everyone,

We hope that the winter is going well. We are doing great! The farm is too...

Despite the fact that there is no "farming" to do right now, there are still projects to complete and observations to make.

PROJECTS:

First, we started cutting back the huge blackberry bush that is starting to invade the farm. It is well established (hasn't been pruned for about 5 years!), so we have a lot of work to do to completely remove it. The first step is to cut all of the canes and just leave them barely sticking out of the ground. Once we have completed this, we will come back through and dig out the roots. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the canes are growing around and through some large rosemary bushes. Getting access to the canes is a bit tricky... its a twisted game of Twister. "Twisted" because we have to navigate the thorny "spikes" that we left sticking out of the ground and because of the the dangling thorny canes that seemingly reach out and grab us.

First cut the canes. Then dig the roots. We are about 1/3 done.

We have also started to replace the fencing. The original fence was installed by Yeti over 15 years ago, and much of it is falling apart. The owner offered to buy the materials if we install it. Deal! While it is a challenge, it is something (somewhat) new for us. So far, we have completed about 3/4 of the fence. Our goal is to have it completely done by Spring... we hope.

We also have to start cleaning out and around the shed. Much of it is completely disheveled, so it needs a whole day of organizing and cleaning. We need a less-cluttered place to store our tools and an area to germinate our seeds for the coming year. But, all of the stuff in/around the shed is Yeti's, so we have to wait for him... He is busy pruning fruit trees this time of year, so this project will likely not get started for another month.

Gopher-ing and Mole-ing. Be glad that there are no pictures for this one. It's an ongoing communication with these guys to keep them out of the garden. We try to "tell" them that they can live and eat just outside the fence line, but coming inside poses a threat to both of us. Yeti says that, over the course of the first 3 years that he farmed here, he trapped more than 1,000 gophers!

OBSERVATIONS:

The results of our Seed Sowing - Moon Phase experiment are inconclusive at the moment. Neither of the plants, those sown according to the moon and those not, is growing too well. They're not doing poorly, it's just that we sowed them too late, it has been very cold for a prolonged period of time, and there has been little/no rain (until now!). Even so, we will continue to experiment with such phenomena as we continue to plant in the future.

It finally rained!

Finally, we want to thank all of you, one for actually reading this blarney, and two for continuing to encourage us. Also, we want to thank you for helping us get some tools and supplies that we need. Thanks to you, we have recently added goodies both big and small to our tool-chest: a wheel-barrow, a hoe, and a Farmer's Almanac, just to name a few. Shortly, we plan to equip our irrigation system. So, once again, thank you!

New Wheelbarrow. Putting it to good use already.

Snoozing in the sun...

There will be more pictures soon...


C + C