The New Barn.....

There is no barn here yet, but, on the ideal realm, it is being built. Even Plato said you must create the idea first, and then the form will follow. So, the plans are drawn, the permit has been had, and the site work began before the rains did. There is more leveling to do, but that will have to wait until mother nature is ready......and dry! It will be fairly tall, with a loft and an overhang on the front of the building, so when the tractor drives in the sliding door, the door can remain open and the rains won't blast us. The concept is that the foundation will go in this summer and the actual building will happen in the summer of 2012. It will have a metal roof, possibly green or blue, and lots of redwood on the front entrance. I would like to have plenty of room for storage of tools and tractor attachments; like a box scraper, and who knows what else will manifest that needs dry storage? If I were Bill Gates I could have it done in a week, but the best things do take a long time. What's the rush? We'll keep ya posted!

Hibernation!

Now the wintertime has come, and all is sleeping. Apples need at least 800 hours of dormancy, and who knows what a human being needs? What I am sure about is that it is fun to pass out freshly picked apples and then later, baggies of dried apples, to persons who will appreciate the taste and special qualities of this organically grown product. Right now I am savoring the year gone by and the abundance that was forthcoming from nature's bounty. A lot of work lies ahead to prepare for the next crop, but, right now, hibernation seems to be the order of the day! From the farmer and the gnomes at Fellowship Farms, we wish you all a Happy New Year. We know the life cycle is endless, and some of us jump on or off, but for those of us that are here now, let's enjoy and be thankful for the abundance that surrounds us. Amen!

Rains Arrive on Schedule

It is late October, and the rains have come. In our area it starting drizzling on Thursday night, and only increased into a downpour Saturday night and much of Sunday. The land was pretty parched, so, the water is much appreciated. This first big rain always is the prelude to winter time changes. Next week daylight savings time arrives and then the short days and cool dark nights follow. The orchard goes to sleep and the farmers go to rest. On Thursday, just hours ahead of the rain, I spent the day shooting the elevations on the spot where the tractor barn will be built. I was a bit surprised to find there was almost a three foot difference from side to side. My eye would not have predicted that. Of course it is difficult to judge these things on a mountain side. But, I fired up the Kubota and began the task of moving earth and leveling the site. After maybe four hours of persistence, I finally agreed with myself to let it be until another time. Once the rains pack the loose dirt down I can re shoot and see what else needs to happen. Funny thing happened on the way to my barn. By the end of the day, the entrance had moved 90 degrees to the north. The east side, where I thought the entrance would be, now has a two foot drop. That won't make for a pleasant entrance, so it makes sense to turn the building one rotation and go with the flow. Sometimes things like this surprise us, but generally I find there is a reason, if I am just open to the experience. Now we wait, but still, I have visions of forms and a cement truck and trowels finishing the concrete, so that the next phase of building can be addressed. For any physical manifestation, there is much mental activity in the form of planning that must happen first. When that is complete, the physical shape can take form.

Apple Time Again!

It is so perfect that as the summer fades away, and I begin thinking about fall and the change of the season, nature begins to give her gifts of so many delicious apples. She starts with the Gravensteins and goes on to the Liberties and the Golden Delicious. I am so lucky because the apples generally don't have worms. I don't know if the mouths haven't found this spot because it is so isolated, or maybe it is just an inhabitable spot, but for some miraculous reason the apples are yummy and have no infestation. The water seems to have held out this year, and everything is still pretty perky. We've had a couple of light rains, but the ground is still hard as a rock. Last week I took the tractor and dug a test hole in an area where I have wondered for years if there was a spring just below the surface of the ground. No such luck. I found the clay that the water flows through in the winter and spring, but it was as dry as a bone. OK, now we know the truth! I have been doing some repair on the ferro cement tank, as it has multiple leaks in it. I won't know until winter if the repairs are effective or not. I also would like to spend a day leveling the ground where we want to put the tractor barn. Now that I have a transit, I should be able to get the area fairly level. That will be fun, and it may happen as soon as this coming Thursday.

More Infrastructure Work

In the past month I had a couple of dump truck loads of road base gravel brought up and spread on the road. This should make it easier to traverse during the winter months. The only way to know for sure how the road is handling the water is to get out there with a shovel while it is raining and watch where the water naturally wants to go. Once the ditches are set, the running water will take care of the rest, as long as there are no slides. The other project that got accomplished was in preparation for the new tractor barn. There was a small road put in last summer for water tanks that I wrote about earlier in the blog. The water wanted to rush down the hill and spill onto the the proposed building site. By installing an eight inch culvert across the road and doing some ditching with the tractor, the problem should be solved. But, as mentioned above, we'll see what happens when it rains! Generally speaking, the Kubota has come in handy, and as time goes on, I am becoming more familiar with the safe operation.

Oh Yeah; Harvest Time Again!

It's now been a month at least since the last entry to my blog. You know, you can either write about the apple farm or you can go work on the farm.......right? Like any other passion in life, it has to be squeezed into the limited discretionary time we have available. So, recently, I have been more inclined to be at the farm doing the projects on my list rather than sitting on my behind writing at the computer. Fair enough? But, what brings me here today is that a couple of weeks ago I picked the first batch of Gravenstein Apples and using the Excalibur Dehydrator that my daughters gave me for my birthday, I have been drying these apples with some rather amazing results. I tried them both peeled and non peeled, after the core was removed. First, I might say, these are wonderfully organically grown apples with no worms. There is an occasional bird peck, which can be easily removed. But, got to say, I like them peeled a bit better. The non peeled tastes a bit like fruit jerky, which could have some appeal in the right circumstances. But just for munching, the soft taste of the apple meat, dried @ 105 degrees for 10 to 12 hours, just is so delicious, that it is hard to believe it is actually good for you. Nothing has been added; no preservative, honey, lemon juice or cinnemon. It is a bit labor intensive to prepare the apples, but, I found the task relaxing and fulfilling. I'll keep you posted about how the other varieties fair in this process.

Summer in August

Well, the summer is wearing on as I write. Friday, August 6th, Sylus and I may be up at the orchard to focus on activating the electric fence. It has not been working for the past two years because of all of the changes in the orchard. Once that little task is complete, all the upgrades to the system will be finished........thank God! My hope is that the backup water tank will carry us over during the really dry time and that all the trees will have the ample water supply that they need. Pictured here is the bride across the creek that separates our cabin from the west section of the parcel where Matt and Charlie have their dwelling. Keep ya posted!