A Solstice Panopoly

Today I thought how impossible it is to be bored. Happily, no matter how much you do, there is always more to be done. And even more wonderfully, each has its own challenge, its own skill. There is a rhythm, but life is never monotonous or dull.

Remember the fence from the Magic Kingdom article in April? Well, I keep making progress on it. In April, I was fencing through the meadows. In June, I am fencing through the forest. The hope is to create a nice protected area for goats and chickens to range. Protected from the numerous predators that haunt these hills. In the last few weeks I have seen skunks, bobcats, fox, and my neighbor warned me the other day that he saw a mountain lion at the bottom of my drive. Yikes! It's been a few years since I've seen a lion, but they are out there. And if he saw one, well then he's around. The fence won't keep the lions or the cats out. But I am hoping the fox and coyotes are a different story. We'll see. What do they say? Nature finds a way.

The terrain is much more rugged where I am working now. I cannot get equipment in as easily, so much of the work needs to be done by hand. The problem is, the fence wire spools are about 450 pounds! Too heavy for my old back to move. So I had to rig up a spool to move and unwind the fencing wire. It's crude, an old peeler core post and some heavy chain. But it does the job.

Fencing is not the only job to do. A few weeks ago, I found that I needed a place to keep the new baby chicks warm. Unless I wanted them in the house that is! Indoor space is such a premium around here. So I had to build some. I took a few days and build this shed. It will serve nicely to keep the new babies warm during the cold nights. I picked up that nice paned door and window from the local dump. A little trimming was all it needed to add some charm to the new space. Not a bad little home for the new chicks. when they get big enough to move out to the coop, then this will serve nicely as a store room or workshop. We can always use more space.

The chicks, incidentally, are doing quite nicely. They are growing FAST. Check this one out roosting on top of her feeder. You can see they are already starting to get their wing and tail feathers. They are actually quite fun to watch. When you pick them up, they seem quite perturbed. They run away, and when you finally get one, she screams "let me down! let me down!" of course, when you let her down, they all line up to take turns at getting picked up. It is quite entertaining, for the chicks and for us too :)

The home garden continues to grow as well. Last year, a friend gave me some tomato seeds. I planted those, and had delicious tomatoes all summer. Well I saved some seeds from the best tomatoes, and those are doing well this year. They aren't fruiting yet, but you can see, they are growing quite well. I have them planted in raised beds as you see. Last year, I only had one. And it was old. The gopher found his way through the rotten wire, and reaped havoc until I caught him. This year we refurbished the old bed and built a few more. I have three beds now. I cannot wait to start eating those home grown juicy tomatoes.

The tomatoes seem to be growing rapidly. I have a few grape vines too, and they seem to be doing well. The basil this year seems slow to start. Last year the basil grew so well. Hopefully I'll get some good basil. They grew a lot this week, so I look forward to the trend continuing.

My peppers are under assault by earwigs. Nasty little bugs. I set some traps for them. Simple devices and 100% natural. A can with some holes on the side with water, a dash of olive oil, and some fruit for bait. If I can keep the earwigs away, maybe the plants can get critical mass and take off.

The fruit trees are also starting to bear ... yes you guessed it, fruit! Check out these blushing little beauties! Got a handful of apricots (and I mean a handful) too. This is only the third year for these trees. So they should keep growing every year. I noticed the earwigs are into the almond trees too. Amazing how much damage those critters can do to a tree. Better set a trap under the almond as well as in the peppers.

This Saturday was also the Cachagua Country Fair. It's a nice community event. Games for the kids. Nice music. Neighbors and friends. This year, Carmel Lavender was there together with Tassajara Natural soaps and lotions. There was quite a bit of interest from folks. A very nice day in June. We spent solstice with some neighbors and friends at a BBQ at Susan's house. Joe played the flute, Jerry had his harmonica, and we all banged drums and rattles. What an act!