*THAT* Suhn... is a ground squirrel.

The most feared, destructive, nastiest varmint in Cachagua... the ground squirrel! A few years ago, I had successfully relocated a family of ground squirrels from the farm. After a couple of years squirrel free farming, they came back!

These are the toughest creatures in Cachagua. Don't let the cute, fuzzy, cuddly exterior fool you. They are pure evil. Be careful not to look directly into their eyes either. They can cast a hypnotic spell on anyone that makes eye contact, causing you to fall prey to their telepathic commands. When handling this one, I needed to wear special reflective goggles to keep his mind control powers from forcing me to release him.

Skeptical, are you? Well, here is a fact I bet you didn't know. The hardest material known to man is not the diamond, as is commonly thought. It is the summertime clay soil out here in Cachagua. A 50 lb digging bar will bounce right off the surface in July. There is nothing known to man harder than Cachagua clay. Take a look at this shot of an auger I use to drill holes into the earth. The highlighted spot shows a hardened steel tooth worn round. It used to look like the other one just below it. Cachagua clay made quick work. This is probably only after about 30 or so holes. The bit at the bottom has tungsten carbide teeth, and even it is showing signs of wear.

Well, a ground squirrel can cut through Cachagua Clay like scooping warm butter. With his BARE HANDS!

Originally a military genetic experiment gone awry, the first ground squirrels were engineered by military scientists to tunnel behind enemy lines while withstanding shelling and avoiding land mines. But the scientists used ordinary Cachagua tree squirrels as a base, and their Cachagua temperament turned to be too independent and ornery to make good subjects. They used their mind control powers to escape from the lab, and have been plaguing farmers since.

To the right, you can see a photo of the caverns and system of tunnels this one has been developing at my farm. For scale, the tree trunk you see is a 50 foot old white oak. If you were to try to walk here, you could fall through. This one has been trying to sink a large propane tank on the property. Neighbors have reported sheds and houses sinking into the earth due to these unassuming critters. Once they get into the fields, forgettabotit!

A new 2009 relocation program has begun. Only "residents" close to structures and the fields are participants in the program. The squirrel you saw at the top is the second "volunteer" this year. He will be moved to what is officially known as Area 42. Or what we here on the farm like to call: Squirrelville. The exact coordinates of Squirrelville must be kept top secret. This is necessary in order to avoid mass community protest and plummeting property prices in a 100 mile radius. Be it to say however, each "participant" is guaranteed a natural habitat, and plenty of clay and granite to cut. This one was released and last seen digging through a pure granite rock face, looking forward to a long happy natural life.... somewhere away from my crop! :)

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!

Early Box Harvest

Today our box schedule includes lavender bunches. Well, the lavender is in full bloom right now. So it seems reasonable and prudent to include fresh lavender in our CSA variety boxes. So this morning, while the air was still cool, my daughter and I took to the fields to harvest a few bunches of fresh lavender for our CSA subscribers.

It was a wonderful day. Sunny. Clear skies. The purple color of the royal velvet was quite intense. The grosso lavender hasn't quite fully bloomed, but the royal velvet, well, it is at its best. So royal velvet is today's box harvest choice.

Look at the beauty. Nice, no?

The bees were out in force today. Just yesterday I checked the new hives to make sure they were faring well. The all were good. Though I checked one hive during a robbing incident. That hive was po'ed when I arrived. And my meddling didn't help matters. The little honeys took runs at my veil while I worked. But as I finished, they settled down a bit. I crouched by the entrance to watch as guard bees fended off robbers as if embracing in a natural history version of Klimt's Kiss.

Today, however, the bees were busy in the lavender. I caught this shot of a honey hovering in mid-air over a lavender penduncle. There is something that seems just right with all the bees in the air. The hum. They work so diligently. So purposeful. Not like the flies that seem so haphazard and random. I do love the bees.

Today was a harmonious day on Lavender Hill.

Hot Chicks on the Farm

Okay, now that I have your attention...

This week, Carmel Lavender increases our population by 50. Look at these little cuties, aren't they absolutely adorable? Life on Tassajara has ceased while everyone sits mesmerized by these fluffy additions to our family.

It all started this Sunday at 7:30am. I was to be a guest on a local radio show, and so I was sitting in the quiet morning, reviewing my notes and thinking about what I was going to say. The show is Tomorrow Matters, hosted by Deborah and Spencer Lindsay. And I was to talk about the dangers of genetically modified foods (GMO, click here to listen to the show).

Then the phone rang. "Salinas post office here, your baby chicks have arrived!" Today? I thought they wouldn't be here until Monday? I made my appearance on the show, then Daniella and I headed out to Salinas to pick them up, making one stop at the local feed shop to pick up some 100% natural chick feed.

When we got to the post office, they were waiting for us on the loading dock. Here you can see the 50+ little ladies (and a few guys) in the shipping crate. And yes! They were peeping their little hearts out. We went straight home and took them out.

I thought we had another day, so we weren't 100% prepared. The feeders, water founts, and heat lamps we were borrowing from our neighbors. So we took the little chicks out to give them some water before going to fetch the equipment. Within 10 minutes of putting a little water bowl in their pen, we had our first scare. They all climbed in the bowl and were bathing, just like a bird bath. We couldn't stop them from doing that. Literally within minutes they began getting hypothermia. Daniella bolted to the neighbors to get the appropriate feeders and heat lamps while I kept them alive with my daughter's hair dryer. What a scare we all had!

After that, we kept them close to the house for a couple of nights to watch them closely. I was finishing up a new little house for them. Today I finally finished it. Here you can see them all happy in their new pen.

When we first put them in, they began to play. Running from one side of the pen to the other. A few of them entertained us with their funny behaviour. They would run directly at another chick, stopping within inches where they would stare each other down. Shortly, they settled down and had a nice little nap.


Water is very important for the baby chicks. When we first set up the water founts (after the scare with the bowl that is) we gently held their beaks in the water so they would learn to drink. Very quickly they would start drinking. Here in the photo to the right, you can see a few of them socializing around the water cooler. Just like 10am at the office. They actually consume quite a bit of food. You can see one of the feeders in the photo. They go through 6+ jars of feed a day! It's tough keeping up with them. So we added the 2foot feeder you see in the pen photo above. That way they have more food available and don't have to fight to get space at the table.


It has been a magical few days. Life truly is a miracle. Sadly, we have lost a few. Life is also very fragile. Every few hours we check on them to make sure they are still well, and do what we can if we see a chick in distress. Whether it's helping them take a drink, or wiping their little bottoms, or changing the papers (which must be done quite frequently).

Every day is an adventure. But fresh natural eggs are well worth it. If you're interested in eggs, let me know (click here to contact us). It will be a while before they start laying, but I'll put you on the list and let you know when they're ready!