Lavender Hill - Life on the Farm

Foraging For Bees

2011-06-23T21:52:00.001-07:00

Today was a busy bee day in Carmel Valley. Last night I was previewing the film 'Vanishing of the Bees' for a screening this weekend. Today, I had two calls to check swarms in Carmel Valley. With all of the problems bees have been experiencing, a two swarm day is a good bee day for sure.

In case you are wondering, a swarm is the way a colony reproduces itself. So lots of swarms mean lots of healthy expanding bee colonies. Usually swarms mean there will be two colonies where there was only one before. So... this is good. Really good.

Call #1

Look at that beautiful ball of bees on the eve of this log house. I feel it is a privledge to be able to climb a ladder and get your face 12 inches away. There is a beautiful scent when they swarm like this. A sweet scent. Absolutely amazing.

Call #2

Okay, this one is going to take some thinking. The bees landed on a branch high in a live oak tree. But the branch was dead. So it broke off, and the bees are all over the ground now. There was a primary swarm ball, which I was able to pick up and put into a box. But there are hundreds of bees dispersed on the ground.

After spending 30 minutes covering up the clumps with cardboard until they climbed on-board and then brushing them into a box, I had an idea! I got a bigger box, put the box with the primary swarm ball into it, and just wait for the bees to climb on-board. Here kitty... kitty...!

Success, look how they all just climbed into the box by themselves. Good bees. Here's a treat.

Finally, back at the farm in the evening, I set up the new hive boxes which are to bee their new home. The first swarm was mighty big. So this will be a strong hive. Assuming they don't all fly back to that log home eve. It is about 1.9 miles away, so just inside their flight zone. Let's see if they stay put. I put a large box of cane syrup on top to entice them to stay put. The second swarm was very small, maybe no more than 2000 bees. Time will tell.

But if they do fly off, at least they will be out here, in the serenity of Tassajara. Free to find a new home in a beautiful white oak.

Which is the bee?

2011-01-15T00:27:00.000-08:00

In the bees I find a mirror.

Which is the bee? The individual or the colony? Watch them perform their tasks, there is no self. To separate the individual from the whole is death. Each bee bears the scent that defines the organism. The colony.

As with us.

I started farming with a vision of independence. But as with life, I learned the opposite. The Earth herself taught me that independence is pursuit for Ego. For perfect harmony, we must be tied to those around us, as well as to the Earth. That was clear with the first stroke of my shovel against the ground, when it bounced back at me laughing. My will too is strong, but I am nothing without the whole.

And yet, the closer I get to Mother Earth, the less familiar the scent I wear. Until it is unrecognizable. And the more comfortable I become with the scent, the further I am pulled from the Earth. Dissonant dilemma that is my condition.

I love to watch the bees. Each seem to possess a profound belonging. A wisdom.

One bee cannot change the colony. But a bee removed, and placed in a new colony, can change the bee. She takes a new scent. A new identity, and becomes a part of a new whole. But they must be protected during this process, or the others will destroy them.

Humans are not bees. In us, are belief and creed. Yet we must wear the scent of our colony. And if it is not in harmony with our self, we must live with the painful awareness of isolation.

A wish burns, to someday wear a scent in harmony with the individual self. With the Earth.

A bliss of true belonging as yet not found.

Ice-ya!

2010-12-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

This morning I got up at 7am to check if things dried out. It was 30 degrees, and all was frozen. All went much smoother today! So I got my ice-nine after all. And it didn't freeze the oceans!

The Cat's Cradle

2010-12-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

Got ice-nine?

I could have used some today. I was trying to get a three day irrigation project completed today, but the rain last night turned everything into a slurry.

Even the tracks on this baby were getting gummed up. I can see why the military in Kurt Vonnegut's novel wanted to find something to solidify the mud. If only it didn't freeze the oceans!

I tried trenching the cave-ins by hand, but the pea soup that used to be earth just stuck to the shovel and turned them into 50 lb weights on poles.

As if the hip deep mud weren't enough, I think it was the hail that finally caused me to call it a day. The rain was supposed to peter out by the afternoon. But it's after 2 and still raining sideways.

Sigh... Wish I didn't have anything to get DONE today!

2010-04-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks, Carmel Lavender has been working hard bringing more lavender to Carmel Valley.

Here in the photo is foreman Alfonso, Jose, Nick, Jay, Nico, Charlie, and Eliodoro standing in the new median field. In a couple of months the hundreds of plants will begin spiking lavender turning this avenue into a purple dream.

This field was prepped by ripping to a depth of 2 feet, which brought up a lot of the roots. And then disked. But each plant had to be hand placed. Drip irrigation lines were run down the rows subsequently. But lately irrigation has not been necessary. Mother nature has been taking care of that quite handily.

Hive Building Time

2010-04-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I am building bee hives. More bees are coming in about a week. So I have to get their homes assembled and painted before they arrive. The weather is making this challenging however. This spring has been fairly wet for this area. That's great for the plants. But not so great if you have things to get done outside. For example building and painting bee hives.

So the first thing I did was try to make a covered area where I can work in a light rain. I got a cotton drop cloth. Cotton, not plastic. Cotton isn't waterproof, but hopefully will shed a light rain. Unfortunately those plastic tarps are an ecological disaster. They don't last forever. Then they start flaking into little pieces that wind up all over the planet. Nope. I'll try my luck with cotton. I hung this out behind my lavender workshop and leveled the area a bit. Then I set up two 2x6 rails on which to set the newly assembled hives for painting.

In the picture above, you can see me putting one of the hive super boxes together. They are already cut. I just need to glue the corners, and then put screws to hold them firm. Once they are all built, I stack them on the rails for painting along with the bottom boards, lids, and stands. Here I am enjoying my new outdoor hive workshop!

When I finish assembling, I paint! Unfortunately the sprinkling has started. Cold weather is not the best to paint in. But I suppose the show must go on. At this point, it is still cold enough I wish I could wait an extra week for things to warm up. Would be better for the bees too. Nice for them to have good weather when they start their new colony. Of course, the rain should mean there will be plenty of flowers for them to forage from when it does warm up.

Everything has it's benefits and nuisances. I guess there is something to be said for having a really big barn! Maybe someday.

Moving Day for Chicken

2010-03-09T22:34:00.000-08:00

The wheat I planted in the fall is finally starting to look substantial. I wish it were a little thicker actually, but the chickens have been HUNGRY! I suppose with the cold air they need their calories. Well I have had the chicken tractor parked for a while waiting for the wheat to grow thicker. But I felt this week it was time to move, and let the chix graze on the new wheat grass.

If you are new to my blog and haven't read my previous stories about my chickens, let me provide a brief overview. My chickens live in a mobile chicken coop that you can see to the right on the far right of the photo. The coop protects them from the elements, and just as important, PREDATORS! However it is important for the hens to be able to get to the ground. To eat growing plants and bugs in the soil. So the purple beast to the left in the photo is the chicken tractor that attaches to the coop. These can be moved as the chickens eat their way through the ground beneath.

I move each part, the chicken tractor and the coop, separately. They are detached by removing the bridge tunnel. Then the chicken tractor is jacked up and the wheels deployed. The coop is just pulled. Both by tractor. Once they are moved and aligned, the bridge is reattached and the chickens let loose.

Here you can see the happy chickens foraging on the newly available grass. They absolutely LOVE fresh ground. They had so much fun eating the plants and rolling in the fresh earth. I came back about mid-day to find a dozen hens taking dirt baths in the fresh soil. They sure looked happy!

I hope all of this helps their egg production. With the cold weather, they have been a little slow these past couple of weeks. People want eggs ladies! Try not to rest all day ;)

Lavender Vanilla Custard Pie

2010-02-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Lavender is a wonderful herb to cook with. Many people do not think of food when they think of lavender. But when used properly, it can be a very nice herb.

One of my most favorite combinations in lavender and vanilla. These two combine on the palate in such a way that the result is greater than the sum of the two flavors. Most amazing.

Today Carolyn, a friend and star of the video Distilling Lavender Essential Oil (click here to watch video) had her annual pie party. Last year I brought my other lavender-vanilla favorite: ice cream. But it is a pie party after all. So I decided to think about putting lavender into a pie. My inspiration came from a lavender vanilla creme burlee that I have heard about, but never tried. I thought, a lavender-vanilla custard pie would be a wonderful variation.

The recipe is simple. I made my tried and true crust using whole wheat white flower and organic butter for shortening. Then for the custard, it was: 3 eggs (I used eggs from my hens here on the farm), 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 1/2 cups cream, 8oz of cream cheese, a table spoon of vanilla, and of course about a half cup of culinary lavender buds (courtesy of Carmel Lavender). First I scalded the milk. While I was heating it, I allowed the lavender buds to soak in a strainer on top. This makes a lavender cream 'tea'. I allowed about 10 minutes on the stove to keep the cream hot, stirring frequently to keep it from burning, and pressing the lavender from time to time. I also put the cream cheese into the milk to let it melt. Then I mixed the sugar and salt, beat the eggs, and added the eggs to the sugar salt. Next I stirred into the sugar/salt/egg mixture the vanilla. Finally I added the lavender cream mixture and beat with an electric beater. This was poured into the pie shells and baked for about 45 minutes, checking frequently after about 20 minutes.

For my first lavender-vanilla custard pie, it came out great! I took 3rd place in the non-fruit category of the pie contest! I was actually honored. There were almost 40 pies. And they were all quite wonderful. Some were in fact amazing.

Take a look at this pie that took second in the category. This was a honey chiffon pie with an apricot marmalade glaze. The crust was a no-bake crust made from vanilla wafer cookies. They hand made each of the little bees out of dark and white chocolate with almond slivers for the wings. They made the honey comb pattern by pressing and freezing bubble wrap into the custard. Quite creative. And I must admit, it tasted fabulous. There is Wendy and Pam receiving their well deserved 2nd place prize from Carolyn.

Since I raise bees, I particularly liked this one :)

First place was a chocolate caramel macadamia nut pie that was quite intense. It is really hard to top that combination!

In the end, Chef Chaz from the Big Sur River Inn judged best of show. This went to a French apple with a walnut crust.

Now the hard part, trying to sleep after tasting so many pies! I must say, half way through the tasting, I thought I'd pass out from the sugar rush :) Night now!

Variety Includes Baked Bread

2010-02-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

CSA Variety Now Includes Yummy Baked Bread!

The Co-op continues to look for new producing members that compliment the variety offered in our CSA Variety Box.

This year, we are pleased to welcome Roxana, owner and baker at the local Carmel Valley Wild Goose Café and Bakery.

Today’s box includes a one-pound loaf, baked fresh this morning in her Carmel Valley ovens. It is a whole wheat bread that includes multiple grains wheat, oats, and millet and flax seed. Roxana sprouts her own spelt and wheat and adds these healthy ingredients to her bread as well.

The Wild Goose Café and Bakery is located at 18 East Carmel Valley Road in Carmel Valley Village.

If you decide to make a trip ‘downtown’ you find other delicious baked goods, coffees and teas.I stopped by yesterday to say hello, and got to sample some of her rye bread, which was fabulous. A couple of weeks ago, I was treated to her home-made panna cotta. Oh my! Drizzled in berry sauce. It was so delicious, I could hardly see while I was eating it! That flavor is something I will remember in my final moments on Earth :)

She also has gluten free options including an amazing blueberry muffin made with rice flour, yogurt, and egg whites, and an entirely vegan rice flour banana bread.

Earlier this year, Roxana experimented with some of this year’s culinary lavender crop and made some lavender shortbreads! I am looking forward to sharing these with you through your Carmel Valley Co-op Variety Box in the future.If you are not a Carmel Valley Co-op Variety CSA member, please go to www.carmelvalleycoop.org and sign-up!

Variety CSA Begins Today!

2010-02-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Carmel Valley Co-op Variety CSA begins today, February 3rd! Sign-up info is on the www.carmelvalleycoop.org website.

The Variety CSA was introduced last year. The idea is to combine the convenience of a locally produced food CSA with the variety offered from different farms in the area.

One of the favorite features of the Variety CSA are fresh eggs. No, those aren't dyed Easter eggs you see in the photo. Those are the natural colors. Nice browns, brown speckled, blue, green, tan, white. Who says eggs have to be white or brown?

Here at Carmel Lavender, I maintain one of the flocks that supplies the eggs for the Variety CSA. I keep a broad assortment of heritage hens that lay those beautifully colored eggs you see above.

This little lady, the black, grey, and white striped bird is one of those hens. She is a barred rock hen. She lays wonderful brown eggs. I also have Rhode Island Reds, Black Cornish, Buff Orpingtons, Auracanas, and a few other breeds. Each breed has different personalities. The black cornish like to have their backs scratched. The Rhode Island reds do too, to a lesser extend. The auracanas don't tend to like to be handled as much, and stay away from people. In fact, they tend to stay away from the other hens too. And the barred rocks have a nice temperament, but are not quite as forward as the black cornish hens are.

Here you can see two buff orpington roosters. No, they don't wait until sunrise to start crowing. Usually the noise begins around 3 or 4 in the morning. I actually like the sound. Sometimes I wake up partially, but it is kinda nice to feel the life around the farm, even while you sleep. They aren't too close to the house, or it might be more disturbing. I suppose roosters in close urban quarters would require enthusiastic neighbors!

The roosters protect the hens. That is their job. Any time you handle a hen, you can see a nervous rooster standing by, ready to step in if needed. They also keep the eggs fertile. I keep enough roosters to ensure fertile eggs.

The chickens have a pretty diverse diet. I feed them the vegetarian kitchen scraps. They love that. It does mean a lot less for my compost heap though. But the chicken manure goes into the compost instead. I also give them a grain based chicken feed. And important in my farm plan is to let them forage on the grasses and wild plants. Here you can see a field I sowed with wheat a few months ago. The wheat is starting to get higher. When it is ready, I will let the chickens forage on this to supplement their diets.

These days, while the wheat isn't quite ready, I am bringing the chickens the grasses and weeds I pull from my home vegetable garden. I just load up the wheel barrow every morning, and then dump it into the tractor. The hens go to work! They can devour an entire load in one or two days. They sure seem to have fun picking through the pile to find the tastiest weeds!

I hope you enjoyed reading about the hens. And if you are interested in eggs, please go to the website at www.carmelvalleycoop.org and sign up for the Variety CSA! In addition to eggs, you enjoy fresh organic vegetables, lavender, essential oils, soaps, and delicious olive oil. Provided by Catalan Family Farms, Carmel Lavender, Larsen Family Farms, and Carmel Valley Olive Company.

Staking a Field

2010-01-19T00:54:00.001-08:00

In the last article I talked about the baby lavender plants, all cozy and warm in their wood stove heated nursery just a few mile north. January is well underway, and it's time to start thinking about preparing a home for the children. Last week I agreed to come out today and start staking out the new fields... with none other than lavender stakes of course! But that was before I saw the weather. I woke up this morning, and yikes! She was really letting loose. I put on my hat and jacket to feed the chickens carrying an empty bucket with me. When I arrived at the coop, the bucket was full. That was how hard it was raining. I broke out my oil slicker and rubber boots for what promised to be a WET day!

The new field is going to be integrated into a functional landscape. And the terrain is not completely flat. So the field planning is a bit more complex than a simple rectangle with north-south running rows and irrigation. The first order of business is to determine exactly where the lavender are going to be planted. In this case, the landscape design company has provided me with some CAD renderings of the fields, but it is important to verify exactly where the fields are going to be, and take measurements for developing the field and irrigation plans.

Now, I have friends who's family farm cattle, corn, and wheat in Kansas. And they to a lot of their planning via satellite. In fact, it's amazing how much is done these days with technology. All those millions of dollars spent during the cold war to try to see where the nuclear missiles were going, are now helping farmers plan and manage their crops. Real whiz-bang Buck Rogers stuff. I suppose someone is still looking out for the missiles, but it's nice to know technology is being used for something constructive nowadays.

But there is nothing better than working right on the ground. At least for me. So I broke out my really high-tech farming gear. Satellites ain't got nothing on a good measuring wheel and compass! They might not be fancy pants, but they git er done.

The work will be done in two stages. First, the field measurements. Second I'll draft up a set of field plans. Since I'm a visually oriented person, I like to have a map with me in the field while I'm taking the measurements. So I sat down this morning at the kitchen table with the CAD renderings and drew up a crude field map. I'll use this as reference. Then I hopped in the car and drove down to the site.

Now, remember the rain. Yeah, well, I'm not a duck. More importantly, without the proper writing instruments and laminated maps, trying to take notes in the middle of a biblical deluge is kinda tricky. So I have to admit, I sneaked a peak on the satellite, even though I was trying to be so Luddite. I could see that the front coming in off the ocean to the west was petering out. My estimates, I could go now and get soaked. Or wait an hour and get there during a break in the rain. Excellent. That was just the excuse to take one more cup of tea.

When I arrived, the storm tail was just passing. So I waited 10 minutes in the car for it to pass, and then got out and started my work. Using the map as reference, I picked obvious landmarks, labeled the map and took measurements. Namely distances and directions using the measuring wheel and compass. I recorded all of these for each field area on the field map.

The nice thing about being on the ground like this when marking the field is that you get a real feel for the soil and terrain. You can make adjustments for tree shade, drainage (helpful to notice when it has just rained!), buried utility boxes and sewers, as well as slope. Things that are just not present, or more difficult to feel on the satellite images. And more importantly, you get to be outside on a beautiful (albeit wet) day, wind in your face, enjoying the deer meandering by, birds, turkeys, cool mushrooms, and squirrels. Well, maybe not the squirrels (see my previous post on ground squirrels here). But you get the picture. Life couldn't be better.

Once the data was collected, I packed up the gear and headed home. Even with the rain gear, I got a bit wet. So I started a fire, took off my wet socks, and warmed up with another cup of tea. Rain started again. That's okay, we can use it.

Baby Lavender

2010-01-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Last month, I took a trip up to Watsonville to visit my new babies. Lavender babies of course.

This year I am partnering with a local resort to plant a brand new lavender field in Carmel Valley. This is an amazing opportunity. Not only is the lavender going to be absolutely stunning, because the field will be located on a property with regular visitors, it is going to provide a real hands-on way to share the amazing experience of growing and distilling lavender with the guests. While I enjoy sharing what I do through the website and blogs, I am looking forward to doing the same work face to face.

Well, back to the babies. This is going to be a substantial field. Several thousand plants. Here you can see some of the little plants in the greenhouse, where they will grow before they are taken into the world and planted out.

This close-up taken in December shows the baby plants in the pots where they will develop their roots. This type of lavender (grosso) is propagated through cuttings. Cuttings are taken from the mother plant, and placed in a special soil mixture, where they form roots. Once the cutting has its first roots, it is now a baby plant. These plants are then transplanted into the pots you see them in the photo. Here in these pots, they will be kept warm in a greenhouse all winter so they can develop more extensive root systems and be ready to grow big and strong in the spring.

To assure they grow to their full potential, the greenhouse is kept

warm. Obviously the sun does a lot of the work with the clear canopy of the green house. Soil activity also contributes to the warms. And this greenhouse has an added helper, wood burning stoves. Here in this photo, you can see one of the wood burning stoves used to heat the greenhouse on the colder winter days. Pretty low tech, but it does the job. Standing next to the stove, I was actually starting to sweat!

It will be fun to check back in a month and see how our babies are doing.

Winter Bee Check

2010-01-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today I made a quick winter check of the bees.

Usually in the winter, I don't worry too much about the bees. Hopefully if things were done properly in the fall, they would have stored enough food to survive. In the cold weather, they are usually balled up in the hive, and I don't like to disturb them.

Yesterday I heard from a neighbor that she had lost her hive already. The hive autopsy sounded like starvation, but there was still frames with honey in the hive. And the temperatures have been quite mild, save one or two weeks in December. So I went and sat by some of my hives. It was kind of chilly yesterday, and I did see a few bees, but not many. Today it was warmer, so I decided to take another look.

There was much more activity today. Here you can see one of the workers entering the hive. And she's FULLY LOADED. Wow. Seems to be finding plenty to eat. Look at the pollen on her hind legs.

It surprised me to see so much pollen. So I made a quick survey of the surrounding area. There were indeed flowers on many of the plants. The rosemary had beautiful blue blossoms. And the bees seemed to make right for it. Here you can see one of the little ladies drinking from a nearby bush.

The fava planted back in October is also blossoming. There were bees foraging on them as well.

A couple of hives did seem to have reduced activity, compared to the others. I think those might require a closer look. I may check back tomorrow, but if they didn't make it, there really isn't much that can be done until springtime anyhow. So I suppose I might as well let them bee.

Bees are sensitive creatures. It occurs to me that I am going to have to get used to losing hives (though it still makes my heart sink) and follow an annual plan that restores the lost colonies on a regular basis. The troubles do make the honey difficult and costly. But when you taste it, I think you agree it is worth the effort.

Thanksgiving Early

2009-11-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

Today was a special day. One for which I have been preparing for some time. Living on a small farm is about getting intimate with the Earth. To build a connection. Or rather to live the connection to the Earth explicitly. Modern life has in many ways removed us from a basic truth, that we are bound to her. Our life comes from her soil, and from her water, and from her air. Modern life brings us food in a store, water in plastic bottles, and yes, I have even seen "oxygen bars" in the city where air comes in cans too. This world is an illusion. It is not real.

Meet Hec-ace. He is in the photo to the right. Hec-ace blessed our farm today with a visit. When he arrived, he said I was blessed for I was living a dream. I agree. And in some ways, the modern life is the real dream, and this is reality. Where life and strength come from the Earth, not from a plastic box.

Hec-ace (which means Mountain Lion) came today to bless the farm and the people here with a saging ceremony. Just, as he describes, to say "Thank you" to the Earth and the people for giving us the gifts that we need to live. He burned sage, and purified everyone, because as he says, you cannot purify if you are not pure yourself. And then he said his thank you. We turned to the East, and thanked the rising sun on which Life depends. We followed to the South, and to the West, and finally the North expressing thanks for all the things we often take for granted: the water we must have to drink and for our crops, and the air, and the birds, and yes, the insects. They are all part of the system that brings us strength.

The ceremony reaffirms my commitment to using the land naturally, without chemicals and without pesticides. To respect the systems that have been here a thousand years before my short life, and will be here a thousand more after I leave. To draw strength from the land and take care of it, but not to exploit it. I like to think of it as living like the honey bee: to take what is needed, harm nothing, and leave the world better than before.

Responding to Hec-ace's words, the winter fava I planted a few weeks ago sprout tall now. Well, his words, and the light rain we had just last night. But that is what he said. Just as the Rolling Stones sing: you get what you need. We needed rain. This is true with faith.

Today I was doubly blessed. For after the blessing, there was a Holiday Faire amongst the olive trees in a grove on Carmel Valley Road. It was a wonderful event. What better life than to share the produce of the Earth with people who are happy?

Today, people celebrated. Us on Lavender Hill, and people in the olive groves. They enjoyed some lavender bread samples I had made earlier this morning. They enjoyed our essential oils grown and distilled right here on the farm. And they enjoyed our soaps. Interestingly today, they especially enjoyed our massage oil. A coconut oil base mixed with Carmel Lavender essential oil.

The perfect antidote for the tensions of our modern world.

Peace to you all this season.

Another Day in Life

2009-10-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a little photo journal of today. Just one day in life on Lavender Hill.

7:00am - Time to rise. Days starting a bit later now. Day breaks around 7ish. Today after my morning tea, I was looking at all those zucchini that on the table and thought I would make a nice zucchini bread. So before I started my outdoor work, I mixed up some bread dough and got that into the oven. For the rest of the day, the house smelled like baking cinnamon. Mmmm.

8:00 - Outside making the rounds. First stop was the Chicken coop. I need to let the little ladies out into the run so they can pick at the ground. Every evening they get locked up in the coop for their own protection. We have had fox and skunk making the rounds lately and I don't want any "encounters". So when dusk falls, and the hens go inside to roost, I close the door.

Here in the picture, is one of the Araucana hens making her way down the gangway to the tractor run.

Next stop was the vegetable garden. I wanted to check on the veggies. Figure out "what's for dinner" tonight! Lots of summer veggies still in production. I hope it lasts though. Last year we didn't have a freeze until late November. However last night got down to 37. Burrr. We'll see how much longer we can go w/o a frost.

This vegetable collage shows some of the delicious food growing. Wonderful zucchini (we saw some of her sisters in the previous photos of the bread!), peppers, tomatoes, and pumpkin. You can see the photo of the grapes that the birds have ruined them. The peck them, and then they shrivel up into raisins. These are Cabernet grapes, so lots of seeds. You know I just had an idea while writing. The Chickens absolutely LOVE grapes. I wonder how they would like picking at these shriveled vines? Tomorrow I will harvest and throw into the coop. We'll see if they like these!

Looking at the mercury, I am a bit sorrowful to think that soon the summer produce will be gone. But every season brings rebirth. These last few weeks I have been working on my winter garden. It will begin as summer dies. I took a looksy. Not much going on yet. Just planted recently. Wanted to make sure the ground was damp and it didn't require irrigation. All was well. The weather has cooled down quite a bit these last few days, so the water it got a few days ago. If I can get a few more days without frost, perhaps the new spouts will be present to console me as the summer crops wither.

After surveying the vegetable garden, it was time to do a walkabout in the lavender fields. I had just irrigated the day before. Unfortunately I found one of the irrigation lines chewed clean through. Judging by the looks of the scat nearby, it was probably the skunk that has been hanging around lately. It was a simple fix, but the ground looked pretty damp. Those plants got a good watering that day I can tell you.

10:00am - I started working on a new field. This is a protected field that will be fenced in from deer and other critters. A safe place to grow crops like basil and other aromatics that need protection from munching deer. This soil is going to need a LOT of work though. It hasn't supported much more than weeds until now. It is very fine and hard. I'm thinking about growing a season or two of cover to build it up before I plant. We'll see. The field is a bit sloping. A bit precarious for the tractor. A little light shaping mades it a bit safer for working.

2:00 - Once the ground work was done, I started surveying the surrounding trees. Some of them could use some trimming. So I spent the rest of the afternoon trimming and clearing away the brush piles. Trimming trees is heavy work. That part I don't mind. But I don't particularly relish climbing. There is nothing like hugging a branch 20 feet above the ground with a running chain saw to make Mr. Newton and his musings seem relevant. I guess that's what you would call a real "tree hugger" !?

7:00 - I quit a bit early today. Had to get ready to head up to Santa Cruz. My neighbor and good friend Kelly is in radio. That's Kelly there at her control console. Today I was invited on her KUSP radio show Talk of the Bay to discuss genetically modified foods, or GMO. Click here to listend to the show.

I am working with a local group called GMO Free Monterey County. We are working to educate people about potential human and environmental health risks of GMO. You can find out more about this effort at http://www.gmofreemontereycounty.org/. There is a petition asking for a moratorium of GMO crops in Monterey County until adequate safegards and regulations can be established. Please sign the petition here. Hopefully the show will be posted on the website shortly if you wish to listen.

Ahh, time for sleep now.

Trip to the Village Blacksmith

2009-10-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time to overcome those "technical difficulties" and get this chicken buggy moving again. If you recall from the last article, the Eagle was grounded after her maiden voyage. Well those chickens have completely pulverized every last weed underneath the tractor in about three days. It's time to move the tractor down a length, but we're going to have to get those difficulties resolved first.

We actually had two difficulties, one with the coop, and the other with the tractor. Both were going to require metal work. As I don't have the equipment for that on the farm, I needed to pack up the broken parts in the truck, and head on down to the village blacksmith. Well, I guess Bob is a black smith. The sign says Live Oak Forge. Bob makes some pretty amazing stuff. His shop is full of cool little forged pieces of metal from fire irons with dragon faces, to metal signs, fire place screens with spider webs and weeds. The last time I was in there he was making an amazing iron gate with a sunburst, white oak leaves and acorns. This thing was a true work of art. I like to joke that the stuff I bring him is like asking Picasso to paint your bath room. Oh well, he helps me out! :) And I appreciate that.

On the tractor, the wheels deploy by pulling a lever that rotates the wheel forks down, lifting the tractor off the ground. That tractor is heavy, and there is a lot of force acting on the cam and the lever hub. While positioning the tractor, the force was apparently just too great, shearing the lever shaft right where the bolt attached it to the cam. CRASH! The whole thing came down with a bang snapping one of the 2x6 beams right in half.

The lever shaft needed to be redesigned with solid tool steel instead of the drilled hollow pipe that sheared. Here you can see a photo to the right of the new design. Now THAT ain't going anywhere. The bolt will shear before that goes! We even made up another lever for the other side to take the stress off the one side during transit.

On the coop, the tongue that attaches to the tractor bent. It was a case of a very heavy coop, and a trailer frame from China. It was supposed to handle up to 1475 lbs. Well, you know what they say, you get what you pay for. Well in this case what I got was a broken chicken coop. The metal just folded right in half, and the front end of the coop was dragging on the ground. If you look closely in the picture from the previous article, you can see the front of the coop jacked up on jack stands.

After straightening out the metal frame, we welded a 12foot piece of 2x2 steel 1/4" thick right down the middle. I can attach this to the entire underside of the coop carriage. This way the stress will be distributed better and hopefully solve this problem once and for all. It will be nice to get that coop moving again. You can see the newly fixed part ready for installation in the photo on the right.

Hopefully this weekend I can get these new pieces installed and move the coop and tractor down a length. I'm sure the chickens would love to start pecking at some new dirt. But right now, they seem content to dig holes and take the occasional dirt bath.

And if you need any amazing metal work done, go visit Bob at Live Oak Forge!

The Chickens Have Landed

2009-09-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

First, there is the romantic dream. When I thought about bringing chickens onto the farm, I had the idyllic image of flocks of feathered hens running around the yard, bringing life, happiness, and occasionally comedic relief.

But I wasn't completely naive. Everyone I know out here that have chickens have lost chickens. I know there are "bad guys" out there. Predators. Those who would see the new arrivals as the inauguration of the new neighborhood diner. So I enclosed the soon-to-be barnyard with fencing capable of keeping dogs, coyotes, and other predators at bay. Perhaps from time to time I might have to deal with a thief. But the other 364 days of the year would be bliss.

My naivete would last less than 24 hours after the baby chix arrived. Then, during broad daylight, and every day and night afterwards I saw them. The fox. Like a bad cartoon. The 6ft wire mesh fence isn't going to keep those guys out. Nor the skunks. Alright. Nice to meet you Mr. Reality. Time for Plan 9: the chicken tractor.

First I built the mobile coop. A veritable fortress on wheels. I don't know how many of you remember Super Chicken, but this vessel puts the Super Coop to shame. It has a double wire bottom, so the precious chicken poop can drop right onto the ground. The double wire is to prevent the nasties from eating the little chicken toes that protrude through the wire. Concerned about the wire on the little feet, I made 2x4 pathways so that the chickens (and I) can navigate the coop and hangout w/o having to always walk on wire. Built in nesting boxes with side access shutters allow easy egg removal w/o having to go into the coop and play "Who's Your Daddy" with Mr. Rooster.

But Alas, chickens love getting down and dirty. I would put some of them in a wire bottom dog kennel right on the ground and they would pick and dig and bathe in that dirt. If chix could smile, they'd be grinning ear to ear ever time I let them contact Mother Earth. So that's when the mobile tractor attachment was born. To the right is a photo of the partially constructed tractor with the wheels deployed. The wheels raise the coop off the ground so that it can be maneuvered into place, and then the wheels lower resting the tractor onto the ground providing a protective daytime pen or chicken park.

As usual, it took me way longer to build than I thought, including some welding and metal fabrication lessons from the local blacksmith. Sigh, my initial wooden landing gear would not bear the weight. But this week I finally "got'er done" as Larry would say, and positioned the coop and the tractor side by side in a virgin field. Note the three ports on the tractor. These align with corresponding ports on the coop and are connected with a protected gangway.

DAY 1: the chickens were... well CHICKEN. Man, what worry warts. I would open the coop, grab a hen and put her in into the tractor, and she would panic and run right back into the coop. Some of the chickens would get topside where there is a window and look down nervously at their new park. But nary a venture. Finally, one brave barred rock, Nelle Armstrong, the adventurer braved the gangway, and under her own chicken power, jumped down into the tall weeds under the tractor. Here I caught this historic event. One small leap for chicken, one sigh of relief for the man.

DAY 2: A few more ventured out. Up to a quarter of the flock could be seen in the tractor at any time during the day. In the evening, they all went back into the coop, though one fat hen clogged up the door, and two smaller hens were stuck roosting on the gangway. In the evening I gave them a gentle nudge and they got the courage to push their way past fattie and get inside before I locked them up safe.

DAY 3: Still about a quarter of the flock. The auracana's and barred rocks seem to favor outside the most. Occasionally a RI Red or a Buff Orpington would come out, pick around, and return to the coop. Amazingly in three days, they have reduced that weed filled space to COMPLETE RUBBLE. Bare dirt! Time to move the coop and tractor down a bit :)

TO BE CONTINUED: Well, unfortunately I can't move the coop and tractor right now :( during their maiden voyages, each experienced some "technical difficulties" which are going to require a few more lessons from the blacksmith. Oh well, at least the chickens are on the ground where they are happy until I get those parts welded back up again. The remaining weeds will have to wait.

New Hand Lotion

2009-09-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I worked on labeling hand lotion. This is a new product for Carmel Lavender. Many of you have asked for a lotion in a pump. I was able to mix up a batch last week and bottle it. They just needed labels before releasing. Of course, each and every label is hand stamped, and bears the seal carved for me by that craftsman in Shanghi (see August article: Hand-crafted Seals and Hand-stamped Labels).

The lotion is an Aloe Vera base scented with a lavender I distilled last December (see December 2008 article: Winter Oil). It is from Provence lavender, and adds a very nice scent. During testing, one customer said that she would use it on her hands in the evening so she could smell the lavender all night. That should help with sleep too.

They are bottled in 4 oz blue cobalt class bottles with a black pump.

If you would like to try my new Carmel Lavender hand lotion, send me a note. The price is $11. If you live locally on the Monterey Peninsula, send me your order before the end of the month and I can arrange to bring it to town for you, and I'll even give you 20% off.

How's Chix?

2009-09-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

They're all doing well. You can see however they aren't really chicks any more. They have actually grown quite large. And the different colors are quite beautiful. Not as large as some of the the Cornish X Chickenzillas I wound up with by mistake, but that is another story....

Still no eggs, and I don't expect eggs for another couple of months. I have heard from some of you about interest in CSA shares. As soon as they start producing, I'll get that going. If you do have interest, send me a note.

Interesting little note, if you crow like rooster, they all simultaneously shake their heads and ruffle their neck feathers. It is actually quite entertaining to watch all forty of them shake their head at the exact same time like that. Of course, you have to learn to crow like a rooster if you want to indulge! I wonder which the oak trees find more amusing, the chickens or the farmer? :)

Travel Well Joyous Heart

2009-09-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

Today the farm embraces a major transition. My daughter leaves the farm to go overseas to study. We will miss her here but I hope that she takes a piece of Lavender Hill with her on her journey. With joy, I send her off with this thought:

Travel Well Joyous Heart
by John Russo

Joy does travel
In the Heart
Set aloft for adventure.

Preparations
Voyage far
The Trip and Journey come now.

Travel days end
Journey more
A lifetime, remember well.

The plane of Youth
Turns the World
Under its wings the future.

Passangers sing
Laughter, Hope, Joy
All that promise Tomorrow

A better way
Than those songs
Sung yesterday by the source.

New Lady soon
To return
Her I welcome home today.

Reducing Plastics Use on the Farm

2009-09-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

I like to consider the footprint I leave in every aspect of farming. One particular issue I keep a close watch on, is my use of plastics. Plastics and agriculture have in many ways become integrated with each other. Plastic mulch, plastic drip lines, feed buckets, containers. It all adds up. Where ever I can, I try to use alternatives, even if the cost is higher.

In my packaging, I make sure to use glass or metal bottles for my essential oils and hydrosols. However, when distilling, I have the problem of where to store the gallons of hydrosol I produce before bottling. For the oil, I use bulk glass bottles. But I must admit, in addition to glass carboys, I have used plastic buckets for the hydrosol. But I decided last year to stop that practise. I acquired a 55 gallon stainless steel drum from a local wine maker. It has been sitting outside, next to the distillery for about 6 months. Preparing for a distillation job next week, I noticed I was out of plastic buckets. Now is the time to make the transition.

One of the reasons the barrel has sat for 6 months, is because I needed a way to fill and empty the hydrosol once it is in the barrel. Completely full, it will be quite heavy. I had planned to rig it up with some stainless spigots and a sight tube, but the additional cost was discouraging.

So I came up with a rolling stand idea. I would make a wooden stand to hold the barrel horizontal, and I would put wheels on the top of the stand, in contact with the cylindrical barrel. Then I could fill from the middle port used in wine making, and when I wanted to take some of the hydrosol, I could simply roll the barrel over and pour out what I needed.

So I built this simple stand. To the right is a picture of the partially assembled stand. The picture at the top shows the barrel mounted on the fully completed stand. I washed out the barrel, and rolled it in the sun to dry out.

I am looking forward to my next distilling run, and placing the fresh hydrosol into the stainless drum, rather than those plastic buckets. Plastic, yuck! And maybe someday, I will find an alternative to those plastic drip lines.

Pheromones and a Wild Bee Swarm

2009-08-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months, while preparing my blog, I have often regretted being constrained to still and silent pictures. The farm is such a sensual experience. There are sights, sounds, smells. And yes, tastes too. All of this makes life here special. Dimensions that can not be completely shared through words and still pictures.

I got an el cheapo video camera the other day. I wanted to experiment with moving pictures on the farm. I feel they could help tell the a rich story. So today, I took the camera out with the intent to film my experiences working my bee hives. I took the camera, suited up, and headed out to open a hive up and film the experience.

Halfway to the hive, I noticed something special. A wild bee swarm! Now I had just written about a wild swarm this month. Well, apparently they were not happy with the location I had put them. Fair enough. They are wild and have a mind of their own. In fact, they had come to almost the same spot where I caught them the last time, just one tree over. This is an opportunity for me and my new camera. I can now hive the swarm, and catch it all on camera!

This first video is some footage of me standing in the swarm. While I was watching them, I was happy that the bees are so healthy this year, and thinking about what a difficult year it was last summer. The fire and smoke from the Basin Complex really caused hardships for the bees. But this year, they seem to be flourishing, and for this I am grateful. But I couldn't help also thinking about the things we Man do that also make the lives of bees so difficult.

In this video, aside from just delighting in the swarm, I talk a bit about insect pheromones, how they use them to communicate, pesticides, and new pheromone based pesticides. Please watch this first attempt to film life on the farm, and let me know what you think!

Terra Cotta Diffusers You Can Wear

2009-08-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

If you have noticed, in many of the photos of me, I am wearing a pendant around my neck. This is more than jewelry, this pendant is a wearable lavender essential oil diffuser.

I often get asked how to use essential oil. Where the uses are virtually limitless. But one of the most important uses of lavender essential oil is to bring balance to our lives.

Lavender brings calm. It eases anxiety. And in this modern world with our modern problems, serenity and relaxation are precious commodities. Really, I wear lavender scent for my well-being and my health.

Of course you can just dab it on your skin, but the terra cotta diffuser is a much better means of releasing the scent during the day. There are different designs, from hearts to moon goddesses, to flowers, to mine which is the kokopeli man. I usually put a drop or two of oil once or twice a day. There are about a 100 drops in a 5ml vial, so depending on personal preference, one 5 ml vial will last 50 to 100 days. For the price of $10, that's about 10 cents a day. Not bad for much needed balance in our lives. Certainly cheaper than western medicine.

If you would like to try a terra cotta pendant, we can set you up with a gift pack, which includes a vial of essential oil and a pendant for only $20. Just send me a note via our contact page, and I can let you know which pendant designs we have available.

Peace.

Hand-crafted Seals and Hand-stamped Labels

2009-08-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

I made a decision in the beginning to farm my lavender with my own hands. I felt it was important to carry this philosophy all the way through the product. This means the packaging too.

As a result, I vowed not to use computers or computer printers to generate the labels for my products. Therefore each and every product bears a label that has been meticulously hand crafted and stamped.

In the photo to the right, you can see the block printing in progress. The blocks are redwood blocks that I milled from wood I had laying around the farm. Then I hand carved the Carmel Lavender name into them. I use several blocks to print background patterns, then the label on each and every label. Die punches are used to punch each tag from the paper strips.

Many of the products also bear the Carmel Lavender seal. This seal was created for me by hand by an artisan I met while traveling in China. Before my trip, I had been talking with a friend of mine, Susan, about block printing. My wood carving skill lacked precision to realize the ideas I had for the essential oils, which are small vials with not much area for carving. She suggested on my trip to try to find a "chop" carver who could do this for me. For those who do not know what "chops" are, they are the seals used to stamp signatures in China. There are many carvers there. So she recommended to draw my design and then talk to the carvers and find one who could do it.

I designed the seal on the plane over. I went to every chop carver from Bejing to Shanghi, showing them my design and asking if they could do it. No, it was too complicated they told me. Finally, I was about to give up, and our last stop in Shanghi, I found myself in front of the City Buddhist temple. There was a chop carver just outside the temple. I showed him my design, and he said he could do it.

It took him hours. I waited, watched, visited the temple, watched some more. Walked the streets of Shanghi, came back and watched some more. He worked so diligently. At last he was done. He took out his own book of all the chops he had designed, and stamped it. Carmel Lavender is now in his book. He showed it to me. Ahhh, Perfect. Now each and every bottle of lavender oil from my farm bears the seal that he carved for me by hand. Just as I farm.

Many have told me that this is too much work. But I feel that the energy in every aspect of the product must be consistent. Must reinforce what it is about. This is not just a commercial enterprise. It is a passion. And that passion is carried in every drop of oil, and every mark of ink on every bottle. That is how it has to be.

If you would like to own a 5ml work of art, you can order from our On-line Lavender Shoppe.

Fiesta Time

2009-08-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

We recently attended the local Carmel Valley Fiesta. This is a wonderful community event. It includes a parade down Carmel Valley Road, music, games, a classic car show, a dog show, and general fun in the Carmel Valley sun!

This year, Carmel Lavender was there with our natural lavender products.

Special for the show, we had a couple of new products. The first was a massage oil. I worked with a local massage therapist of 25 years and neighbor to formulate the oil which uses a coconut oil base and our very own Carmel Lavender essential oil. It was quite popular at the fiesta.

We also had fizzy bath salts. drop one of these tablets shaped like sea animals into your bath, and it releases the salts and Carmel Lavender right into the water, like a big seltzer tablet!

We of course had our essential oils, hydosols, and even some terra cotta diffuser pendants that can be anointed with lavender oil, and worn around the neck for 24 hour calm.

If you would like to try or treat a spouse or significant other to a Carmel Lavender massage, contact us, we still have a few bottles left and we can arrange to have a bottle delivered to you. They are 8 oz pump bottles. Nothing is more relaxing than lavender other than a lavender massage that is!

There are also a few bath salts. They are packaged in a sachet bag with loose lavender buds, and make a great gift.

Harvest Interrupted by Swarm of Wild Bees

2009-08-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

We interrupt the previously scheduled updates on oil harvest to bring you this special announcement. This evening as I was checking on the chickens one last time for the night, I hear a sound. A humming sound. I didn't have any equipment running, so I started across the yard to see what it was. About 100 yards away I found the source of the sound. A wild swarm of bees! Lucky day!

If you read my previous wild swarm post back in April, Catching a Swarm of Wild Bees, then you know about my previous attempt to capture a swarm earlier this year. Well in 2009, opportunity knocks...twice.

Okay, it was late, 7:30pm. The swarm is settling down quickly. and forming a tight little ball. I suited up, but now what?

Well, unlike in April, this swarm settled right near the house, on flat ground, and only about 6 feet up. I can reach that with a chair! So I grabed a box to put them in. I wasn't going to make the same mistake as last time, and drop them into a hive in the wrong spot!

Then I climbed up on a chair with my box and proceeded to knock the bees into it.

Since I could easily reach the branch, I quickly tried to brush some of the remaining bees into the box. Then I closed it up.

I waited for 10 minutes. A smaller ball formed again back up in the tree. But quite a few bees were now circling the box too. I think I had it. But I got another box and brused the remaining bees into the second box. Then I headed off to the new hive location.

I started five new hives this year. But one of the hives, the queen failed. I attempted to split another hive to restart the colony, but I was unsuccessful. But I happened to have a hive all set up with noone home! So I dumped the swarm into the new home.

Darkness was falling now. So I closed everything up and headed back to the house. I will check in the morning and see if the branch is clean and the hive is buzzin. I laughed a little to myself. Ten years ago a swarm paid us a visit. I ran into the house until they passed. Now I'm chasing them around the yard with boxes trying to make them my friends. How time changes us, no? You know, even if the hive is empty tomorrow morning, swarming bees mean colonies are growing. This is the way they reproduce. Maybe that means we are starting to see a comeback?

I sure hope so. I am happy to see the life flourish where I live.

Oil Harvest Continues

2009-08-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

The distillery runs all day. Here to the right, see the steamed lavender, depleted of color and the sweet smelling oil.

The gasket patches made a few days ago are still holding.

During the distillation, I monitor the oil production until the output tapers off, I decide when to call the run. Don't call it too early, or the oil yield is lower, don't call too late, or the scent is affected and the oil smells "burnt". As each distillation run wraps up, new lavender is brought freshly from the field to load the basket. And a new run is started.

Spent lavender is dumped from the basket. It will be hauled to a field to dry. The dry spent lavender straw is actually a fairly stiff straw.

Did you know that the Roman emperor Nero wrote about medicinal properties of Lavender 2000 years ago? Did you know that the Greek philosopher Diogenes recommended rubbing it on the feet so that the whole body would benefit? Read about the history of lavender through the ages here.

If you would like to purchase our Tassajara lavender essential oil, please contact us! We can arrange a delivery. It is a wonderful oil for relaxation, to scent the home or car, and many other healthy uses.

Oil Harvest Begins

2009-08-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

The lavender oil harvest begins. It is time. Scythes swinging, the lavender buds are brought in from the field to the farm distillery where the precious oil will be extracted.

In the photo to the right, you can see the large basket being removed from the boiler upon completion of a distillation run. You can see the lavender scented steam raising from the top of the hot pot.

Lavender buds are placed into the basket and the basket into the boiler. Steam removes the sweet essential oils. As the steam flows into the essencier, the device that separates the oil from the distilled hydrosol, you can smell the lavender across the entire farm.

This is truly one of the most enjoyable times for a lavender farmer. Nothing beats the excitement of watching the golden lavender oil erupting from the condensed water and cascading into the bottle.

Preparing for Harvest

2009-08-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

It's August. Time for the Lavender oil harvest. But before we can begin to harvest oil, we must make sure all of the preparations have been made. This means ensuring all of the harvest equipment is in good order and the harvest supplies are plentiful.

When harvesting bunches, it is important to have enough bunch ties. These are the ties I use to collect and hang bunches for drying. I use only natural twine. Here to the right is a sample. It consists of a big loop shown at the stop, which is tied with a slip knot. The bunches are inserted into this loop, then the end is cinched taught around the bunch. At the tip is a fixed loop so the bunches can be hung in the drying shed if necessary. I reuse the old bunch ties from last year. However, as the crop is growing, it is important to make new ties each year to ensure there is enough.

This year, inspecting the distillery, there were a couple of minor repairs needed before the harvest began. The most important repair was to the gasket that seals the basket in the boiler. It had separated at the seams and was allowing steam to come out through the cracks rather than being forced into the condenser.

I ordered a replacement gasket, but it did not arrive in time, therefore I needed to make some field repairs to get the distillery online for harvest. After a couple of attempts just to bond the seams together, it was clear that the surface area for the bond was not adequate for a strong joint. So I used the olde fashioned way: needle and thread. I sewed up the rubber seams using a hook needle and some strong thread.

There was still a gap however. This needed to be sealed with some high-temperature gasket material. In the photo to the right, you can see the finished repair.

In addition there were a few minor problems with the ignition system of the distillery. A metal deflector had broken during adjustment. After a few different modifications, I managed to get the ignitor to light the pilot automatically, and the unit was ready to begin distilling.

Scythe sharpened, all is ready for harvest!

Bonny Doon Fire Sunset in Tassajara

2009-08-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful sunset yesterday over the lavender. Blood red. An erie reminder of the Basin Complex fires last year in the Los Padres National Forest that spread ash over our entire farm for nearly 6 weeks, ruined our first culinary crop, and killed a number of my newer bee hives.

This time, the haze responsible for the beauty was not a nearby threat, but rather, it is coming form 80 miles to the north, the fire in the Santa Cruz mountains near Bonny Doon.

They too had a fire last year, and while we are quite safe here in Tassajara from this blaze, as I watched the brilliant red splendor, I couldn't help but think about the poor folks up north, and what they must be going though. Again. They grow lavender up there too. And the sky shows we are all connected, even when separated by almost a hundred miles.

I wish a speedy containment to the blaze up there, and my heart goes out to all of the residents that might be in harms way. May you all be safe.

Lavender Bunch Harvest

2009-08-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened on the farm since building the Ark. Chickens, lavender, and bees have consumed the hours of the days between my last post and today. Over the next few days, I attempt to make up for lost time, and recount some of the tasks that define daily life this summer.

In mid July, the angustifolia was ready for harvest. I grow angustifolia primarily as a culinary spice crop. It has a much deeper purple color that is beautiful on food, and in spice jars. It also has a very sophisticated scent and flavor. Much less camphorous than other lavender varieties. These qualities make it most suitable for food.

I work in a producer Co-op with several other farmers in the area. We share the responsibilities of managing distribution of production shares to Co-op subscribers. You can find more information about the Carmel Valley Co-op at our website at www.carmelvalleycoop.org. In July, it was my responsibility to provide fresh lavender bunches to include in the weekly distribution. I chose the Angustifolia, because the deep purple color made quite a striking bouquet.

In the photo, I am holding a bucket of Angustifolia from the bunch harvest. I love this time on the farm, because the lavender is most beautiful. It seems to pass so quickly. It is now August, and all of the lavender has now been cut. The green little "pillows" are still beautiful, but it is not the same. I guess the ephemeral nature of the seasons makes the magic.

If you are interested in culinary lavender, just let me know. You can contact me at http://www.carmellavender.com/contacts.htm and I can arrange a delivery. My culinary lavender will also soon be carried at Sun River in the Carmel Valley Village along with my Carmel Lavender essential oils and other lavender products.

Building an Ark

2009-07-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, Humankind lost our way. History repeats.

The story goes that Man strayed so far from his intended path, that the biggest "do over" in history was necessary to right him. In one story, the Ark became the vessel that held the genetic material to repopulate the Earth. Hmmm....

It is hard to look at modern Agriculture and not wonder if such a monumental "do over" is again necessary to right that which has been defiled. I apologize for such harsh words, but our industrial food system is nothing less than an abomination of Nature. A complete redo is necessary to fix such a catastrophic mess the industrial machine has made of it. If you have not seen Food, Inc., then you need to. See the Food, Inc. website at http://www.foodincmovie.com/. Factory farming of everything from chickens to pigs to corn and soy have taken the soul out of the most spiritual connection a organism of this planet can experience, the act of eating. And now genetic tampering and patenting of the blueprints of life threaten to ruin the gift of life for future generations (Sign the petition to establish Monterey County as a GMO Free Zone at http://www.gmofreemontereycounty.org/).

On the foundation of such chaos, I have undertaken to begin rasing food. Though my primary crop has been lavender, I have been working with the home garden for a number of years. This year however, I am expanding to include chickens. Part of a journey to connect with food beyond gazing lifelessly at a carton of eggs in the sterile refrigerator of a corporate supermarket. To do this, you must know the soul of the organism that gives you life. You must respect it as a living being. You must care for it. Our modern corporate industrial agriculture is anything but respect for life. It is time to change that.

Here I hold a member of my new flock. She is a Barred Rock chicken. These are some of my favorites. They are very curious birds. I have other types, but these little gals are amongst my favorites. They approach me and offer only a token complaint when I pick them up. They are not as flighty as some of the other breeds of chicken. They don't bully their way to the feed dish. They seem to trust me, that I will ensure they get the food they need. They are not dominated by fear, and rather have a healthy curiosity for life.

When I thought about building a coop for my new chickens, symbolically it was a monumental departure. Leave the industrial food system behind, and begin a new food future. From the ground up. Though storm clouds may not fill the sky, they fill the future of food here on tiny planet Earth. The raindrops are each act of human folly. When we think we know better than nature. When I thought about building a new home for these gals, the image of the Ark popped into my mind.

To the right is a filmstrip of the construction. I started with a trailer base and an open bottom. The idea here is that the manure is able to fall directly onto the ground, and the Ark can be then moved to a new location. The manure can be disked into the soil upon which I can plant new food.

I constructed the walls from standard 2x4 studs. Then fastened them onto the open-bottom foundation. Though conceptually the design imitates the Ark of the legends, it has a practical purpose. The large central hallway allows for easy entrance without stuping. The lower sides can enclose and shelter the nesting boxes. Access panels allow egg gathering w/o entry into the coop (a definite plus, if you've ever been inside a chicken coop, you know why!).

I roofed th coup with corrugated metal panels, which are economical, and light weight. The siding is of inexpensive plywood, which will be painted on the outside for protection against the elements, but left natural on the inside.

A door is placed on each end for easy access. The top tower has wire mesh for ventilation. Cool air can be drawn through the open wire floor, and vent out through the top on hot days. For winter, I'm thinking I can construct shutters for the top openings to provide additional shelter and protection during cold months.

Inside, on each side, there is a battery of nesting boxes for the little ladies to do their business. Here you can see an interior view, the nesting boxes on each side, the open wire floor, the "windows" at the top, and the open door at the far end. Cozy?

Well, the new hens seem to think so. They watched me from the window of their temporary shelter as I worked. Today they keep me company, and I feed them. And tomorrow, they will give me fresh eggs to eat. They are looking forward to moving into their new Ark. Maybe a day or so more and the new home should be ready. I just need to finish the doors, and put a second layer of wire on the bottom to keep predators from reaching their little feet.

I'm as anxious as they are for them to move in!

THAT Suhn... is a ground squirrel.

2009-06-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-09T22:54:00.001-07:00

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!

May Spikes

2009-05-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Ah, May brings new lavender spikes. Up until just a couple of weeks ago, the lavender looked like tight green pillows, dotting the fields. Then suddenly, on orchestrated cue, they all started throwing spikes. Here in the picture to the right, you can see the spikes on my Angustifolia. The leaves themselves have taken a softer vibrant green. Much different than the darker winter colors. And the spikes wear closed buds on their tips. You can visualize the purple beauty that is imminent. If you gently touch the leaves, the wonderful scent will rub off on your hands. I think this year will bring a good harvest.

It has been a while since my last post. I must apologize for that. The days are longer now, so I can work until almost 8pm. Sleep comes early after supper. But I think the real reason for the silence has been more trying to find something significant to talk about. While the days are filled with activity, it is usually a lot of smaller, seemingly insignificant tasks. None seem earth shattering. So I have struggled with what to write.

Some days I work on fencing. Yes, I am still working on fencing. It is a lot to do. But reporting on each first down as I finish the next 10 yards hardly seemed worthy of reporting.

Then there are the grasses and vetch. They exploded in April, then dried out in May. Beautiful in a meadow; a lot of work in the lavender field. Day after day moving along the rows with the hoe, pulling vetch from between the lavender spikes one by one. Very tedious but I actually find the work enjoyable. Lots of "alone time" to think about life, the world, the warm wind, or just enjoy the sun on your shoulders. Very relaxing actually. Except for the occasional thought of everything else that needed doing while I tended to my plants. Of course, that is my purpose. The whole family has pitched in, and this has made the work go faster. I am, however ready to move on now.

May is also the month to get a jump on fire abatement. So triming grasses in the meadows, removing the ladder branches from trees, and disposing of the brush piles. Not terribly glamourous.

I take a day and do a nice distillation of mint hydrosol from fresh garden mint. The distilled mint water is very fragrant. My neighbor will be making soap from that.

Twice a week, I must make the rounds to the hives and check on the bees. The established colonies are not fed. They are successfully finding the food they need from the wild flowers of Spring. I was lucky to make one honey harvest in May. Here is Neighbor Steve. He and I are one-third partners in a honey extractor. We are extracting and straining the honey from the wax. The flavour was absolutely divine. Very different than my August harvests which definitely tasted of lavender. The spring harvests had a wonderful wildflower floral aroma. Very distinctive, and very different from the lavender. I actually liked the variety. Local honey is very popular, and I was all sold out in about two weeks. That's okay more hives are ready for harvest. I'll probably get to the next in a week.

Shortly after capturing the wild swarm in April, I traveled up north of Sacramento to pick up some new colonies to restart the hives I lost last year during the summer fires. Here you can see the bee cages in the back of the car. I always like picking up bees. It's a long drive. Coming home, I am occasionally visited by a wandering bee who happened to be clinging to the outside of the cage and decided to take a little survey flight around the car. Hi there!

On the long drive through central valley, I got a reminder about the realities of agriculture in California. Unfortunately there is still widespread pesticide use. The first observation was at 7am, passing through Salinas, the spray helicopters were in the fields spining up. As I drove through Gilroy there were men in white suits walking through fields with hand sprayers. And as I made my way through central valley, the spray planes were a common sight. I caught this picture through the front windshield as I returned from picking up my new 6 legged friends. I couldn't help but speculate how this widespread use of chemicals is affecting the environment. And especially the plight of those little bees I was carrying home. It was quite sobering actually. As I drove, I hoped to myself that I would be able to protect these new colonies from harm and provide them with a safe, chemical free home in which to flourish.

Two of these new colonies were for neighbors. So when I arrived home, I delivered them to their new families who had been busy preparing their new homes. At Neighbor Cathy's, her horses had just had two babies. One philly that was a few days old, and a new colt that was born just that day. Even one of her hens had raised a little brood of chicks that were following her around the yard. True Spring.

Then I introduced my new colonies to their new homes too. Here in the picture, you can see a new queen in her cage. I have placed it on a new frame and plugged the opening at the bottom with some honey and a marshmellow. She and her attendants will have eaten her free within a day or two.

The new hives require feeding. A LOT of feeding actually. Each hive goes through about a gallon of syrup every two to three days. They've consumed about 150lbs of sugar in the last month.

Today, I attended a community meeting working on a fire safe community plan, and came home to fix some irrigation leaks and give one of the fields a nice long drink. It was about 85 today. Tomorrow I will do some more field work in the morning, then make deliveries in the afternoon to our CSA subscribers. Each task may be small, but they are all part of a dream.

Catching a Wild Swarm of Bees

2009-04-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

Our needs are provided, if only we can see the gifts that are right there before us.

This morning began like any other day. I woke, I had a cup of tea, then I went outside to continue Spring's work. My first morning encounter was with our friend the Bobcat. This time, however, it was up close, and personal. I walked along the fence line, taking note of what needed to be done. On my side, I have turned the grass under, but across the wire, is still quite high, maybe three feet at least. Apparently my friend was hiding there in the grass hunting squirrels undetected. I got about 20 feet from her when she sprung from her spot. Fortunately in the opposite direction. Fortune would be kind to me today.

After my fence inspection, I started working in the far lavender field. We have had warm weather this week, and the wild grasses are growing very quickly. They will suffocate the lavender plants if I don't remove them. Morning is the best time, as it is still cool. I went to work.

Suddenly, it was deja vu all over again. I heard a loud rumble in the trees. I dropped the hoe and went to investigate. There was the swarm I saw the other day. The sky was full of bees. I crept down into the trees and sat down in the grass directly beneath the swarm and watched them. It was quite amazing actually. I tried hard to see the individual bees through the mass. But they appeared as little black streaks. I practiced following one with my eyes for a while. Eventually she would take a turn and lose my train of sight, and there would only be the mass once again. A sky of little black ribbons moving in every direction like so much Brownian motion.

But as I watched, the mass started doing something. The streaks seemed to be going in a direction. Towards a particular tree. I looked closer there, and I saw it. Hanging about 16 feet high, the swarm had started to ball up. Wow! this was really cool. I went back to get my camera.

When I returned, there was silence. I missed them I thought. But searching the trees, there they were. Completely quiet. I sat and watched. Every now and then a clump of bees would break free and drop to the ground. There they would disperse, take flight, and return to the ball up in the tree. Perhaps I could give this wayward colony a home in one of my hives?

This was my first swarm as a beekeeper. So I didn't really know what I was doing. But watching the clumps fall to the ground, I came up with a simple plan. I would put a hive under the swarm, then give the limb on which that lit a little tugsy. They would drop into the hive, and we would all live happily every after, right?!

Fortunately, just yesterday I had cleaned out some hives for new bees that are arriving on Thursday. So I had an empty hive just waiting for new tenants. I happened to be on a very steep slope, I dug a flat spot under the swarm and set up the empty hive. I removed a few frames like when shaking package bees and I prepared to tug.

But could I get the swarm to drop in to the box? They were so high. The photo on the right gives you some idea of the logistical challenge. That black conical thing at the top of the photo is the swarm ball. Way down below, is the have box. Some how I had to get that giant ball to fall directly into the box. Oh, this is going to be a trick!

Okay, how bout a little test tug. With a long pole with a hook on it, I grabbed the branch and gently tugged. Nothing happened. I tugged harder, and a small clump fell just missing the box. Ah. I moved the box and tried again. Ah. This time they fell to the other side of the box. I repositioned it yet again.

Okay now I was ready to give it a try. I gave a harder tug. About one half of the swarm fell down and hit the box. Yes! But there were still more up there. I started tugging. Clumps would break off, but the smaller clump would disintegrate about halfway down, take flight, and reassemble back on the branch. This wasn't working. Bees were literally flying everywhere. I stopped and watched in amazement as the swarm ball reassembled right before my eyes, in less than five minutes. It was truly wondrous.

Okay, I sat and watched them settle down and rethought the situation. The initial clumps would fall to the ground, but the subsequent smaller clumps would break up and reassemble before every touching the ground. What I needed was a big giant clump to fall in one sweep. This was going to take a much harder tug. I hooked the pole on the branch and pulled with all my force. As I thought, a very large clump fell from the tree and broke over the top of the hive, which was now swarming with bees! I grabbed the lid, and closed her up.

I left for a while and returned about an hour later. I was elated to see the new colony was getting comfortable in their new abode. The branch was completely empty of bees, and the front of the hive was full of bees coming and going.

I always love watching a newly hived colony. It is quite wondrous. Look closely at the picture on the right. Do you see the bees on the side of the hive with their tails pointed to 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock? They are fanning. These bees are not crawling about, but rather stationary in this position. They are releasing a scent that calls all the other bees home, and they are fanning their wings to spread the scent far and wide. What a miraculous way to communicate through scent! And how appropriate on a lavender farm :)

I returned after dark and moved the hive to it's final location over in the lavender field. I thought how marvellous this was. I needed bees for my lavender and for delicious honey. And bees just showed up and moved in. How many of our needs will be met such as this without toil. All we need is faith to see these gifts for what they are.

Magic Kingdom

2009-04-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

We can live in the midst of miracles, and not even notice. These last few weeks, that was probably me. In the last article, Spring brought with her much work. And I have been focused doing what needs to be done. For instance, take this fence. An ordinary rundown country fence that wouldn't stop a dog, much less any livestock. Not amazing, not wondrous, is it? Well, what about the work itself? Not especially marvellous either. Much of my time has been getting the grass down to expose the fence which was overgrown, trimming the tree branches to get the tractor through, staking out where the fence posts will go. So on and so on. I was certainly happy to be outside in the Sun enjoying the warmth of the outdoors. But I can't say I considered the job extraordinary. Some advice, whenever you think things are not extraordinary, look closer!

Okay, so yesterday I was out clearing a big pile of oak branches thinking how I wish I were done so I can get to the next chore on the list. I'm in the middle of the tall grass. There are dozens of different kinds of insects buzzing past my head. Butterflies, bumbles. wild honey bees, my domestic bees, occasionally those annoying face flies, a horsefly or two. Birds, there are these brown ones that hide in the brush piles that come out in a flurry when you pick them up. Lots of lizards scampering around the downed wood. I have to say, there was so much air and ground activity, I did pause for a moment to think how completely cool it was to exist right smack in the middle of such teaming life. Literally everywhere. And then I heard it.

My subconscious heard it actually and alerted my conscious. What I was dismissing as background buzzing was not the insects in my direct proximity. There was an enormous rumbling coming from an adjacent field. So loud it was drowning out the bumbles right next to me. A swarm!

I started over towards the sound. I had a few hives over there. And I noticed a huge swarm directly above. It was quite large. I ran to get my camera. When I returned the swarm was in full force. I shot this photo of the hive. If you notice on the left hive, right at the entrance a large clump of bees.

Oh no! My bees are swarming! I thought. I had just checked them about a week and a half ago and put a super on. They didn't look like they were going to swarm then! One of these days, I thought, I was going to figure out how to really keep bees.

I said to myself, I'm going to try to capture them in a new hive. I dropped the camera and ran back to the shed to get a new hive ready. I had on my list to clean out some of the frames from hives that didn't make it last year. The wax had been eaten by wax moths. It was too badly damaged to save. So I replaced the comb on ten frames. I wanted to sterilize the wooden ware just to be sure no new disease is passed to the new hive occupants. I had done some research on non-chemical ways to sterilize and learned that the wooden ware can be scorched with a torch to kill disease. So all the frames, the bottom boards, the covers, everything I scorched with the torch. Then I assembled a hive, and donned my gear and ran back over with the new home.

Ahh. The swarm was gone! There was a small clump of bees at the entrance. The mass of the swarm body overhead was gone though. Was I too late?

With abated breath, I cracked the cover open on the hive. I was fully expecting my heart to sink as I opened an empty hive. I have to tell you from experience, that emptiness where there should be bustling fullness of life is quite emotional.

But cracking the hive open, it was indeed still bustling with life! The honeys were home. You can see here the frames covered with the little ladies.

I pulled out some of the frames just to see how they were doing. You can see here lots of healthy bees working on this year's crop of golden honey. Mmmmm. I was tempted to harvest a frame right then and there. Every now and then a forager would walk by, legs completely laden with bright orange pollen. I guess all was well. Maybe they were just riled. Or maybe that swarm was from somewhere else. I hiked around the immediate vicinity. I figured if I could find it, I would give it a new home. But no sign of them. I was fortunate to be there at the right time to experience them.

Well, today I went back to working on the fence. And once again, back to normal. Taking some of the concrete posts out of their forms. Nothing special, right? What did I tell you about thinking that?

Look there through the fence and what do you see? Apparently this wild cat finds entertainment in my toils. A bobcat had parked herself just on the other side, a quiet observer.

No animatronics, just real life. What a truly magic kingdom in which we live.

Spring Break with a Vengence

2009-04-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Wow. When Spring comes, she comes. Suddenly, there is entirely too much to do around Lavender Hill. I find it difficult to even to decide what to do next. So I've enlisted the aide of the entire family.

Field Extension

One project is the lavender field extension. We are extending Campo de Fiori to include some wonderful space that had not yet been planted. Here you can see my daughter moving through the freshly staked extension. Heaven on Earth!

Weeding the Lavender

Spring warmth and showers bring weeds! And it's best to get them early, before they completely consume the lavender. Then they are really tough to get out! Here my daugher is working to remove some vetch from around the Grosso. It's manual, and tedious. But the plants do love you for your care. The pulled weeds are placed in the center of the rows, then the tiller turns them under between the rows.

The Tarantula in Our Midst

Sometimes it is the tiny surprises that make the biggest impression for the day. This day we were surprised by a little furry friend hiding between the plants. Look who we found, this tarantula! He crawled out while pulling weeds from under a plant. We have seen them from time to time. But this is the first time during the spring weeding. No bother. He seemed mostly interested in getting away from us, crawling underneath one of the irrigation lines where he thought he was hidden. Sorry Mr. T, we see you there! Anyhow, we let him be. He's most likely still there, hiding amongst the bushes. And I thought only banana pickers needed to lookout for spiders!

Wood Stacking Paradise

Lavender isn't the only thing keeping us busy on Lavender Hill! There are plenty of spring chores to go around. Here my son is stacking wood. He stops only to make repairs to the wheel barrow. I see him throwing the heavy wood into the barrow with a bang! And then he wonders why it always needs fixing? He he.

Building the Ark

And this year, the farm plan calls for adding hens to our happy farm family. Eggs have been a hot commodity with our CSA, and my neighbors have had a tough time keeping up with demand. So I have agreed to bring some chickens aboard and help them meet the demand. Here you see my son standing over the beginnings of what we call "the Ark". A mobile chicken coop. The coop will be moved from location to location where the hens can forage on fresh local faire while leaving what chickens leave behind, enriching the soil for the next planting. The Ark will have a wire bottom so that all the guano goodness will fall right to the earth. Appropriately, today it rained (which is why my son doesn't look so happy!). There was something symbolic in that :)

Stay tuned to Lavender Hill for our progress building "the Ark". Also this month, the new hive colonies arrive. And we will be planting out the new field extensions I spoke of earlier. Lot's to do. Wish us luck!

April is here, the farm is in high gear

2009-04-01T01:05:00.000-07:00

Well, the last thing to do on the last day of March is to hang the martenitza from the branches of the tree that was the first to welcome Spring. Here on Lavender Hill, that was an Almond tree. The Almond was the first to break out in full bloom. So to show my appreciation, I hung the martenitza that I have worn since March 1st from it's branches. Thank you Marta for not being to cruel to us this year. Here you can see it hanging from the tree, with new blossoms and brand new leaves. Spring is here. How truly wonderful it is.

In fact, Spring is here with an interminable force. It's impossible right now to KEEP things from growing. The vetch is still growing like a son of a gun in the lavender fields. This is a full time job in and of itself. And the seeds I planted just a few weeks ago are already sprouting. I took these two beauties a zucchini and a tomato out of the coldframe for a moment to take a nice picture for you. Ahh, grow my pretties.

And with the warmer weather, the bees are more active two. This week I added a honey super to the hives so they would have space to store their delicious nectar. Maybe I get a nice crop this year. Maybe? Please? Oh how I do wish!

But more than that I pray that the new hives I establish this month stay healthy this year. I do not want to see a repeat of the troubles of last year. 2009 will be fine. And on honey we shall all dine.

Spring Planting is Here

2009-03-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Caio Baba Marta! March is coming to an end. In a few days, April will be here. But in the mean time, Marta is up to her old tricks. I've spent more time winterizing irrigation, only to have to reactivate it because temperatures went back up into the 70's and 80's. This year, she really couldn't make up her mind. But no matter. I still wear my martenitza, but tomorrow, I will hang it from the almond tree. That was the first tree to bloom this year.

Tonight it is getting cold again. It is 42 outside and dropping. But for the last couple of weeks, we really have had some nice weather. And I took advantage of this to do some planting. Over the last few years, I have experienced some attrition in my lavender field. Primarily with the "grosso" variety. Overall, I have lost about 10% of the plants established two years ago. So this year, I'm replacing them with plugs from last year's planting. That's me to the right with a tray of healthy lavender just ready for the planting.

My soil is very heavy. So when I replaced the plants, I tried to lighten it up a bit. I have a place on the farm that has ample supply of sand. I use this to lighten up the spots where the heavy soil seemed to make a rough time for my sweet lavender. I brought sand up by the tractor load full. For each plant that didn't make it, I dug a hole about two feet deep and 1 1/2 to 2 feed wide. To the removed dirt, I added 2 to 5 gallons of fresh sand, and a shovel or two of compost. I mixed these all together, and refilled the hole. It is in this "lighter" soil that I then planted the new replacement plant from the plug tray you saw above. Here to the right, you see the new baby plant in the freshly made soil. The buckets contained the sand and compost. The weather was beautiful those days. And I must say I got some good sun. For me. We humans need sun too you know!

This was heavy work. But my hope is that the new plants will thrive much better in the developed soil than the old plants did in the heavy clay. I guess only time will tell.

We had a bout of hot weather (there goes Marta again!) so I used this opportunity to clean out all the sand filters, check the irrigation lines for leaks, and give the field a good drink of water.

I also started the seedlings for my summer garden this month as well. It is still much too cold and unpredictable to start the plants outdoors. I use my cold frame. But the first thing that needs to be done, is to prepare the starter soil. For this, I get two 5 gallon buckets. Fill one with sand, and one with compost. Then pour them both into a mixing tray and mix together with a hoe. This makes a nice light but rich soil for the seeds to germinate. Then I fill a bunch of 2" trays I have saved over the years with the soil.

Once I have all the trays filled with my starter soil, I plant the seeds. I planted zucchini, pumpkin, tomato, pepper, basil, and tarragon and a few others. I am happy to say that the zucchini, pumpkin, pepper were all 2nd generation. The pumpkin is actually 4th generation. This is my first year with tarragon, so I couldn't save seeds for those.

To me, seed saving is nothing short of a miracle. When I think of seeds, I think of a promise. When you eat a zucchini or a pumpkin or a tomato, slice it open. Inside are dozens of seeds. Each seed is a promise. A promise that there will be many more meals where that one came from. This is a miracle gift from nature. It's way of telling you that nature will take care of you, if only you take care of her. It is quite beautiful actually.

When I finished planting, I marked each tray with color toothpicks. This is the way I track what each tray contains until it sprouts. Then I place the trays in the cold frame, and wait for the baby plants to emerge. Here you can see the newly planted trays with my other babies: lavender, rosemary, and some artichokes. Ahh, I cannot wait until the summer!

It isn't too late for you to plant your veggies now! Zucchini and pumpkins will germinate quickly. Basil can be started quickly, and nothing is yummier than fresh pesto! Even tomatoes and peppers. There is still time to plant your garden. If you aren't ready for a large garden, just plant a few plants in large pots. Get started. It's fun! And it really is the only way to experience the promise nature has made to you first hand. Free food. All you have to do is plant it.

Spring, Vetch, and the Continuing Art of Tiller Maintenance

2009-03-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Vernal Equinox is in one week, on Friday, March 20th. This is when the Earth is inclined neither towards nor away from the Sun. In other words, Spring is coming. It's still cold here on Tassajara. It got down to freezing again last night. The Sun just set, and the temperature is dropping fast. But today, it was sunny and warm. And the grasses and vetch are growing rapidly.

It is time to turn under the cover vetch in the Lavender fields before it grows too high. Actually, in the last week, it already grew too high. Shall I say, before it grows much too high. We already started working around the plants, clearing it out. But I need to cultivate between the rows now.

Remember this? If not, you can revisit my January article on Bees and the Art of Tiller Maintenance. This is the hole in my tiller engine. You may recall that in the fall, it threw a rod right through the side of the crank case. Not good if you need it to turn under the vetch. I started the repairs two months ago, but as is common with me, I decided to completely disassemble and restore her. But grass is growing, and the time has come to finish the job.

I got the machine a few years ago on craigslist. I only paid a couple hundred bucks. It served me well until about a year ago, when I smoked the engine getting the new field ready. In January, I got a new engine and was putting on the last coats of paint (I like to paint my equipment purple and yellow to match the fields). With the cold weather, it was taking a long time to dry. So I put it aside for awhile.

Now look at her! What a difference a coat of paint and a new engine make, no? If I get around to making a bracket to hold a battery, I can rig it up for push button start. Now THAT is fancy :) Anyhow, I fired her up and tilled up some test strips. This engine is a bit more powerful, and runs much smoother.

All ready. And just in time for Spring. Tomorrow I till vetch!

Update from the Home Garden

2009-03-09T23:18:00.001-07:00

I'm always looking for easy things to grow. This Thanksgiving, I travelled Scotland. On the train back to London, I was looking out the window when I noticed large turnip fields. The climate there was cold and drizzly. Very much like our winters here at Tassajara. I like turnips, but I had never tried growing them. I was intrigued with the idea of growing them in my winter garden. I had to try.

When I returned home, I got some seeds and promptly planted them directly in the ground. The weather was mild, and they sprouted quickly. But as the temperatures grow colder, the turnips grew more slowly. The cold weather did not kill them, but growth did stop when the temperature dropped. And when we had warm spells, growth resumed. My feeling is that late November / early December was not ideal. They would have thrived better had they started in September and got two months of mild weather.

Never-the-less, nature is forgiving and we have success at last. It's been about three months, and at least part of the crop is now ready for harvest. I got some beautiful purple and white ones. Mmmm. If you have a good turnip recipe, let me know, there are plenty more where these came from!

Chestita Baba Marta!

2009-03-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

I am fortunate. My wife, Daniella is from Bulgaria. It is an old country, being established in 681, it is almost 1,400 years old. With that maturity, it brings customs that are as old as it. Many of these centuries old with wisdoms from a time that no longer exists. A time when people were more closely aligned with nature. And being married to a Bulgarian woman, these customs now grace and enchant our life here on the farm.

March is a special month. Bulgarians, always celebrate March 1 with a "martenitza" like the one to the right. A happy couple made from red and white yarn or thread. These were made by Daniella's mother before she passed on. The detail is fun for such a simple pair. The male has a vest and little socks, and the female sports an apron. The man's name is Pizho and the woman is Penda. Today we hung a large martenitza also made many years ago by Daniella's mother on our door. Both Pizho and Penda wear a headband with a delicate flower. The apron is part of the Bulgarian national costume. The martenitza is a symbol of fertility, and the man and woman represent the beginning and nucleus of the family. The red represents both the color of blood and of health. While the white represents the snow still commonly present in March on the Balkan Peninsula. Together, they promise health and happiness as winter comes to an end, and Spring begins life anew. Everyone wears one almost always during the whole month. It is a wish for health, happiness and - watch out - fertility. So be careful when you wear it!

In the Bulgarian language and culture, March is the only female month. And therefore it is very unpredictable. It could just as easily bring more snow and cold weather, as it can bring warmth and new life, all in one month. The legends say Baba Marta (Grandmother Marta) had eleven brothers. The youngest being Ianuary (January) and the oldest Dekemvry (December). Marta was the third child, and was not known for her good nature. She could be vindictive and tempestuous. Wearing the martenitza helps keep you in her good graces.

When you see the first signs of spring, in Bulgaria that may be a stork, or here in California a budding fruit tree, hang the martenitza in the tree. Today our almond trees are in bloom, so I will most likely hang mine there in a week or so, after wearing it (I don't want Baba Marta coming down on me, a storm with strong wind is headed in as we speak!)

Wishing Chestita (Happy) Baba Marta! to all of you, my friends. And to all of you - be happy, healthy and fertile in March!

Rosemary Venture

2009-02-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Until now, I have focused mainly on Lavender. This month, I began to explore beyond lavender. By serendipity, my adventure now includes Rosemary.

By chance, I met the owners of a local winery at a holiday event where I was showing off my lavender and lavender products. After an absolutely wonderful discussion on essential oil distillation, they mentioned they had Rosemary growing on their winery. They planted it mainly to attract bees and other beneficials. And they were interested if something more could be done with it. It sounded like a splendid opportunity to experiment with something new.

I'm not a complete stranger to Rosemary. I have a number of bushes planted around the farm. Mainly for ornamentals in the garden, but there is one faithful bush just behind the kitchen that serves all our our culinary rosemary needs. Last Spring, I rooted about sixty cuttings to start a small test field come this Spring. To tell the truth, I did this the year before last as well, but didn't quite have the hang of it. Well, practice makes perfect! So Rosemary is something I want to know. It, like Lavender grows well in the climate here at the farm. I was excited to get started.

The following week, I connected with the wine maker at the winery, and we arranged for me to pick up a sample of rosemary to distill and create some sample products. In the photo above, you can see a sample of the wonderful crop.

I received about 47 pounds to run my tests. According to the research that I did, the oil yield should be about 1-2%. So that should come out to one-half to maybe one pound of rosemary oil. Part of the test is to verify yield, as well as quality. So let's see if we meet this expectation...

I started up the distillery early that morning, about 8am, and let it fully warm up. Since I wanted to also sample the hydrosol quality, I let it run for a while to ensure a good flow of distilled water before loading the rosemary into the retort. In the photo above, you can see the fresh Rosemary ready for distillation!

General observations, the Rosemary oil compared with Lavender, seemed a bit shy. Typically with lavender, I see a good eruption of oil easily within the first fifteen to twenty minutes. With the Rosemary, some oil flow started in this time frame, but it was slow. In fact, the Rosemary seemed to release her essential oil slow and steady. A much smoother curve over time, compared again to Lavender which seems to release her oil quickly, then taper off. Interestingly, the total distillation time was about the same however. The bulk of the oil produced within the first hour to maybe hour and one half with the Rosemary. After ninety minutes, the process was pretty much complete. I let her run for an additional thirty minutes, mostly because I wanted to get some experience on the outside of the curve. Just in case there was a late eruption. There was not. Now I know.

At slightly over two hours, I was down to less than one milliliter a minute. In fact, less than one half a milliliter a minute. So I decided to call it. I opened up the retort and lifted the basket of spent Rosemary out of the distiller, and loaded it into the wheel barrow to bring to the compost heap. Ahh the smell! Absolutely unbelievable! I must have the nicest smelling compost heap in California.

The oil quality was divine. Very sweet. Not camphorous at all. It was quite exhilarating actually. I must say a different experience than eating it. The hydrosol smelled close to the essential oil. Not quite as earthy as the lavender hydrosol. I like it a lot.

Yield had been about one-quarter pound. That's only about 50% of the low end of the expectation. In reflexion, I think this had to do with weather conditions at harvest. It had rained that day, and the Rosemary was still slightly wet. I'm willing to bet the excess moisture skewed my initial weigh-in. To verify my hypothesis, I will need to run another batch that is picked dry. Next time.

I have arranged with my farming partner and soap master to do some blending and craft some soaps and lotions as samples. Stay tuned for the next blog where I will talk about Rosemary soapmaking!

In the meantime, stay healthy.

Organic Food Doesn't Have To Be Expensive

2009-02-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

I know truth is always relative to perspective. But I always cringe whenever I hear someone say that organic food is not affordable for everyone. Or worse, when it is said that organic food is only for the rich. This simply is not true. First, we don't have to look much further than the last 9,000 years of agricultural history to realize that for most of human existence, organic agriculture has fed the world. Rich and poor alike. Second, regardless of economic status, we all have bodies that need healthy food. This isn't a luxury. So why do so many people think that organic food is economically prohibitive? To understand the truth, we must look beyond comparing the price of chemically grown apples vs. organic in the supermarket. For example, it's not just what we get, but how we get it. We need to look at what I call TOE, or Total Cost of Eating!

These last few weeks, we have all been working on the CSA season start-up. (Click here to see our seasonal CSA plans and pricing) As we go about our business, there is a constant stream of information in the background about this country's economic woes. People losing their jobs, their houses. Indeed this constant drone can affect our mood, and our outlook on almost everything. So as I was posting our new 2009 pricing schedules on the Carmel Valley Cooperative website, I wondered how our CSA stacks up economically to buying organic vegetables at the local supermarket. Time to go shopping and see!

So I put an old CSA box into my car, and drove down to the local supermarket. Well, actually I passed two smaller supermarkets and went to the larger Safeway at the mouth of the valley. They have the largest organic selection, and it is important to my experiment to be able to find as much organic produce to compare as possible. I did not make the hike over the hill to Whole Foods, because Whole foods isn't somewhere you go when you are trying to be economical! In fact, while I laud Whole Foods for doing so much to promote the benefits of organic produce, I also feel it unintentionally re enforces this popular belief that organic food must be expensive.

I brought the CSA box so that I could eyeball quantity and pick out a selection of organic vegetables that filled up the box. I also printed out the organic produce list on the website, and tried to choose produce from the winter list, so that I got an "apples to apples" comparison (pun intended). This is important, because if I picked out of season vegetables, it could artificially inflate the supermarket cost. I wanted to know really, is the CSA box a good deal!

I filled up my box, all the while eliciting stares from other shoppers at I took photos of my brown CSA box filled with organic produce in the middle of the shopping isles. Actually, no one seemed to care :) I selected two red onions, two yellow onions, a small bag of Yukon potatoes (the CSA expects some potatoes this year), a couple of lemons, four oranges, a cauliflower, a stock of celery, one head of lettuce, a bunch of chard, a bunch of kale, and a bunch (three stalks) of broccoli. We are fortunate to have a supermarket with such a selection of organic produce. Organic choices for some of the items on the Winter list could not be found, however. For example, I could not find organic chard, kale, or broccoli if you can believe it.

The total was $30.50 A good selection of organic vegetables filling the CSA box. Enough to eat pretty healthy for a week. Not that bad actually.

Now let's compare that with a local CSA. Today was the first CSA delivery of the season. After distributing boxes to our members. It also included quite a supply of healthy local organic vegetables, This weeks box had one bunch of arugula, one bunch of beets with beet chard, a head of romaine lettuce, a head of red leaf lettuce, 4 yellow onions, one large bunch of cilantro, a good sized cabbage, a cauliflower, a bunch of large leeks (four), five garlics, and a whopping two and one-half pounds of broccoli. Plenty of vegetables for my family of four for the week.

The total for the Carmel Valley Cooperative CSA box: $17.00 if you subscribe for the entire season by February 15th at the special early bird prices. Wow, what a savings.

My conclusion from this experiment is that TOE for healthy organic food can be affordable. The organic vegetables at the supermarket were in my opinion indeed reasonable both in selection and total cost. BUT, buying similar vegetables through our local CSA actually SAVED 44% or $13.50 to boot!

It has been my experience that in addition to this savings, if you eat regularly foods prepared from fresh organic vegetables like this, you can cut out or completely eliminate packaged and processed foods. This simple change of preparing food from high quality basic ingredients vs. depending on processed foods is one of the biggest economical changes I have made. I eat much better, and for much less than I used to. Much less. The difference is actually quite astounding.

What's more, processed foods are not only expensive, but the packaging generates boat loads of waste. My garbage volume went down as well, so I eat healthy foods, grown with sustainable organic farming methods, and I produce less waste for the land fill. The CSA boxes are reused, so no plastic bags either. It's a no-brainer, really. In fact, even the organic produce at the supermarket is sometimes wrapped in plastic. The photo on the right is a plastic wrapper that the organic celery came in from my shopping experiment. My own personal pet peeve are those insidious little stickers they put on oranges and apples etc. Why? it is so annoying to try peeling those things off with your fingernails before throwing the rinds in the compost.

Finally, now that we know it is economical to not only eat organic, let us not forget one last benefit of the CSA, the vegetables are entirely LOCAL. Funny, as I was driving home the other day, I heard a radio broadcast talking about the benefits of organic vs. local. On one hand, the article said organic produce may use less chemicals, but the cost of transportation can offset the environmental benefits. Well, they forgot about the fact that eating the chemically grown food isn't healthy either, but that aside, they did have a point about transportation. Buying produce that has travelled thousands of miles contributes to global warming, and our dependence on foreign oil. You can read the article and hear the Environminute broadcast at http://www.environminute.com/webtext/090129.htm check it out. Very interesting.

Choosing a local CSA, you are choosing to reduce transportation costs, AND eat organic, healthy, and sustainable food! What are you waiting for?! If you live on the Monterey Peninsula in California, Click here and sign up right now! If you live outside of the Monterey Peninsula, then go to Local Harvest (http://www.localharvest.org/) and find a CSA near you. Your taste buds, your body, your planet, AND your wallet will thank you.

Bees and the Art of Tiller Maintenance

2009-01-28T22:38:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful day today. After 4 days of badly needed rain, things started clearing up yesterday. Today was in the 70's. A lovely sunny day. It was heartening to see that the bees were busy foraging around the farm. So far, the hives that survived the fires this summer seem to be faring well. Everywhere there was water, bees were lining up for a drink. Kind of amazing giving the last few days of rain. But they were thirsty! This spring, my neighbors and I will restart the hives that failed this summer. And the cycle continues.

I used the warm weather to work on some farm equipment. Last fall, my walk-behind tiller threw a rod through the side of the engine crank case. You can see the hole it made in the photo at the right. I saw a piece of the crank shaft fly about 15 feet into the dirt as I was tilling a new field. I went to pick up the piece, and man was it HOT. This is the second engine I've blown in a year. The first one was last spring, just as I was finishing up the new lavender field. That time it was the valve guide, and my brother-in-law helped me put together this new engine from some old equipment. Well, looks like it was on its last leg too. Someday, maybe I'll be able to afford a more industrial tiller. In the meantime, I'll keep nursing this one back to health.

I got a new engine to replace it a couple of weeks ago, but figured as long as I had the engine off, I might as well clean it up a bit, and repaint. Yesterday, I disassembled everything and washed off all of the dirt and grease. But it was still too cold to paint. Today things warmed up, and I repainted in the warm sun. Another coat tomorrow, and I can reassemble everything. It will be good as new! Better than new actually. I'm painting the whole thing my signature lavender purple. I can't wait to see it all back together.

Another fun highlight today, I had a visitor. A bobcat. He came right up to the house. Sorry, my camera wasn't handy so I couldn't catch a picture. When I went outside to look at him, he got startled and took off. Funny thing, he went through a hole in the fencing of the vegetable garden and got trapped inside. Boy did he panic. I watched from a safe distance as he stuggled at the far end of the garden trying to get through the fence. Ultimately he made it through, which just goes to show, no fence is strong enough to keep a determined wild cat from getting through!

Maybe he'll come back tomorrow. This time, I'll have the camera ready!

Recipe for "Zen" Spaghetti Sauce

2009-01-10T21:59:00.000-08:00

I am told real Italians don't put tofu in their spaghetti. Well, I like to challenge established convention.

I've been noodling over a zen (vegan) spaghetti sauce for about a week now. That's the way it works for me. I'll have a thought about a new recipe, and then I need to try it out. Well about a week ago, I made my signature Zen tacos, and it occurred to me: why not a pasta sauce?

Let me tell you a bit of the background on zen tacos first though. About five years ago, I radically changed the way I eat. There were many reasons for this. The primary was for health. I hadn't been feeling 100%, and I needed to make changes to restore my health and well-being. So I turned to food. At the time, I was pretty much a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy. But it wasn't working for me. Not physically. And not mentally. So I started to experiment. One of the changes I made was to move meat to the back seat. I didn't go strictly vegan, but I did make vegetables the feature course of almost every meal, if I used meat, it complimented the veggie course rather than dominate it, and I did start experimenting with vegan cuisine with vegan days where I ate only vegetable. But I didn't want to eat raw carrots my whole life. I had a basic question: could I recreate some of my "comfort foods" without using any animal-based ingredients at all?

I tried many different combinations of veggies to simulate the dishes I love best. Being from California, I love Mexican. And I love tacos. An all vegan taco filling (no, not refried beans!) was one of my better creations.

Last week, while I was watching the taco "meat" simmer in the pan, something in my mind said pasta! Now pasta was part of the food changes I made 5 years ago, in that I rarely eat it now. I love it, I just have to avoid it. But as a treat once in a while, it is fine.

Here is what you need (Remember, I don't measure, so these measurements are all approximate, go with your feelings):

Ingredients:

1lb tofu, extra firm, shredded (see below)

3-4 cups crimini mushrooms, shredded (see below)

2 cups carrots, grated (mine came from the garden, yum!)

1-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Tomato paste (3-4 small cans, or make your own, even better!)

2 small onions, chopped (I used one red, one yellow)

Olive oil

Lots of Oregano

Few teaspoons of chopped Rosemary

First, prepare the "meat". You do this by shredding the mushrooms and tofu in a food processor. Put chucks of chopped mushroom and tofu into the process, and use short bursts to shred it into "flakes". Don't over chop, or the tofu will turn into a "mush". You don't want that. You want it in small pieces, that approximate pieces of ground meat. Same with the mushrooms.

Next, grate the carrots. Use the food processor, or use a hand grater. I usually do it by hand. Tonight I used the food processor since it was dirty anyhow. Mix carrots, tofu, and mushrooms together into a bowl. This will be your vegan "meat" and will be browned at the appropriate time just as if it were sausage or ground meat.

Then, put olive oil at the bottom of a large sauce pan. Maybe about 1/4 inch. Next saute the chopped onions. Just until they are translucent. When this is achieved, add the vegan meat to the pan, the chopped garlic, and "brown". It won't really turn color like real meat. The purpose is to try to firm it up a bit, so that the consistency more like the real deal. Do this for maybe ten minutes or so.

Add tomato paste and water. You add enough water so that the mixture is fluid, but don't make soup! Simmer the sauce while stirring. The sauce should flow around the spoon without being too watery. If it isn't fluid enough, add more water. If you overdo it, well, then you're going to have to simmer longer to reduce the water.

Add oregano and rosemary, and stir consistently throughout the sauce.

Now let simmer as long as possible. About 30 minutes or so. The longer the better. But keep stirring, and if the sauce gets too thick, at a touch more water.

Boil the pasta. Drain. Add olive oil or butter (but that's not vegan!) to taste, and then mix in the sauce. I used rigatoni. That's what we always had when I was a growing up. So that's what I used tonight. Zenatoni I call it!

My family always mixed in the sauce before serving. That was just the way it was done. However I put the sauce on top sometimes too. It is a matter of preference / mood. My finicky kids wanted it on the side, in case they didn't like it. But after one bite, my son said "pass more of that sauce!" ... Hey Mikey, he likes it!

What I like about "Zen" sauce and taco meat is that it doesn't stuff you like meat based sauces and fillings. It is satisfying, thick, and "meaty" but doesn't leave you feeling too full all night long. In fact, I find the sauce just as satisfying as a meat-based sauce, and definitely more satisfying and tasty that a simple marinara sauce. The mushroom give a "meaty" flavor and texture, the tofu also adds to texture and visually looks like the fatty part of sausage or ground beef, while the carrots and onions sweeten it up and add body.

Give it a try! I hope you like it as much as we do.

Personal Space - The Surprise

2009-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

The day I have been waiting for. The day to spring the surprise !

I woke this morning at 7am. Early for a Saturday. I still had to finish sanding and install the armoire doors before I show it to her. But before that, I had a meeting in town regarding some community work I've been involved with. Right after the meeting I rushed home to finish the job!

Another mid-summer day in Winter. 70 degrees. Sunny. Wow. It doesn't get much better than this. The wonderful thing about Summer in Winter is that you have all the warmth, without the FLIES! Yeah! I got back to the farm just after noon. There was utter harmony. I had given everyone notice earlier in the week that this weekend was a farm improvement weekend. We will all work together on small projects and jobs that will make our lives here happier. Working on things like this together helps bring a sense of collective responsibility to a family. We all really do play a critical role in our life here on Lavender Hill.

My son was well into his task rebuilding some raised beds. This year the wire mesh at the bottom of one of the raised beds in the garden finally rotted through. A gopher wreaked havoc on my tomatoes for about a month before I got him under control. An ounce of prevention though is worth a pound of cure. So rebuilding the beds in the home garden became a farm improvement project. Last weekend, he dismantled the old beds, and today he was rebuilding the new ones with the same wood. Well done!

My daughter was also working in the family garden. The winter veggies needed weeding. Not terribly exciting, but it can be meditative. I actually like doing it in early morning, when no one is awake yet. Seriously, I'm not trying to Tom Sawyer you. But today, since I had to go to the community meeting, my daughter took the task. She says she doesn't like the work, but she was smiling when I checked in. So maybe she found the same Zen, but just won't admit it to ol' Dad.

After checking on progress in the home garden, I finished up my sanding and installed the doors. But in process, I was discovered. All covered in wood dust, I turned around to see my wife staring at me. She wanted to know what I was making. Figuring I couldn't say "nothing" with a 7 foot armiore standing in front of me, a sander in my hand, and covered head to toe in dust. "Go read my blog" I told her, "then come back." She did, returning with a smile.

Now that it's ready, how to break it to her? I came up with an idea. I would tell her to read my blog, and she could learn of the surprise the same way you all did! After dinner, I casually brought up some excuse to tell her to read my blog. I had to insist actually, since I got the standard "I will" with no actual forward motion. This became a bit of a test of wills, but since my wife was in on it, she backed me up. Apparently my son had discovered me earlier that day, so he joined in too, and finally she sat down to read, while we all stared at her with goofy knowing smiles. She smiled. "All this from one outburst?" she said. Maybe I saw a happy tear, I don't know. It could have just been the light too.

Well, it worked. She liked it. We all grabbed a flashlight and hiked over to see it in the dark. I even got a rare hug. That made it all worthwhile.

Personal Space - Day II & III

2009-01-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days have been busy. At last post, I had hoped to spring the "surprise" yesterday. However business calls and I only managed to get a half day in for furniture making. However the distractions were worthy.

First thing in the morning, I had a meeting with a local winery to do some custom essential oil distillation. Farming has to come first. I am very happy with the opportunity. I had met the owners of a local winery that grows quite a bit of rosemary. They are interested in distilling essential oil for products, and I am interested in expanding my distillation operation to include other aromatic herbs. So it is a match made in heaven. I had an excellent meeting with the wine maker, we looked over the rosemary and agreed on a plan to move forward. I am looking forward to sharing my rosemary distillation days with you in the future!

Busness in hand, I did manage to get back in the late morning and continue some on the "surprise" project. At three I had a brief meeting with my partner on the Carmel Valley Coop (see weblink at http://www.carmelvalleycoop.org) in the late afternoon, so I had to work fast.

I managed to build the shelves, trim , and crown. Most of the time was spent searching the farm for adequate pieces of lumber from which to fashion the shelves. I also started running out of "choice" lumber scraps. Which means milling pieces from larger scraps of wood. This of course also take time and slows down progress.

As my partner showed up for our afternoon meeting, I had just finished the shelves, and milled the pieces I would use to construct the cabinet doors. And that was a day. So I collected my tools, and put things away.

Yesterday was a busy day indeed. My day was still not over. In the evening, I needed to make a meeting with the local Sustainable Carmel Valley group. Deborah Lindsay, council member for Pacific Grove, local radio host of an environmental show called Tomorrow Matters, and personal friend was going to be presenting at the monthly meeting. She is a true visionary. (You can read about Deborah on her website at http://www.deborahlindsay.com) This was a must go! So I fixed some fast food (a very nice omelet), and headed off. The meeting was very interesting. So much so, I would like to dedicate an entire post to my experience. I won't say too much about it today, except to encourage you to visit again tomorrow where I will share details about the meeting which included global warming, peak oil, re-localization of our economy, and psychology of our interpretation of these literally Earth shattering events. And they do relate to my philosophy on farming. So I want to spend some time with this.

But for now, back to the surprise... :)

Today I went back to work, and started working on the cabinet doors. This took most of the day. First I had to rout out the rabbets for the paneling on some of the cross members.

Next I had to drill the peg holes that would be used to join the pieces together. I cut pegs from a piece of 3/8" wooden dowel I happened to have lying around, and securely glued them into the holes. Then I joined the pieces together, and started inserting the panel slats into the slots. Of course this sounds easier than it was. I also had to cut a 45 degree angle as a simple ship-lap in each of the panel slats so that the pieces would join better.

By the end of the day I had finished the two lower doors of the main armoire, and the two upper cabinet doors as well. All that remained was to fasten the doors to the cabinet. But alas, I didn't seem to have any appropriate hinges lying around. After much deliberation, I decided I would take a trip into town and pick up some hinges and fasten the doors on tomorrow.

I seriously contemplated springing the surprise with the doors not yet mounted. But I think I will wait. The impact should be bigger if the armoire is good to go when I spring it on my daughter. I will be patient, and pick up the hinges early in the morning. I am really anxious to see if she likes it, but I try to keep myself restrained. Tomorrow is good.

Tomorrow will be the day. Stay tuned!

Personal Space - An Episode of Cabin Fever

2009-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a big long list of tasks to get done around the farm. Well, farming isn't all about plants and animals. People live here too, and sometimes they need attention just like all of us. As I walked through the yard to my first task at the distillery, my thoughts were on a conversation, more of an event really, from the night before. Of course, one thing leads to another and I had an idea. A blogosphere surprise for my family. You can all be in on it with me as it unfolds. Here's the scoop...

Life on the farm is not shall we say conventional. Most of our space is outdoors. Fine during the day. But at night, and of course during cold winter rainy season, this makes for cramped quarters. And our house is very small. Let's just say we can amaze even Chinese nationals when they try to complain about THEIR average home size :) I like to think of it kinda like living on a boat.

Last night began with my daughter upset. You see, my son (I know I said my daughter was upset, but it is all connected, bare with me) got a unique Christmas gift, an adorable little device called the Annoy-a-Tron. A tiny little circuit that emits a short, really obnoxious electronic sound once every so often. Just often enough to be a constant distraction, but not often enough to find the darn thing. And it comes with a built-in magnet, so it can be hidden in the most insidious of places. Well a few nights ago he left it in our room and after an hour trying to get to sleep I had to go wake him to find it. The next day he found a new location, but this one wasn't so clever, and ol' Dad managed to track it down, turn it off, and hide it. Then I had an idea, I would give him a taste of his own medicine and hide it in HIS room. Of course in a sinisterly difficult to detect location. He'd have to come wake ME up! While he was at school, I set the trap.

Okay, I know, what about my daughter? Well, apparently it was bothering her while she was trying to study so she came marching in to demand that it be immediately removed. Fair enough, but she was really..., well... really... ANNOYED! I asked her why a silly prank became such a heated issue, and she blurted out: I have no personal space!

It is hard to argue with that.

In fact it is true. For all of us. Cabin fever can take the best. But the key to living on a boat is organization. Or course, closet space is at a premium, and most of our space is shared. For an old weathered goat like me, you stop caring about things like that. But for a young adult, well, it's important. We have always talked about building an armoire so that she would have a personal space to put her belongings. The project never seems to make it to the top 10 list though. Today, it became #1.

So I interrupted my tasks and hatched a plan to build it for her and surprise her. And even better, I would share the progress with you on the blog. All right under her nose. All fun of course. I looked at an old pile of scrap lumber, and visions of King Midas began to overtake me. I would complete it today.

I grabbed my notebook and sketched out a simple design. Looks easy enough, no? And I think I can make it entirely from stuff on hand. Let's give it a try.

With the design in hand, I collected some pieces of lumber from the scrap pile and started cutting. I cut out all of the pieces for the frame, and made the saw cuts for the mortise work. This went pretty quickly.

Next, I chiseled out the mortises for the cabinet frame. I am not a cabinet maker, so this went more slowly. But surely. As the pieces were worked, I fastened them together to make the frame. I had some old 1by6 tongue and groove paneling pieces lying around, so I cut these to length for use as side panels, and fastened these into place using finishing nails. So far, so good.

Uh oh, twilight was upon me. These winter days are so short. I finished the main cabinet frame and side panels, but the shelves and doors remain. As usual, my dream exceeds my day. Fastening everything together had taken more time than I though, getting all the pieces square and lining up right etc. But I had to clean up and put the tools away. I "hid" the 7 foot cabinet in plain sight right on the patio just by leaning it on its side. A simple "fine" seemed to satisfy any questions about my day. He he. If I can only get them all off to school in the morning. Hopefully, no one will notice!

Check back tomorrow to see if I succeed and finish before I'm discovered. With luck, I can spring the surprise when they get home!

Mid Summer's Day in December

2008-12-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

Um, did I wake up today in Australia? It didn't seem like it when I went outside this morning at 7am and the temperature was a balmy 34 degrees F. But by 10am, the Sun was shining bright, and I started shedding jackets and layers like a Siberian Husky blowing his coat (more about huskies later).

I started noticing a few bees around, so I went to check the hives. The little ladies were pretty active at the entrance. They were taking advantage of the nice warm day to take cleansing flights, and even doing a little foraging. The lavender from the distiller seemed to call them over from time to time. And my cup of tea also seemed like quite tasty (I suppose it was the sugar). That reminds me, next week I'll need to order some replacements for a few of the hives I lost last year. Hard to believe it's that time already.

The whole family pitched in today and vegetable garden and the garden around the house. The storms had made a mess of the place. Grass was growing thick, the mint all needed hacking back. The finally dead tomatoes and basil plants needed clearing. And of course, weeding. We even had a chance to harvest a few carrots for dinner tonight. Look at this ugly root my daughter pulled up. Not pretty, but steamed long enough, anything can be tender and tasty! I had some this evening for dinner. Very yummy. Daniella roasted pumpkins for soup tonight. You can make a delicious pumpkin soup very much like the carrot soup I described in my previous post (see Season's Greetings w/ Carrot Soup), but with roasted pumpkin. Use more paprika and garlic rather than ginger (we use jalapeno, because that is the pepper I grow a lot) to spice it up. I'm stuffed now on roots and squash.

I've been taking advantage of the holidays to spend a little time with Sofie, my dog. Sofie is a Siberian Husky. No, she is not blowing her coat right now, thank goodness! But she has been hanging out with me while I do my lavender distilling. Unfortunately, Sofie isn't well. A couple of months ago, she went lame in one of her legs. She's taking medication now, and that seems to be keeping things manageable for now, but the doc says that it is only a matter of time before the medication won't be enough. She is losing weight, but she is still as beautiful as ever. If you know huskies, the advise is usually to make them work for their treats. I've been a bit lax these last few months knowing her state, and she takes advantage of me. Oh well, everyone needs a free lunch now and again. She's comfortable now, and I'm thankful for that.
Well, looks like the mid-summer's day has given way to the realities of the season. The mercury is at 39f and falling. Gonna be COLD tonight!

Season's Greetings w/ Carrot Soup

2008-12-24T18:02:00.001-08:00

Season's Greetings from Carmel Lavender. Here at the farm, it is Christmas Eve, and we wish everyone a happy Holiday Season, and a very joyful New Year.

We were fortunate last week to be treated to a mini snow flurry up here at 1700 feet, bringing a white Christmas to us a week early. These things are ephemeral, and it didn't last long, but I took some photos and thought I would share them with you today, along with my recipe for cream of carrot soup!

In this photo, you can see the lavender fields sleeping under the snow. Don't worry, they will be fine. Within a few hours, the snow would be gone anyhow. But it was sure beautiful while it lasted. I am fortunate to have been here to see it.

Cream of Carrot Soup

I would like to share my latest culinary experiment. As you can see, winter has finally come to the farm. The tomatoes, which were actually still producing in early December, have finally succumb to the frost. Within one day of the first frost, the basil was gone. It was amazing it had lasted so long as it was. My turnips and cabbage are not yet ready to harvest. So what I have most of right now are carrots. And lots of them! I planted these last spring, and they are quite large. So I thought I would try my hand at adapting a favorite recipe I make for cream of squash soup, but use carrots instead. The results were amazing! I used real cream, but if you use soy milk instead, it would be entirely vegan!

What you will need:

Olive Oil
Onion
Water
Carrots
Garlic
Ginger root
Cream (or soy milk)
Paprika

The ingredients are listed above in the order they are added. I must apologize in advance for the lack of measurements. The fact is that I don't use them. Why? Well, because eating is very much a matter of mood. The proportions change with the mood. But here are some guidelines I used. A large bowl of chopped carrots is about 1 quart of volume. Olive oil is maybe a few tablespoons. I use an entire onion, because the more onion, the sweeter the soup, and I want it sweet. Use less if you don't like it as sweet. The ginger root is metered by smelling the soup as you grate the root into it, while stirring occasionally. Stop when the soup smells "gingery" enough. And the paprika is simply to add a dash of color and zip at the end. So very small quantities.

First, I picked a large bowl of carrots and cleaned them. I cut them into chunks about 1 inch long, and set them aside. I did not bother to peel them. First, the skin is nutritious. If nature intended us to eat carrots without skin, they would grow naked. This is all part of whole food eating. Second, it is work. Why make work out of taking the nutrition out of your food?

Next I got a large soup bowl. Put a thin layer of olive oil at the bottom, and saute an onion. In case it isn't obvious, chop the carrot into small 1/4 inch pieces before placing into the oil. When the onions become translucent, they are ready.

Then add about a 1 to 2 pints of water and the carrots. You want the water to just cover the carrots maybe 1/2 to 1 inch higher than where the carrots would fill the pot w/o the water. The more water, the runnier the soup, the less water, the thicker the soup. I like thicker soup, so I just cover the carrots with water. Let the pot boil, then reduce temp so that it simmers. Let simmer until the carrots start to melt. You should be able to easily mash a carrot with a fork with very little effort when it is done. Don't be impatient. Let the heat do the work for you! I also add a few minced cloves of garlic at this point.

While the carrots are simmering, grate a peeled ginger root into the soup. I used a peeler to get the skin off (yes I know what I said about holistic food, but the ginger root skin is too tough and won't melt when you cook it, but feel free to keep the skin if you don't mind some bits of ginger skin in your soup). Grate some root, stir it in. Then smell the soup. Gingery enough? No? Add some more until the ginger smell is apparent. I used about two to three inches of a fairly large root. Don't be shy! Ginger not only tastes great, but it is healthful too.

Once the soup has cooked sufficiently (at least an hour or two), then puree the soup in a blender. This will most likely need to be done in batches unless you have a humongous blender or are making a tiny amount of soup. Once all the soup is blended, put it all back into the soup pot, and add the cream. I add cream until the color starts to turn just a bit pale, but not too much. You also want to make sure the consistency stays thick enough. I put about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cream to achieve this. Remember, cream is very rich. Taste as you add if you aren't comfortable w/ the color guidelines.

At this point, I usually turn the heat off. The soup is pretty hot, and you can burn the cream. But if you want, you can cook it on low for another 10 minutes or so, but take care to stir continuously so the cream doesn't burn. Once the cream is added, you have to be careful.

Serve into bowls, and sprinkle just a pinch of paprika on the top to give a nice dusting of red color. Not too much, unless you really want it spicy. Though consider carefully not to overpower the ginger. Less ginger, more paprika will be okay. If you have made it really gingery, then you're not going to want to complicate the ginger with too much paprika.

Now enjoy! Mmmm. Should be very nice treat on a cold winter night. Happy Holidays.

On Christmas Eve, a family of wild turkeys came to visit us. I watched them through the window as my pumpkins roasted for the pies I will be making tonight. Good thing for them we're eating a traditional Bulgarian vegetarian Christmas eve meal tonight!

Cooperation is Key to Local Success

2008-12-21T12:19:00.001-08:00

Last night, the Carmel Valley Cooperative sponsored a local Holiday Faire. It was a small event in size, but the event for me represents what is needed to make local economies work: cooperation and community.

Of course, this sounds obvious. We've been told since we were young, that cooperation is the key to success. We all know this within our hearts. However practice can sometimes be more difficult than concept. For just as we all know the value and benefits of cooperation, we are equally trained in the art of competition. Finding a balance can be a delicate endeavour, but one I feel is worthy of pursuit.

The Faire last night, for me, was symbolic of the purpose for which the Carmel Valley Cooperative was created: for small local producers, to work together, to create relationships with customers. The goal is for each and every product to find maximum potential to enrich the lives of those in our community, and by making our labours of love sustainable for our lives too. After all, if we cannot afford to do those things that enrich our community, then it benefits no one.

Community truly a powerful motivating force behind everything that I do. I am often amazed at how strongly this has developed, especially when I reflect on my thoughts years ago when I first considered farming. In the beginning, farming seemed to be the ultimate independent experience. Just one's self living off the land. It doesn't get any more independent than that, right? Well, as with everything in life, reality is much different when experienced first hand. The reality has been that nature is amazingly complicated and powerful. Living off the land, so to speak, is just as complex. I am a hands-on person. I actually like to get my hands dirty (literally!) and what I have learned is self evident in retrospect, but unpredictable. When you throw a shovel at the earth, and it bounces back from a stone the size of a golf-ball, and you look at the size of the field that must be turned, it is not really overwhelming independence that you feel. In fact, it is quite humbling. The value of neighbors and community is never so evident than when you are doing everything on your own.

Well, yesterday's Holiday Faire reminded me of this value as a microcosm of how we can come together in a community to enrich our lives. I was struck by the thought last night while talking to some of the guests that came looking for Holiday gifts, what an amazing thing it was that they were there. Today's local newspaper (http://www.montereyherald.com/) runs the headline:

HOLIDAYS FILLED WITH PLENTY TO DO
Take a deep breath and count your blessings
Shopping: Four area shopping centers will offer extended hours as the Christmas holiday approaches.

When I read this, I wondered: Is this serious? We are bombarded with messages like these. Go to the large corporate box stores. Be thankful that you can buy plastic toys from China, produce from Chile, cheese from France, and shoes from Italy. Almost every dollar we spend at these malls gets put on a truck heading straight out of town. When it comes to building a local economy, the competition comes from outside the community. The challenge is always to keep our competitive energy focused in the right place: in building a larger local economy for everyone. As a small producer, I have talked with some of these stores about interest in carrying produce from a small producer like myself. There is always initial interest. But so far, the red-tape has made this difficult, esp. with the larger stores. I am pushed to add overheads. Outside of my personal dislike for spending more time on things that are not directly related to growing and producing, adding overhead creates pressure to grow bigger. Something I do not want to do. I want to stay small. I know that sounds strange in today's world. It seems the key is to stick with smaller, locally owned businesses, and to continue to reach out directly to the community.

Last night's event gave me hope. The people there were either friends or friends of friends. They were a community in the truest sense. And they were supporting us in our passions for creating local. This is a very precious gift that we should not take for granted. In return, it is my hope that the product of our passions will make their lives richer too.

My co-op partner Elizabeth was there with her soaps. She has been working long hours these last few weeks on her craft. In fact, a conversation only a few hours before I left yesterday, she was in her workshop bottling lotions. You can see the care and attention she puts into her products in her beautiful display as well as the variety. Soaps, lotions, lip balms. Plus two new products this year, a shampoo bar gentle enough to use to wash your hair with, and a lotion bar. The lotion bar is very cool. It looks like soap, but when you touch it, it feels like lotion. You have to try it to really know what I'm talking about! Elizabeth's husband Mark brought refreshments to make the mood more festive. Everyone pitches in to add their touch to the experience. That's what makes cooperation work.

Kerin is a local artist that produces beautiful jewelry. Kerin has been making jewelry in the area for ten years. Kerin has been travelling quite a bit lately, so we were fortunate that she was in town this month. She brought with her special pieces including some stone pieces that were very unique. There was one agate piece that had the most amazing natural spirals in it, a theme that is common in her work. It was fun just to look at the different pieces, and the creativity that goes into each one. Kerin has a business called Acqua Fire, and you can see more about her at the http://www.acquafire.com/ website.

And of course, there was lavender. In the photo at the right, Daniella displays the various products, including the new pint sized hydrosols we showed at the Yule Fest. It was so rewarding to meet the interesting folks that love lavender. Many just enjoy the scent. But I also met some very interesting individuals that use lavender and other essential oils for well being and healing. Learning a bit about people's lives and how what I do enriches them is one of the best gifts of all for me.

Yule Fest at the Gardiner Tennis Ranch

2008-12-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Last week I got a phone call. It was Kathy over at Carmel Valley Olive Company. If you recall from my article this summer (read August article, The Olive Connection), Kathy and her husband Alfred grow olives on their farm just down the road from me. Kathy would be exhibiting their olive oil at The Gardiner Tennis Ranch in Carmel Valley that weekend. She had mentioned our lavender, and the owner, Monique, was interested in having Carmel Lavender there as well.

Yule Fest was an all-weekend affair. There was a dinner on Friday night, wine tasting Saturday, and a brunch and puppet/magic show on Sunday. I spoke to the folks organizing it, and we would be exhibiting on Saturday and Sunday. The folks at Gardiner had really decked the place out nice. The courts were transformed into a Yule-time celebration facility, with large heated tents beautifully decorated with boughs of fir and cypress, holiday banners, bows, and bigger than life stuffed animals. (See the resort at the Gardiner's Resort website)

Daniella and I prepared what to bring that week. We decided to introduce a new product at the Yule fest. Events like these are always good for finally getting around to finalizing that product you've been thinking about. In this case, Daniella has been using the lavender hydrosols in our laundry since August, and she swears by it. The lavender water definitely gives a nice scent to the wash. And what's more, she finds the wash to be softer and fluffy. We don't really know why, but when something works, you go with it. Also, since the hydrosol is distilled water, it is ideal for using in the iron. Daniella's idea is to bottle the hydrosol for laundry use. So we set to work on preparing some product samples for the event. You can see the results in the photo to the right. Each bottle bears the characteristic Carmel Lavender hand-stamped label, and a single stalk of lavender.

Once we arrived, we set up the table. Here Santa Daniella shows off the lavender products that we had. We also included some lavender lotions and bars from our neighbor at Lizard Creations. You can see our new product creation displayed prominently. Daniella also showed-off some gift packaging, with diffuser pendants packaged together with essential oils in a Carmel Lavender gift box. She really put together a nice display.

Going to these events is always a treat. I love talking to people about lavender. So exhibitions where people come to smell the fruits of our labor and enjoy the beauty of lavender make me feel wonderful. In this particular event, there were periods when folks attending were eating or watching the show. And during these times there was opportunity to meet and fraternize with the other exhibitors, which is always fun because it expands your awareness of the creativity of people that live around you.

Here on the right is Kathy and Tracy talking in front of the Carmel Valley Olive Company exhibition table. Kathy was treating visitors to yummy samples of olive oil drenched bread. If you would like more information about the Carmel Valley Olive Company, their delicious olive oil, or contact information, you can find it on the Carmel Valley Chamber of Commerce website. Tracy was exhibiting some of her antiques which included some amazing bola ties, jewelry, and Christmas ornaments.

Also showing her wares was Therese Baisinger. Therese is an amazingly talented artist from nearby Santa Cruz. She makes very beautiful and unusual glassware. Her work really made an impression on me. The first thing that strikes you are the brilliant colors. Vibrant reds. Florescent greens. And each having some unique adornments in accenting colors or gold. In addition to the display in the photo above, her work was being used by the chef serving hors d'oeurves during the wine tasting. Very esquisite I must say. (Visit Therese at her Baisinger Studio website)

In all, it was an extremely fun event. If you wish to see the exhibit, we will be displaying today, Saturday December 20th from 4pm to 7pm at the Monterey Stone Chapel (next to Tarpy's Restaurant) at the intersection of Highway 68 and Canyon del Rey.

Hope to see you there. This year all our family and friends receive the the gift of Carmel Lavender, just as we have throughout the year.

Winter Oil

2008-12-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

They say if you want the best oil, you have to get up pretty early in the morning. A few years ago, I took a trip up to Sequim, Washington. They grow a lot of lavender there. It is home to one of the largest lavender festivals on the West Coast in July. Anyhow, I was talking to one of the growers, and she told me that the distillers like to start early. They would be up before sunrise to begin distillation. Well, I do want the best oil, so why question what is already known. I got a break in the weather. A full day without rain. So I went outside at 6 in the morning to start up the distiller. It was quite a beautiful morning. Imagine if you will absolute silence. No sound whatsoever. Absolute stillness. To the west, just over the lavender fields, a full moon was quietly setting. With this backdrop, I started my business, turning on power and water, filling the boiler, lighting the furnace. And I sat in the darkness and waited for everything to warm-up. To begin making golden lavender oil from the lavender I had picked up from Ann a few days before.

Opening the sacks of lavender releases some of the wonderful scent. Here you can see a handful of the loose buds contained inside. This is the good stuff. I loaded buds from the sacks into the basket, taking care not to pack them too firmly down. The warm steam will need to permeate each and every bud to release it's treasure, therefore, the more loosely packed the load, the better.

As the buds go into the distiller they have a delicate purple color to them. They are quite pretty. Much different than when they come out, as you will see later in the process. In the photo to the right, you can see the vibrant color and life the buds contain. Our extraction will condense this vitality into the oils that we remove. Pure concentrated tranquility, ahh!

After loading the distiller with the lavender buds, I got to take a break. The sun has now been up for a while. All of the mist and clouds of the morning seem to have disappeared. The air temperature is already about 70 degrees in the sun. Wow, what an amazing day this is turning out to be. In the middle of December too. I took a break from the morning work of setting up the equipment and unloading lavender to take in the warmth and beauty of the day. It is still quite calm out, though the stillness is disturbed by the birds flying about and occasionally chattering at each other, as well as the bees which seem to have emerged to take advantage of the warm weather for a cleansing flight and perhaps a serendipitous forage venture.

Suddenly, my senses were overwhelmed. Now, I've been working with lavender all day, so it's not like I don't know what it smells like. But suddenly there is an intensity that is unlike anything experienced yet today, including when I opened the big burlap sacks shown above. Looking over at the condenser emitter, I see a faint mist, and then shortly thereafter, fluid begins to flow. Here on the right, you can see it coming from the emitter and dripping into the essencier. Now this fluid contains both the essential oil, as well as the hydrosol. The essencier will separate the two from each other, as we see below.

Inside the essencier, the oil and hydrosols are separated. The oils come bubbling up into the glass tube and cascade over the top, where it is collected and bottled. It is always fun to watch the "eruption" as I call it when the oil first starts flowing. It bubbles up in the tube like a fantastic smelling lava lamp. I don't have a video camera, but I wanted to capture what this is like for you. So I put my camera on autodrive, and try to capture the motion in this image. Now, if only there were a way to digitize smell!

When I am at farmers markets with my lavender, one question I get a lot is: "What can you do with essential oil?" I should dedicate an entire blog entry to this question some time. But to help people enjoy lavender and the amazing properties of the essential oil, I started carrying pendant diffusers. These are little terra cotta pieces stamped with different designs (mine has a kokopeli dancer on it). The terra cotta is porous, so a drop of essential oil is absorbed into the pendant, and it's calming, de-stressing effects can be absorbed all day long. Really something useful in these stressful holiday times, and especially so in these times of economic uncertainty which is gripping the world. We can't always fix everything that's wrong with with the banks, with the auto industry, and even the impacts this has on our own local economy, but we will be much healthier and able to do what we can if we can keep a calm perspective on events that are sometimes out of our control. Here you can see me anointing my pendant with a sterile cotton swab directly from the fresh oil. Ahh. I am wearing it now, and can smell the sweet scent even as I type this blog.

While I was distilling, my friend Tara paid me a visit to see the operation. Tara is an aroma therapist. (You can visit her at her website at www.taraspa.com) She knows everything about scents, and how to use them for health and well-being. While we were watching the oil bubbling out, she said that one of the big challenges in here work is educating people that aroma therapy is important to their health, not just a luxury. That is so true. Health is not a luxury. Without health, what do we have? I package a terra cotta pendant with a bottle of lavender oil together in this all natural Carmel Lavender gift box. What better gift to give a special friend or lover than tranquility and health! We will have these available at a Holiday Faire this Saturday, December 20th, from 4pm to 6pm at the Monterey Stone Chapel, right next to Tarpy's restaurant in Monterey. Or you can contact me through this blog. Okay, commercial is over :) Hey, I have to make a living too, you know!

Once the oil stops flowing, it is time to remove the spent lavender and start a new batch. I have included an "after" shot of the basket with the lavender buds that have been processed. Look at the difference in color. The vitality that it had going in is entirely gone. The buds no longer have a vibrant purple hue, but rather are a pink-tan color. They have given up their essence and life. The buds will be taken over to the compost heap, where they have a chance to bring new life to the soil. The essential oils and hydrosols will be used to make our lives more rich and healthy. I guess that is what it is all about. Let us take a moment and be thankful to these flowers for bringing us such magical benefits. Thank you, Lavender!

Mesa del Sol Lavender

2008-12-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

At a farmers market a couple of months ago, I met Ann, the owner of the Mesa del Sol winery. Ann said that she had quite a bit of lavender that she harvested from their lavender plants at their winery in Arroyo Seco. At their winery, they have a long drive alongside the vineyard leading up to the house, and both sides of the driveway is lined with lavender!

The lavender has been harvested already, and Ann needed help distilling the essential oil. So I took a ride out to Mesa del Sol, which is actually fairly close to my farm. It is quite a stunning property. If you are interested, you can check it out on their website (http://www.mesadelsolvineyards.com/). There is an adorable historic farmhouse. Ann is an architectural designer, so the whole place is done esquisitly. There is even a very charming rock-walled workshop and a gorgeous pool and grounds. My son and I got the grand tour. There is a stunning view of the Arroyo Seco river (which is going quite nicely). And an ominous view of the burned hillsides from this year's Indians Fire which got quite close. Ann grows her own vegetables there as well, so we got a wonderful tour of the private garden.

The lavender was sacked in very large burlap coffee sacks. We stuffed the truck full to the brim on our first load. In the photo on the right you can see the sweet smelling load. We called them giant sachets. The ride home was absolutely intoxicating. We played loud music to keep us from slipping into a lavender induced coma while driving home.

I'm preparing the distillery now for the distillation. This should keep me busy for the rest of this week and most of next too most likely.

I have a feeling my truck is going to be smelling mighty fine for quite some time!!

Fall Markets & Winter Gardens

2008-12-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while since my last post. For this I must apologize. I've been spending quite a bit of time outside and haven't been turning on my computer as much. Good for farming, not so good for keeping up w/ the blog ;) Anyhow, I'll try to catch up with what's been going on.

September, October, and November have been a time for going to market. Working with the Carmel Valley Co-op (http://www.carmelvalleycoop.org/) we've been trying to get to as many markets and craft faires as we could. So a lot of time has been spent preparing for and going to these events. To the right is a photo at the local village market. We had a great spread, with essential oils, soaps, dried bunches and sachets. It is always enjoyable to get out in the sunshine and talk to people about lavender.

The home garden has been another focus these last couple of months. Next spring I plan to expand the garden. So I've been preparing a new field for growing vegetables. Fortunately I finished tilling the field and sewed a cover crop just before my tiller blew up. Unfortunately, my tiller blew up. Threw a rod right through the side of the crank case. Anyone have a spare 5hp motor they want to sell? Oh well, I have a month or so to get it fixed before it gets critical. That's the breaks when working with equipment with "personality" :) I'm still getting good carrots and peppers. If you can believe it, it's December and we haven't got a frost yet. So even my tomatoes are still going, albeit very slowly. Everything else I've turned under. I've sewn turnips, cabbage, and fava, radishes and lettuce amongst others. The little plants are all doing fine. Tonight Daniella made a Bulgarian meal from our garden tomatoes and peppers called paprikash. Yum!

December is a busy month. I'm working on my distillery, making it a bit more comfortable for year round use. Also, I'm distilling essential oil from lavender grown by a local winery (more on this later). And of course, being the Holiday season, I have been spending time organizing the local Santa's Parade. Santa comes in on helicopter to a crowd of screaming kids. (http://www.santaflyin.org/)

What fun is that!

Hidden Apples

2008-09-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Many Carmel Vally residents over the years have had the wisdom to plant fruit trees on their property. Sometimes a single tree, and sometimes even small orchards. These trees provide shade in the summer, and delicious fruit too. Apples, apricots, peaches, pears, almonds, figs. The variety is quite extraordinary. And every year, these loyal trees do their job making their fruit. I'm always amazed when I discover yet another hidden treasure of sustainable food located in some private place in Carmel Valley.

Our friends the fruit tree however are sometimes more efficient than we are. Producing more than their owners can possibly consume at once. And of course canning for the winter requires some set-up and more significantly, time, a commodity in short supply in today's modern life. The bottom line is that there is a tremendous quantity of food in Carmel Valley, that is ripe for the picking!

So Tuesday, Elizabeth and I headed out to pick apples. We collected enough apples for our current orders. The apples were weighed and bagged back at Elizabeth's Farm, and I distributed them to CSA subscribers with my usual rounds on Wednesday. Fresh apples are always nice, but just as important is knowing that they were 100% natural, and come from a local, sustainable source.

Today we will cook down some of the bruised and damaged apples for our own enjoyment. Some day we hope that the Co-op will be able to build a commercial kitchen and we can offer locally grown and canned apple butter and apple sauce to our CSA subscribers too. In the meantime, you'll just have to believe me when I say that it is delicious!

The Art of Local Soap Making

2008-09-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

This week Elizabeth, my neighbor and co-op partner, called to tell me that she was making Castile soap. Castile soap is a soap that is made exclusively from vegetable oil, and commonly used to refer to soap made from olive oil (you can find more information about Castile soap on Wikipedia here). Elizabeth is a soap maker, so making soap is not necessarily a unique event at Lizard's Creations, but today it was different. This particular batch is a milestone in a concept that she and I have been exploring with our Co-op: How to live more local?

Living the Vida Local

So how do we live the Vida Local? With vegetables, the answer is simple. We set a geographic radius (50 miles) and receive all of our vegetables grown from within this area. My lavender is also rather straight forward, the lavender is grown here on my farm, and the essential oils and hydrosols are manufactured here. A radius of zero. But when you go up the chain and start thinking about applying local to things like soaps, what does it mean? Elizabeth has of course always crafted her soaps locally. And as we started working together, she began integrating my local lavender oils and buds into the process. This got her to thinking: how far can I go using all local ingredients?

Many of her soaps include ingredients include oils such as palm oil, and other ingredients that are just not produced locally. But with creativity, there is always an answer. That is where a serendipitous meeting she had w/ Carmel Valley Olive Company created an opportunity. This local farm and producer of olive oil less than ten miles away. Elizabeth asked the essential question, can I make this into a locally made, and locally grown Castile soap? If the olive oil and the essential oils were local, then the bulk of the primary ingredients (save the lye used to induce saponification) would be entirely local as well. Imagine the carbon savings if gallons upon gallons of heavy oils were no longer shipped from abroad, but rather obtained locally from a few miles away!

Today was the day to put this ideal into practice. Being such a significant event, I grabbed my camera and headed over to watch and record the history.

Making Soap

Dressed in her blue and white soap making smock, Elizabeth had already prepared the lye mixtures according the careful measurements. I carefully handed her my contribution, Carmel Lavender essential oil from this year's harvest and distillation (read my previous blog entry on the Lavender Oil Harvest here). She was about to begin measuring the bounty from Carmel Valley Olive Company, so we went into her soap workshop to begin making local soap.

With soap making, the measurements are absolutely critical. Without precise measurements, the saponification process will not be right. And if the saponification is not right, the soap will not be right. Elizabeth began measuring out the oil very carefully on here scale. Look at the beautiful golden green color of the oil. The smell of delicious olives filled the room. What a wonderful way to start a soap. We also measured out the essential oil, and set it aside for later.

Next the oil needed to be heated to a precise temperature. For this, the oil was placed on the stove, and Elizabeth carefully monitored the temperature with a thermometer. Likewise, the lye solution I mentioned earlier needed to reach the proper temperature as well. interestingly, the reaction of the solution had naturally preheated the solution, so for this, it is a waiting game for the temperature to cool as the reaction slowed down. She told me that at times she could float the mixture in cool water to help cool it. But today, that was not necessary.

Once the oil and the lye solutions reached the proper temperatures, they were mixed together. This is where it got tricky. Elizabeth told me that the soap now needed to "trace". I.e. when saponification started, it should begin hardening. As you mix the solutions together, this leaves traces behind the spatula. The tricky part is that usually the soap recipes have other oils and fats in the mixture. Pure olive oil was a new experience. And apparently some of her research told her that the tracing stage could take some time. Or maybe never? We really didn't know. So we mixed. And mixed. And mixed. And mixed. After a few hours of mixing, Elizabeth made the call that the saponification was going to take some time if it were going to happen. She would monitor it through-out the day, and give me a ring if it started to trace. So at this point, I collected my camera, and called it a day. I left with a lot of anticipation. The idea of locally grown ingredients is very compelling. I very much wanted to get a good shot of the hardening soap in the mold. But this would have to wait until the soap is ready.

Soap History - The Soap Maker's Birthright

While we were waiting, Elizabeth pulled out an old dry cake of soap in a dish. "Here, look at this" she told me. She continued that this cake of soap was made by her grandmother in the 1940's. You can see the dry cake of antique soap in the photo to the right. It turns out that Elizabeth's grandmother was a soap maker. She made handmade soaps in Nebraska during the war. Her contribution to the war effort. Coincidentally, her grandmother was also called Elizabeth. And even though Elizabeth told me that she never had the opportunity to learn soap making from her grandmother, I felt that the connection was an important one. For 70 years soap had been made in her family. The basic process of saponification has remained the same, and so must have been the need for precise temperature and measurements. And yet in a world that is so different. Here we are today, trying to simplify life by making local products. A luxury in today's time, thought most likely a necessity in yesterday of 70 years.

Meanwhile, back in good ole' 2008...

I had returned home. I called that evening, but no trace. I called the next day, still no trace. We were starting to lose heart. Perhaps no amount of patience would bring saponification. On the third day, I called, and almost reluctantly asked, "well, did it trace?" YES! It had traced! Apparently we were a day short on the patience. Today it was hardening. Elizabeth had already poured the soap mixture into the molds. But I wanted a victory shot for this article. So I picked up my camera and headed over. Wow, what a color! The dark golden green had changed to a buttery yellow / beige. The soap was not solid and no longer even jiggling in the wooden mold. Here the soap will rest, probably for a couple of weeks to further harden and cure.

Once the soap completes the curing process, it will be removed from the mold, cut into bars, and wrapped in the signature wrapping of Lizard's Creations. The locally made and locally grown soaps will be available in locally owned retail shops, such as the Diamond Horseshoe in Carmel Valley, as well as through the Co-op (you can purchase Lizard Creations soaps at the coop website here).

A beautiful soap for a beautiful dream. I feel fortunate to be part of the journey to rediscover how to work together as a community to provide for the essentials of our life, be them food, soaps, or whatever.

Basil Pesto

2008-09-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

I've got one word for you. Basil. This year has been a tremendous year for growing Basil. And I don't know why. Last year, I nursed one plant all summer long and would scrupulously harvest 3 or 4 leaves a day to chop into a tomato salad or some such. I dreamed of making bowls of delicious pesto for sandwiches, pasta, whatever, but alas, the poor little plant never really was able to make enough for such an enterprise.

This year was different.

First, in early April, I seeded about 30 or so plants in 3" pots and put them into the cold frame with the other starts. All took. In fact, by May / June when I planted them out, they were looking already better than my poor little plant from 2007. I actually had too many plants and not enough space to plant them out, so I had to give half of them away to friends and neighbors. Already the season was looking good.

When I did plant them out, I made a brand new raised bed with galvanized 1" hardware cloth on the bottom to keep the pesky gophers out, and filled the bed with compost and oak hummus that I collected from under an old oak cluster. They seemed to love it. They grew nicely all summer long, but in early August, for whatever reason, they exploded. And my healthy plants turned into a giant hedge of Basil. Oops. Now I have to eat it all. Way too much for Tomato salads, even every night. Time to make Pesto!

I have spoken to many different Pesto makers, and each have their own recipe and special tricks. I like to make a very basic pesto. It is easy, not too expensive, and very yummy to eat. I start with the following 4 ingredients:
- Basil
- Walnuts
- Lemon
- Olive Oil

In this batch, I made about 1-1/2 to 2 pints of Pesto, which took about 8-9 cups of basil leaves (essentially a two quart bowl almost full), about a pint of finely chopped walnuts, 4-5 lemons, and a few tablespoons (maybe a bit more) of olive oil.

Alright, I hear half of you yelling already "Walnuts! That's sacrilege!" I know, I know, everyone who is anyone uses pine nuts. Well my personal feeling is that pine nuts are just too snooty for my taste. They are typically twice as expensive as walnuts, and I just don't really think the difference is worth it. So feel free to substitute the pine nuts if you wish. Sniiifff. (smiles)

The lemon is absolutely essential. And it is not to be used sparingly either. Without enough lemon, the pesto will turn an unappealing brown color almost immediately. It also helps to remove the bitter edge that Basil can sometimes have (esp. if you don't trim the stems well enough!). If you don't have lemon, use lime, or SOMETHING acidic.

First clip the leaves from the stems and place the leaves in a big bowl. Make sure to get any large piece of stem, even if you need to cut the bottom part of the leaf off to do it. I've found the stems can add a bitter flavour. This can be somewhat neutralized w/ lemon, but not entirely. So it is best just to err on the side of caution and try to get rid of all the stem you can.

I chop the Basil and the Walnuts separately in the food processor. I do it this way because I don't like to measure things out, but prefer to cook "to taste." Chopping separately, I can then blend the Basil and the chopped walnuts together in exactly the right proportion to my current mood. Typically, the ratio is about 1:1. I do, however add the lemon to the Basil just before I chop it. So put the leaves into the food processor, squeeze the lemons directly into the chopping bowl, then chop. I do this to try to preserve the freshness and color or the Basil as much as I can. it is amazing how fast Basil will turn brown when cut. Obviously, when making a batch as large as two pints, it is going to require several batches of chopping. Make sure you add the lemon proportionally, so each batch of chopped Basil is done w/ enough lemon juice.

Once the Basil and nuts are chopped, then mix them in a mixing bowl and add the olive oil, until the texture is easy to spread. Like I said above, 1:1 ratio of chopped Basil to nuts is a good mental starting point, adding the oil sparingly until the desired texture is reached. Taste, and add more lemon, basil, or nuts if necessary.

I'm sure many of you have your own yummy twist on Pesto making. Please feel free to comment and tell me how to make it better!

The Honey Harvest

2008-09-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, after my visit to Catalan Farms, my son and I prepared to harvest some honey. I've spoken quite a bit in previous articles about the difficulties that I've had with the new hives this year. The good news is that the established bees from last year seem to be doing quite well. So whatever the affliction, the stronger colonies seem to be able to withstand it. This year was not a complete bust. While very small, there was indeed some surplus honey for us humans to enjoy.

After collecting the frames of golden honey, we headed over to neighbor Steve's house. Last year, Steve and I, together with another fellow beekeeping neighbor, went in even on honey extraction equipment. Steve is a year ahead of me in terms of establishing his colony. Last year we got to sample his bee's miracle. This year, we get to see what mine can do. We decided the easiest thing to do was to transport the frames over to his house and do the extraction there.

Bees are orderly creatures. When they finish filling up a honey cell with delicious honey, they cap it off with a nice cap of wax. The first step in extraction is to perforate these caps so the honey can flow out. There are many ways to do this including electric capping knives that get hot and slice the caps right off. Well, we used the "poor man's" tool called a scratching tool. In the photo on the right you can see the tool; essentially it is a series of needles on a handle that you rake across the comb, perforating the caps so that the honey can come out.

Once the caps are scratched, we placed the frames in the extractor. The extractor is essentially a centrifuge. The frames are placed inside, and are spun at high speeds by cranking the handle. The centrifugal force (okay, for physics folks, there is no such thing, but this isn't a physics class now is it :) pulls the honey out of the cells where it sticks to the walls and slowly slides down the sides, collecting at the bottom. There it creates a gorgeous pool of honey. We repeated this step multiple times until all the frames of honey had been evacuated.

The evacuated frames are just the empty comb with scratched caps. These frames I put right back into the hive after extraction. One of the benefits of writing this article post-facto is that I can report that I peeked inside a couple of days ago, and the little bees had already finished repairing most of the damage to the comb from the extraction, and the had cleaned out and repacked the residual honey. Harvest season over, their work now is for them alone.

Back to the honey harvest, we can now open the gate at the bottom of the extractor and watch the beautiful dark amber honey flow out! This is strained through a double strainer to remove the little pieces of wax that came from the broken caps. The pure honey flowed through the strainer (very slowly that is) and collected in the honey pail beneath it. I must admit that we all took a little sample of the honey at this point (just to make sure it was good, of course). And it was absolutely fabulous. The biggest surprise was the subtle but very distinct taste OF LAVENDER! Yes! Lavender! The bees obviously were hard at work in the lavender fields and brought this back in the pollen they used to make the honey. It was truly a wonderful taste that I did not expect and was quite grateful for the experience.

Most of this work was done indoors, as with hives nearby, the process tends to attract the bees to reclaim the fruit of their labor. However, at the end, we brought the extractor outside and let the heat of the sun warm up the barrel. This helped get more of the honey stuck to the sides to flow faster.

Then we poured the pure honey from the honey pail into 1/2 pint
mason jars ready for the table! This year, I will share the bounty with our Co-op subscribers.

Given the limited quantity, it will have to be on a first come, first served basis. The price will be $8.50. If you are interested, you can contact the Co-op coordinator at http://www.carmelvalleycoop.org/, or you can visit Carmel Lavender Contacts by clicking here.

With all of the trouble that I have had this year with the bees, this experience was a reminder of the rewards of success. It has given me new resolve to try to work through the problems I have had and restart the colonies next year. This week I have checked the progress of the re queening I wrote about earlier. Unfortunately the re queening seems to have failed and the colony is dead. But the hive next door still lives and from the remaining I will get things going again next spring. Despite the trouble, it is a fantastic experience working with these amazing little creatures.

Connecting with Food at the Catalan Family Farm

2008-08-30T09:51:00.001-07:00

Our lives are connected to our food.

Everyone knows how important food is to our survival. And lest we forget, our stomach is there to remind us, just like an alarm clock, every few hours (smiles). But there is a deeper physical and emotional connection that goes far beyond satisfying our old friend Hunger. Our lives are connected to our food in ways that are complex, and in ways that we often do not completely understand.

The home garden I spoke of a few days ago helps us make this connection in our own back yard, right down to the roots. Literally. All of our food however may not come from the home garden, but we can still connect with it in this way. And for this reason, yesterday, my neighbor Elizabeth and I travelled to Hollister to visit the farm from where our CSA vegetables come. (Photo on the right shows rows of delicious organic squash ripening in the California sun.)

If you do not know, I work with a group of neighbors and agricultural producers through the Carmel Valley Co-op. We founded the organization specifically to cooperate amongst ourselves and help bring a greater diversity of locally grown foods to our community. We deal exclusively with producers in a fifty mile radius. As part of this, I distribute vegetables in Carmel Valley through a CSA (community supported agriculture) in cooperation with farmer Maria at the Catalan Family Farms. You can read more about the Co-op at http://www.carmelvalleycoop.org/

Our trip had a couple of purposes. One, most definitely, is to keep the connection to the food that not only to I eat, but that I help to bring to our community. The relationship must be personal, and it must be in person. But just as important, we had some business to discuss with Maria as well regarding evolution of the co-op, and it is important our relationships with our partners be as personal as with our food.

When I arrived, I feel that I am truly on a family farm. As you pull into the drive, the house where Maria lives is right up front. Directly next to the staging barn where all of the vegetables are prepared for shipment to CSAs and to the farmer's market. Maria has just introduced eighty hens to the farm. So running around everywhere are chickens foraging through piles of harvest trash earning their livelihood by processing the leftover organic matter that has not market value. The hens will provide eggs. One hen had a dozen or so chicks following her around. Goats and horses too all make living use of the abundance of organic matter. In the fields, there are rows of peppers, right next to tomatoes, squash, strawberries. A diversity of foods, grown together that make up the wonderful boxes we receive every week. I felt that Maria's life was tied inseparably with the farm, as her niece followed us out in to the fields, occasionally snacking on a tomato or strawberry fresh from the field.

Of course, we discussed our business in between our friendly tour and conversation. While the meeting covered a range of topics, the important subject of the day was direct markets. (Photo: Elizabeth and Maria talk business in the field as fresh cherry tomatoes are harvested and stacked by a truck for transport). Everyone wants to get their food locally from farmers who personally care about their farms and their customers. True agriculture is more than profits, but farmers also need to pay their bills and provide for their families. Basically, they need to get their crops to the people who need them. This sounds simple. But in reality it is not. It is amazing how much food is actually wasted as it tries to find it's way to people. Our discussions focused on how to build deeper relationships directly with our customers.

It is my hope that the fruit of these discussions will be that even more of us can have a personal connection with the food that is so important to our existence here on this Earth. And of course, those that grow it and bring it to us.

On the way back to Carmel Valley, Elizabeth and I stopped at another neighbor's to pick apples from her tree. Mmmmm delicious. We picked enough to offer them to Carmel Valley Co-op CSA subscribers. Graven steins I think. You can subscribe at at the Co-op website here.

God Save the Queen

2008-08-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Around 11 o'clock, the phone rang. It was Sue at UPS. "Your bee is here!" On Tuesday I had decided to try re-queening one of the stronger hives that had no brood or queen. Her majesty lifted off Wednesday from just north of Sacramento to make the day journey down here to Carmel. Well, she probably went by truck. But it is 11am, and she is here. So I finished my tea and jumped in the car and rushed down to pick her up.

There she was waiting on a "special counter" at UPS. I peered into one of the air holes and could see a tiny wooden queen cage glued firmly in the center of the box. I would wait until I got back to the farm to open it. But I did have to run an errand over at Pebble. So with Queenie at my side, we drove together over the hill listening (softly) to the Rolling Stones. Mission accomplished, we drove together back to the farm.

Upon returning, I broke out my gear. Yesterday I received some extra internal feeders. Part of the plan was to move feeding inside the hive to discourage robbers. Alas, the new feeders didn't come with floats (a wooden device that keeps bees from losing their footing and drowning in the syrup. Finding an old piece of 2x4, I fired up the saw and made a 1/2 dozen floats. Everything now ready, I donned the bee suit, walked down to the hive site, and lit up the smoker.

I was told that hives that have been without a queen for an extended period can have a rough adjustment to the new queen (once free, I guess re-subjugation is a difficult pill to swallow). Success can be increased by placing a frame or two of brood from one hive into another. So I opened up the hive next door, and found a nice frame with some brood and tried coaxing the bees off of the frame. This turned out to be quite entertaining. The bees were having a great time running from one side of the frame to the other. I would puff them with a little smoke, or softly brush them, and they would all run to the other side of the frame out of sight. After spending some time chasing them around, I became more aggressive with the bee brush, which agitated them some (they hate the "brush" and I generally try to avoid using it, but today I had business to do). A bunch of bees then decided to warn others about the brutish hand that was disturbing them. They all crawled onto the hand, turned their tails high into the air, and started fanning (this is their way of communicating that my hand was up to no good). I watched in amazement for some time. All of the bees fanning in synchronization in the same direction was quite a sight. Their movement actually vibrated my hand continuously, kind of like holding a cell phone in vibrate mode. Only with no pause. Some sensation I must say to actually feel the power of so many small creatures acting in unison. Quite remarkable.

In the photo above, you can see the honey comb this stronger hive had been building out. Beautiful and golden. When things are right, they are right.

Then I opened up the queenless neighbor. The hive still had plenty of bees. So my first task was to go frame by frame to make sure that a queen wasn't hiding in there somewhere. I'm not always quick to spot her, so this takes some time. Once the last frame was removed and no queen was found, I reassembled the hive and opened up her Royal Highness' cardboard coach.

Inside was the wooden cage. And in the wood cage was an energetic queen, moving quickly around with a few attendants who made the journey with her. You can see her on the top of the cage, standing upside down. She has been marked with a big red crimson dot on her thorax.

Each queen has her own scent. This scent drives bee-haviour. If I were to drop Her Majesty into the writhing hive, the other bees would not recognize her perfume. Unlike humans, who would simply shun the offending wearer, the bees would take the matter much more seriously... and kill her. Notice to the right of the cage, the space is filled with a white substance. This is a candy plug. It will take the attendants on the inside, and the workers on the outside a few days to eat their way out of a hole on the right of the cage. Just enough time for the new hive to become familiar with her scent, and come to adore her.

I sandwiched the cage, face down into some wax at the top of the middle frames. Then I installed the new internal feeders and filled them with sugar syrup and closed everything up. Now I wait. On Sunday or Monday I will return to ensure she has safely been able to escape from her sweet prison. God save the queen.

Recipe for Zucchini Mousaka

2008-08-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spoke a bit about tending the home garden and peace that comes from growing your own meals. Today, I thought I would share the details of one of the dishes that I grew, called Zucchini Mousaka.

Zucchini is an excellent vegetable to grow in the home garden for a number of reasons. First, it is easy to grow, and quite prolific. A handfull of well tended plants will produce and produce. As a squash, they provide meaningful substance. Essentially the "meat" of the meal. Second, there are hundreds of ways to prepare zucchini, so that life never gets boring. From soups to mousaka. So moving past steamed squash, let's see what we can do with our Zucchini out of the home garden.

One of the most important practices in cooking or preparing food, is to connect with it. Prepare food in a way that meets your mood. Eating is very intimate. You will bring the food into your body, and it will make you, literally. The entire process and form must enhance your life and way of living. Food is not only nutrients. In preparing my zucchini on this day, I chose the Bulgarian recipe for Tikvichki (Zucchini) Mousaka. Since my wife is from Bulgaria, there is a strong emotional connection for her with this dish, a comfort food if you will. For me, who did not grow up on it, it is somewhat exotic and adventerous. This day, I was expecting a visit from a friend down from the San Francisco Bay Area. This seemed like a nice way to communicate our essence through food. Eitherway the connection is there.

In the morning, I went to the garden to collect the ingredients for the dish. I chose 3 sumptuous zucchini. I also picked some bunching onions (these were grown from a gift by a friend), and carrots. In the bowl, there is also sweet basil, and grape leaves. The grape leaves I collected for the Sarmi's, which I will write up at a later time.

An aside about the grape leaves, I have several vines in home garden area. Mostly wine varieties that I planted years ago as an experiment. I have never ever got any grapes out of them. The birds just love grapes too much. Some day I will have to net them. Once I tried, but I did not secure the nets at the bottom, and the little birdies came in from the bottom and cleaned me out. For now, I have resigned myself to giving them the grapes, and eating the leaves (smiles). Maybe next year I will try to make some homemade wine.

Back to the mousaka....

The traditional recipe for Mousaka calls for:

2 lbs. Zucchini

2-4 tbsp. oil

2 eggs

1/2 lb feta cheese.

Then for the topping, you need:

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Assorted spices including salt, pepper, and dill

I supplied the home grown ingredients as follows:

Zucchini -> from the home garden

Oil -> olive oil from my neighbor's farm

Eggs -> from my neighbors free range chickens. If you live in the area, you can buy eggs from Elizabeth too. Click here for details.

Feta & milk -> ummm, I had to buy this, currently no local supplier.

Spices -> I didn't use salt or pepper (I personally don't like to cook w/ salt). And I didn't have any dill. So instead, I chopped up the carrot tops instead. I also grated the carrots and used those for added flavor.

Preparing the Mousaka

1. I peeled and sliced the zucchini into flat strips lengthwise. Maybe a little finger's width wide. Then I sauteed them in the olive oil until soft. Lightly brush a glass oven dish (rectangular) with olive oil, then place 1/2 the zucchini inside to completely cover the bottom. Then I added the grated carrots as another layer on top of this. Beat the 2 eggs and mix in the feta cheese and pour over the zucchini. Then completely cover this mixture with the remaining 1/2 of the zucchini. Bake for 40 minutes or so at 350 in the oven.

2. Mix the topping ingredients, 3 eggs, milk, and chopped carrot tops. After 40 minutes of baking above, remove and pour this topping over the top, and return to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes or so until the topping becomes firm.

Remove from the oven, and let cool a bit. Then you can cut the mousaka into squares, and add a dollup of mint yogurt sauce (I make this by mixing mint from the home garden, into yogurt that I buy from the store). Serve and eat! Mmmm.

So how did we do on getting everything from the home garden? Well we certainly got most of the main ingredients from the garden, and fortunately I have neighbors that raise olives and chickens. The only other ingredients that I could not supply were the dairy: cheese and milk. There are dishes that do not require these ingredients. We will explore those in the future. After all, food is an adventure.

The Home Garden

2008-08-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

When you live on the farm, you have to have a family vegetable garden. It's just part of the deal. It really isn't that much work, and it can be quite rewarding. It is really very creative and it helps connect directly to the earth when you experience your food come directly from the ground, plan the seasons, sew the seeds, then directly prepare the dishes with the bounty. A fresh produce store is literally a few steps outside the kitchen. Very fulfilling.

This year, I've been raising everything from seed. Last year, I had quite some challenge getting the seeds to germinate early enough outdoors. This year, I build a cold frame, which is a kind of poor man's green house. It was simple enough (see description below). The cold frame was WONDERFUL. I easily started tomatoes, peppers, squash, pumpkins, and basil. Not to mention hardened off my new lavender plants, and started a bunch of rosemary cuttings. This was probably the most productive project I did this year.

Right now, the tomatoes are coming in very nicely. But they were a bit too bushy. So I trimmed the leaves at the bottom and centers that weren't necessary to promote fruit development, and I trained some of the vines that were falling to the ground. I had mixed some tomatoes in the Basil bed, so I pulled these back (they were falling in the basil), and tied them up on sticks. They look much happier now. The basil is going crazy. I've been frantically heading off the flowers. But the plants prove very aggressive. It is difficult for me to keep up. I think it might be "pesto time"! I even harvested some basil, tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes made a beautiful tomato and basil salad. The peppers I will roast tomorrow.

This year I've been working on building enough diversity in the garden that I can make complete meals entirely home grown. A few days ago, I made a zucchini moussaka and Bulgarian sarmi's (stuffed grape leaves, akin to Greek and Turkish dolmas) entirely with vegetables from the garden. The only ingredients that didn't come form the garden were: olive oil (from the Carmel Valley Olive Company about 6 miles away), eggs (from Lizard Ranch right next door), and rice (unfortunately from far away). But the grape leaves, zucchini, garlic, onions, peppers, and carrots all came from the family garden. I also made a yogurt and mint sauce. The yogurt was Californian, and the mint from the family garden.

It is very rewarding to grow a medley of vegetables, that is, enough to make interesting dishes. A few weeks ago, I put in some black beans. This is an experiment, as I have never grown black beans before. But my goal is to make a "black bean felafel" assuming I get a good enough harvest. A few more weeks and I'll start sewing the winter veggies!

More About the Bees

Oh, today I also contacted my bee supplier. I'm going to try to re-queen that one hive. So a brand new queen is in transit down to Lavender Hill. She arrives on Thursday, when I will introduce her to her new minions. I am so hoping she is able to save the hive and get them back on track to survive the winter. I called some other bee folks and am still trying to accurately diagnose the trouble. That's 90% of the battle, knowing what you are dealing with. Right now, the best assessment I have is that the 2008 fire season made for a poor year to introduce new hives in Tassajara. But Thursday, I'll do more investigation when I establish the new queen.

Building a Cold Frame

I made a 10 foot by 10 foot cold frame. The materials were 4 1x12" 10 foot redwood (I would suggest 2x12", but it is quite expensive, so I made do with 1x12" and then put a 2x4 frame around the top where the lid seats). With these, I formed the base. Then 6 10 foot 2x4's made the lid. Four for the sides, and two middle rails. The lid was a little shaky, so I added 4 x 1 foot "corners" (45 degree angles on the edges) for lateral stability. Then I used a superjack actuator (I had one from an old C-Band satellite dish I don't use) and a thermostat to automatically crack the lid when the temperature gets too hot. This is essential if you don't want to cook the baby plants on a hot day (and it gets HOT out here 100+ on some days).

Bee Troubles Grow

2008-08-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today, another neighbor called me concerned about her bees. She saw foreign bees fighting with hers at the entrance to their hive trying to keep them out, and wasps were entering unfettered. Given the trouble that has been going around since the fire, she was duly concerned.

I contacted a bee keeper up in Central Valley to ask advice. Check for the queen, they said. But hurry, you may still have time, but the season is getting late. So I headed over with my suit to help her search the hive for the queen. What we found was not good.

Very few bees inside. There were also many foreign invaders. Wasps, unfamiliar bees, and ants. We spent about an hour checking frame by frame, then cleaning out manually all of the creatures that were inside that were not supposed to be there. Then we reassembled the hive. Nope. No queen. We came up with a strategy to remove the entrance feeders and go with internal feeders to discourage robbing. Also we would try to re-queen the colony. And we put the smallest entrance reducer we had to make the hive more defensible. I was still concerned just because of the small numbers of bees that seemed to be left, but right now, this seems the most we can do at this point in the year.

We actually sat for quite some time, at the front of the hive, watching who enters and leaves and the mortal combat at the entrance. The robbers would come, sometimes two, three at a time, then one or two bees would engage. They would embrace, with stingers pointed at each other, hoping to get a fatal sting. Sometimes they would roll off the entrance, still embracing, and fall into the grass. Occasionally, one would land a sting, the other going still. And often, during such a skirmish, an opportunistic wasp would slip by the battling guards, and enter the hive. Sad, but fascinating.

I returned to check my hives as well. Unfortunately, the weak hive I had reported a couple of days ago had failed completely. Nobody home but the robbers. All of the brood that had been there, had perished. I cleaned all of this out, and blocked up the entrance to no more critters would get inside. I didn't want other bees to go inside either in case of disease.

Checking two other hives, one seemed normal, I found the queen milling about (on the last frame, of course!). The other I couldn't find her. While that hive seemed much much stronger than my neighbors, I plan to implement the same strategy with internal feeder, smaller entrance, and re-queen. Tomorrow I'll check some of the others.

Such depressing work cleaning out a dead hive. Kind of like wandering around in someone's house after they abandon it. And so quiet compared to the usually hum of happy bees tending their young. I still cannot get over the silence. I really hope to sort this out. Tomorrow I'll make a few calls and seek more advice.

Later in the evening, tending my basil, I had to be careful when pinching off the flowers not to accidentally squish a bee. Despite the troubles, the garden is still full of bees from the other hives. It brings hope and resolve to see that life goes on. The bees go on. Pollenation goes on. I only hope I can learn how to keep all of the hives harmoniously in balance in the coming seasons.

Carmel Lavender Distillery Open for Business

2008-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

As forshadowed earlier, today my neighbors Kathy and Alfred from the Carmel Valley Olive Company brought their beautiful lavender over for distillation.

We planned to run four separate lavender batches in order to maintain the purity of the different lavender varieties. So the entire distillation process takes at least six hours. Long enough to get hungry. Since I would be busy w/ distillation, the first order of the day is to ensure there is ample food for hungry distillers :) It is a personal goal of mine to create a deep connection with food. Thus the menu must mix locally produced food with the purpose of the day and the day's participants: olive and lavender producers! The evening before I had prepared an appropriate faire. (See distilling menu below) So at 8am I started to lay out the spread on our farm table in the kitchen. Then I spent the rest of the morning prepping the distiller and getting ready for our guests. See the photo on the right of the Carmel Lavender crane operator lowering the basket into the loader/dumper.

Today's Distillation Menu
- Fresh Jalapeno Pepper and Carrot Falafel
- Olive and Basil Tapenade
- Quinoa Caviar in Lavender Bread Cups (adapted from Tassajara Cook Book)
- Lavender Bread and Organic Pepper and Garden Tomato Bruschetta

Today is special as well because two good friends from Palo Alto called and said they would come down to see the distillation. The last time I had seen Susan and Karl in the early Spring when we took a day trip down to Big Sur together to visit an open house / party at the Hawthorne Gallery (and just bumble around Big Sur in general). Susan had called earlier this week asking to come see the lavender, one day after I had finished my harvest! But fortune was with us, and today we would be processing more lavender. And they would get to see lavender after all.

Back to distilling. Kathy had brought four different varieties as I mentioned: Grosso, Provence, Angustifolia, and Twickel Purple (also an Angustifolia). We set to distilling. We had the most of the Angustifolia and Twickel Purple. This gave us very good yield for Angustifolias. Probably about 250ml combinded. Interestingly, the Grosso and Provence, which should have had higher yields had only a combined yield of about 100-125ml. Granted there was only half as much, but I would have expected higher yields still for an x-intermedia. Well, this is the joy of farming. The plants tell you, not the other way around ;)

Look at the beautiful golden colors of the three oils on the left. In contrast, the Grosso on the right had a very pale color. This was uncharacteristic. Given the low yeild, it made us wonder if the lavender was truly Grosso. Maybe next year we will pay more attention to the spikes!

All and all, a wonderful day of beautiful lavender fragrances, good friends, good chats, and golden scented lavender oil to show for the trouble.

Bee Troubles

2008-08-15T23:06:00.001-07:00

The other day, I got a phone call. My neighbor and fellow beekeeper told me that another mutual neighbor and beekeeper had just called her. Her hive was in trouble. During a routine check, she opened the hive to find almost no bees inside. Her initial assessment was that some yellow jacket wasps had pillaged the hive and killed the bees.

I had opened up my hives a few weeks ago. But when you hear stories like that, you have to have a looksie. Today I suited up and marched out, smoker in hand, to open up my hives and make sure they were all okay. To tell the truth, I have been worried. The farm is located quite close to the Ventana Wilderness. Yes, the same forest that stretches all the way down to Big Sur. And yes, the same forest that in July was home to the sixth largest forest fire in the state. In fact, the fire made it as close as two miles to the farm. For over a month, the air was smokey. Neighbors were reporting bee swarms. We all know that bees are highly affected by smoke, so I was naturally concerned what affect this could have on the poor critters. Bee keepers use smoke because it causes the bees to calm. The usually return to the hive and try to eat. Gorge themselves really. No one know why. There is speculation that it is an instinct exactly to protect bees from forest fires. If you are going to loose your home, better eat up, because it might take a long while before you can establish a new one. Yes, I have been wondering what all that smoke, every day, for a month would do to them.

I picked one hive I noticed had few bees coming and going. When I lifted the lid, I knew immediately something was wrong. Usually, when you lift the lid, you can hear the familiar buzzing sound of all those little ladies going about their business. Today, there was only silence. Inside, there were a few bees, but the hive was empty. Ohhh.....

Well, the hive wasn't completely empty, there were a few hive robbers. Bees, wasps, ants, etc. But my suspicion was that the bees in there were not the original occupants. The combs were empty. No babies, no honey. There was quite a few cells packed w/ pollen. But that was it. I did find quite a few supercedure cells, the cells the bees make when they are trying to replace the queen. I figure she had perished, and they tried to replace her. But why?

The next hive I checked was chaulk full of bees and honey. All was well there. So I moved on.

The third hive was good too. But the forth was dead. Same scenario. This time there were dead bees on the inner cover under the lid. The remaining hives were not dead, but one other seems to be failing. In that one, there were quite a few dead bees. But there is some fairly advanced larvae. Almost no honey though.

Two of the hives that were still thriving didn't seem to have much honey reserves though. So I've started feeding them sugar syrup again. There is only a few more months to winter. I definitely want them to build up their reserves before colder weather sets in. I will have to clean out the other hives, and restart them next spring.

I was pretty bummed. I suppose farming can't always smell like lavender.

The Olive Connection

2008-08-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Today was delivery day for the Carmel Valley Co-op vegetables. I pick up vegetable boxes from Catalan Family Farms in Hollister, and shuttle them out to Carmel Valley. Today's boxes have delicious cherry tomatoes, and some wonderful green and purple peppers. I look forward to stuffing them with lentils and spice! You can find more information about organic food boxes and subscriptions at: http://www.carmelvalleycoop.org/

What does that have to do with olives? Well, nothing. But on the way back, I stopped by Alfred and Kathy's farm. They have an olive farm and make the most wonderful olive oil you can imagine. Each bottle is like pure liquid olives. Fantastic if you have the chance to try it (their oils can be found at many small stores around Carmel Valley including the Carmel Valley Village Market). My visit, however, was not to sample olive oil. Kathy has a wonderful patch of lavender. It includes species as Angustifolia, Grosso, Twickle Purple, Provence, and Lisa Marie to name a few.

Kathy is interested in distilling oil from her lavender. Having just recently come into possession of an essential oil distiller :) she asked me to stop by and take a look. It most definitely is ready for harvest! After a brief conversation, a lovely tour of the wild olive trees that Alfred has propogated and been nurturing, and some delicious apricots from their tree, we settled on Sunday. They will bring the crop by then and we will distill from three different varieties, the Grosso, the Provence, and the Angustifolia. This should give us some nice oil samples. Regardless, Sunday promises to smell wonderful around Lavender Hill!

Bunch Harvest

2008-08-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Day 3 of the harvest. We continued to distill oil, and today was also the bunch harvest. Bunch harvest is when we harvest our dried bunches. Dried lavender bunches are extrememly popular. In addition to looking pretty, they smell divine. Over time, when the scent subsides, you can squeeze them gently to revitalize the scent.

With bunch harvesting, the bunches are hand cut, then tied in the field. Here are a row of bunches waiting for pick-up. The bunches are hung upside down for a minimum of two weeks in a darkened drying barn before they are retied with raffia and labeled.

Today we had lots of animal visitors during harvest. Bees, butterflies. And as always, Ceasar, our lavender loving house cat. Ceasar likes to hang out with us during harvest. You can usually find him lying near by between the lavender plants, or sometimes under the distiller. He likes to decrease harvest efficiency by placing his body right in front of the next plant to cut, requiring you to move him aside first. He tirelessly repeats this endearing sequence :) Oh well, it *is* a lavender harvest after all!

Ceasar's tricks and all, we finished the harvest today.

Oil Harvest

2008-08-11T01:08:00.000-07:00

Today, the distillery became fully operational. Only two days after the 1200 mile round-trip journey to bring the distillery home, it had found itself in it's new temporary location on Lavender Hill. After a few dry runs yesterday evening, I awoke bright and early to begin the first live runs. After so much time and care in raising this year's buds, it is important that everything go smoothly so that their struggle to bloom and flourish under the hot Tassajara Sun is not wasted in vain.

But first things first. After firing up the boiler, I went out to the field to begin to harvest the fresh buds to become this year's golden oil. I do my harvest by hand, cutting the lavender stalks from the plants with a scythe and placing the freshly cut buds in the harvest tub.

The bounty was splendid. Beautiful purple buds with such a wonderful scent. I was very anxious to find out what kind of oil content this year's crop yields.

The bees seemed anxious to know as well. The curious worker bee would occasion by to sniff the buds. Care must be taken when handling the flowers not to accidentally grab more than just lavender. As I was preparing the distillery, one playful little bee landed for a moment on my shoulder. I fancied her a small fuzzy parrot. Of course, nothing to find she soon set aloft one again.

Once I had harvested enough lavender for a run, the flowers were placed into the boiler.

How it Works

The distillation process is a fairly simple physical process of steam distillation. The basic concept is to put the lavender together with pure water from our well 700 feet into the Tassajara Earth into a big pot. The furnace under the pot generates steam which is passed through the lavender. Then the steam is condensed back into a liquid. The liquid contains the essense of the flower including the oil, as well as other constituents which remain dissolved in the water. The water is now called hydrosol. The oil and the hydrosol are separated. Of course the usual monotony of details including temperature, water levels, etc. all must be monitored and adjusted. But the result is pure vibrant essential oil and hydrosol.

Success! Today we had two successful runs. Tomorrow the process continues bright and early!