Farm in Fall

My camera lens got a bit dirty, so this was the best photo I could get of our rooster who is, to say the least, peculiar.

      As I sit here lightly editing the post and making plans for the rest of my day I realize I only photographed our livestock! As the days get shorter again and there is a cutting cold in the early mornings before work we still have many, many vegetables in the ground that are doing wonderfully and deserve some acknowledgement, but it appears that may be for another post...

      Fall, as much as I adore it (Layers! And changing leaves! And time to read and knit and cuddle!), has turned into a stressful time of year for me. A time for choices, moving and letting go. As much as I love California and especially here in the northern foothills, the Salish Sea is calling. Not to mention on a more practical note- I've been organizing my finances and creating a budget (really rather functional for a 23 year old)- I realized I don't have the funds for the very necessary irrigation system or water here. I also realized I won't have money to do even a quick road trip this winter to the desert which I desperately wanted to do this winter, but alas,  if it means I get to have my own farm this winter I'm forcing myself to be content with that.

      Speaking of letting things go, four of our six pigs are enjoying their last few days on the farm. I have mixed emotions about this, as I have grown rather fond of them. Having never raised or butchered my own animals, only hunted them which is a totally different dynamic, I am sad, but happy to know that these hogs never had to endure the discomforts of a conventional pig farm, had a large area to rut around in, plenty of mud for wallowing, and all the fresh, organic produce to gorge themselves on every morning. They had a happy, carefree life; a life I wish more livestock had.

      But the sheep are all staying with us; we've even taken on a male called R17 (affectionately called "R") who will hopefully help our herd grow. He's more comfortable with us and loves a good back scratch some mornings when I cut through their area to let the chickens out.

      Some days I wonder how, or if the animals mark the passing of the seasons; or if it is merely instinct that causes their changes in behavior. What do you think?

      Before it gets too hot out today I'll be off hunting mushrooms in the woods, celebrating the recent rains and scouring the ground for the huge acorns that have started to drop.

Coming up: tarot spreads, paintings, delicious noms for the end of season tomatoes and miscellaneous adventures!

Farm Life

 I've been working at this farm in the Sierra Nevada foothills for a little over a month now. The greenhouse interior looks vastly different already- all of those eggplants and tomatoes in the center of this photo have been planted and protected with re-me. We're all really looking forward to their harvest already.

 Some things stay in all season, such as this little fig tree. They tend to get damaged by frost so this little guy won't be going outside in the ground for awhile yet, when the frost damage will only injure it, not kill it out right.

 We sow lettuce seeds every week. We have an 11 bed field (three rows to a bed, about 125 feet long, plants every six or eight inches- it's a lot of salad), as well as a 8 bed direct seeded field. People love lettuce and this ensures that CSA members get a head or two every week for the duration of the season.

 It's fun watching the different varieties grow. He have three varieties of eggplant, and at least a dozen tomatoes, 6 or 7 lettuces, two beets, two kohlrabi, two zucchini, 12 winter squash, 5 pumpkins, among some other odds and ends. Break up the micro-mono crops and diets some.

 And just appreciate the beauty of growing plants.

 Here I would like to ask for three cheers to ever bearing strawberries! If they don't get too frost-bit these babies can fruit year-round. The first flush three or four weeks ago were good, but they keep getting sweeter and sweeter.

 The property this farm is on has a pretty neat history. It was originally homesteaded in the mid-1850s. This house is still here, with the only alteration being a peaked roof to protect the structure. It's mostly used as storage and a place to cool off in the heat of the summer. The next building was put up in the early 1900s and the landlord lived in it until only a few years ago when he started leasing the property to my bosses to farm and look after (they only farm 10 or so acres of the whole 150 acre lot).

 They've found all kinds of treasures and what isn't too mangled or dangerous is used to liven up the public places. This covered bridge crosses Wooley Creek and is where the public can access the trails that criss-cross the property and where CSA members pick up their weekly boxes.

 Y'all have no idea how fond of this chandelier I am.

 The trails that start from the bridge are laced across the landscape through fields and over hills. You can tell where the old farm dumpsites were, and where the new ones are as well.

 Still looking for the perfect place to hang my hammock.

Life from the camera phone

Assorted photos I've taken during wanderings and creative ventures.

It's the second day in a row I've woken to  views of the Olympic mountains from the living room window.

I've been working a little and planning new stuff to put in the shop includong new business cards if I can find a good rubber stamp maker.

Going to try and makeit to the library to put together some nicer posts :-) 

As always you can check out my tumblr to see what I'm up to at www.saunterling.tumblr.com