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.

Some photos from Northern California

     Just found these on my camera from mid-March, figure I'd share.

California is magical.

Washington/Oregon

Here are some pictures from the first two-thirds of my trip. It's hard to believe that at this time tomorrow I'll be In California!

Sweet-as New Zealand!

That's right, I've returned from an absolutely wonderful trip to the land down under down under. It was fantastic. At some point I'd like to write it up into words of a respectable nature, but I'm gearing up to spend almost three weeks on the road as I wind my way down the west coast to my next job near Sacramento, California.
Now, I took over 1,000 photos, so they won't all be here. I've chosen my favorite to edit, all of which will be shown on my tumblr: Saunterling. I am also considering making prints available of my favorite ones, so feel free to lobby for the one you like most.
On a related note my shop will continue to be on vacation while I mosey south. I'm arriving a week early so in that time I should be able to make space to get my stuff together and re-open it. I have tons of new ideas for linoleum prints, shirts (!!), the ever-present patch, and possibly some new exciting dye-stuffs as I am going to see if there's a chance I could grow my own indigo at this farm!
*There's quite a few photos coming up*

Auckland Domain, Auckland. This was the walk I realized how out of shape my poor little feet were.

Orewa, The Hibiscus Coast. There are lots of little towns around Auckland that are easy to get to for a day trip by bus.

Bees <3

Still Orewa. There was a lovely, long, very long, walk around an estuary that ventured into farm land.

River walk in Hamilton. This part of Hamilton was really beautiful, but there's not much else to do there.

Beautiful hydrangeas everywhere

Hobbiton! A must-do on the North Island.

It's a two-ish hour tour and you learn about the history of the farm and all of the really small details Peter Jackson insisted on.

Geothermal activity in Rotorua. There were free foot soaking areas. Truth: it did small like sulfur everywhere.

Jenny the kea. She went after my camera shortly after this was taken. I also got to see live kiwis and some chicks at this facility! (Unfortunately photographs are not allowed, but trust me, they are super cute)

On the ferry.

Seal pups playing in the tide pools outside Kaikoura, south island.

Kaiteriteri beach, one of the world's top beaches.

Cape Foulwind. A fantastic little walk that let to great views. I have some panoramics on my phone I'll upload at another time.

Mirror pool. There were supposed to be spectacular views of Mt. Cook but it was too cloudy this day.

One of the lakes near Wanaka. These reflected beautifully.

EDORAS. I mean South, south island. Merino sheep country, between Queenstown and Lake Tekapo.

Peter's Pool near Franz Josef glacier.

Mt. John just outside of Lake Tekapo. You could see for miles

Until next time, Sabrina