Fall Crops Planted

Saturday was 104 degrees, so we didn't do a lot that day. Rick went to Lowes and got a bunch of stuff we needed, including enough reed fencing to cover the back fence in the soon-to-be clubhouse area.

Rick fixed the broken boards.

Sunday was much cooler. You know you live in Chico when you are glad it's "only" low 90s. Rick laid out the irrigation. We used a five-gallon bucket to measure out the spacing.

Then Rick C and I started setting in plants. These are the seeds I started a month ago. We planted , from left to right, 5839 Cauliflower Cassius Hybrid Organic, 5837 Chinese Cabbage Kaboko Hybrid Organic, 5836 Broccoli Belstar Hybrid Organic, 5066 Cabbage Cairo Hybrid (red) all from Park Seeds (the numbers are Park's catalog numbers)

Here's a rare picture of me! OMG!

Catherine provides plenty of supervision.

With all the plants set in, Rick checks the irrigation coverage. I'll run over after lunch and put some water on them too, and check if they need a little shade. Fortunately, it's cool today; it's only 77 degrees right now, at 11:30.

Rick and Catherine pose in front of the new rows. I'll TRY to remember to bring over the newspaper, and we'll pull the mulch back around them.

Bed Prepared

Yesterday Rick C brought over the gypsum. Turned out Buddy had a spreader, so we dragged it out of the shed and put it to work. Here Rick adds more gypsum to the spreader after the first run. Good thing he has plenty of supervision!

Then Rick ran the tiller over it.

We harvested a couple more watermelons. The melon run is about done. They did surprisingly well given the very poor soil in that area. We also had tomatoes, basil, and rosemary foccacia. I'm supposed to be making zucchini bread from the last of the zucs but I've been lazy this week.

But then we had to relax because farming is SUCH hard work.

Five Months

Well it's been five months since we started this garden, and we're already working on our second crop.

We got energetic and continued clearing the back area where the clubhouse will go. There is plenty of room there, even if we leave the apricot tree for another season or two (assuming it lasts that long). We plan to plant another apricot along the fence, in line with the easternmost plum. And along the back fence, we can get in three nice lime trees.

Then we cleared the tomatillo patch area. I raked all the old mulch to the sides and back.

 Rick and I hauled compost and blanketed the area. Rick C. will get some gypsum to add also.

I harvested a bunch of serranos from my backyard and cooked them up into a wonderful sauce.

Cooler Days

We had a slight cooling trend, and it's amazing how much more energetic and productive you feel at 85 degrees versus 95 degrees. Anyway, lots of big doings, and Monday always ends up getting a double post as I fill in the weekend's events.

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First, however, I wanna give a special hello and hugs to Katinka. We miss you and wish you were drinking beer and feasting with us. /hugs

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I got a new refrigerator last week. This is actually farm news, because it's all part of my plan to get refrigeration at the farm.


I had negotiated with Ginnos to do a "double delivery" so when they brought my new fridge, they took my old fridge to Buddy's house to replace his aging and costly-to-run unit. He should see a big drop in his PG&E bill. My plan is that this savings is what we tap in to to run the farm fridge and a few lights.


Last Thursday, we had a feast! Now that the fridge situation was resolved, I was able to buy food again. I bought proscuitto, foccacia, and fresh mozzarella, and brought it to the farm, where we paired it with juicy-ripe honeydew melon, and fresh tomatoes and basil.


Ah! This is the life!


The naked ladies were at their absolute peak last week (third week of August). Fortunately, they are all in good locations.


And a close up:


The starts are really coming along. With the warm weather, partial shade, and diligent watering, they are germinating really well. Now we needed a place to put them all!


So yesterday we harvested the last of the tomatillos and pulled them out. We got quite a basketful of fruit.


And we made a big space available to plant. We'll need to amend the soil heavily with compost and gypsum before we set out the seedlings.


Rick found this tomatillo "skeleton."


Then, we began surveying the last uncharted territory. Here be dragons!


I dug a bunch of the irises out, and Catherine helped clip the fans. We will replant them along the fence line. They'll bloom much better for having been thinned and trimmed.


Rick and Rick tore out a bunch of chicken wire, old wood, and dead branches. They made really good progress in getting things cleared out. We need to bring a big limb saw to finish removing deadwood from the apricot. In the cleanup process, some ripe apples got knocked off, so we ate them up!



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What We're Eating

Rick C harvested a bunch of corn so that's what we had for dinner.


With apple and cheese for dessert.



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More Melons

All the melons are coming ripe. We picked another watermelon yesterday.



It was a lovely orange one, and we ate it right up.



This is actually from Monday, when Rick picked some corn. These were the second and third ears. Buddy said the first one tasted great.



The beans are coming ripe too. I planted those very late, but it looks like we'll get a nice crop.



Catherine takes a bite of bean. She made rather a different face when she had a bite of the orange hot thai peppers that are just starting to ripen.



We figure it's probaby time to harvest the rest of the tomatillos, and pull those rows up. We can pull the big mama tomatoes too, as they aren't producing well. Then we'll pull back the mulch, amend the soil, and start setting in the baby cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, and fennel I have started in pots. The seeds in this bed are coming up like crazy too. Even the carrots have germinated, and they can be fussy. We'll have to wait until the tomatoes stop producing to plant those. Then once this bed is free again, we'll start onion seeds.



The naked ladies are spectacular right now.



Rick picks more peppers.

Tomato Sauce

On Saturday, Rene and Cindy came by to see the farm.



We ate watermelon with them and had a lovely visit. Rene gave us some good insights on where to place the bar. It's always nice to get a fresh perspective. While we hate the idea of cutting down the apricot tree, it's true that it's probably doomed anyway, and the space behind it would make a fine place to build a bar.



Then on Sunday, we had our big tomato harvest party. Before we arrived, Rick C picked tons of tomatoes. Catherine brought baguettes and dipping oil for us to enjoy while we worked. We brought a campstove and a folding table, plus a number of pots, some cutting boards and knives, and a big spoon. Then we set up an assembly line.

Here, Rick cuts the tomatoes. We cut the tops off the tomatoes, then cut them in half.



Then we dropped them in boiling water. After a few minutes, when we could see the skins starting to loosen and peel up a little, we fished them out with the slotted spoon and dropped them in cold water.

Then we pulled off the skins, and dropped them, along with the cut-off tops, into the bucket for the chickens. Because we made so much usable chicken feed at once, it was worth taking it home rather than just composting it.



Here both Ricks are cooking while the rest of us drink beer and relax in the shade. There really wasn't that much work to do, and having a group made it easy.



We realized we'd all forgotten containers to put the sauce in, so Catherine ran out and bought some for us. Rick C also cooked up a big batch of jalapenos that he plans to pickle.



After we had peeled all the tomatoes, we put the meats in a big pot with a splash of olive oil, and cooked that for a while. By evening, it was mostly done, but the pot was still hot, so I just took the pot home. This morning, I simmered it for a few more hours, then let it cool and put it in the containers, all ready to freeze.

More Seeds In

The "lettuce table" is installed and I'm using it to start some seeds.



I thought this shot would show the seed packets better, but from left to right I have:

Kale, 2 rows of carrots, green mustard and red mustard. The crazy mustard is sprouting already.



We are picking melons almost every day now. Here, Rick sniffs a lovely ripe galia melon.



It's like a cross between a cantelope and a honeydew, with sweet green flesh.



Buddy strikes a contemplative pose.



And in the late afternoon, the sunlight is lovely.