P and S Farm

Ooze Tubes

2011-06-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

Ooze tube update.
They do work.

I fill them about 2 times a week but even when I didn't the other day, when checking under them, they are keeping the ground moist!

This is good since we are heading into some really hot weather!

I have them in two configurations that they suggest to check out which works better (I hypothesize this one is the best configuration since it encases the roots around the crown of the tree).
The others are in a long line on one side of the plant (the other configuration they suggest).

Ooze bags for watering new trees

2011-04-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

We've purchased some ooze bags to help with the between irrigation watering of new trees. While I ordered these this winter, we now have extras because of tree loss. I am planning on getting some of the trees replaced, we want some shade on this hill.

This drip irrigation system should help the trees that survived.
Now, my shopping list for new trees, pomegranate, olive, apricot

New members of the farm family

2011-03-16T14:00:00.001-07:00

We've got lots of greens for the grand opening of The Bountiful Kitchen and Shop!

Things are certainly greening up at the farm. We've got two new chickens that were born this week. Boy, being a chicken parent is hard.
We've generally gotten them at 2 days from a hatchery and the chicks are all pretty and fluffy. Not so when you are watching them be born in the brooder. It's a fun and engaging 24-36 hours!
We have two out of eggs, the first is about 4 days now, though we might have been low on temperature and he has a bit of an eye thing going on. The other one is exhausted from getting out of that egg!
Molli has enjoyed going in to watch what they are up to. She likes them not as food, but as pets...I think.

Busy February

2011-03-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

up
We're approved! Feb 24

Feb 18, 2011 Santa Fe with Phil, Jim Jr. and Jim Sr. Breakfast

February might be short, but it was a tough month at the farm. We began the month with two of the coldest days here in this high desert. They closed down I25 overnight and the ice and cold did a number on the plumbing in Sierra County....scratch that, in all of New Mexico. We know because we've been up towards Taos and down to Las Cruces to look for the needed parts. So long as he was doing some plumbing work, we did some reconfiguration of the irrigation to increase our coverage and to save even more water where possible.
We opened up the back of the chicken coop. Dug out the old road bed and ran pipe to the fruit trees that are out there. They are doing well, despite the deer deciding that fruit or not, they are good trees. I also got some new pipes else where.
January got us the laser leveled fields and February we ordered White Clover and Oats for ground cover. That seed came. It's amazing how much this stuff costs, but when you are covering almost acres, it makes sense. I'm going to use a broadcast spreader. I want to see how the mix of the two comes out, so I'll lay out some plastic tarp in the garage and look at that spread. I'm going to walk this and broadcast. Larger farms can't do this, but we can. It will take a morning but depending on how I carry the seed, I can refill this hand tool and get to stretch my legs between grading. (I have to think about the positive).

The chickens made it through the cold weather, but the eggs didn't. They are so fragile, it's amazing to me that some of these chickens can brood and do all the things like check temp and humidity, add water. Why, when a chicken is brooding, she barely gets off the nest. Yet, with the most modern of technology, thermometers, running water nearby, a heating unit, even n egg turner, we couldn't keep them alive. We lost power overnight when the water froze. The temperature dropped quickly and we didn't realize the power was out till morning. Sad day. We started new chicken eggs again on the 19th-22nd so we are hopeful that they will be viable this time. Keep your fingers crossed. Elvis does seem to take his job seriously!

The kitchen work has been busy but we did celebrate February 24th with an approval sticker on the window. We have three recipes and the shop is going to be great as well. Painting and polishing are making this into a nice location. I'm excited for so many positive things happening already over there. It's been interesting hearing the community reaction.

Finally, sustainability is something that I take very seriously. Trying to go from blossom to dried cherry is an interesting process, but it also can make a difference as to the quality of food that we eat at home. We enjoy sharing this with our family and friends as well. To be sustainable we'd like to be able to barter and sell a bit locally as well. The more we can share this in our community means that our neighbors benefit too. It makes me look forward to making the list of the seeds which can go in (spinach and mint this month inside, butter crunch lettuce didn't do well with the freeze) but we will not be deterred. That seed saving workshop last summer was a good thing and I put up lots of seeds.

Finally, I'm reading up on the planting of the clover and oats and found an article out of Ontario (okay, different climate, but concept is still good). They made a suggestion for ground cover but their example gave me an idea to keep down the weeds in the squash field. In this case, it is where we put in the plumbing. Start the squash, melon, pumpkin, etc inside about 4 weeks before transplanting outside. Work the soil to kill off the weeds...keeping even the sprouted weeds from growing before they can save energy in the roots through photosynthesis in the sprouted leaves. The chickens will help with that. Then, cage off the young plantings and plant the clover and oats ground cover. It should do nicely to keep weeds out. http://www.cog.ca/documents/07SP_SquashClover.pdf
I'll do the other side with the lasagna gardening and perhaps we will see which does better at keeping out the weeds this year.

I'll post March during March...I hope.

Pictures January at PnS Farm

2011-02-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

Kittens are now officially cats and growing!
Greg and DJ visit to pick pecans. Opened to the community for two days this year!
Javalina in the day time...20 feet from the house?

Laser leveling the two lower fields. Bob Helms' work will mean level field for irrigation waters.

January Farm

2011-02-01T06:28:00.001-08:00

January on the farm has been interesting. Early in the month we invited people to come on over to pick. We'd gotten what we could harvest and sell for the year, we wanted others to also be able to enjoy. Sold 200 lbs down in Las Cruces when we heard the prices were up on shelling. Got 80 lbs shelled resulting in about 48.9% return rate (meat only).I Will try a local source soon to shell the other 400 lbs. The trees continue to have some on and the Crows and Redwinged Black Birds are having a ball getting some off the trees with their hoping and picking. Our winter birds include several Sandhill Cranes who are coming every morning and enjoying the lower fields which seem to have some growth under leaves. These huge birds have been working their way to the fields closest to us and yesterday they were at the Cherry Trees just outside our door. As I was busy taking pictures, the chickens squaked and I looked up to see a coyote salivating at the nearby chickens. Molli ran the coyote off. He had a black tip on his tail, same as the last year's visitor, so I think this is one of the pair born a year ago last spring. We see a pile of feathers, but no carcass and the count of chickens holds at 20. The chickens have found a good balance of food out in the fields and the crushed pecans we have after sorting out the bird pecked ones from the pecans to be shelled. The yolks are that golden yellow and taste delicious.
They really aren't in much competition with the Turkeys who only seem to be making the run across the field to get to cover on the property just to the NE of the property. They seem to be in the creek alot more this year.
We've had some wind and some cold, but overall, the weather has been so nice, it is hard to suggest a better place I could be living. The Javalina even made an appearance during the afternoon yesterday. What a great drama every day.

We've got lettuce in the garden and in the greenhouse. Also, planted spinach and some buttercrunch in the greenhouse this week. Peas outside. The onions are already growing and I had to kick out some chickens who decided the greens looked good and tried them. Our Apricot and Olive trees arrived today. We will nursery them for a year around the vegetable garden before deciding which of last years trees took to great a hit from the deer and cows. Getting a handle on the seeds saved from last year to see what needs to be planted when. A few plants died because of bugs before we could get them in the ground, so will take extra precautions this year.

It's really nice to be watching the sun set at 6PM instead of the 4:45 or so that we had been seeing just a month ago. We just returned at 5 from the Montecello via the back road and the colors are beautiful as the sun set across the Black Range.

Family coming to visit.

2010-12-19T10:41:00.001-08:00

House is decorated. We found out from John Bliss, former owner of the farm, that the pines around are his family's previous Christmas trees. We cut branches from two to make our entry archway and our tree. Nothing big or fancy, but tradition.

December Ploughing?

2010-12-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

While our northern friends are digging out of snow, we are finally digging out of the sand and silt that was deposited during the Labor Day Week End Flood of 2008. We put up with low yield and no yeild in two fields and decided to have the fields leveled. Neighbor Bob Helms is working with us. He's got the big toys to be able to dig in and turn this all over.
There is much Bermuda grass and wild flowers in the fields, but they are not level and it means we aren't efficiently using the irrigation water. We also would rather have things the horses and cattle can eat. White clover? Hmmm,

While Bob and Phil worked on the tractors, I picked rocks and moved logs and trees. We had a couple of huge (15 feet) limbs that fell. I rolled one out of the way but Phil used the Kubota to pull the other one to the edge of the field.

Diesel gas: $3.00 gallon. Seed: $200. Feeling like a real farmer in the middle of December? Priceless!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T05:20:00.001-08:00

We are in the midst of finishing up this kitchen for the community as well as picking up pecans. Just keeping up with the wind which has done a tremendous job at taking down both pecans and leaves. We are definitely in the midst of fall. Temps have been low, even during the day. Stocking up for fire wood would be a good idea too.

The sun is just hitting the horizon these days at 6AM, it's a dark cold morning. We still have two horses foraging for food. We took a walk to the lower fields yesterday and there is stuff growing, though it was frozen in the little creek we have going from the pond through the irrigation gates. We didn't hit our deadline of getting a garage closed in. Then we can get in there and build a set of shelves and organize the place so we can do some work in there. The cats like it in there now, but unfortunately, so do the chickens.

We have a weird bunch of chickens this year. They have just expanded their foraging to the neighbors fields. Molli keeps them in line. We got one egg on about November 18, but nothing since. Since they are foraging, there is a good chance that they are laying somewhere. As the food wanes in the fields, we hope they will brood and lay in nests inside. I'm missing the rich orange yolks. Phil made a supermarket (organic brown) egg and our single egg for Thanksgiving. It was yellow vs. golden orange. Those pecans are amazing in the diet! The chickens follow behind the horses and eat the pecans they have stepped on.

The crows are here and in the overcast sky, there is an ominous sound of wings through the orchard and then you see these birds pluck a pecan and take it off to eat it on the ground. No cooperative tree shaking yet, there is too much available.

Advertisement for Facility Manager

2010-11-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

I would like to encourage everyone to check out the advertisement running this week and next week in the Herald and the Sentinel.
We'd like to be sure that we have the best candidate.

November Agenda

2010-11-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

General Agenda -The Bountiful Alliance

Meeting Date/Time: November10, 2010 11:30 AM
Location: Episcopal Church of St. Paul, 407 North Cedar Street, TorC, NM

I. Attendance/Sign in
II. Introduction of Visitors -please introduce your visitors to me and let me know ahead of time if they will be speaking. Limit 5 minutes without prior time schedule
III. Approval of Agenda; Minutes Aug Meeting; Approval of Treasurers Report -
IV. Old Business:
1. Kitchen-(Phil/Karen)

2. Fund Raising-Art Auction Dinner-(Susan/Eve)

3. End of Farmers’ Market summary (Colleen)

4. Bounty in the Desert (Dimid)

IV. New Business:
1.

2. Donations for St. Paul’s December Meeting

VI. Adjourn

Committee reports

Summer draws to a close

2010-10-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

This year has just slipped by! I can hardly believe that it is October. We've had The Bountiful Alliance Fall Harvest Festival. Being able to share the farm and hay ride or apple picking with the guests was quite enjoyable. Let's keep our eyes open for another farm to showcase! We have some excellent neighbors and want you to enjoy a day in the country from several perspectives!

One of our friends here in town suggested that one of the season changes was "when Bullocks took away the Sand bags in front of their store, you know Monsoon Season is over." It seems appropriate that the change of seasons is upon us moving from Summer to Autumn. In my classes, students have often commented that they love Michigan or __insert the name of any northern community here_, because it has the four seasons. Winter Spring, Summer, Autumn are felt in many ways here on the farm. I hear the crows flying into the trees for the pecans (speculation based on observation here) and the wild Turkeys are bringing their young chicks through the fields. The greens are deepening and the apples were ripe this week. Even with dozens of people picking we have apples to bring up to our daughters in Chicago.

Fall is also getting ready to put up the last of the tomatoes and turn the basil into pesto. We may not have pizza delivery, but the bruchetta from the garden yesterday was amazing...if I do say so myself.

Projects complete and pictures to follow: Cool Storage (can't really call it cold yet), tiling the last of the bedrooms, completing the last house bathroom, gardening, gardening with weeding thrown in just because we didn't have other things to do...like teach. I love each of the rooms and it's such a wonderful stage to watch the changing of the seasons. Cooler temps means lettuce and snap peas are in the ground along with more onions.

Previous Owners

2010-06-29T16:52:00.001-07:00

We were getting ready for a dinner meeting with some friends from TorC when Phil noticed people walking around the farm. Turns out, this was two of the four kids who grew up here between 1976 and 1991. The Watkins were in for the Hot Springs High School 80's reunion. Mr. Watkins was there and had some background for us about the farm. We learned that the Blue Carpet we pulled out in 2006 had been there when they moved in in 1976 (can you say ewww?)
We learned a bit about what was where and what their life was like. Gardens may be in different places and the pond may look bigger (must be that canoe nearby), but the people come back and can appreciate the land as we do.

The second owner was one of the people who came to dinner. He seemed to enjoy the reminicing about the place as well.

May on the Farm

2010-06-01T16:50:00.001-07:00

Happenings at PnS Farm. Building the Cold Storage and flowers on the Pomegranate tree!

2010-05-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Phil fixed the squeeky windmill before the new winds came. We lost several limbs on trees and one took out a fence. Other than shingles and one panel of the greenhouse, we did loose some tomato plants. Not as bad as town.
Fruit!!!

Pam and the dogs

2010-05-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Our friend Pam came to visit with her friends for Molli. Chica, Sloan, and Cassidy kept Molli running around and up partying at night. She loved it and we did too.
Pam was able to join me at the opening of the Michael Moore Library and Herb Garden. We also had a chance to visit the New Harmonies Smithsonian Exhibit at the Geronimo Springs Museum. Bonus, it was a free day and music playing. It was interesting to see the types of music and displays.

Always love walking the dogs and going near the creek. Lots of water babies!

Mother Goose I am not!

2010-04-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Recently we adopted 2 goslins and 2 goose eggs. We are incubating and parenting.

Mother Goose, I am not!

Bathroom Changes

2010-04-15T07:04:00.001-07:00

Visitors-Bath/Spa is available!

2010-03-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we got the bathroom about 90% done. Ceiling is not quite finished, but the cedar is in and the walls are stuccoed and floor is grouted and sealed. It's a very different feel in there.
Now, to get the bedrooms cleaned. Every tool from the garage is still in the rooms!

Sandhill Cranes and Cherry/Apricot Trees

2010-03-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

It's greening up in the fields and we have now put water on the fields for the past two weeks. We are seeing green.
The trees are budding in the first field. We are hoping that the temperatures stay above freezing as the cherry and apricot trees are budding. The freeze of these early buds could ruin our crop. Keep your fingers crossed. We'd also hope the winds stay under control so that the buds stay on the tree.
This farming thing is very dependent on the weather.

We are hardening up the Pomagranate and Pistachio Trees for planting! Holes are dug, just waiting for the weather to cooperate!

Remodeling and reusing

2010-03-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

We are in the process of remodeling the old bathroom. The huge tub surround is out! It was actually built into the room so that was our first challenge. We also removed the closet. That's now been built into the room next door which can now be called a bedroom because it has a closet! Yeah! Unfortunately, that room also still has the bath tub in it!
We've had to build the tub on a bit of a frame because of plumbing issues (the pipes are above the ground level due to the uneven nature of the house. We have also removed the illegal heater in the room and are making that corner into the sink area.

Reuses:
1. We are reusing the old flooring from the living room that was removed to make the other bathroom. This has been stripped and sanded and in some cases glued to make complete boards. These will be used on the wall around the sink after being sealed.

2. We are using some of the wood from the old bathroom structure to build the new structure, even though it is a different size, shape.

3. Closet has been removed and moved to a new room.

The results in both rooms look very promising. The bathroom looks so much bigger! We are going for a spacious spa feel.

Plan on visiting soon to see the results.

Busy Days

2010-02-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Since our last post in January, we have been busy planting seeds for the year. Last year, despite planting lots of seeds, we got few plants to germinate. This year, there are about 50 lettuce and 50 tomato plants that seem to be making it past the cotyledon stage of leaf growth. Perhaps it is the amended soil? Better sunlight? Tender loving care? Who knows, but this will be repeatable.

The worms have been doing their job and there is a great amount of compost. Mixing this in with the soil has added nutrients that perhaps weren't there in the past. In an effort to thin these tomato plants, we've put them in peat pots. They will be able to develop a better root system and the competition for space will be less. Also, I expect to transplant them back into the amended soil.

We've got the garden fencing replaced. It seems to have a more permanent feeling. I was able to get in the onions the day before it rained for 24 hours. We also have the auger and have dug about 10 holes. 5 are already filled with new Fuji Apple trees. After that rain, we walked around to take a look at them, they seem to be doing fine. Last year's trees took a hit in January with the deer eating some of the buds. We also have 5 pistachio trees and 5 pomegranate to go in as it warms up a bit more.

We have eggs. Lots of eggs, best not to leave your car unlocked and watch as you step off your porch, we may have visited while you weren't looking.

Turkeys still visit daily, with Javalina around at sunset. Molli wants to be brave and get out there with the Javalina, but we are keeping her in.

We are seeing things green up a bit. The first strawberry leaves are coming out and seeing a bit of grasses out in areas that the chickens haven't been to.

Pecan Season is for the Birds

2010-01-10T13:38:00.001-08:00

Pecan fed chickens!

We are officially turning the pecan fields over to the birds and javalina today. We opened the fields to our TBA friends yesterday. We had some takers, though with snow sticking on the shaded ground for about 3 days now, it is safe to say the morning was cold. We were glad to be able to open to these foragers who will be able to supplement their meals with some healthy pecans. Part of the locavore concept I'll be pushing on people through this year. Using what we can find and grow in this canyon and our local region will help us strengthen the ties to the farm and to our local community.

Pecan picking - free

Heat and massage for my sore back - free

Lotion for my rough chapped hands-$3

Pecans for the chickens and Molli at dusk each day when we put the Chickens away-priceless!

Our pecan trees are quite old, ne person who grows trees farther south, suggested his surprise at the ancient trees which still provide some great pecans. I've already made some pecan pie maple syrup and will find other taste treats to share with friends and family and to sell at the Farmers' Market in the coming months. I am thankful to the family who would have lived on this farm in the past and watered and cared for these giants. As they give up their gold for the season, I know that there is still much activity going on underground. The roots are preparing to send up moisture in the coming weeks and to send nutrients to prepare for the coming year's growth. The circle seems to have started anew.

We'll take time this week to water the fields, but to also sit back and enjoy some of these treats. Let's hope for another good year of pecans.

Nutrition in a Nutshell
Health Benefits of Pecans
Pecans – the only native American tree nut – have been a tasty favorite for centuries. The first known cultivated pecan tree plantings are thought to have taken place in the late 1600s or early 1700s in northern Mexico, whereas the first U.S. plantings took place in Long Island, NY in 1772. By the 1800s, pecans were at the heart of a full-fledged North American industry. Pecans have a rich history that goes back hundreds of years, but recent history is redefining how people think about those delicious little tree nuts. Research conducted over the past decade has confirmed that pecans can be a healthy addition to your diet. Below are summaries of landmark research studies confirming the health benefits associated with eating a diet rich in pecans.

New research, published in the August 2006 issue of Nutrition Research, shows that adding just a handful of pecans to your diet each day may help inhibit unwanted oxidation of blood lipids, thus helping prevent coronary heart disease. The researchers suggest that this positive effect was in part due to the pecans’ significant content of vitamin E – a natural antioxidant. Pecans contain different forms of vitamin E, which protects blood lipids from oxidation. Oxidation of lipids in the body - a process akin to rusting – is detrimental to health. When the "bad" (LDL) cholesterol becomes oxidized, it is more likely to build up and result in clogged arteries.

Snow Birds

2010-01-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

Sitting with my computer on my lap, I've been able to enjoy the best entertainment for an Environmental Scientist, nature. Over the last few days, it seems that the crows have taken on a new routine. More have been on the ground and doing a jump in the leaves. You can see something come up with them, so I wonder if they are trying to break open some pecans. One unfortunate crow has been working on a particular pecan on the tree outside the window. It's interesting to watch him hang upside down and not free this pecan group. He's persistant.

Another crow ended up dragging a wing while we watched. We've not seen it fly and it is hopping in front of Molli who is treating these birds as she would the chickens. Curiosity but not preying. That's fine, if this bird is not healthy, he can be a meal for one of the coyotes and perhaps they will leave our chickens alone!

We've got a variety of other birds visiting through this winter as well:

Gambel's Quail:

Western Meadowlark:

Flicker:

We also have lots of song birds that we haven't gotten close enough for them to be distinguished.

All in all, some great entertainment as these animals forage for their food.

We've also had a Male Javalina in the evenings at dusk and some Mule Deer. Two coyotes continue to scout around the fence line, giving Molli a wide range. Thank goodness the skunk hasn't been around lately.

Weather Center

2010-01-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

Working to get the weather center up and running. The wind meter and humitity sensor are up on an old telephone pole and doing their thing. Having some trouble with the rain guage (this is the desert, so not sure that's working yet) and the UV Meter. While the rain guage is at least telling us 000 (doesn't snow count?) the UV meter isn't recording anything yet.
Email into Oregon Scientific still has not been returned. Wondering if it is working.

Looking forward to recording the weather over the coming year(s)!

January 1 Sandhill Cranes Visit PnS

2010-01-04T09:26:00.001-08:00

As we were driving out of the front gate on January 1, the lower fields were hosting six Sandhill Cranes. They were part of the water foul and song birds who seem to be taking advantage of the open fields and pond on the property.

Scientific Name: Grus canadensis

Range: Arctic and sub-arctic regions through Northern Canada from Baffin Island to the Yukon, coastal and interior areas of Alaska, and Northeast Siberia. Winters in East New Mexico, Northwest Texas, the Texas coast and parts of Northern Mexico

We didn't get pictures of the visitors

(these are actually from http://whozoo.org/AnlifeSS2001/melimass/MNM_SandhillCrane.htm)

These six farm visitors showed that we are creating habitat! Also, it was nice to see visitors who might have gotten our card when we visited Northern Canada and the Arctic this past Summer!

Usual location for crane wintering:

http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane/

A Farmers work is never done?

2010-01-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Rescued Yucca Before and After with the Cholla and other cactus. Not yet ready to call this a success, but we are on our way.

What do January and Furniture moving have in common? Well, normally, it might be cleaning, but for this year, we've finally created a shelf area that can be put up and taken down each January. We have some mixed greens growing (after some hefty leaf cutting for dinners) and are ready to start some seedlings.

We got these metal shelf holders for about 3 dollars at the Economy Shop in Oak Park just before we moved to NM (I think we were probably supposed to be donating things at the time). http://www.economyshop.org/ The pieces held promise and, by the time we pulled them out of the greenhouse, a lot of dust. These will help us in our new year of gardening.

New recipe in our files, Pecan Pie Syrup. Phil made some fabulous French Toast and we kicked off the new year with some of this syrup, made with Organic Grade A Maple Syrup with pecan pie ingredients. Yum. A good way to return to the pecan hulling process. We are almost done with what we hope to harvest. Another huge bag ready to go to the sheller this week.

New Years Resolution-try to live as sustainably as possible for the year.

Here's to good health!

New Year of Sustainability

2010-01-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

We don't usually grow much inside, but the last few weeks have been below freezing in the greenhouse. We've already had busted a pipe in the Chicken Coop, so we moved the lettuce and spinach flats inside to the sunroom. The herbs (oregano and cilantro mostly) are already inside and being used in the kitchen.
I needed a watering can. The dillema was that the large watering can we have creates too strong a flow for the planters. I had this gallon apple juice container, I drilled some holes in the lid to make a watering can. Works pretty well and my first project of the year cost nothing!

New Mexico Snow for the holidays

2009-12-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

Pumpins, pecans, and Phil

2009-12-31T16:53:00.000-08:00

Recording 29 Chickens today, we put out a pumpkin for them to eat. Foraging is getting a bit sparce but they are still happy to get out each day. We've taken to calling them back with clapping and Phil inside offering up opened pecans.

We gave them the biggest today and we'll give them the last one tomorrow.

Not to forget the human component of the house, I used the chicken's eggs and some of our pecans to make oatmeal chocolate chip pecan cookies. I used butter and never can remember when to actually use shortening to get the chewy cookies instead of the crunchy ones.

Finally, we worked on putting up the first of the two bump gates that will help us not to have to get out of the car to open and shut gates when we leave the property. These are electrified to keep the cattle and horses in, but a green area will allow humans and cars to safely pass through.

It's been a great year for PnS Farm. We continue to harvest pecans and will be selling pecans, eggs and other treats in the new year!

Watercress

2009-12-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Another great Christmas here in New Mexico. Turkey, stuffing and salad. Simple fare, but good company.

We grew most of the salad ingredients. We have lettuce growing in the sun room after moving it out of the greenhouse (it's down to 14 at night these days). We also used some of the dried tomatoes we put up back in October. The weather was great so we took a walk up to the weir to collect some watercress for the salad too.

Watercress is related to Mustards, but is a semi-aquatic plant. It is a non-native species, but is found in our local water ways, and that of others around the country. It has a nice peppery flavor. It's also reported that the watercress plant has properties of antioxidents.

It was nice to get out and walk with Molli and Phil. A great way to spend the holiday.

We have eggs!

2009-12-24T05:02:00.001-08:00

This summer we lost most of our chickens and we replaced the flock about the first part of August. An unusual time of year to be starting. We talked with some people who raise chickens in this area and they suggested it would be spring before we would get eggs from the new chickens. The daylight is one of the triggers for the maturity.

Well, the other day we went out to check on their nesting boxes. Low and behold, there were three eggs in two different boxes. The next day we collected 6 eggs and another 6 the next day. Molli loved the first egg. It's been cold so even if the egg was not layed the first day, it was okay for her to eat. Usually they don't lay for five to six months. There is also a light requirement. It appears they need about 14 hours to start. We have 1 small light in the hen house, so that must be enough extra light to cause them to start laying. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/ps/ps02900.pdf

We found that we had a chicken or two who were growing bigger than others, but not developing the back claw. These were supposed to have been selected for all layers (no roosters) but the company threw in a free chick. We thought it was the exotic species we had gotten. (she didn't make it as a chicken, but rather was probably a coyote or hawk meal instead). The cock-a-doodle-do of the morning suggested two or more voices. Sure enough, Phil saw one of the big ones crowing and ...let's say mounting another.

Difference between Chickens and Roosters: http://www.ehow.com/video_2349783_the-difference-between-hens-roosters.html We don't see the back spur yet, but apparently

Notes about chickens:

All chickens lay eggs in a series - never more than one per day. If the eggs are not collected, and a sufficient number of eggs are allowed to remain in the nest, the hen may stop laying eggs and start brooding. When the hen leaves the nest after laying an egg, it cools which suspends the development of the embryo inside. If the ambient temperature remains between 45F and 65F, the embryos will remain viable for as long as two weeks. When the hen becomes broody and sits on her eggs for three weeks, all of the eggs will hatch at about the same time. This is why it is important for the hen to leave the nest after laying.

Also, some info on Egg laying if you are interested: http://www.afn.org/~poultry/egghen.htm

The first group of eggs will be used for the Pies we are making for Christmas Dinner for the meals we will be delivering for shut ins! Can't think of a better use.

Pecan Pie

2009-11-27T05:27:00.000-08:00

Pecan Pie

Preheat to 350 degrees F
3 eggs (of course free range eggs would be best)
1 cup sugar or sugar substitute appropriately
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp Mexican Vanilla (it's what I had)
1 cup Kayro syrup (it calls for dark but I used agave syrup this time so light worked for color)
3 cups pecans (though the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups, more for the deeper pie and more pecans
1 pie crust

Whip eggs, whip in sugar. Add melted butter, syrup and vanilla.
Lay pecans on bottom of shell (I did half there and half in the mix) They say that if you put them on the bottom of the shell you get a crisper crunch.
Bake 55 minutes to 60 minutes. If top gets too brown, cover with tin plate or foil.
Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving games-Picaria

2009-11-27T04:59:00.001-08:00

Picaria-New Mexico Pueblo game

I was searching information that would be historical for our farm and our area and wondered how those who lived here before the Thanksgiving Day parade was on TV but in the field might have entertained themselves while the bird was roasting. I didn't find much but did find this game that some natives in the US might have played. There was a hint that this is played somewhat like our current tic-tac-toe in research. I'm sure mothers didn't draw this one on placemats in restaurants to play with their children as they waited for food to be served, as I did oh, so many times with CJ. I love the board, which was likely on a skin or drawn on the earth with a stick. Stones are used to mark the places.

One site suggested: "Picaria is an abstract strategy game very similar to tic-tac-toe and checkers, which was popular among the Pueblo people and other nearby tribes in the American Southwest. The two player game is played on a board with four “exed” out boxes creating 13 intersection points. Each player is given three stones, which are placed in alternating turns on the board until all six stones are in play. After all of the stones have been placed players move their stones along the lines from intersection to intersection, until one player has aligned three of their pieces in a row. Each player can only move one space at a time and jumping is not allowed. It’s a very simple game with some fun math-based strategies—think a simpler version of go mixed with that tic-tac-toe pub game. "

I found it interesting that this game of strategy and math was actually simplified as the generations passed to the tic-tac-toe we play today. While this is a simple game, easy enough for children, I find that the math skills in strategy are a higher order thinking. I'm left to wonder if this was an adult game or if parents might have played with their children. It helped me reminice about my grandmother, would pull out the checkers when I stayed the night and she would teach me about the strategy of winning this game. I also remember when she stopped letting me win and made me earn the victory. A hard lesson that would take many frustrating attempts before success.

For more specific Picaria directions:
http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/RR/database/RR.09.00/treptau1/game11.html

Celebrate the harvest

2009-11-27T04:34:00.001-08:00

We decided that we would try one of our July born chicks for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up with over 30 that have survived. This is after we traded 8 and had some who didn't make it home some days this fall. With 10 black chickens and fewer of each of the others, the brown, white and barred chickens were going to be spared.

I recently read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, so I followed their formula for the plucking, a form of harvesting we hadn't done in the past. We usually wring a neck and then skin them with the feathers attached to the skin. When you approach the skinless version, there are a few things lost besides the skin and feathers, a thin layer of yellowish fat that can help the roasting bird stay moist. Phil wanted to grill this year so the skin was needed to keep from drying the bird out.

Okay, so the book suggests that they "sequester" the bird without food for 24 hours. Phil lured with his pecan snack to grab one. The others won't trust him for a week or so. The greenhouse was a nice final location overnight. The moment of truth was announced with an apron, cutting board and recently sharpened knife to make the going quick and painless. The chicken went relatively painlessly (I hope). We hung her up on a tree to drain and start plucking. We also started some water boiling for a quick dip, supposed to make the plucking go easier. Don't know if it was as hard as it has been reported, but it did take some time. If there is a machine that plucks, I want to make one before the next time we do this. There are some areas that might have hidden quills, but the bird is still around 5 lbs, pretty big and featherless. He's ready to be redressed with some stuffing of bread, raisins, the last of the dried apples, jalapeno peppers and chicken soup. Phil would also like a bit of sausage in there, so will likely do that too.

Our other dinner items will include the last of the tomato with some fresh onion and lettuce drizzled with OM balsamic vinegar, sweet potato and pecan pie. Pretty light fare. Pecan pie at David and Susan's. Wes, Katie and the kids are all there.

"Our harvest being gotten in , our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice togehter." Edward Winslow

This holiday is about giving thanks and celebrating a year of harvest.

Bag Garden Revisit, Results and Conclusion

2009-11-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

I frequently read about alternate ways to do things around the farm. I like to try some of these ideas to rate their value. In one case, I read about starting a garden, using bags of soil, but utilizing the soil’s bag as a barrier in the process.

Around March, we finished clearing this ground and put up a temporary fence. We purchased bags of organic soil and poked holes in the bottom for water drainage. We cut flaps in the top. The flaps were used while seeds germinated and to prevent moisture loss during the hotter parts of the summer.

After the first season the results were mixed. Of the 20 bags we started with they all grew something. We still see carrots and leeks in two of the bags towards the 2nd and 3rd rows and we also have a second crop of garlic peaking through in the 3rd row. The last row (against the hill) you’ll see 2 bags that have strawberries. Lots of growth, few strawberries for humans (I think animals got lots of them). The carrots that we have harvested were very stubby. As I harvested carrots the other day, I wondered if the bags limited the downward growth of some of the root vegetables.

One type of plant that did extremely well was the squash family. We had some rather prolific zucchini plants. Cucumbers did pretty well too. I shook seeds from this summer’s plants, like dill and lettuce, onto the bag and have shut the bags up tight. I will take two bags into the green house. I’m going to try an experiment with some organic fertilizer I found from Miracle Grow. I’m interested in the components of this one. Most of the time you have some weird blue crystal, this is actually humic looking.

I’d like to work on the rest of the area. I’m seeing a move in the potato location and melon/squash. I think I’ll put the later two into the back where some potatoes grew this year. I’ll also try to plan the plants that need shade to survive the hottest parts of the day to be under the shade screen Phil installed. We will also fence this area in. We lost some of the last vegetables I to Javalina, just before the Fall Harvest Festival. Sad. Planning for next year is going on already. Phil has tried some things and likes them, we had other ideas from the wonderful gardens at the 4th Street Community Garden. Hope to see some new things too. Our stash of squash, onion and some dried things like tomato and peppers are going to have to hold us over. Still some fresh in the markets.

Bag gardens? A go for me and a great suggestion for someone who wants a small contained garden!

Five minutes to breath

2009-11-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

It seems that the temperatures are getting cooler and I still haven't had a chance to sit for five minutes to write a blog entry.

We did quite a bit of work for the TBA Fall Harvest Festival. It was well worth it too. With almost 200 people coming through PnS Farm on October 24, 2009, we found out we could host a wonderful group of individuals and have a lot of fun along the way. We could not have pulled the day off without countless volunteers in The Bountiful Alliance. From those who donated their fall produce to Armaderis Ranch and our Fabulous Cooks and house crew, your efforts allowed Phil and I a chance to talk with many people. Thanks to all of you for your efforts. We had no accidents and were able to raise funds for this grand organization.

Pecans were just beginning to fall and the leaves were turning various shades of orange and yellow.

Thanks for sharing a wonderful day.

Sandi

It's October already? w/picture

2009-10-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

October is here already and I don't really know where the summer went.
Our friend Pam came out last month and helped us start the dock that we built for the boat Phil is sure to get very soon.

The project started with the removal of cattails. We used an environmentally safe product that degrades quickly but would kill the cattails down to their roots. We felt it was important to keep one end of the pond open and to work to control the cattail population. We made use of the removed cattails for our hillside project (another post soon, I promise).

Next, we used the poles that we rescued from our Michigan house. We did added a cross piece and got into the muck and started screwing them into the pond bottom. I wanted a 10 foot pier, so we got to get into the water and started screwing them into the clay bottom. Phil rescued me when I wasn't able to get it far enough to be stable. We then put more sand around these to stabilize further and make it less mucky when we walked on the bottom.

We used 4 x 4s for the lengths (supported with salvaged bricks to keep the 4x4 out of the sand and cut 2 x 6's to make the planks. We ran out of wood and went in search of more and found something that was blue instead of greenwood. Still don't know quite what the blue is, but it isn't coming in contact with the water on a regular basis.

It's a nice place to enjoy a sunset!

PS, Pam, Thanks!

Harvest time!

2009-09-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah, my garlic is emerging fromthe soil! I also have fall peas and spinach. Phil is hoping none of the make it.
I'm making dill relish today with the current cukes. Threw in a carrot for sweetness and the last of the harvested onions...but wish I had more fresh dill!

My earlier experiment with the bags is quite interesting. Some of the carrots seem very stumpy (shortened but thick). I wonder if this is a result of the bottom of the bag. Next year's experiment will have to have a bag and straight soil planting to see if it is limiting the growth downward. Don't think this was covered in the research I've done.
Bags are a winner with vegetables that are above ground (zucchini) and some that are below (onions, leeks). There is an abundance of strawberries and we get one or two each day when we go outside. They are also sending off runners. Early season lettuce was great. Finally, dill and cilantro and fennel were fabulous, but went to seed quickly. I'm short of dill for that reason.

I've started putting in some things for fall and winter. I've got a small section inside the greenhouse with spinach and mustard greens as well as my two tomato plants (plum size and indeterminate). These are being watered with the new watering system Phil installed. Yeah, that makes it so much easier. Outside, garlic for next year. Nice to be planning for next year with some action beyond drying, canning and saving seeds.

I've tried uploading the pictures, no luck times three.
Hopefully Riolink will be out to fix this slow and sporatic system on Monday!

Chicks are free ranging

2009-09-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a few of the chicks made their way outside. It was really interesting to see which are taking their first stab at the open world. The boldest are following the chicken and hen outside. By midday, there were about 35 of the 48 out there with them. This is good for us. They are drinking lots of water and eating lots of feed. We aren't creating enough scraps each day to supply them with enough food as they grow! Maybe this way they will keep the bugs down around the plants as well.

Do politicians need to get with the times?

2009-08-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

Do politicians actually get it?

While writing my posts for class recently, we were listening to an NPR story about a family in Shorewood Wisconsin who had planted vegetables in their strip of land in the front yard that is commonly known as the parkway. This couple was cited by the city council for the vegetable garden because of an ordinance that suggests nothing over 4 inches could be planted there. Generally speaking, most communities with sidewalks have this parkway land and it has an easement for utilities. When the couple went to the city council meeting to let them know what they were doing and why (it was the sunniest place on the property), they found out that this was a little known or enforced ordinance. In fact, several people up and down the street had bushes and Hosta plants planted there. One city council woman (she’d been on the council for 23 years) had perennial flowers there. Why was this couple being singled out? Were they singled out because it was different and did not fit with the community’s image? Good thing the First Lady doesn’t live there?
http://www.shorewoodnow.com/news/49002536.html
http://haas414.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/milwaukee-suburb-struggles-with-people-doing-what-they-want-in-their-yard/
This is reminiscent of a problem that we ran across in the news a few terms ago, hanging out laundry. I thought there would be no question that this issue would be solved for the community, but doing a search, found that there are still questions about this in some communities. Go figure, we are in an economic slump, we are trying to save money and energy (hanging out your laundry can save up to $80 a year-I do it!). Are we really so worried about how our neighborhoods look, that we want people to spend money and energy so we don’t have to look at their skivvies? Clothes lines as an eyesore? Really?
http://www.theolympian.com/181/story/927455.html
Is it time for communities to consider these outdated ordinances and choose more ecologically friendly rules/laws? Aren’t there more serious problems to deal with than laundry and vegetable gardens in our yards? Aren’t they our yards? I suppose I’m grateful that I live on a farm where my neighbors can’t see the weeds in my garden or the laundry on my deck.

Happy Anniversary PnS Farm!

2009-08-03T16:46:00.001-07:00

This week, we've lived here two years! That's amazing. We were walking around the property and talking about what we will need to do and get for our next projects. As we looked around, I'm amazed at how much we've accomplished in two years. Well, we did do some during the 4 year remodel. The important thing is, we've come a long way to making this a sustainable property. Ho and Mo and the new chicks agree!

Back in 2003 we decided to do Christmas in Santa Fe with Phil's Dad. We had a wonderful time and Sarah and John were there. John had just purchased part ownership in A Spear Ranch. We took a day to drive down to Truth or Consequences/Las Palomas Canyon. The ranch and surrounding properties were wonderful. Phil and I fell in love with the area and began negotiations for the property next door.

Many of our vacations between 2004 and 2007 were based on going to the Michigan property or to the Las Palomas Canyon property to work on the houses. By August 2007 we were ready to get here full time.

We love it in Sierra County, New Mexico. While some may have been skeptical of our ability to be sustainable or happy in this remote area, we felt confident and very comfortable in our decision. This June/July we traveled 11,740 miles and along the way, there wasn't one point we would rather stop and live on the map. While we might be able to live in a different region, this place is great in reducing stress and allowing us to move closer to our objective. We are living in a simpler location, we have less of a carbon footprint in our daily life decisions.

New Chicks at PnS Farm

2009-07-31T05:21:00.000-07:00

Chicks have arrived!

As some of you may have heard, we had a predator in the Chicken Coop while we were gone and lost our laying hens and all the ducks. We were sad to see so many of the Henriettas gone. Not sure who it was, though we did see some gnawed wood on one of the doors. Beaudacious Farms down the road had the same problem last summer. He lost 50 of his hens, we only lost 8, so it is a problem.

We ordered 50 assorted Brown Egg layers from Murray McMurray Hatchery and should be back in the egg business next summer. We have the coop enforced too.

Chicks born 10AM on July 29 (Kevin's B'day as well as our newest niece-Alison Harper Edds...6 lbs 13 oz 20"...(Congratulations Becky and Dan)

Our choice of varieties, but we guarantee at least 5 different ones from this list: Black Australorps; Lt. Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black and White Giants; Buff and White Orpingtons; New Hampshire, Rhode Island Reds, Barred, White, Partridge, Buff Rocks;Delaware, Sussex, Turkens; White, Silver Laced, & Columbian Wyandottes, Red Star and Black Star. These chicks will make a colorful and productive assortment of pullets.

Don't know what type we have though we seem to show about 1/3 look yellow with black (Brahmas? http://img2.allposters.com/images/PTGPOD/OSCAA-00000870-001-FB.jpg)

1/3 look pure yellow (http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Peter-Cross/Freshly-Hatched-Baby-Chick-with-Broken-Egg-Photographic-Print-C12196192.jpeg)

1/3 look back and white (Wyandottes?)http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3298612972_f27cffa42d.jpg

Molli was having a great time watching over these chicks. She had her snout in the box with them when we drove home from the post office ("they sure are loud!" according to our Postmaster who chick sat for 1/2 hour while we drove there.)

They all arrived alive. This morning, they were huddled around under the light. All seem to be present and accounted for....as close as you can count 50 scrambling chicks.

Side note: We have the coop separated into two sides, the last hen and rooster are keeping their distance, but a quiet dark 5AM morning was shattered with the rooster crowing. A good sign that the chicks are accepted? Let's hope.

Animal Crackers

2009-07-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

One of the best deals for snacks was the Wally World Animal Crackers. $1.98! A huge bag almost last us the whole trip. Molli and Sandi both love these Animal Cracker cookies. Given that we were looking for animals, I usually mentioned the type of animal that was up for eating. By the end of the trip, the bag had been crushed. Is this the same as road kill?

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?

Final Days of the Trip

2009-07-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our final days of the trip were spent in Sedona, Arizona. This is Red Rock country just south of Flagstaff. This is the southern most part of the Colorado Plateau. Having started our trip, 11,500 miles before with our first night with Tom and Les in Parker, Co, this seemed a relaxing and excellent way to finish the trip on the Colorado Plateau.
The rocks show great layers of color, with the Red of their name coming from Iron in the rock. Because of the different areas the sandstone is found, the process takes millions of years to form this Red, Orange, Tan, almost white array of rock.
http://www.sedona.biz/sedonageology.htm

We did a great drive down a forest road and picnicked at one of the Forest Service Campgrounds. We found the FS Campgrounds to be quite crowded with 1000s of people at Slide Park, probably because it is right on Oak Creek and has great access for swimming. Because this is above 4000 ft, the temps were perfect for sleeping! Sedona is known for its new age and psychic energies and there are four vortex experiences that they talk about. (CJ and I went to a couple just over a year ago and didn't really feel anything except the crowds!) http://where2camp.tripod.com/vortex.html

One of the places I saw that we had to visit was the Arizona Botanical Garden (sorry no website). They are located in Clarkdale, AZ. It's just on the other side of Cottonwood and has a wonderful assortment of xeriscape worthy plants. Francis was at the counter and offered us water and even took the time to fill a small bowl for Molli. He was great at answering our questions and giving us some ideas about what might grow in our area. http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SUNA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Arizona+Botanical+Gardens,+Clarkdale&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&view=text&latlng=16967781603470538633

The final days were quite relaxing. We enjoyed a night out at the Tavern Grill in Cottonwood. We ate outside and even enjoyed a light rain shower while we were there. Nicole, our waitress, had grown up in Cottonwood and told us a bit about growing up there, moving away and coming back. She's going to be studying lapidary with a master as she returns to school.

It was nice to get back to the farm after all that driving. The trip was one that will hold memories for a life time. A trip like this may only come once in a lifetime, I've actually been lucky to do it. This tirp took me to some remote areas that I'm not sure you could possibly do on a short week long vacation.

Now, to go through the pictures and get some posted!

Kindred Spirits-Phil's Post

2009-07-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Back home safe and sound after 39 days and 11,738 miles. We traveled through nine states (NM, CO, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA, NV and AZ) and three provinces (BC, YK, and NWT). We crossed the Atlantic/Pacific Continental Divide three times and the Pacific/Arctic Continental Divide at least four times. After seeing literally hundreds of small towns and several cities, Sandi and I both agreed, there’s no place better for us than our own small farm in Las Palomas Canyon, NM. We are very lucky.
Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful trip and enjoyed almost every minute of it. We set out to see the most remote corners of North America we could reach, and we managed to explore some of the truly isolated communities of Canada and Alaska. On the scale of these grand expanses of real estate, there is no such thing as an isolated community in the lower 48; no place where the nearest gas station 150 miles away; no place (that I know of) where groceries and other necessities must be flown in for much of the year; no place where the locals live almost entirely on subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering.

It seemed to us that the farther from cities we went, the more “kindred spirits” we encountered. Although Sandi and I were certainly strangers in these strange lands, we found that meeting locals was no problem in places like Dawson City, Mayo, Inuvik, Tok, Seward, Watson Lake, etc. Many appreciated our curiosity about their lives and locale. Others anticipated the dollars we would spread in their communities, which rely on tourism for much of their sustenance. But, we also felt like we had some things more intimately in common with these isolated peoples, coming from one of the most sparsely populated counties in the lower 48 states (Sierra County NM has a density of 3.2 people per square mile), and trying to make at least part of our livelihood from the land. Just like in Sierra County, these people of the North work three or more “jobs” to make ends meet, often including the sale of goods they found, made, grew, shot or caught themselves. They have learned to use native or recycled materials combined with local talent, knowledge and ingenuity to build their tools, furniture, fences, homes and businesses. They love the land and appreciate that they can live in such beautiful places. I like to think Sandi and I are learning some of those same ways and definitely the same awe and appreciation for the lands we each live on. These similarities made for easy conversation.

Just as we had moved from Chicago to remote New Mexico , many (if not most) of the residents of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska came originally from someplace else (For example, only 38% of Alaska’s population was born there). They chose to move from the crowds and comforts of larger cities to the wilderness, seeking a simpler, more independent life, where knowledge of nature is more valuable than knowledge of street grids. And, just as it was for us in our own Sierra County, these newcomers were readily accepted into their new communities, so long as they appreciated their surroundings and did their part to support the community. So, as it turned out, we have much in common with the remote residents we met.

One such kindred spirit turned out to be my own cousin, Patti (Trish) Duncan. As Sandi has reported, Trish lives near Haines, Alaska in the beautiful log home her boyfriend, Mike Gaedes (sp?), built himself. Trish “chucked it all in” a couple years ago, left her corporate job and took off on a long traveling tour of the US and Canada. She discovered the beauty of Haines, and stayed on, and took a job with the local ferry/sightseeing company. Soon after, she badgered Mike into a date while he was a captive audience ferrying from Haines to Skagway, where he worked as a glacier guide. Although we were not able to meet Mike, we hope he and Trish will come down to visit us in New Mexico this fall or winter. We think they will like our farm almost as much as we enjoyed their beautiful home and surroundings in Haines.

Any discussion of meeting people and kindred spirits has to include our dog, Molli. Dozens of times folks would stop us to meet her, many with children or their own dogs in tow. Of course, dog owners will meet and talk anywhere, but Molli deserves special mention for attracting children with her sparkly demeanor, playfulness and soft fur. She was a delightful companion and opened many doors for us.

Most travelers seemed to have much smaller dogs than Mollie – the type that live on their owners’ laps, in their arms, or in the new special carrying bags, slung over a shoulder. In those secure spots, these animals seemed like cute stuffed toys. But, left in the car alone or on a leash where being crushed by a passing foot is a real possibility, these little dogs turn into what we called “Yappers.” They barked insistently and consistently at anything and everything that came within range. Unlike Molli, Yappers are generally avoided by others, and seem to prevent rather than augment meeting new people for their owners. We’ll keep Molli, thank you very much.

Note from Sandi: We enjoyed meeting and talking with so many people during our travels, we hope to be as friendly and open as people come to New Mexico to visit as well!

________________________________

How hot is it?

2009-07-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

After a morning of driving through Yosemite, we decided that our timing to travel across Death Valley wasn't as good of planning as we probably could have had. Our blower on the Jeep went our before we even left New Mexico 11,000 miles ago. It does have cooling and heating ability...at 50 mph. The high temps in Death Valley were of concern, but nothing to fear. We drove through the Valley at 115 degrees, though we can only verify 114 degrees as the temp went down a degree as I got ready to take the picture.
Plenty of plastic film pieces to block the sun and keep the car cool. We moved these around on the windows through out the last part of the trip to block the heat of the sun.
We may have been warm in the car, but the 2009 Badwater Ultra Marathoners had to be even hotter. While driving we saw people running, walking and sometimes shuffling through the intense heat. They had numbers and support cars with them, so we knew something was up.
We found a few sites to explain...http://www.badwater.com/stories/
They say the highest temp that day was 122 degrees!
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_633914.html
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/65648/ultra-marathon-runner-completes-death-valley-run

Yosemite

2009-07-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

Driving across California, we opted to stay outside of Yosemite and drive through in the early morning hours. We hoped to see some wildlife and to avoid the traffic we hit last year while the roads were being worked on. Saw a hawk and pika but not much else. (Molli claims the first siting of the pika). Yosemite is one of the areas that is being closely monitored for changes due to global warming (http://www.nrdc.org/land/parks/globalwarming/yosemite.asp). We saw lots of wildfire damage and this is one of the effects of global warming according to the National Resource Defense

Drier Conditions Fuel the Risk of Severe Wildfires
Scientists predict that global warming will intensify three main causes of wildfires: high temperatures, summer dryness and long-term drought. Researchers tracking climate change have made specific projections for wildfires in the Sierra Nevada, the range that includes Yosemite. They expect that the number of acres burned by wildfires in the region will increase by 50 percent by 2050 and double by 2090.

That may seem like a long time and large number of fires, but if you haven't already enjoyed this National Park, the shear numbers of visitors should cause you to make your plans soon to visit. Next time we go through we will climb the mountain! (they don't allow dogs to hike in the National Parks any longer, so we have been limited in the places we can take her in this park to hike)

Wineries Link from Napa

2009-07-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

Napa was busy and the two wineries we visited, Silverado (http://www.silveradovineyards.com/index.html) http://www.corksavvy.com/vineyards/2369 and Miner (Minerwines.com) http://www.corksavvy.com/vineyards/2369.

This was a refreshing taste on very relaxing porches. One price and you can taste a variety of wines to make your choices to take home.

We can never remember which wines we liked and which we should avoid. Cork Savvy has a way to take care of this! http://www.corksavvy.com/vineyards/search?ltr=s&page=7

The Longest Day

2009-07-11T06:33:00.001-07:00

The Longest Day
We worked to take the tent down in darkness for the first time in many weeks. As we were driving along the coast highway, Phil commented that this was the first night driving in several weeks.
The longest day seems to have ended sometime around Haines. One of the things I wanted to experience during this trip to the Arctic was the 24 hours of daylight. We did that on June 20-21 in Inuvik. The thing that surprised me was that the longest day would continue through our time in Alaska and part of the time in Canada.
One of our camp sites was a dry camp near the McLairen Glacier, off the Denali Highway. We made camp around 3PM and watched the sun work its way around the cloudless sky. Around 9PM the sun dipped in the Northwest behind a mountain (what might have counted as a sun set) but popped up again a minute or two later as it moved to a new position without a mountain to block the view. We did end up having twilight, but no actual darkness.
How do people live without the sun’s cues for day and night? I have not had on a watch during this trip. Most of the time we have been traveling, I have had no clue as to the specific time of day. This has not presented a problem while camping or driving. In speaking with people in the region, they suggest that the extra daylight doesn’t present a problem for them, even with 24 hours of light. Room darkening curtains and sleeping masks were the suggested methods of blocking out the light. “You just don’t notice after a while,” someone told me. I guess that’s true since this is the first time I’ve actually had to deal with full darkness. I must have taken the daylight for granted. Another person suggested that her sleep patterns were very different summer to winter. She mentioned that she has much more energy in the summer’s long light. That set me to wonder if she lacked any energy during the long winter nights. We have averaged waking up at 5AM daily. This morning was the first time that this was complete darkness. Strange that didn’t mean rolling over and going back to sleep. Nature called and Molli wanted out. We do tend to be early risers and this trip was no different. The best time for viewing wildlife (and our experiences would support this) is when no one else is out on the road in the early morning. On the Dempster Highway, we saw our grizzly bear at 4:30AM. We also saw a moose in the middle of the road in a mountain pass at about 5:15 day before yesterday. There was no place for him to go off the road and into the bush, so we drove next to him for a few minutes before he disappeared. Longer daylight means that the plants in the north are huge in summer. After just a few weeks of growing in her garden, Trish’s peas are already producing. One day they were flowers, two days later she was ready to harvest the peas! Does longer daylight also mean that the animal’s metabolism works double time? (I found a study on Bears that suggests a huge difference in the heart rates, but not sure this answers my question- http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0643263)

The Polar day begins around March 21 when it is vernal equinox and the sun is right above the equator and the day and night are equal splits on the clock. At the Arctic Circle, the Polar day reaches its climax around June 21 when the solar orb is so high that at no point does it drop below the horizon. Check out this day/night map. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html
I think I’ll appreciate my day/night cues when we return to the farm. We may not have a long growing season, but I have a better sense of the passing of time. On this trip, the longer days have meant that we’ve not really felt as though we’ve been on the road for five weeks. Maybe that has made us explore many more roads along the way.

Civilization

2009-07-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Civilization
As we head back down through the Yukon and British Columbia, we find that the roads we are picking to travel are the roads which tend to be much more rural. Is it to extend our trip and thus our enjoyment of the land? We felt an affinity to the remote villages. Visiting those with a bit of history would be preferred to those with large populations. We wanted to experience the community with the pancake breakfast that invites all (Inuvik). We chose to capture of the essence of the small town parade on film and found it more challenging than getting that next mountain on film.
We have passed the land of glaciers and are on a road that will take us to Whistler and Vancouver. The mountain passes still prevent the bulk of the population from coming, but for how long?The small town way of life is being lost. The small fishing villages and backwoods resorts have been found!
Kenai peninsula was much more busy today than the trip 10 years ago, but will the small towns be lost with the growth of the population?
How do you know when you’ve hit civilization? The cars on the roads triple. We also have seen the difference in how we need to drive. Phil calls it his Chicago mind. The traffic as soon as we hit Vancouver was heavy! Back to the city stresses. Back to the city drivers. Just this morning, outside of Portland, Or, we had a driver of a semi start into our lane. Problem was, we were still there. Quick driving evaded the problem, but it was close. Phil’s defensive driving pays off!
We meet up with Nate this week end. Heading to Napa and some wine tasting. We are at Sounds by the Sea Resort tonight. We can hear the ocean but see nothing. We are sitting in a cloud. That’s good, it makes us feel as civilization can be put off…perhaps just one more day!

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in Haines, Alaska. Phil's cousin, Trish Duncan is up here. What a great place to live! It is a wonderful space very near an Eagle Preserve. Really great to see many eagles flying over head.

We did do the parade this morning. Cool parade! They had many floats, great fire engines and lots of candy. Molli even got someone to throw her a frisbee! Better than candy.

Trish says she loved the "Two little boys at the end of the parade picked up all the candy that others didn't pick up. They will probably go back and sell to their friends....future bankers?"

Phil just brought me forget-me-nots he picked from their yard. What a sweet heart. After four weeks of traveling, he still brings me flowers.

People

2009-06-29T14:31:00.001-07:00

So, one of the coolest places that Milepost Travel Guide took us was Mom's Bakery.
Reading along we saw this and made the turn. Driving just about 5 miles off the main road we found a little house with a Bread Oven in the front yard and Mom's baked goods in the store front. The smells were awesome. The bread was excellent. A whole wheat sour dough was there but Mom suggested the multi-grain sour dough. The sandwiches were AWESOME.
We are looking for more of these places.

Mom spends part of the year in Mexico and part of the year in the Yukon. She bakes in an outdoor oven that she starts at 4:30AM and gets hot before she puts the bread in. I want one of these ovens on the farm. We took pictures.

Mom is also a birder and we talked a bit about the study I did on Meadowlarks for my Master's Thesis before Phil moved us outside to look at and talk about her oven.

If you are in the area (just outside of Whitehorse) stop by!

Phil's Post-The Road

2009-06-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

6/28/09

The Road

Being a son of Jim Duncan, I believe myself to be a road warrior. Though I tell Sandi for the mental convenience of it that I was six for each and every of the dozen or so long road/camping trips my Dad took us on, I know from old scrapbooks and scraps of memory that they occurred roughly between 1955 and 1965 or so, from age 4 to about 14 for me. We made it up to the Northwest Territories of Canada, west to New Mexico and California, south to the Carolinas, and east to New York. I had visited over 40 states by the time I could drive myself.

With that bug, I have lusted after the open road from my earliest memories. Many, many car, motorcycle, and even a few RV trips, but never, never ever one like this. To the moment, we have traveled an incredible 6030 miles in 21 days. But, that’s “only” 287 miles per day. We have camped now in the same place for more than one night on three occasions. Tonight will be the third of three nights here at the Chugach National Forest Granite Creek campsite near Moose Pass on the fabulous Kenai Peninsula.

The highways have all been beautiful and primitive throughout British Columbia, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and, of course, ALASKA! All the highways have names, with the governments and residents not being satisfied with just “Route 1” or “Route 11” (I have yet to see a number higher than as 11 since British Columbia’s 97, which is the start of the Alaska Highway). These roads have too much character for that. In the Yukon, the Alaska or “Alkan” Highway is Route 1, the road from Whitehorse to Dawson, Route 2, is also known as the Klondike Hwy. Route 5 is the Dempster from Dawson City to Inuvit, Route 9 out of Dawson City to Chicken, Alaska is called the Top of the World Highway, and turns into Alaska Route 5, a/k/a the Taylor Highway as it turns south to meet up with the Alaska Hwy. We’ve also been on the George Parks Hwy (Rte. 3 from Fairbanks to Anchorage, but we got off at Palmer), the Glen Hwy (Rte 1 from Palmer to Copper Center), the Richardson Hwy (Rte. 4 from Copper Center to Valdez), the Alaska Marine Hwy (ferry from Valdez to Whittier on the Kenai Peninsula), the Seward Hwy (Rte. 9 from Anchorage to Seward), and the Sterling Hwy (Rte. 1 again, from Copper Landing to Homer. The Sterling is the westernmost point of the North American Highway system, precisely at the town of Anchor Point on the Cook Inlet side of the Kenai (59° 46′ 39″ N, 151° 46′ 13″ W), several hundred miles west of Seattle.

But, the ultimate road on this trip filled with fabulous highways, the Dempster Highway to the Artic Circle. This 460 mile stretch run over gravel north to Inuvit in the Northwest Territory, 60 miles from the Artic Ocean. Other than the Dawson Highway up to Prudhoe Bay, this road takes you farther north than any in North America. Inuvit is at 68 degrees + latitude, about 200 miles north of the actual Artic Circle, at 66 degrees, 30 minutes. The sun doesn’t set for just the one day as it does at the Artic Circle, it stays above the horizon for 21 days straight each year around summer solstice. We were there for the brightest day of the year, the 20 – 21st. of June.

Now, any road that would take me to such a place would be a good road, indeed. The Dempster, however, took my heart the moment we started out over the wooden plank surfaced bridge over the Klondike River, near Dawson City. It gave us: fabulous views, ever changing weather, challenging mountain driving, many wildlife sightings, and my first photo of a grizzly bear (I hesitate to say first sighting since a brother is likely to correct me, saying, “Remember the grizzly we saw in Yellowstone when you were six?”).

I’ve always liked taking the road to its ultimate end. When I was 18, for instance, I took my Honda 360 motorcycle from Portage, MI some 600 miles to the tip of the Kewanaw (sp?) Peninsula in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. At Copper Harbor, US 41 northbound comes to an end. That’s the same US 41, of course, that follows Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Well, I rode that bike to the end of the pavement until it turned into a logging road, followed the logging road until it turned back on itself in the woods. I then parked the bike and walked the last 500 yards to the very tip of the peninsula.

So, the Dempster is my kind of road. It’s 460 miles crosses two mountain ranges and the Artic/Pacific continental divide, and includes two free car ferries, across the Peel and McKinzie Rivers. We tried like hell to get a charter flight to the Artic Ocean, and even considered hiring out a boat excursion to make the 60 mile trip down the rest of the McKinzie River Delta. But, short of renting canoes, it was not going to happen. I had to content myself with driving north out of Inuvit about six miles on pavement and about three miles of gravel until the ice road begins. The “road” that remained after the spring thaw looked like frozen ski moguls made of rock hard mud. The last trucks through must have dug deep into the mud, leaving the road impassable. No wonder the woman at the visitor’s center laughed at me when I asked how far north of Inuvit one could go. Well, it’s nine miles and about 20 paces. Sandi marked it on the GPS for me and I just sat there and sighed over the mere 60 more miles that separated us from the ocean. But we tried, and I had to be satisfied with that.

Why Alaska?

2009-06-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend asked the question-Why are you going to Alaska?
What do I want to see:

Nature
Wildlife- though not too close to some. Eagles and other birds, bears, Dahl Sheep, caribou, moose, salmon (don’t need to see mosquito!)

Tundra Flowers
Glaciers- Prince William Sound
Boar Tide-10 Min S of Anchorage http://www.city-data.com/picfiles/pic2071.php
Location: Arctic Circle! Denali (Mt. McKinley)
Light: Sun never setting on June 20?

Culture
Totem Poles- in place.
Russian heritage- Nesting dolls for CJ?
Dog sled- Demo at Denali NP?
Alaska Pipeline- no spills-Valdez?
History of Gold Rush or War
Fishing? At the grocery store.

Foods
Salmon
Smoked fish
Crab

Planning and Walking

2009-06-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about planning a trip over a long period of time, is that you can take your time to find the interesting things to do. When I said I wanted to do Alaska for it’s 50th birthday on my 50th birthday, it seemed that just getting there would be the adventure. The more I find out about this state, the more I learn.
We’ve also been able to work the farm and get ready to leave for a period of several weeks. This has been great exercise and we’ve already begun to harvest some of the vegetables that have been on the timers for drip irrigation. This has been good for our mind and body. Stress is very different here and I think this has gotten us in a relaxed mindset to travel. I think we are in pretty good health and that’s important. I had been having some knee problems when we hiked in the Grand Canyon and I didn’t want that to happen again. Walking has been part of farm life and we are walking daily around the campsites and trails of Canada and Alaska.

To do before I'm 50...

2009-06-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Post #2
Planning a trip for this 50th birthday summer will take my mind off any of the downsides of this age change. Is this last half of my life moving into the starting block? Or, am I at the end of my journey and it is all downhill from here? Well, probably not downhill, but certainly a new adventure. Interesting to find out that the Early Show http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/29/earlyshow/living/main609232.shtml recently did a story on Things to do before turning 50. Time to take stock I thought. These are actually things I would be telling a family member who is out there in the world for the first time, things to strive to achieve. I read carefully.
#1. Be adventurous: Embark on a new experience. Great to hear. That’s just what I am getting ready to do. In this adventure, I want to make it to the Arctic Circle and experience a day with 24 hours of light…well, 21 hours of daylight and then some 3 hours of twilight.
#2. Adopt something. Ouch, well, that one goes against the life I’m trying to lead just now. What if I say I’ve adopted several horses and head of cattle and chickens here on the farm? I have a dog, but I think that’s a give/give relationship.
#3. Reconnect with a Friend. I did join reunion.com. I see a couple of people on there who are from high school. I’ll be also connecting with some people in Flint in the beginning of June.
#4. Scare Yourself: Almost anything qualifies. Okay, does learning to ride a motorcycle count as scaring myself? It is a bit nerve wracking.
#5. Realize a Dream. Well, this trip will qualify as a start. I’d like to complete this drive to Alaska and perhaps make it the first leg of the trip to go North to South on the Americas.
#6. Learn Something New. Every day! That’s why I love teaching.
#7. Change your Hair. Oops, may fail on this one, but I’ll cut it a bit…is that change?
#8. Keep your medical tests current. I fail with this one. I do have to do this one though.
#9. Discover Yourself. This one talked about writing what you’ve learned. This blog might count there.
#10. Do a good deed: Perform a random act of kindness. I will try to do this and have it as a life goal. I hope I’ve been successful here.
So, take a dream journey with cut hair to learn something new while doing a good deed. Sounds like a challenge for me this trip.

After 3 weeks, I can say that we've done many of these.

Turning 50-Blogging Along.

2009-06-27T13:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.fiftyisthenewforty.net/birthdays.php
Turning 50 this year has become an event. I can’t remember “planning” quite so much for a birthday or an event. We’ve traveled to various places before, last year we made it out to see Kate and Jim and Aine in Scotland. This is different though. Turning 50 has put a different spin on the trip. When I first suggested we go to Alaska and that was what I wanted for my birthday celebration, Phil didn’t blink an eye. This was an unusual year for gifts. My Valentine’s gift was a new closet out on the screen room. It’s great and I’m hoping this will be a great adventure as well.
So I decided to see who else was turning 50 this year. Just to see how I stack up:
A website called 50 the new 40 is showing the following:
January 22nd: Actress Linda Blair most famous for her role as the possessed in ‘The Exorcist’February 11th: Deborah Meaden, multi-millionaire business womanFebruary 28th: Marcia Mitzman Gaven, actressApril 15th: Academy award winning actress Emma ThompsonSeptember 8th: Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy and human rights activistSeptember 22nd: Olympic gold-medal pairs skater Tai BabiloniaOctober 13th: Entertainer Marie OsmondOctober 15th: Sarah Ferguson, Dutchess of YorkOctober 23rd: Former prosecutor and legal commentator Nancy GraceDecember 29: Paula Poundstone, Comedienne
Really? Since most of these people have “made it” in their youth, I guess I don’t have to feel failed, I got through that years ago. Oh, there is also Barbie turning 50 this year. This makes me wonder if she too is going through the midlife changes. I read in a CanWest News Service blog that “Since her debut in 1959, Mattel’s leading lady has held 110 jobs, been dressed by 70 couturiers, served in the army, fronted a rock band and successfully navigated a 43 year romance with a sexually ambiguous mate.” Wow! I never knew that her real name was Barbie Millicent Robert. She’s had a couple of rounds of plastic surgery, probably not because she was plastic. Does she look the same? Do any of us?

Then I hear that Michael Jackson Died at 50. Back to feeling old again.

Alaska Mornings

2009-06-27T12:47:00.001-07:00

The days here in Alaska have been fabulous, the mornings have been...cold. Note that this morning we woke to ice on the coffee water I'd set up the night before. Brrr.
We are back from our Glacier cruise. While there were many tour boats we could take, we elected to take a ferry from Valdez to Whittier. This brought us in contact with famous glaciers such as the Columbia glacier (loosing 2 cubic miles of ice annually). The glaciers are typically at 90% loosing ice. We are coming out of a mini ice-age, according to Jim our US Forest Service guide for the cruise, but this doesn't mean that humans aren't responsible for making some of the damage worse. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051210120437.htm
If 90% of the Alaskan glaciers are shrinking, 10 % are growing. Harvard Glacier is growing http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AGUFM.C62A0913T and one of the 10%.
Glaciers growing does not mean that climate change is NOT happening, rather these glaciers actually have a few things in common.

"Calving glaciers that are currently growing and advancing have at least four things in common. All of them
(1) are at the heads of long fiords, (Harvard is at the head of College Fiord)
(2) have undergone massive retreats during the last thousand or more years, (Harvard has a well-documented history of advance beginning between 1905 and 1911)
(3) presently calve over relatively shallow moraine shoals, and
(4) have strongly positive mass balances that are a consequence of a surface-area distributions that have unusually small ablation areas compared to the accumulation areas. " http://adsabs.harvard.edu

There are a few other glaciers around the world that have some advancing characteristics.
The skeptical Scientist makes his case for these glaciers in context to other effects humans have on the planet. Check this out: http://www.skepticalscience.com/himalayan-glaciers-growing.htm

Arctic Circle

2009-06-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Sandi: We made it to the arctic circle yesterday at about 3PM Pacific Time. We camped in a campground where the mosquito population around our tent probably out numbered the total population in the Yukon Territory. A trip up to Inuvik, Northwest Territory today we saw a grizzly bear and mother moose and her calf and a porcupine. The Grizzly was something! He was eating low bush cranberries. We believe he also visited our campground as we found huge paw prints around the bear proof garbage containers. We were camping and I have to admit that this scared me just a bit. Our faithful dog, Molli, barked at the bear, who was about 100 yards away from us. We got great pictures and they will appear on the blog soon.
The Arctic Tundra suprised me by having lots more trees than I expected. A much more complex vegetation structure in areas. I was not surprised by the cold. The sun was, indeed up ALL night. We will be heading to a place called Jax Campground to a viewing tower to see across to the Arctic Ocean (?) well the delta that leads into this ocean.
Interesting fact, we have gone over several continental divides. The one I've never been over before was the divide that has all water in the mountains and plains going into the Arctic Ocean.

Talk about a small world. As we are here working in the hotel in Inuvik, Northwest Territory...4600 miles from New Mexico...we are watching the Calgary News Channel. One of the stories that is on the news is about the Spaceport in Sierra County New Mexico..30 miles from our home.

Watson Lake, Yukon is GREAT

2009-06-19T07:23:00.001-07:00

We found Watson Lake to be a very nice community! We saw in several advertisements and through Milepost Alaska Travel Planner that this was where the Sign post Forest was located. Started by a homesick soldier from Danville, IL. He was part of the 21,000 US troops and Civilians helping to build the Alaska Highway in 1942. He posted the mileage to his hometown on a post. Today, there are over 10,000 other signs that have been posted on this “forest”. In the second row near the Caribou Gift shop, there now hangs a New Mexico, Route 66 plate with our names on it!
After lunch, we stopped by the Visitor’s center and got lots of great advice on where to camp along our way to Inuvik, Northwest Territory. We also stopped by the library and used the free internet access to check in on our classes and email. This small library also has a whole room of educational and developmental toys that they loan out of their “toybrary.”
Everyone we met was friendly, had great senses of humor and were quite helpful.

Our REI tent is holding up nicely. It’s a complete netting on top has protected us nicely from some of the biggest mosquitoes we have ever seen! Two nights of rain have proven that it will keep us dry. Closing all the zippers also keeps the wind out. A bit crowded with Molli in the corner but snug and dry.

Driving and the idiots on wheels

2009-06-19T07:22:00.001-07:00

We are finding that the roads are remarkably well kept, up in Canada. We entered the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, BC on Tuesday, June 16. This is Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway (aka Alcan Highway). Driving between 400-600 miles a day has brought us through many interesting ecosystems. We have seen the land change plants, become much more wet, and thin and thicken with trees as we have traveled from New Mexico to the Yukon where we are today. This is considered a boreal forest here with different types of pines and birch than are seen at lower elevations. There are also many wildflowers and other understory plants that fill in the edge of the ecosystem between the road and the forest.
We see signs on the side of the road put in by the Canadian government to tell us (pretty accurately) about wildlife in the area.
We’ve seen wolf (black in color), moose, elk, caribou, bison, and bear. Many warning signs have appeared along our way that inform the travelers about the dangers of coming too close to the wildlife. In Jasper, for example, one such sign went so far as to show a graphic stating you should keep 3 bus lengths from elk and 10 bus lengths from bear. As we have driven along, we’ve pulled over, stayed in the jeep and taken some pictures of some of the animals. Our life list of wildlife is certainly growing.
Our driver story begins by saying that there are probably more travel trailers and campers than we have seen on the roads for a long time. People travel in comfort but not always safely. As we are driving along, we notice in the lane a 5th wheel camper, completely stopped, right in the lane. We figure there must be wildlife and, sure enough, there is a mother bear and her cub off to the right on the side of the road. The Florida owner got out of the truck and moved to the back of the vehicle. The mother bear is now less than 20 feet from him and he seems oblivious to the nearness of the mother bear. As we pulled around him, we pause long enough to warn him that the mother bear and cub were right nearby and that he should return to his vehicle for safety. He responded that he had a problem with his truck and had to fix it. We suggested that he pull his vehicle to the side of the road and wait until the bear left, before venturing out for repairs. He said, “no, I have to fix this”, with that, we decided that there were enough traffic hazards on the road and continued on our way. We could then see, through our rear view mirrors, that his wife was getting out of the vehicle on the driver’s side..just as a large tanker truck came barreling down from behind, nearly taking off the driver’s door and wife with it. We will watch the news reports over the next few days to see if their luck was as bad as their judgment.
Today, near Coal River Lodge (Mile 533 on the Alaska Highway) we saw another Blue Hair almost cause an accident. This was with another truck. The RV pulled S.L.O.W.L.Y. out of the stop without looking. This area has an area that is on steep grade that continues over a narrow bridge just after the exit for the Lodge and Gas stop. Coming down the hill was a fuel truck. As he saw the blue hair pulling out, he began honking. She pulled her 5th wheel out anyway. The truck continued to honk but the RV did not pick up speed. The truck was able to brake in time, but did come within a truck length of the RV.
We are giving the RVs, campers and 5th wheels a wide berth these next miles.

Phil's Post-Daily Routine

2009-06-19T07:20:00.001-07:00

True to our plans, this has been a camping trip. Of the first nine days, six have been camping, one night with Tom and Leslie, and two nights in hotels. Especially as we get farther north, daylight has not been an issue. We find ourselves waking at 4 or 4:30 AM (regardless of time zone) with plenty of light to break camp by 5:30 or 6 AM, dependent on whether hot breakfast is being served.
After Molli has had a run and played stick for a bit, sleeping bags rolled and the tent taken down, we jump in the car and begin our morning wild animal patrol (more on that in another post). We have found early morning and late afternoon the best times for observing wildlife on the road. We usually switch drivers every 2 -3 hours and stop for lunch when we are tired, hungry, or when Molli squeaks (when she has to take a bathroom break). We’ve been finding internet access at lunch or dinner times if we don’t have it right at our camp site. We can usually get online where ever we’ve been able to get cell service. We typically stop for the day between 4 and 6 PM. This usually leaves enough time for an exploratory hike around the camps ite or nearby and a little relaxation after the camp is set and dinner begins.
After dinner, we are likely to sit with our maps and guidebooks and discuss the next day’s plans before drifting off to sleep (between 8:30 and 9:30 PM), despite the fact that there is still bright twilight at that hour.

Phil's Post-Gearing up

2009-06-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

One of the first and most difficult decisions of our trip was what vehicle to take. Last year, Sandi, Molli, and I traveled to San Francisco, via the Grand Canyon and Yosemite NP to visit Nate. On that trip, we took the civic hybrid. We camped most days. Although it was fairly cramped, the hybrid was quite serviceable and we enjoyed 40+ mpg while we paid $4 + gas prices. This trip, we felt that with 6,000 miles over 5 weeks, the tiny cabin of the civic just would not do.
Now, 9 days and 3,000 miles into our Alaska trip, we are constantly grateful for the extra space the Jeep Grand Cherokee provides, even though it is 18+ or – mpg. It hits our pockets on a twice daily basis.
Starting from the top, the roof has, tied to it, folding chairs and a 5 gallon gas can, full and ready for use. We expect that additional articles may find their way up there during our travels.
Just in front of the tail gate, are 4 rectangular zippered bags. Each is about the size of a 5 gallon gas can and containing specific camping items. These are carefully separated and labeled by Sandi. One is for cooking gear, including camp stove. Another holds all our soap, foil, cleaning supplies, and dish towels. The third holds drinks and snacks, while the forth holds dry and canned goods.
To the left of these lies a 5 gallon water jug which holds our kitchen and shower water. Yet another bag has ropes, bungees and tarp. A car tool kit, including adjustable wrenches, pliers, screw driver, hammer, duct tape, gorilla duct tape (Sandi’s contribution), flare, tire gauge, fix a flat, oil, air cleaner and spare bulbs and fuses for the car. There are two suit cases, one for each of us, containing 7-10 days of clothing. We also have 2 sleeping bags and a REI Quarter Dome Tent .
The cooler is Phil’s old Green Coleman Cooler. It is located right behind the driver’s head. Our trusty Coleman Cooler is stocked with beer, soda, milk, apple juice, and wine. Eggs, bacon, hamburger or (currently Bison), lunch meat, cheeses, vegetables (from Sandi’s garden), butter, and condiments are also included. Until today, we were fortunate to find block ice. Dry ice is nowhere to be found. We fear we might need to move on to cubed ice if we can’t find a glacier soon. This is unfortunate because dry ice can last 3-4 days, block ice lasts 2+ days and cubed ice lasts barely a day.
Our cooking stove is a very compact butane/propane mix backpacking stove. It replaces Phil’s Svea stove, which he had for many years. The advantage of his old stove was that it ran on white gas (unleaded gas). The new stove runs on canisters of gas. These cost $4-$8 each. The Svea was getting temperamental on the last trip, so we are glad to have the new stove. We are doubly glad to have this new stove, since entering the Yukon today, because on the community bulletin board (Watson Lake, YK) barring all open campfires throughout the Province due to fire hazards.
Finally, we have 2 computer bags, Molli’s dog bag, and miscellaneous “floating” articles.
Seating arrangements are interesting. We have folded down half of the rear seat to make room for the cooler and to add to overall surface area for storage speace. The other side of the rear seat has Molli’s blanket, but she has yet to check in. She would much rather spend her time with her rear paws on the sleeping bag in the back seat with her front paws splayed across the front council. This is so she can regularly obtain pats and treats from those in the front seats. Phil and Sandi split the driving (editorial comment from the typist-sure, split is the word for it). The day typically begins and ends with Phil driving and Sandi taking two turns to his three. (editorial comment-he is a Duncan after all).
Maps and Milepost book for Canada and Alaska are included in the extra spaces in the car.

Arctic Tundra

2009-06-19T07:16:00.001-07:00

Today on our trip we move into the Arctic Circle. This is considered the Tundra ecosystems.
Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Dead organic material functions as a nutrient pool. The two major nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is created by biological fixation, and phosphorus is created by precipitation.
Characteristics of tundra include:
Extremely cold climate
Low biotic diversity
Simple vegetation structure
Limitation of drainage
Short season of growth and reproduction
Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material
Large population oscillations

Fires in Canada

2009-06-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you remember that I was a National Park Service Ranger back while I was in Graduate School. I served as a Fire Fighter in addition to my other duties while in the Park Service. Back in 1988 the US news was full of information about the forest fires that burned through Yellowstone and through many other areas around the west. It was the start of some real problems with fire. The fires of 1988 in the US were some of the worst fires ever during documented history in our nations wildlands.
Before about 1965, fires were believed to be destructive to forests and parks. Most management policies were aimed at suppressing fires as quickly as possible, as well as to avoid damage to government and/or personal property. The beneficial role of fire, from an ecological perspective, became better understood in the decades before 1988, and a policy of allowing natural fires to burn under controlled conditions had been highly successful in reducing the area lost annually to wildfires.
Unfortunately for Yellowstone NP, too much understory wood had built up. Fire had not been used as a management tool much at that point. As a tool, fires are used to burn and clear the understory forest floor. Fire fighters would go in and clear fire breaks and clear out larger deadwood. Then, a small and very controlled fire would be burned to clear out the understory without actually causing major damage to the standing live trees. In Yellowstone, several small fires started and burned to merge into one major fire and many smaller fires that burned for months. The accumulation of understory material provided enough fuel for the fire to burn hot, fast, and furious.
Almost 250 different fires started in Yellowstone and the surrounding National Forests between June and August. I was in Idaho fighting a fire for 10 days and worked 20 hour grueling days.
This past week as we have driven beyond the US into British Columbia, we've seen fire damage in Banff, Jasper, and most recently near Toad Lake on the Alaskan Highway. The Toad Lake fire was physically burning and I had a chance to talk with one of the fire fighters who said this was a difficult fire because they have limited access to some of the areas. Indeed, there aren't many roads into the area. Helicopters are bringing water from nearby lakes. They pick up the water in huge containers that look like 10 foot by 4 foot swimming pools and set them on the side of the road. They are also filling tanker trucks equiped with sprayers. The firefighter I spoke with said he had been working on fire suppression for 2 months without a break.
Fire plays an important role in most forest ecosystems. As these ecosystems have evolved over the last 10,000-15,000 years (since the glacial retreat at the end of the last ice age), fire has helped to maintain their health and diversity. Large fires that clear out an area can do one of two things. First they can take out the old growth forest that may have been there for 100s of years. They clear out the largest standing trees and open the areas forest floor. Extremely hot fires may actually scorch the forest soils, killing beneficial microbes and any seed bank in the upper layers. If the fire is really hot, the roots of the plants can also burn. This makes it more difficult for succession to take place and for new plant life to take over. New plant life is important to prevent erosion and loss of soil. One inch of soil can take more than 1000 years to form, so preventing loss is important in forest ecosystems. (check out this site for perspective: http://soil.gsfc.nasa.gov/inch/soiltime.htm)
Canada fires current as of : June 10, 2009
Note:This is the last weekly national report for this season. The yearly report from CIFFC will be available in January 2009. Current information continues to be made available through the various provincial and territorial agencies web sites which can be accessed through the Fire Links located in the left menu.
-->
Current active fires
uncontrolled9
controlled116
modified response*8

2009(to date)
10-yr avg(to date)
% Normal
Prescribed*
U.S.
Number
2,205
2,264
97%
32
44,351
Area (ha)
79,111
232,067
34%
3,823
648,492

Fires can effect the ecosystems of far away areas too. The Yellowstone ash was reported to have travelled more than 60 miles. Pictures and info on these fires at: http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/fire.htm
In Canada we've seen lots of damage. Since the growing season is so much shorter as you end up moving north, the repair takes even longer. We passed one Canadian area of the 1969 fires and it seems to have some regrowth, but not at the rate of repair that you may have seen in the pictures in the link for Yellowstone above. Xiao (2007) writes about the drought and the link to the fires during this time frame. http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/2/4/044003/erl7_4_044003.html
As we continue to use excessive amounts of water in our human daily activies and we take water from one water shed to another, further damage due to fires will continue to be seen around the US and Canada when we do experience drought. This will be true whether or not we use good fire management practices. Drought may also serve to allow insects to damage plant life, weakened by the lack of water.
The connections between what we do in our everday lives can have far reaching effects to ecosystems.

Pictures? :*(

2009-06-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

How much planning can be done? Well apparently more than I've done. It seems that though I brought 2 digital cameras and at least 2 batteries for one of the cameras, in each case I've neglected an important piece...the cords to download on the sony and the cord for the battery pack on the other. Go figure. I'm hoping the camera place will have a card reader and I can download the sony pictures. Phil has an extra camera that I'll be using until that cord or reader can be found. 1 week's worth of pictures will have to wait!
Sorry.

Episodes

2009-06-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Made it into Canada on Sunday and drove to Banff. A beautiful location, but construction and lots of people drove us out. I didn’t need to shop in a city. We ended up at a city park along the river to have lunch from supplies. The notice on the Game Warden Board prominently displayed in the center of the path was that there was bear activity in the area and to be cautious. We had lunch with about 50 others coming in and out of the park. We headed to Lake Louise and the hiking path around the lake was also quite busy. It was Sunday, so lots of people out for day trips.
While we were in Buffalo Wyoming we read a sign about a General’s wife who talked about the activity of the encampment. She mentioned “little episodes” happen within the camp among the people. We have been having some of those episodes as well, though our encounters are brief. We met a family from Gibralter whose kids played stick with Molli. This morning we also met John and Bean. Bean is the local Alpha Male dog in the dog walk area. Beans owner stopped to talk for a few minutes and to tell us about a bear encounter he had over the week end while Horseback camping. We will be careful and we also know that Molli’s jingling tags will help keep the bears away. If they know they are around, the bears will avoid. Interesting people we met because of our dog. Episodes along the way!

Glacier NP

2009-06-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

While in Glacier National Park, we were able to see some of the amazing Glaciers that give the park it’s name.. At the end of the Glacier is a clear lake with a rock bottom. The temperatures stay very cold and the lake doesn’t have many living organisms. Few cold water zooplankton or phytoplankton. There is some and this presents fod for the native fish. Sometime around the 1920’s someone decided that intro introducing other species of fish, like Salmon, would increase the fishing tourism and the lake could support this. What did happen was predictable given what we know about ecosystems. Only one species can inhabit a niche at a time. The new species were better capable of competing for the food because they were continuously stocked. The natives showed low numbers by the 1970s when the stocking was ended. The native species are slow to return. This is a harsh environment and the reproduction rate under good times would be low. Almost 40 years later, the scientists are still finding that the damage to the ecosystem won’t be a simple repair that involves more inaction than action.

Glacier NP

2009-06-12T15:21:00.001-07:00

Got to our campground outside of Glacier this morning. It's the week end, so we wanted to get a decent start on a tour of Glacier National Park. When we got there, we found that the pass to the other side was closed because they had a snow storm a couple of days ago. They may have it opened next week end, but they will not see us at that time.
Off to hike, working in the local bar with Internet access today.

Montana

2009-06-12T15:12:00.001-07:00

Montana is beautiful! We came into the state via the Crow Indian Reservation through US 90. We couldn’t let the Little Bighorn Battlefield pass by without having a first-hand look at the battle field and what the Army and Indians were up against.
The literature calls it a clash of cultures, I might even go further and shows just how power hungry some of the US Army commanders might have been. Its June of 1876 and a hot couple of days on this Montana filed. The conflict between Indians and Army comes to a head after gold is discovered in the Black Hills, the heart of the Indian Reservation that had been assigned in the treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. The US Government promised to protect the Indians “against the commission of all depredations by people of the United States.” The News of the gold strike spread and those eager to make a fortune moved to that region and broke the treaty. The army “tried to keep them out, but to no avail.” Efforts to buy the Black Hills from the natives, left the Indians a bit upset. Lakota and Cheyenne left the reservation and resumed raides on the settlements and traverers on the edge of their reservation. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs ordered the tribes to return or to be treated as “hostiles” and noted that military force would be used.
When you hear about the battle, I had in mind the fields and terrains of the midwestern and eastern battle fields of the Civil War. Instead, this was a series or rolling hills and grassy fields along the Little Bighorn River. It is easy to understand why some encampments would happen along the river. The trees cool the air by several degrees and afford protection from the wind. Moving along the top ridges, you can see pretty far, but I don’t imagine that the artillery of either side would travel the .distances. Still, you look across and don’t expect that it would be much of a battle in some areas.
We headed through to Deadman’s Basin near Shawmut. It was a nice fishing spot, but not much for camping or hiking. Last night we stayed at a National Forest site, Larch Campground near Seely Lake. Hamburgers on the campfire taste great. Tonight Phil is grilling steak. We are also working to finish our vegetables from the garden back home. The tomato ripened nicely and the onion is holding up great!
We have even snacked a time or two on some of the things Dad sent along when we stopped to see him.

The weather has been chilly with about 37 degrees this morning when I got out of the tent to take Molli for a walk and make the coffee (not in that order!) The daytime temperatures are warming to 60s, but we are staying warm by putting on all we have when the sun goes behind the clouds! We tried to find Morrel Falls this afternoon to do a hike. National Forest Roads are very poorly marked and we ended up going in a circle on one road and never found the turn off. A rock in the middle of the road gave us an adrenalin rush.
Off to Glacier National Park on Friday. We can see several mountain tops with lots of snow. The water ways seem to be at pretty high levels. We had rain through Wyoming and a bit in Montana so it is not surprising that things are green! I’m sure things will stay cool as we continue north. It’s all about layering…everything we own in the morning.

North to Alaska

2009-06-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

Day one is behind us and we have made it through New Mexico and to Denver. We were able to have breakfast with Dad in Santa Fe and then spent the night with Tom and Leslie in Parker. Good to see family. Harrys Roadhouse in Santa Fe had wonderful French Toast and Chilitiquos. That place was PACKED. Denver area had some tornados as we were coming in, so we were able to take our time and deviate onto Colorado 83 through Colorado Springs and Parker. It was a nice drive that gave a hint of what the area open spaces were like. Lots of McMansions for sale north of Colorado Springs. Thanks to all our hosts this trip this far!
Today we picked up 25 and headed to Ft. Collins. Tom suggested taking US 287 into Wyoming and that’s what we are on now. We’ve encountered our first clouds and we are driving through up here. The fields look like they are growing rock in this light.
Molli is settling into the drive. She’s not thrilled with the winding roads, but we are finding plenty of places to stop and let her out to walk and some places to let her run.

We ended up in Buffalo Wyoming this evening. The rain followed us through the pass and is even raining now. I enjoyed watching the edge of the storm move across the sky Molli and I were able to take a short hike down the Clear Creek hiking trail. She spent an awful lot of time sniffing out a trail for us. It was good to stretch and to see the great rocks. Buffalo has some great history and all of it’s downtown is on the National Register of Historic Districts. http://www.buffalowyoming.org/
Hope the weather clears a bit for more around town in the morning.
Pictures to follow.

Farmers' Market 2009

2009-05-17T04:10:00.000-07:00

Happenings at P n S Farm May 2009

Our First Farmers' Market was yesterday, May 16, and it was a success. I guess the term success is really dependent on how you measure success. We didn't blow away in the wind storm and saw lots of friends from town. About 15 vendors showed up. This was a great turn out considering how much produce was available this time of year. That was a success!

Our pecans had been shelled and vacuum sealed back in the winter when we collected them. They've been in a cold storage area until this week. We added to that some apples from fall, dried and also vacuum sealed. Then I tried to make some crackers from the rosemary that I've got in the lower herb bed. Whole wheat was suggested by the friends who tasted them and a bit of parmesan cheese mixed in was a good blend. These were packaged with a bit of rosemary and a recipe. We also provided samples (as we did with the pecans) Finally, these were supplemented with a cooler full of eggs from our chickens. We did earn enough to pay for feed until next time.

As luck would have it, our turn came up with the watering of the fields on May 16. Phil was able to run back to change the fields during this busy day. The creek stopped running past our house while people water, this past week. There is still overflow at the Wier, but it no longer makes it's way down to our area, down canyon. Phil found this HUGE crayfish at one of the gates (the valve for the water to come out to the fields). He was able to rescue it and we put it back in the pond near the cattails.

Kid Rock and Skippy came back early this month as well. We now also have another set of horses around. This brings the tally up to 3 colts and 3 mares. Only Kid Rock is still nursing regularly. Todd brought over Loren's Stud to breed all three again. There was a need for some introduction as the mares are pretty protective of their colts, but things settled down pretty quickly. Now, the only time they are a bit rambunctious is when they are being fed. There's so much growing out there, I'm surprised they are even interested, but it is hay and oats. They are beautiful to watch and the colts are great to watch run and kick up a storm.

Other accomplishments this month include:
The cedar flooring and porch flooring are done. Phil did a great job with this and we've already begun moving our camping gear in to sort through for our trip.

I also stained a bit more of the cement around the house. The pink stain is gone and this is a rust and coffee color. I ran out of stain before all was complete. I've got one more gallon coming for the back of the house. This looks really nice with the stone wall we have when you look to the house from the road.

The garden is growing and we have lots coming up. Including romaine and spinach and herbs and onions. Dinner last night was made with some of this bounty.

I also planted corn, squash and beans last week end. I trenched near the fruit trees to try to get some overflow from the trees and one of the check valves for the irrigation. I covered this with some old fencing dad gave us. I was amazed the other day when I saw that everything I planted was coming up (seeds were 2 years old from a friend in TBA). I got out there yesterday, after the Farmers' Market to thin and transplant these. Its not at all organized this year! I also got the Sweet Potato vines this week. They were pretty tired looking after spending two days in the post box. The directions suggest that these are pretty hardy, so we will see what comes up.

One of the fruit trees! They are full of leaves and it looks like all four made it through the transplant time.

The next couple of weeks are going to be spent correcting the drip irrigation system so that each section gets enough water for growth but not too much to drown or waste water.

1 Month laterBags are working!

Happenings on our farm

2009-04-25T05:15:00.001-07:00

Update: Here's the picture of me feeding Monday, the colt born about three weeks ago with leg problems. He's up and walking around fine, though he has not yet returned to the farm. We will see him again when we head up to Todd's for Animal Feeding this morning. Wyatt is Rodeo-ing this week end, so they are all gone. On the farm, you always have something do feed or water, so neighbors tend to help.

1. Cherry blossoms are already changing to fruit on our early trees.

2. Finally put a fence and rock around this area, the potato and asparagus. Chickens like to hunt for bugs in here.

See, they love the straw!

3. Speaking of Chickens. We now have the white duck from the pond visiting the Chickens. They are all free ranging through the fields.

4. Went to the Farmers' Market Information Session. Farmers' from Sierra will be represented through the summer starting May 16-End of October. We'll be there selling Pecans and other wares from our gardens. Not going weekly, but definitely will try to make at least once a month or more.

5. More of the Cherry Tree row in bloom. The closest tree is part of three that came into bloom just this week, while the farthest trees are already forming fruit in these little furry white packages.

Plants are in bloom, we actually have some fruit and the watering has begun. Things are busy at P and S Farm. We are enjoying the changing season and moving into the "farming" chores that tend to be part of the daily life. This isn't the laid back "idyllic" time that people think of when they think of us in the calm farm away from the hectic city.

This week we planted about 40 trees with about 20 more to go. Butterfly bushes to cottonwood trees and Apache Plume now line our entry way on the creek side. This is an effort to fight erosion and hold the bank in place. The plants were part of the effort by the Sierra County Soil and Water Conservation District. They provided the easy part, the plants. We do grow rocks here and my arms and back have been digging through this to get the plants in the ground. Watering will take place with the help of the sprayer we had arrive just before our trip to Chicago. The sprayer arrived broken, but a quick phone call brought the piece in time to spray zinc for the pecan trees as the leaves are developing. We watered from 7:30 PM Thursday to 7:30 PM Friday April 23/24, 2009. This watering should help the uptake and growth of all the leaves and fruit.

Characters we've met. This is Nacho, the burro over at Todd's who is Comache's buddy. He gives a loud greeting as we head in to the feeding area.
Pam, here's one of the trees we planted when you visited. They all have leaves now. The fig is struggling because 1. we had a late frost and I didn't properly cover and 2. the cattle got through and ate the leaves they did see. It now has new leaves and is doing better, but this is one of the best ones. I'll have to trim some of the bottom leaves off. The tree wrap is loose and will probably go ahead and paint the bottoms. (This reflects the hot sun and protects the young trees from damage such as cracking bark.)

While I didn't take this picture, it is a Snowy Egret. I noticed one down on the creek bed as I was getting algae for mulch for the cottonwoods that I planted for erosion control. Later, we saw him in the pond with the white duck. Not sure, but I think this might just be a stopping ground and not a nesting area for them. We've seen herons and this is related to the Blue Heron we have nesting along our Cottonwoods, but I don't know the Snowy Egret actually nests in this area. Maybe they will this year.

I'll try to post other pictures and updates now that the camera is cleared out.

Other pictures from our farm tour at http://thebountifulalliancem.blogspot.com/

Catching up!

2009-04-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

1. Claire Dishman whittling at Community Garden. 2. Paula and Steve Green grow food year round in their home garden.

3. The Jefferey's Straw Bale Greenhouse is being completed. 4. Josh talks compost at one of the Monticello farms.

5. Steve Darland, Viniculturist in the Aging room on the farm. Excellent Balsalmic Vinegar!

The farm has been busy lately, but we did do a tour of Organic farms in the area that was offered last week by The Bountiful Alliance (Sandi is on this board). We viewed gardens and farms from TorC and Monticello.

Biggest learned lesson, their farms look so great because 1. they do it full time and 2. they have been doing it full time for years. My favorite parts were the straw bale greenhouse at the Jeffrey's farm, the lessons on Balsamic Vinegar at the Old Monticello Farms, the hard work evident from all the volunteers at TBA's 4th Street Community Garden and the fact that one of the farms had been a hippie colony in the 70s.

Another Horse Emergency

2009-04-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Comanche

The other night, Todd brought Comanche over to keep Monday (one of the new colts) company. Comanche was the colt born in July of last year on the farm. He had been at the LNZ, keeping company with several roping horses and a donkey that they rescued. Colts take up to about 2 years of growing before they can begin to be riden to learn to become a roping horse. Comanche has a bit of time to go.

Pinney is the mother of Monday. She's been very protective of her colt. They spend the day feeding in the field. When Comanche came over, she initially bullied him, but left him for the night, the field is pretty big. Apparently, sometime in the morning on April 15, she boxed him into a corner of the field and he tried to jump the fence and got twisted up. I heard some kicking of a bucket. Turns out, in trying to get himself loose, he got twisted in all three wires of the barbed wire fence. I got out there and tried to calm him down while still calling to Molli to stop barking and calling Phil to come out to help. I do recall thinking, Molli go get Phil...yeah, right. She just wanted to be there with us.

Ultimately, I ran half way back to the house after getting two of the wires untied. Comanche was getting more nervous as Pinney moved closer. Rather than get kicked, I thought I could actually use some help. We got him unraveled and into the other field. Salve that was left after an accident last year was still around, so we put that on the open wounds. He seems okay, but stuck to the far side of the field until Todd and Wyatt could get over to pick him up. We'll try again in a couple of days.

A few deep scratches, but no stitches or Vet visit needed. The back leg here was the one caught up in the wire. Just above the tip of the tail, you can see part of the cut. There are also some cuts on this side. Barbed wire is nasty!

This is exciting, but a bit stressful. I'm ready to just pet these horses when they will let me!

CNN.com Solutions

2009-04-15T17:21:00.001-07:00

Colt Update

2009-04-08T16:31:00.001-07:00

Skippy's Kid Rock is out of braces and standing to feed on his own.

Skippy wasn't as willing to let me in her pen near her baby now that things are going so well for them. That's okay, Mom does need to protect and bond after such a shaky first couple of steps for her colt, Kid Rock. After a few days with the Doolittles (vet) in El Paso, there seems to be no problem with him rising to feed. Milking a mare was an interesting skill to add to my resume, but nature does it so much better.

We are glad see both come home yesterday. We look forward to a trip to our fields soon. Their current residence, at the LNZ Spread, does give wind protection these days, but we definately have more green to much through the warming days of spring.

Each year local ranchers and farmers, in Sierra County, New Mexico, are greeted with the smiling face of Mary Martin, at the plant sale hosted by the Sierra County Soil and Water Conservation District. The plant sale was an effort by SSWCD to offer reduced cost for plants that would be used on your property to reduce erosion. Since last Labor Day Week-End, our experiences with water in the Las Palomas Creek we realize that we will need to aid nature in growing a root system that will stand up to the fast moving and very high reaching, waters in the creek. We have 50 + Plants to put in over the next week or so. I've got some things that are native to our area and might actually have some traits, such as to spread roots and to hang on to the hill side. Our road is just the other side of the plantings, so we hope these will grow quickly. You never know what will pop up with the next season.

We will also be creating habit by virtue of planting things that these organisms require to live, we wanted to select some native species as well as those that will do a good job with

Examples of this year's plants:

Apache Plume

Cottonwood

Butterfly Bush

Lavendar

Desert Willow

Solar Water Heater

2009-04-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Solar Water Heating as an alternative to paying Sierra Electric?

Recently, Susan told me Dave wanted to show me what he was up to in his shop. Dave had recently obtained a used water heater ($10 Thanks to Wes!) and he was going to hook this up to some solar water heating panels that would bring hot water into his new shop.

Dave stands with one of his two panels that need to get to the roof. Susan uses the Kubota Trailer while I guide the panel and Dave stands atop the roof waiting for the panel. I ran up the ladder after the picture and helped lift and move the panel into place.

The two panels on the roof of Dave's building.

Solar water heaters are a unique combination of traditional water heating technology and solar technology. Many of us have experienced the warm or, sometimes hot, water that comes out of the end of a hose when you turn it on in the summer time. Solar water heating plays off of the suns energy and efficiency at warming water in thin layers. A solar water heating system includes a storage tank and solar collectors. There are two types of solar water heating systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, and passive, which don't. In a passive system where the storage is separate from the collector, as water in the collector warms, water flows by natural convection through the collector to the storage tank. A forced circulation system requires a pump to move water from the storage tank to the collector. While Dave has a pump, he hopes that convection heating will work to his favor as New Mexico has so much solar energy to offer.

Solar water heaters have been around for a long time, probably since the 1800s. What's different is the efficiency and how solar water heaters look today. Most modern solar water heaters mount flush with the roof and look like skylights. Solar water heaters are an environmentally sound way to reduce energy bills.

I'm interested in seeing the system in place and to see how Dave's plumbing prowess will work together for a nice hot water return.

Chicago and beyond!

2009-04-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

Chicago and Michigan April 2009

Recently, we traveled to Chicago. A trip back to visit Olivia and CJ in Oak Park. Our stay at the Carlton allowed us to see Olivia's new place of work, the Marion Street Cheese Market. A cute little place in the new location across from the Green Line Station.

Wine in the shop, could hardly choose!

Liv squeezes blood oranges for her mimosas for a Sunday Morning Brunch.
A great series of Cheeses and an excellent wine means we hope to visit again soon.

http://www.marionstreetcheesemarket.com/

Phil and I got to experience more snow in one night than we had experienced in two winters in New Mexico. At least we didn't have to shovel it! Our visit to Chicago was much too short for friends, but long enough to get a taste of what we don't quite miss.

Our night at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo met with more family. Dad, Jim Duncan Sr., was invited to Western Michigan University's Hawthorn College of Business to deliver the Distinguished Speaker's Series Speech. Family gathered to celebrate this event and enjoyed his presentation of the History of Banking and specifically, Credit Cards.

The following email came after I got home:

From: James McIntyre james.mcintyre@wmich.edu

Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:23:38

Subject: Jim Duncan's Sr. Visit to Kalamazoo

Thanks to all of you who came back to Kalamazoo and WMU's campus to see and hear your father. He was terrific and we have received many positive comments from the community and from folks here at WMU.

His talk is available on-line for anyone who was not able toattend. Please share the address: http://www.wmich.edu/business From there you will see his picture(updated) and the link. You are welcome back anytime. It was great meeting all of you.

I hope you will consider reviewing his speech. We were made to feel very welcome and it helped me to see why Dad is such a respected member of the Banking Community and has earned an important part in the history of Banking and that of Kalamazo, Michigan. Our thanks to the Students, Faculty and Deans of the school for making Jim Duncan Sr.'s family feel so welcome.

It was great to see Dad, Debbie Wyantt, Jim Jr., Chris, Erica, Becky, Dan, Sue and Mark, Anita and John. Many of Dad's colleages and bank family members turned out to celebrate this event. It was clear to me, just how respected he is, as a business man.

New Colts born!

2009-04-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Todd and Shelley Lindsey have been helping us with the farm and grazing their horses on our farm as well as Susan and David's farm. While we were gone last week, Todd brought in the New colt born in March at their place, Monday. Monday is the day the horse was born and his name...really.
They also brought over Skippy, another pregnant mare. We've been watching her for the past couple of days, hoping the colt would be born soon. Molli woke me about 5 this morning asking to go out. She ran like a shot out across the road on the other side of the Chicken Coop. She came back a bit later but was anxious to go out. As it was still dark, I decided to wait a bit to go out and let the Chickens out.
About 6:15 she and the Mallary's dogs were all barking, so I went to check out what was up. Looking across the field, I noticed another brown area and hoped it was the new colt. Turns out it was. Monday (1 month old colt) and Molli (dog) were both around the newborn and Skippy was standing guard.
I decided to go see what they were actually barking at and walked over to make sure things were okay. The new colt was not getting up. Last year, at the beginning of July, Commanche was born on our property too and he was up and walking on his wobbly legs pretty much right away. This newborn was not getting up. After watching the colt try to get up a few times, I moved in to pet and soothe Skippy and reached to help the colt who still had some afterbirth around. (Mollie was able to get in close and was licking everything!) Skippy let me get in and try to help the colt up, but it didn't work. When we called Todd, he suggested they might lay around for a couple of hours. Okay, we watched a bit. Still, the legs seemed to be all caddy whompus and mixed together. By the time Todd got there, he suggested that the front legs were not straight and the ligaments were shortened. While I held back Skippy, he tried to lift the colt to get her to drink (by now I had not seen any feeding thought the colt was making signs that he would suckle ANYTHING, even Molli!)

A couple of calls around found that the Big Animal Vet, Dr. Cardwell, was in Houston, Texas and there were no emergency services nearby. Wyatt and Shelley went to get the horse trailer and a bottle. Another neighbor, (Ben?) came with a halter.

I actually got to milk the mare to get the colostrum and milk to feed. Colostrum is a special milk produced by mammals. It is usually a yellow to orange in color and thick and sticky. In this case, there was a yellow color. It is low in fat, and high in carbohydrates, protein, and antibodies to help keep a newborn healthy. Colostrum is extremely easy to digest, and is therefore the perfect first food. It is low in volume (measurable in teaspoons rather than ounces), but high in concentrated nutrition for the newborn. Colostrum has a laxative effect on the baby, helping to pass early stools. In humans, I know that this aids in the excretion of excess bilirubin and helps prevent jaundice. I'm actually not sure if horses can be jaundice? (okay, so http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=436 suggests that it is rare, with less than 1% of foals but possible). At any rate, early feeding is important to give energy and build the immune system.

Wyatt did bring a bottle (cattle bottle I think) but Ben brought a syringe that I used to fill and feed the foal. Way cool! I've never been the first to feed a horse and being that close was really interesting. This colt had a single tooth coming out of the gums on the bottom. He also had a very pink tongue that almost sucked in the syringe too. Wyatt gave milking a try and between the two of us we got about 1/2 pint. It was interesting to see the colt (who by the time we got something in him had been struggling for 2 hours) roll his eyes in his head like he was on a sugar high!

We ended up giving about 1/2 pint of milk and colostrum into him and Skippy was a bit calmer (having become really nervous with so many people coming around as Todd and Shelley and Wyatt showed up).

The colt and mom were put into the horse trailer to be taken to El Paso for Vet care. This was the closest Vet that was available (1.5 hours away). When they left, Skippy was in the back of the trailer, Wyatt and the colt in the front.

Shortened tendons mean that the front legs of the horse can't straighten. As best I can describe, the colt appeared to be standing on the hoof tips on the front legs. I wasn't able to find any information on the net on ligiment or tendons that were short in newborns, but did find information that tendon damage is common later in life. http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/health/tendondamage-144.shtml
I also found out that "Congenital flexural deformities can be caused by several different factors. Malpositioning within the mare’s uterus can lead to contracted tendons. Ingestion of toxins during pregnancy can also cause malformations of the tendons. Genetic factors can contribute to deformities of the tendons. Congenital flexural deformities have also been associated with an unbalanced iodine intake in the mare." http://www.vetpro.co.nz/Vet%20Talk_Equine/tendon_injuries.htm
Treatment? Well, the tendons may need to be cut to allow the horse to stand. The tendons can be sewn back together (like attaching ropes) and the colt should be okay. I'll wait to see.

I didn't get any pictures as I left the house without a camera or phone. Pictures were taken and I hope they send them soon. I'll post them when they come.

Rooster not doing his job

2009-03-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

These are the portabella mushrooms we planted earlier. It has been great to harvest these and eat them or share. We've had grilled mushrooms, mushroom pizza and even mushrooms in eggs. Not bad for $100 mushrooms...just kidding.

Seems that our 21 days of eggs wasn't going to hatch any new chicks. Our rooster is beautiful, protective and, well loud. What he isn't doing is his job! We will try again when he is seen roosting in the right places. Sorry Geli!

Also, in collecting eggs, Phil managed to find a huge gopher snake around a couple of the eggs the other day. I bet his heart was pounding until he realized it wasn't a rattler. Our history with rattlers in this country has been interesting.

Finally, the screen house is looking good. We are waiting on some nice cedar for the flooring.

March Already?

2009-03-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy end of February. Pam came to visit with the dogs. We had a great time. Chica, Sloan, Cassidy and Molli had a great time. The chickens and the cows didn't know what to do with so many short four legged creatures around!

It was great to see Pam and to share some of the warm early spring with her. While Phil continued to work on the Screen Room, Pam and I planted the trees that came. Just a small amount this time, including dwarf Nectarine, Fuji and Fig Trees. Planted near the Chicken Coop. Good water and will provide some shade for the Free Range Chickens.

I also have been up to ABQ to the Xeriscape conference and to Las Cruces to the Western Pecan Grower's Association. So much information.

The Xeriscape Conference http://www.xeriscapenm.com/about_xeriscape_council.html was great. I always learn so much and enjoy meeting so many different individuals. I met several of the Landscapers at Highlands University out of Las Vegas. They are doing some great things with replacing turf with other surfaces. Hope that works for the ball fields! Met some people with the New Mexico Reclamation district. Glad to see there are so many projects going on there.

My favorite speakers, (though I do admit to enjoying everyone I heard this year),

Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest public advocacy organization, and the co-founder of the Blue Planet Project. Barlow serves on the boards of the International Forum on Globalization and Food and Water Watch, as well as being a councilor with the Hamburg- based World Future Council. Barlow is the recipient of six honorary doctorates, the 2005/2006 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship Award, and the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”) for her work in global water justice. She is also the best-selling author or co-author of sixteen books, including Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop Corporate Theft of the World’s Water and the recently released Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.
Website: www.canadians.org/about/Maude_Barlow/

She regailed us with a great opening conference talk that included some of the problems faced by countries such as Australia. It is truely a sign of things to come.

Doug Fine moved to an obscure valley in Southern New Mexico to write Farewell, My Subaru, a book about his effort to live without fossil fuels and find salvation in the process. From solar panels to goat husbandry to driving a veggie-fueled oil truck, Fine explores whether an American can live a green life without being electrocuted or overwhelmed by contradiction. Farewell, My Subaru was released by Random House in March, 2008.
As a young freelancer, Fine reported for The Washington Post, Salon, U.S. News and World Report, Sierra, Wired, Outside and other publications from little-visited jungle war zones like Burma, Rwanda, Laos, Guatemala and Tajikistan. He became a world-class adventure writer and investigative journalist, writing culturally-insightful and funny dispatches. One of these, about democracy efforts in Burma, was read into the Congressional Record.
Fine is a regular contributor of adventure and investigative features to National Public Radio.
Website: www.dougfine.com/the-premise/

It was interesting to hear of someone who is experiencing the best and worst of New Mexico as we are here in Las Palomas Canyon. I found out that we both know Craig Wentz who did our Solar and who is supposed to go out to fix something on Doug's place "when he can find the time". Craig had to come out to the farm to do something and we touched based on Doug's fine speech.

Also, Toby Hemenway is the author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. For the past six years, his book has been the world’s best-selling book on permaculture, a design approach based on ecology for creating sustainable landscapes, homes, communities, and workplaces. He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Graduate Education at Portland State University and Scholar in Residence at Pacific University. Hemenway teaches, consults, and lectures on permaculture and ecological design throughout the United States and other countries. His articles have appeared in magazines such as Whole Earth Review, Natural Home, and Kitchen Gardener.
From 1999 to 2004, Hemenway was the editor of Permaculture Activist, a journal of ecological design and sustainable culture. One of his current projects is working with the Learning Gardens Laboratory, a 12-acre educational site that links Portland, Oregon public school students, teacher-training graduate students, and community members in hands-on learning focused on food, nutrition, food culture, and agriculture. He is also a member of ReCode Portland, a citizens’ initiative to eliminate code obstructions to sustainable technologies such as graywater re-use and natural building.
Website: www.patternliteracy.com/bio.html

I'd love to make this place an educational sactuary as well!

These are three people along with others, such as Brad Lancaster (water harvesting -whose book I bought)Website: www.harvestingrainwater.com and Wes Jackson (oh to be a graduate student in Genetics again) Website: www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v
who are making a difference in the world of Xeriscape and Foodscape.

The Pecan Grower's Association Conference was a interesting series of talks that showed me just how much I DON'T know about Pecans and their habitat. I enjoyed learning a bit about the micro and macro nutrients and the way they translocate through the plant (or don't in the case of some such as zinc). I also figure we have about 50 years worth of pruning to do this year! http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/pecans/2009-western-pecan-growe.html

Speakers included Dr. Bill Lindemann, Soil Scientist from NMSU and Dr. Leonardo Lombardini from Texas A &M retaught me some information about soils and light management in plants. Rob Call of the University of Arizona reminded me about the importance (or rather dominance) of the apical meristem and its hormones (Auxin) and how to prune for control. I figure there is lots to do to get our orchards in shape. They make me really appreciate the combination of science and hard work that Pecan Growers across the nation take on each year. One comment, I appologize for not remembering who made the comment...suggested that a farmer suggested it was his first year...for the 30th year. Each year in the orchard is different and everyone is learning. I didn't feel quite so alone.

This month has been a month of learning and working. Research won't end with the farm as I don't ever think there will be all the answers and a perfect season for all the crops. Each year will bring more plants, animals, pests, and enjoyment of the best place on earth.

Portobello Mushroom Farmer?

2009-02-17T20:11:00.001-08:00

Just ordered a Gourmet Portablella Mushroom Kit.

Portabella Mushrooms are pretty good to grill, but they may be good for you too. I’ve been reading a bit and nutritionally, it is suggested to replace beef with mushrooms and you may reduce your risk of obesity. I was doing this research for my nutrition class and read that “Formulating foods with mushroom instead of beef may reduce caloric intake by over 400 -calories per day, according to research from John Hopkins University. Source: Appetite July 2008, Volume 51, Issue 1, Pages 50-57 “Lack of energy compensation over 4 days when white button mushrooms are substituted for beef”Authors: L.J. Cheskin, L.M. Davis, L.M. Lipsky, A.H. Mitola, T. Lycan, V. Mitchell, B. Mickle, E. Adkins

Also, my friend, Susan, is a vegetarian. I am always looking for something to cook for her when she visits. We grilled them last summer and I know she likes them too. As we were planning our gardens this year (back in December/January), I mentioned that I would like to try growing these. They are a bit expensive and we don't always see them in our local store. We found them in several seed catalogs and I found this description online:

Gourmet Portabella Mushroom Growing Kit
“These huge, tawny mushrooms are a favorite for gourmet cooking! With their rich flavor and meaty texture, they even serve as the main ingredient in many vegetarian dishes. Portabellas are difficult to find at the supermarket, but with this kit, you can grow your own and enjoy peak freshness and flavor. Kit includes pre-inoculated spawn, produces in 3-5 weeks. Just add water and place in a cool, dark location, such as a basement.Mushrooms have a wonderful texture and flavor any way you use them. Plus, they’re loaded with nutrients, including vitamin B and potassium, which help boost the immune system. Grow your own and harvest delicious, nutritious mushrooms for weeks!” gardensalive.com

Good, sounds nutritious. Did the advertisement tell the whole story? The description doesn't give portobello mushrooms their full credit. Mushrooms have about 20% of their nutritional value as protein if they are dried. Because they are protein based, they also have some of the essential amino acids. They are low in fat, high in fiber. Both good and are likely why the obesity risk can be reduced. They also have vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, and ascorbic acid. Vitamins A, C and B6. They are also rich in minerals such as: iron, selenium, zinc, copper, potassium and phosphorus. They also contain phytochemicals which can help reduce cancer risks. One half cup of cooked mushrooms contains about 20 calories and provides a good source of selenium, which studies show may reduce the risk of colon and prostate cancer. Mushroom’ selenium and riboflavin also help support detoxification. http://www.dolenutrition.com/Facts_lr.aspx

I’ve seen them most recently in the grocery store for a couple of bucks. Not bad, but there is the shipping concern. No one grows them locally. So if I produce my own, I can also save some energy.

Emeril’s Food of Love had a recipe for the mushrooms that caught my attention. They had a recipe for a burger (my favorite way to eat Portabella Mushrooms. This was called Emeril’s Portobello Mushroom-Blue Cheese Burgers.
It included Vidalia onion slices, chopped garlic, balsamic vinegar the mushroom and 6 oz of Gorgonzola thinly sliced. Oh, and rosemary. I thought, that’s a great use for the rosemary in the garden. A marinade 1-2 hours with the vinegar and olive oil, garlic and rosemary. Then grill these and the onions (Emeril drizzled the onions with olive oil, but I like them straight on the grill). They cook faster than the burgers. Phil won’t eat the mushroom burger, so he starts the hamburgers earlier. Cook 5 minutes, add the cheese on the gills of the mushroom and cook till tender. Only about3 more minutes. Spread on a mayo with cayenne pepper.

Portobello or Portabella?
So which is it, Portobello or Portabella? The actual scientific name is Agaricus bisporus Some use the feminine version of the name, Portabella, to refer to smaller or younger mushrooms. The mushroom is also known as brown crimini or table mushroom in it’s smaller/younger version.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/portobellosportablellas.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/glossery/p.shtml?portobellor_mushrooms

Ordered it two weeks ago and the kit came yesterday. Today I set it up. It involves innoculated medium with compost that is cooked to sterilize. Then it cools and is innoculated with mushroom spores. This is shipped with a peat moss with lime to adjust the pH. I'm supposed to set it up with water in the peat and set is aside at room temp for 7 days. Then, I can check it and move it to the 50-65 degrees. We will see if we have tasty edible and healthy mushrooms by the end of March!

Reuse-

2009-02-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

The garden actually has some things growing already. Onion, spinach and broccoli have taken hold in the new area. Still have some under plastic at night for an extra bit of protection. A cold snap hurt some of the onion shoots. They are coming back with the plastic covering.

Still experimenting with the bags of organic soils. While research suggested the bags should be opened with flaps on top and holes in the bottom, the soil seems to ooze out the sides with watering. Only opened three bags, so I'll be able to adjust for the next group of plants (going in this week end.

Also, reused the fencing from around the chicken coop for the garden. Good size, this should help keep some of the foraging nibblers out as things are growing. Caught a jackrabbit in there already today, sniffing around. We also have the steer, Ho, nibbling in the lower raised bed. Will have to put up a bit more barbed wire to prevent that. Putting this fence up tells me we would be better off growing rocks than vegetables.

Speaking of wire, Phil has completed the electric for the screened room. After having done the second level of the Michigan house and several jobs here in New Mexico, we have a gr

owing list of jobs neither of us ever wants to have in life. Electrician is one of those jobs, followed closely by plumbing.

One of the things Phil was working furiously to finish by this past week end, was my closet.

The doors were picked up several years ago, imported from Mexico. We got them in a deal with another set of antique doors. Richard Epstein of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico did a great job of fixing up the years of damage. We've left them pretty much the original layers of paint. The closet also has a bit of a cold cellar, something I wanted for storing some of the produce like apples and potatoes through the winter. Shelves are already holding things like luggage that was taking up space in our previous closets.

Molli and Skye

2009-02-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

We went up to Santa Fe to see dad. Lot's of chores for us to do. Molli had a blast with Skye. She even slept with dad, forsaking us after falling off the twin bed!

Dad had been afraid that Molli would have a bad interaction with a coyote, but she seemed fine and stuck close to the house.

Came home and a day later spotted a Mtn. Lion.

New Project

2009-02-08T17:21:00.001-08:00

Our newest project is the screened porch (formerly the roofed area near the sun room).

Before picture:

We used this area to dine outdoors, when bugs aren't too bad. It was likely a carport with previous owners (based on oil spills?) Now we will add a deck and screen this in.

This photo shows Phil cut through the fenced area that goes up along the fireplace and around the court yard. We'll be making a new entry to the screened porch. You can see the front doors which will have a boardwalk path just to Phil's right.

Today Phil finished the floor and made a cold storage area on the right side of the fireplace that will be under the floor of the closet.

Stay tuned.

Just for the record-Wildlife at P and S Farm

2009-01-31T05:28:00.000-08:00

We have quite a bit of wildlife here at the farm this winter.

Phil took this shot of a heron this month (Jan 09)

Just a list, but the Western Meadowlarks are visiting along with some hawks (who think the chickens looks tasty! *no pictures yet

The turkeys make their way through almost daily, though Molli tends to keep them a bit further from the house if she is out. No little ones yet. Here we've just watered the fields and they are looking for some food.

We are hooked to the Solar!

2009-01-28T15:55:00.001-08:00

As of today, we have gone solar.

It will be great not to pay another bill and to watch that meter go backwards.

Craig finishes some last minute touches to the system.

Ray from the state checks us out.

The Sierra Electric Guys change out the meter and flip the switch!

Solar Approval...soon?

2009-01-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

Ray stopped by from the State of New Mexico and the next hurdle has been scaled. We are hoping to see Craig and Gayle (Wentz Electric out of Silver City, NM) Saturday to drop off the skematics for the system and perhaps Sierra Electric will be by on Monday or Tuesday to do the final inspection and the installation of the final meter which will allow us net metering.

Keep your fingers crossed.

January -Farm chores in winter

2009-01-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

We've been busy doing farm things while we have excellent weather this month. Today topped at 70 degrees and you just can't beat that type of weather. Hopefully the weather will hold so we can finish cutting up two of the trees we've taken down this winter. 2 Walnut trees (English Walnut, we think) have not shown foliage or production this year and the previous year was limited. It was time to take down these two hardwoods and use them in a variety of ways.

1. We are using the smaller branches and twigs for fire starting. 2. We are using some of the shorter lengths to heat the house. 3. We are using some of the longer throws of straight branches for the posts for the garden cover. 4. We'll be delivering some of the walnut to dad to burn for his heat (we will bring a trailer full to Sante Fe the beginning of next month Dad!). 5. 1 inch size branches can also be used for some other fencing projects we have in mind.

It's amazing how big these trees were and how the wood has dried out in such a short time. It's good to be able to use some of the pieces for our other projects. 4 x 4's do get a bit expensive and they never sell the exact size you really want, so you either end up cutting some off or you bury the excess or leave it up. Personally, this is not easy soil to dig in, I'd rather not have to go deeper than necessary. I think our real crop is rocks.

This is a couple of the limbs from one of the trees that we took down this week. More work on the garden area.

Ho on the Range

2009-01-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

We have a new family member here at P and S Farm. Ho the Holstein. The US is the leading beef producer in the world. Almost 26.9 billion pounds of beef were produced in the US back in 2000 and that has grown since we eat about 78 lbs of beef annually per capita, according to the US Dept of Agriculture Extension Service. P and S Farm has got to be the smallest beef producer in the nation, at least in Sierra County, New Mexico. Ho joined our family a few days before Christmas. Ho is a Holstein who had been a roping steer up at Andy and Kathy Underwood’s place. He apparently got smart and was too easy to catch and thus his transplanting over to the farm where he can grow eating the grasses etc that we have on pasture.
No sooner than we put the bale of alfalfa out in the garage did a black larger, older steer join Ho. This is good as it seems to quiet him down and give him some company. He doesn’t quite understand Molli’s offer of a stick and neither of them would be herded by her, so they have found a good balance to daily life. We have a cattle farm at this point.
This will be our future hamburger and finishing him off with grazing over the next couple of months won’t exactly cost us much. We are feeding some sort of protein supplement and there is a bloat block out. We also had to invest in a larger poly water troph. I think it’s about 57 gallons. This time of year it is good to have since it is freezing at night but warm during the day. They are ranging over the orchard through most of the last couple of days. We decided to water the fields today, January 3, 2009, as the daytime temperatures have gotten to 73 degrees. It’s been pleasant and perhaps a little water on the roots will help the trees and encourage grasses and other pasture plants to grow a bit.

Ag Arizona suggests that Holsteins are different than other, traditional beef breeds in that “1) they have a gentle temperament and playful, but can be dangerous if inadvertently left as intact bulls,“(thus the steer?) ” 2) Holsteins are easily bored and thereby may sort feed 3) more bloats, metabolic, and buller problems,” (what’s a buller problem?) “4) more dust production as a result of playfulness, 5) hard to move when animals have a tendency to follow you, 6) Holsteins are more heat tolerant but cold intolerant, 7) greater risk for liver abscesses and acidosis, but not founder, 8) they have greater water intake and greater urine production, 9) suicidal tendencies.“ http://ag.arizona.edu/ANS/swnmc/2007/talks/Duff_2007SWNMC.pdf What would drive a steer to suicide I am left to wonder. They also go on to suggest that they are a preferred beef stock in some areas because you can predict the weight gain (3-4 lbs per day). They suggest that feeder cattle are brought to ranch at 300 lbs and can grow to as much as 1,300 lbs. Feedlot growth of as much as 1,000 lbs is reported. I also read reports of approximately 3 tons of feed to finish one cow? When we drive past some of these feedlots, it makes me wonder of a life of a cow. At least Ho will get a chance to wander around the farm and enjoy some fresh grazing. Another thing that is mentioned in some of the research is the small gene pool for Holsteins. Why is it that we eat so much meat and not lower on the food chain?

1000 lbs of beef gain! That’s a lot of beef as hamburger. How much weight in hamburger? What can you cook?
Burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, oh, and lasagna, beef stroganoff, sloppy joe, I’m sure there are others for variety, we are talking about 700 lbs of meat.

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t all have to be hamburger. I think Kathy also mentioned jerky:
Ingredients:Amount, Item & Brand (If Applicable)5 Lbs. Minimum (One piece preferred) Fresh Brisket (Lean) - Any brand*Any choice of meat* (partially frozen meat is easier to cut)15 - 20 oz. Soy Sauce - Any brand15 oz. Worcestershire Sauce - Lea & Perrins - Preferred15 - 20 oz. Teriyaki sauce - Any brand2 - 4 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar - Any brand2 - 4 tablespoons Garlic Powder - Any brand2 - 4 tablespoons Onion Powder - Any brand2 - 4 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper - Any brand5 oz. bottle Liquid Smoke - Any brand any type2 - 4 oz. Dark Corn Syrup or Molasses for even more flavor - Any brand 1 - Very Sharp Knife
All ingredients can be more or less as you desire to your own taste except soy & Worcestershire which can be more, you must have enough liquid to cover meat. Brown sugar and corn syrup or molasses can be to taste for sweetness or not used at all (SEE TIP BELOW***).Add all liquid ingredients into container (with lid is preferred or cover with a plastic wrap or try zipper bag)
Next, add all other ingredients into the container, stir frequently.
Trim as much fat as possible off the brisket (meat). It is the fat on the meat that will go bad (rancid) not the meat. The meat is to be sliced with the grain as thin as possible (approx. 3/16" to 1/8” if possible) One source noted that against the grain makes it easier to chew later. To aid in slicing meat thinly, freeze until ice crystals are formed. (30 minutes is suggested)This allows for more slices and a quicker drying time. Place into marinade as sliced. Make sure all meat is covered with the ingredients and stir meat occasionally to ensure all areas of meat have been exposed to the marinade.
Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours or more, occasionally shaking or stirring the meat at least 2 more times. Some recipes talk about embedding the jerked meat with pepper and dried garlic for 24 hours and then soaking for up to 3 days.
To Dry: place full size pan or aluminum foil on bottom of oven and cover bottom entirely. Make a pan to cover the bottom of the oven to avoid mess. Pan can be removed when dripping stops. The bottom drips will burn and smell.
It is advisable to place towels on the oven door while open and loading the trays to catch the drippings. Looks like a special oven would be helpful if you want something clean!
Place the meat across the racks filling the top. One site looked like they used chop sticks or sticks to hang the meat from and you could get more and less mess on the rack itself. Set temperature to at least 160o F (160o F - 180o F). When visible dripping has stopped, all meat has to be turned over because the top of the meat will have more moisture than the bottom part.

*Note: The USDA suggests that the temperature of beef needs to be 160o F to kill pathogens and in chicken it would need to be 165o F. This is not mentioned in many of the sites about drying and in fact, some recommend temps as low as 140o F.
Also the top rack will drip onto the bottom rack and the bottom meat will have more moisture than the top pieces. The meat should be checked for consistency in drying and should be move around accordingly (from bottom rack to top, from edge to center etc.) The low heat is to dry the meat, not cook it. It should take approximately 4 ½ to 6 hours more or less depending how many & how thin the meat was sliced and the set temperature.
Leave door open last hour or so, to dissipate the heat, to avoid cooking it is a good idea to leave the oven door propped open any time during the drying to keep a good flow of heat & air. (turn on convection fan?)
Jerky is done when it no longer bends and you could break off a piece with ease. But the meat should not be so dry as to be crisp & break. It is better to be drier than under dried, so as to prevent mold. Let meat cool before storing.
Remember this meat will continue to dry unless placed in a sealed container once totally dried. Do not worry about color changes of the beef jerky it will get lighter and harder as it continues to dry over time. It is only important to keep the jerky away from humidity for long term storage.
Jerky is a food known at least since ancient Egypt. Humans made jerky from animal meat that was too big to eat all at once, such as bear, buffalo, or whales. North American Indians mixed ground dried meat with dried fruit or suet to make "pemmican." "Biltong" is dried meat or game used in many African countries. Our word "jerky" came from the Spanish word "charque."
· Be swift. The meat should be dried as quickly as possible, to limit bacterial growth. Cutting the meat into thin slices dramatically shortens drying time. Placing the meat in a freezer for an hour or two before cutting will make it easier to cut thinly.
· Do not allow the jerky to become too dry or it will become hard and unpleasant. It should be the consistency of rubber.
· Traditionally, jerky was smoked or salted to preserve and flavor the meat at the same time. Smoker?
· Ideally, the jerky should be vacuum sealed in plastic with a pouch of oxygen absorber in order to retard spoilage, but this is not practical in most home situations.
· Use Braggs soy sauce, Black pepper, Pinch of cayenne, smoke the meat before dehydrating or use liquid smoke and you will have the best jerky you have ever had. Be sure you let it marinate overnight.
· Try a soy sauce based marinade. Some excellent flavoring agents include Adobo seasoning, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, powdered ginger, sesame oil, cajun seasoning ****I am worried about the salt level in jerky with soy sauce (600 mg of sodium per tsp) What about ground red chili’s?
· When drying in an oven, keep the door open a few inches with a couple of wooden spoons. This help the drying process and helps prevent the jerky scolding before it is dry.
Wiki How had the following pictures. I like the hanging, but don’t like the dried on inside of oven mess.
Food Safety: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/jerky_and_food_safety/index.asp
Finally, I found some jerky recipes that call Biltong a South African Beef Jerky that also says that this works with zebra, ostrich or kudu.

The spices are a bit different in Biltong http://www.ehow.com/how_2279759_billtong-south-african-beef-jerky.html:
Now add 3 tablespoons of ground coriander, 2 tablespoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of allspice directly onto the meat. Take 3 table spoons of whole coriander and place into a small baggie and crush them into small pieces then pour the contents of the baggie also onto the meat. Start filling the bowl with water until all of the meat is submerged. Now stir the contents until you feel it is completely mixed. I usually taste the "brine" solution at this point and add a bit more salt if needed. You want to taste the salt in the solution. Place the meat into the refrigerator for approx. 24 hours to marinate. Stir the meat and brine solution whenever you think about. Keep the meat submerged. Keep the seasoning from settling on the bottom of the bowl.
Step3
After the meat has marinated for approx. 24 hours you will want to hang it to dry. I have a cardboard box that I have cut the top off of and put some sticks across the top to hang the meat from. Cut a hole in the side of the box near the bottom. This will help with the airflow, use a small fan if you have one to force the air to circulate. Now get some wire, a coat hanger or baling wire will work, and cut them into about 4" lengths. Bend the wire into a "Z" shape. Pick up a meat strip and put one end of the wire through the end of the strip of meat. Now hang it in the box from the sticks and let it dry. You might want to put newspaper at the bottom of the box to help soak up any dripping brine solution. I like my Biltong dry, my wife likes hers about half way between raw and dry ... moist is the best description I can think of. The salt cures the meat so it is safe to after the meat has begun to dry on the outside, but remains tender on the inside.

http://www.3men.com/biltong.htm
What to do with Biltong: Interesting since none of these are traditional meat type dishes: http://www.3men.com/biltong.htm#What%20To%20Do%20with%20Biltong

Pecan Treats

2009-01-03T14:03:00.001-08:00

Pecan dipped in chocolate
After having spent the last couple of weeks in the field, it's time to hit the kitchen for making some of the treats to give away for the Christmas holiday.

PECAN BRITTLE
1 1/2 c. pecans, halved or in pieces1/4 tsp. salt1 c. sugar1/2 c. light corn syrup1/2 c. water1 1/2 tbsp. butterSprinkle the nuts with salt and warm them in low oven. Mix the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup water and heat slowly, stirring until dissolved. Continue cooking over moderate heat. The mixture is ready when a small amount dropping in a cup of cold water becomes brittle (260 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat and stir in butter and warm nuts. Pour immediately onto a buttered cookie sheet. As soon as cool enough to handle, cut in strips and wrap in wax paper, or wait until completely cooled and break into pieces. Yields about 1 pound

SOFT CARAMEL CANDY
1 c. butter1 lb. brown sugar (2 1/3 c.)Dash of salt1 c. white corn syrup1 (15 oz.) Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk1 tsp. vanillaMelt butter, add brown sugar and salt; stir in milk and corn syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring all the time until it forms firm ball stage - 236 degrees. Take off of heat and stir in vanilla. Pour in generously buttered 9 x 9 inch pan. Cool. Best if left all day before cutting in squares.

Thanks Cooks.com. I get the magazine (Cook's Illustrated) and these are some good recipes.

2009-01-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Recycing Drive Pictures from November Recycling Day.

Recycling one aluminum can will save enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours or is the equivalent of 1/2 gallon of gasoline. We've become active in recycling for Sierra County. So far we've jointed the Bountiful Alliance's Recycling Project and have met some great people. We've hosted a poster contest whose winner will be announced next week. Sierra County Recycling Project Meetings 2nd Tuesday of each month. TorC library. Recycling happens last saturday of each month for now. We hope to get a regular collection station set up in the next couple of months. Other Recycling Facts: Paper
If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you'd get about 700 of them. A supermarket could use all of them in under an hour! This means in one year, one supermarket goes through 60,500,000 paper bags! Imagine how many supermarkets there are in the U.S.!!!
Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year; about 680 pounds per person.
Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!

The 17 trees saved (above) can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
Plastic
Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away!Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year!

Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
Glass
Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!
Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute!
Facts from: Environmental Protection Agency, and Earth911.org.

Seeds - Planning the Garden

2008-12-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Seeds – Planning the garden

What to grow in our garden should be an easy task. We know what we like to eat, we can grow things, but how to balance growing the right amount and then using it.

In trying to be sustainable, I find myself reminiscing of the Victory Gardens of the war era. Millions of Americans planted these gardens for the war effort. The people grew vegetables, fruits, and herb gardens across the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. This was to indirectly aid the war effort by being sustainable. The gardens are portrayed in movies as morale boosters and they became a daily part of life on the home front. I remember the Victory Garden as a PBS show I watched in Chicago. I think it is still on. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/index.html

JenGod Blog has a really good link if you want to read the original (chapter one onlien) : Gardens For Victory, by Jean-marie Putnam and Lloyd C. Cosper, 1942, Harcourt Brace. The first chapter talks about better meals for less money. I’m all for that! Check out: http://jengod.blogspot.com/2008/11/gardens-for-victory-very-practical-book.html

So, the objective is to grow healthy food to eat, can and use for barter. We already do this to a small extent with our fruit, pecans and eggs. We are earning good will and people are keeping us in mind when they have excess. I’d like to make it things that we can harvest through the year (grow in small quantities in stages) or grow and preserve for later. We are enjoying dried apples and pears and apple sauce this season. We also have some canned apples for pie or cobbler. Pecans are being bagged and used for holiday treats too.

I’ve ordered from various companies in the past to get organic seeds but they seem to be coming down in price at this time and I’m finding them in a variety of places. They say that the two most important things to eat organic are apple sauce and peanut butter. I’m not growing peanuts (though they do fix nitrogen in the soil). We are not using any man made chemicals on the plants that goes against organic practices, so that’s fine. We will likely spray zinc for the Pecan trees and research suggests, magnesium, Other nutrients for apples include calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and boron.

The definition for organic gardening is the growing of vegetables, herbs and fruits using only things found in nature. No man-made chemicals. It is gardening without harmful and artificial chemicals, or other products not naturally found in nature. It doesn’t mean that you can’t use anything to control insects, disease or weeds.

The USDA has pretty strict guidelines for taking organic to the market, but it does involve a long process and certification. I’ve taken the training to get certified, but we get the benefits without the certification, so I think that is the direction to go. The path for Organic Produce to get to your table: http://www.gardenersnet.com/organicgardening/organicproduce.htm
So, the choices?

Organic Oregano – Italian: Organic Oregano Italian - Wonderfully fragrant, this perennial herb is as attractive as it is useful in the garden. 18 inches high and wide, the plant sports masses of red-flushed 1 1/2-inch leaves, topped by clusters of lavender-pink blooms all summer. Cut the leaves continuously for fresh Oregano for months! I have some of this in the lower garden and want to extend this to the vegetable garden too.

Organic English Thyme - Excellent for cooking, it keeps its flavor well. 12- to 18-inch-tall, 24-inch-wide plants set masses of long, slender stems topped with white to pale pink blooms in summer. Useful in the vegetable patch as an insect deterrent, too. I had this in Oak Park and it always smelled so good when you cut new herbs for the salad.

Organic Dill - Certified Organic for big harvests of large, delectable seeds and finely-cut fresh foliage. Plants reach 3 feet tall and 1 foot wide, attracting swallowtail butterflies to the garden. Very aromatic. Another plant I had in Oak Park, a large and really pretty plant as it goes to seed.

Organic Cilantro Longstanding - The slowest to bolt of any Cilantro, this plant gives you breathing room to harvest the leaves for fresh eating! 2 to 3 feet tall, the stems are topped by 2- to 4-inch flowerheads that fill with seeds and may be cut and then dried to harvest the seeds as Coriander. One winter we had this through the winter and it grew in the spring again. It's great for putting in the homemade salsa.

Organic Parsley – Italian Flat Leaf - Even more nutritious than curly-leaf types, this Italian Flat-Leaf sets masses of tangy, delectable leaves over a long season (all winter in mild and warm climates). 10- to 12-inch plants should be cut frequently to encourage new growth. I tried the curly-leaf parsley this year. I'm interested to taste the difference and to see if this area is mild enough to grow it year round.

Organic Chives - Delicate, onion-flavored foliage, 1 foot tall and 8 to 12 inches wide, with pink flowers used for flavoring and garnishing soups, potatoes, and salads. Growing up in Lansing Illinois, we smelled onions all summer. The name Chicago or Chigagou, an Algonquian word meaning "onion field." In explanation of this name, wild onion or garlic grew profusely in the area. I have this in the lower herb garden but I want it closer to the house too.

Organic Basil Nufar Hybrid - Genovese-type basil, Nufar Hybrid will provide you with months of large, flavorful leaves for cooking. Nufar grows 18 to 24 inches high and 12 to 15 inches wide. The dark green, shiny leaves grow up to 2 inches long on a tall, erect plant that is slow to bolt. Small terminal racemes of pink flowers are borne in summer. Another plant that I had good experience with this year. Apparently as the temperature started to drop at night, someone came close to the house and ate the last few leaves. They were a bit bitter after having gone to seed, I did save seeds, but this variety is resistant to disease common to Basil.

Part of Park’s 90324 Organic Herb Collection (Parkseed.com)

This next group is really weird stuff but looks good and apparently is easy to grow. They aren’t organic, but being heat tolerant, I’m hoping to have some good things to share that people won’t get normally.

Romanesco ‘Veronica’ – an 85 day cauliflower.

Mini Yellow Mirani Corn – a 75 day super sweet corn on 5 inch ear.

Carrot “Purple Haze” Hybrid – a 70 day hybrid purple violet flesh and orange core. Wild carrots were originally purple. Good raw.

Squash “Eight Ball” Hybrid – a 40 day zucchini with a really dark green flavor. They claim a succulent fruit 3-4 inches wide.

Tomato Pineapple – 85-95 day indeterminate pineapple tomato is a beefsteak type heirloom with fewer seeds. Indeterminate means that the end of the season is not finite and with good weather, it can continue to produce. We had a variety of tomato in the Oak Park garden that continued to produce into November and we picked the green tomatoes and they ripened through February.

All part of the Eat Your Weird Veggies Collection #90389

Red, White, and Blue Potato Collection – grow and harvest all season, potato salad galor this year.

Red - Red Cloud - 90 to 100 days. The best for frying, this red-skinned wonder is grown from Certified Organic stock for high yields of disease-free, super-yummy taters! Harvest the 4- to 8-ounce potatoes in midseason.

White - Yukon Gold - 70 to 90 days. The best yellow-skinned European type for baking, Yukon Gold is America's favorite. The spuds are medium to large (4 to 10 ounces), rounded, and packed with flavor so creamy they taste as if Mother Nature buttered them herself! Certified Organic plants are disease-free and ready to take off for an early harvest.

Blue - Caribe - 70 to 90 days. An early-harvesting, heavy-yielding blue-skinned variety, suitable for any purpose from baking to frying to boiling! The flesh is pure white, the texture "mid-dry," and the flavor indescribable! Start the season off in patriotic style with this reliable 4- to 8-ounce spud!
Part of Bulb Item #58772

Sweet Potato Vardaman - 95 days from setting out plants. Developed by the USDA especially for use in smaller gardens and limited-space plantings, Vardaman is a "bunhc" or "bush" variety instead of the traditional trailing vine. The plants offer big yields of superior eating-quality potatoes with golden-yellow skin and deep orange flesh.
Easy to grow and nutritious, sweet potatoes also store well. Set these plants 12 to 15 inches apart in 3-foot rows in a sunny, well-drained spot. After harvest, cure the potatoes in a warm (85 degrees F is preferable) location for 2 weeks, then store at 60 degrees F for 6 to 8 weeks. (Wow, I didn’t know that!) I've not grown sweet potato for eating, but I've had sweet potato vine on the porch in Oak Park.
Bareroot Item #44961

Baby Cucumber Cucino - 46 days. The perfect size for a single-serving salad, a snack, and a canape tray, these charming 2- to 3-inch baby Cukes are a gourmand's delight. With smaller seeds, less water, and more "meat" than full-size Cucumbers, they have a crunchier, more satisfying bite. And two bites is all you get -- they're the perfect pick-up nibble!
Cucino is very adaptable to unseasonably cold or warm climates, and very easy to grow. It needs no pruning, and its fruit is a fat-free source of potassium and vitamin C
Seeds Item #5600

My cucumbers never vined up like this. I'll have to do research.

Organic Pepper Early Jalapeno - 65 days. Where would we be without the Jalapeno atop our nachos and chopped into our Mexican food? Now everyone's favorite hot pepper is available in Certified Organic seed form, for a heavy-bearing little plant that will keep producing for months. Each is 3 to 4 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches wide, these cone-shaped, thick-walled fruits are borne in great numbers on very vigorous plants. They are ready to pick when dark green, delivering a wallop of pure heat! And if you want to keep pesky bugs out of the garden, edge it with Jalapeno plants! The hot fruit is a good deterrent to many destructive pests!
Start seeds indoors or, in climate with short growing seasons, outdoors at least one week after last frost. If starting indoors, allow 7 to 10 weeks for the seeds to mature into seedlings large enough to transplant safely. Fertilize when the blooms appear, and water well. Fruit is most nutritious if allowed to ripen on the plant. (Did you know that the rating for hot is called the Scoville Scale?)
Seeds Item #5856

Melon Hale’s Best Organic - 86 days. Chances are that if your grandparents kept a vegetable garden, Hale's Best was the Cantaloupe they grew. (Did they sprinkle their melons with salt before eating? My folks always did!) They loved its big oval shape,reliable garden performance, and juicy, succulent flavor. Well, some good things actually come back, and this heirloom melon is one of them! Available now from Certified Organic seed, Hale's Best is the best melon I know for sweet, juicy goodness!
The fruit weighs 5 to 6 pounds, and it's mostly flesh -- the seed cavity is small and the rind reasonably thin, with heavy netting and a slight ribbed shape. (The melons reach 7 inches long and about 6 inches in diameter.) The flesh is simply delicious -- strongly scented, very juicy, yet with a solid melon "bite" that fills you up nicely.
Hale's Best arises on strong, vining plants that can spread 5 feet wide and reach about a foot tall. The fruit matures in the hottest summer weather, just when a chilled melon is about the next thing to heaven! When I've grown these in the past, I've lost to a mold in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, so I'm hoping to figure out how to avoid that. Since it is dryer here, I'm going to try again.
Seeds Item #5843

Organic Granex contessa - 110 days. This is the white version of the authentic sweet onion popularized in Vidalia, Georgia. The bulbs are flattened and thick, stuffed with mild, sweet white flesh that can't be beat for raw or cooked enjoyment!This variety has much better storage ability than most sweet short-days, too, so you can keep even more of your delicious harvest! It's the absolute best we have ever grown for overwintering!
Space plants 2 to 3 inches apart in the garden. For mature bulbs, wait until the tops fall over after the growing season. Then dig up the bulbs, cure for 3 weeks, and store in a cool, dry place. I wonder if there is a way to braid these up?
Item #13121 pkg of 60

We still have some organic seeds for lettuce that we are still growing and we will start spinach in a few weeks in the green house. I think I also have some chili seeds and maybe squash from the neighbors.

Not sure what will work and if we will have enough space for this. I’ll have to go through and plan the spacing on paper.

Labels Copper Plant Markers 10 pk $7.95 Item #9153 (we have been using wooden stakes that washed off in the rain and sun bleached in the sun.

Location - Planning the garden

2008-12-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

The site for our new garden. To the left is the pump house and pond, to the right, the building is the greenhouse (now with PV Panels on top).

Our Garden for 2008 had some Chives, cilantro, chocolate mint, and tomatoes and basil and a few peppers. Not quite as productive as we would have liked, but it gave time to do other things. This was the year of experiments. Chicken run created in the potatoes and squash. They picked bugs but they also ate the plants. Irrigation was installed this year in several areas, with drip for most everything except a few special plants (they have sprayers) that we have for future shade.

We had this type of set up for a bit over the potato plants. Instead of plastic, we had cheese cloth for part of the year. This was set with irrigation from the Chicken Coop. Unfortunately, the chickens jumped the fence, knocked down the cheese cloth and ate the plants. We got few potatoes, though we did serve them to Deb and Dad and Pam when they all visited.

Since it is just about the holiday (December, 2008) and I am down with a knee problem, I figure I'll do some planning. I have read that it is time to plan your garden for the next year. We have had some interesting experiences this year. We were gone once to sell the Oak Park house after we returned from our trip to Scotland to see Kate, Jim and Aine with Liv and CJ. Another 10 days was spent driving out to the coast to see Nate in San Francisco. Knowing that we want to be gone at times, we will be planning some irrigation that will be on timers. That was a success of last summer, mastering the timing of water so we were not wasting in the Xeriscape and lacking in the herbs took a few weeks and needed adjusting as seasons changed. I’m hoping to expand some of the things we grow, now that we have found the permanent spot for the irrigated garden next to the greenhouse (will use that too). This is a pretty sheltered area that you see when looking down from the pond. It’s held piles of--well “things”, a collection spot for the past couple of years. We made a bit of an effort to use the materials. For example the metal bottom to the greenhouse is made from recycled corrugated aluminum we had piled there, and from other junk piles. The final piece came from neighbors David and Susan. That action, along with cutting down some mesquite, really opened up the area we can now use for the garden. We have an idea of raising the soil depth of and leveling the area a bit. We were doing the garage floor as a project and needed to make a deeper hole for the cement, so that soil is being removed and is transferred to level the garden area a bit. Now we will have a nice small patch of land which is easy to irrigate and things can happen within reach of the greenhouse.

Another problem to solve was one I experienced last year with the Earth Box. http://www.earthbox.com/ The fact that the tomatoes growing in the Earth Box were out in the full sun caused the leaves to burn and the fruit was damaged. The Earth Box is a pretty great way to maintain water to the roots of thirsty plants. This was set with an automatic watering (with the overflow from the bottom chamber) and the wicking from below the roots. It seemed to work well when we brought it into the court yard, a place with a bit more shade on the hot afternoons. Solution? We need shade to protect the plants.

The greenhouse will serve a bit for shade. I have also an idea from some literature that we got mailed from Dad in a Southwest Senior dated July 2008 (see dad, we do read and use that material). The article’s author is Dee Davis, a Master Gardener who lives in Las Cruces. She talks about the withering summer heat in NM, and how her garden benefits from heavy pine needle mulching (we have that) and a shade cloth (we’ll build this on our structure).

Temperatures can get up to 104° F (40° C) in her garden. I’m pretty sure we have seen higher temperatures under the full sun this summer. The article shows a picture of a garden under a shade cloth. It's a shade cloth held up by 2 x 2s into the ground. We hope to use some of the felled trunks trees limbs and to make the posts and cross pieces. A shade cloth is an easy find, we’ll have to see what we have in the line of a heavy and strong one but not too expensive. Then around the side, this picture shows plastic about to hip level with the upper area from about 3-6 feet as open. It’s a way to keep the wind down to protect the early spring plants. The winds have been known to cause damage to our spring tree flowers and cut down on fruiting, so I suppose this is the same theory. We used some plastic on the side of the greenhouse for this winter. We’ll re-purpose that to make the sides. Should also double as a barrier to keep out some of the early morning nibblers.

The one side is to be the tree posts with the other side attaching to the ends of the greenhouse roof where there are purloins coming out. We want to also think about running this shade cloth across the poles on the top. Perhaps weaving it through the cross poles? I’m not sure. The wind can get pretty bad, so I’d want to take it down in the winter. Maybe the shade cloth could be allowed to go up to the cross pieces and down all the way to the plastic level or off completely? Keeping it out of the winter wind would have to increase the life of the shade cloth.

I have read a few articles about the setup of the soil, too. I'll test the soil here and in the field as I get some testing done. My previous gardens in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, had good deep sandy/loam soil. We have excellent soils for the New Mexico region, we think they have been farming Las Palomas Canyon for 1000's of years. There are considerable rocks and lots of weed seeds in the soil mix.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2008-06-01/No-Dig-Garden-Beds.aspx suggested making a garden in a bag. They suggest punch holes in the bottom sides of the bags of soil (40-60 lb bags?) for drainage before placing them on the ground, cut open the top of the bags. Plant directly into the soil. Mulch upwards to protect the ground, the pine needles can be used here.
Source: http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Weeds are a big problem so I’m thinking of laying down the cardboard from our Photovoltaic (PV) panels that we have left over. This along with the bag of soil can act as a strong weed barrier. All that would remain is the irrigation and timer.

Off to plan the seeds and layout.

Agriculture and Soils of New Mexico

2008-12-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Climate: New Mexico climate is typical of high-desert conditions. Sun light is good and there is the desert condition of wide temperature ranges, 15-20° common in a 24 hour period. We also get lots of wind. Days are warm during the summer upwards of 95° F (35° C), nights cool about 65° F (18° C). Annual precipitation is about 12 inches. Soils are about 51° F (10.5° C). The soil type is called Penistaja soil. Reports say that it is productive for grasses and foraging but excellent for livestock grazing or wildlife habitat. I thought it was interesting to learn that the Penistaja series of soils was named after a small farming and stock-raising community in northwest northwest New Mexico. It means “forced to sit” and I suppose that good soil with ground cover would be forced to sit.

http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/stats/newmexico.pdf
The soil that forms in any region is a result of five factors: Climate, vegetation, parent material (rock), topography and time. Climate and vegetation are ever changing (well time is too, but more in the sense that it moves on), these are the two active factors. They act (over time) on the parent rock by topography.
Climate is intertwined with vegetation because climate is the major determinant of vegetation. Because the plants that are dominant in this area are desert shrubs and grasses, and because it is hot and dry desert, the soils are not leached, are not as developed by time and tend toward neutral or alkaline. http://www.nmmastergardeners.org/
“Parent material consists of the geologic material from which soils are developed. Soils on very young alluvium, such as in the valley of the Rio Grande or on the sand dunes of southern New Mexico, are essentially undeveloped, so their characteristics are similar to those of the parent materials.” My research also suggests that this region is Mollisol. “Mollisols are characterized by deep, dark surface horizons of high organic matter content. They occur in areas of New Mexico with more than 12-14 inches of rainfall (similar in rainfall to areas with Inceptisols and Alfisols). Mollisols are dominantly grassland soils but do occur in the forests of southern New Mexico where the base status is high and grass is the dominant understory. Mollisols are very fertile soils with a high supply of nutrients. Lime often accumulates in the subsoil. Mollisols, like most soils in New Mexico, are fragile when misused. Water erosion hazard is high in some areas. Most of the Mollisols are used to support grazing some in eastern New Mexico are used for crop production.”

Standards for growing according to standard soil test conducted by NMSU Soil, Plant and Water Testing Lab.

All the information below is: http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/a-122.html (I made some comments in the areas to relate to our farm
Except for pH, the classifications are categorized as very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. For fertility factors (N, P, K, micronutrients) very low and low classifications indicate a high probability for obtaining a fertilizer response; moderate classifications indicate a fertilizer response may or may not occur; high and very high classifications indicate a fertilizer response is not likely to occur.

Testing Factor Limits

pH 6.2-7.5 range
E.C. x103

Soil Texture - Sandy loam, fine sandy loam is moderately coarse.

N - sampled 18 to 36 inches deep and tested for nitrate- 10-30 ppm

Bicarbonate phosphorus 10-30 ppm calcareus soils take up soil Phosphorus

Soluble potassium 30-60 ppm

Extractable iron 2.5 – 4.5 ppm

Extractable zinc 0.5-1.0 ppm

Organic matter 1.0-3.0 ppm

pH. Most crops will grow satisfactorily on soils with a pH ranging from 6.2 to 8.3. Crops susceptible to iron and zinc deficiencies may be affected at pH levels above 7.5. **Note: Pecans are susceptible to zinc deficiencies and may be needed.
Soils with a pH of 8.3 or higher usually have high sodium content. Applications of sulfuric acid usually lower the pH for only a short period due to the high buffering capacity of the soils.

Salts, Electrical Conductivity (E.C. x 103). When the electrical conductivity is less than 2, few salinity problems are evident. Problems may become evident in highly sensitive crops when the E.C. x 103 is from 2 to 4, although problems are usually minor. When the E.C. x 103 is from 4 to 8, problems usually are evident. When the E.C. x 103 is greater than 8, crops with moderate salt tolerance will usually show signs of reduced growth, foliage burn or chlorosis. Leaching can decrease the salinity hazard if soil permeability is adequate. Tables 1 list the salt tolerances of some crops and ornamental plants.

Table 1. Relative salt tolerance of selected crops, in order of decreasing tolerance within each group.
(G) Good salt tolerance
(M) Moderate salt tolerance
(P)Poor salt tolerance
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Field Crops - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(G) barley (grain) sugar beet rape cotton
(M) rye (grain) wheat (grain) oats (grain) alfalfa sorghum (grain) corn (grain) foxtail millet sunflower
(P) vetch
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Forage Crops - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(G) alkali sacaton saltgrass bermudagrass Canada wild rye western wheatgrass
(M) white sweetclover yellow sweetclover perennial ryegrass mountain bromegrass barley (hay) birdsfoot trefoil strawberry clover dallisgrass sudangrass hubam clover alfalfa tall fescue rye (hay) wheat (hay) oats (hay)
(P) white Dutch clover meadow foxtail alsike clover red clover ladino clover
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Truck Crops - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(G) garden beet kale asparagus
(M) tomato broccoli cabbage cauliflower lettuce potatoes (White Rose) sweetcorn carrot peas onion squash canteloupe cucumber
(P) radish spinach celery green beans
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Fruit and Nut Crops - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(G) pistachio palm
(M) grape
(P) pear apple prune plum apricot peach strawberry pecan

Organic Matter. Percentage of organic matter can be used to estimate nitrogen in the soil. This method alone is not always a dependable measure of available nitrogen, but is used with nitrate nitrogen to make nitrogen fertilizer recommendations on many crops.

Texture. Coarse-textured soils lack both nutrient and water holding capacities. Fine-textured soils often have structural and infiltration problems.

Nitrate Nitrogen. Nitrate nitrogen is the measure of readily available nitrogen in the soil and is used with percentage of organic matter to make a nitrogen fertilizer recommendation. Because nitrate-N is highly soluble, it is subject to leaching in all soils, especially in coarse to medium textured soils. A fertilizer recommendation for nitrogen is more accurate if the subsoil is sampled 18 to 36 inches deep and tested for nitrate-N. Split applications of nitrogen fertilizer help reduce the potential for leaching. This practice is particularly important for sandy soils.

Bicarbonate Phosphorus. Soils in New Mexico are usually low in available phosphorus because phosphorus is quickly tied up in calcareous soils. Bicarbonate phosphorus, also known as NaHCO3-P or Olsen-P, measures water soluble P, highly soluble calcium P, and organic P.

Parts per million Classification

Soluble Potassium. Adequate potassium is usually available in the strongly weathered soils of New Mexico which have not been leached by high rainfall. Potassium does not readily tie up in calcareous soils and may be found at elevated levels in some saline soils. Potassium fertilizer responses may sometimes be observed on sandy soils with low cation-exchange capacities.

DTPA Extractable Iron. Iron deficiency is often a problem with sensitive crops grown in soils with pH values over 7.5. Although the critical level of iron in soils is 4.5 ppm, iron-sensitive crops often can be grown satisfactorily down to levels of 2.5 ppm if rooting is not restricted by caliche or gypsum, and care is taken not to over-irrigate. Some crop varieties are more susceptible to iron deficiency than other varieties.

DPTA Extractable Zinc. Zinc deficiency is an important problem in some crops, especially corn and grain sorghum. It is especially a problem in soils with pH values over 7.5 or soils that have a long history of heavy P fertilization. Some crop varieties may be more sensitive to zinc deficiency than other varieties.

DPTA Extractable Copper. Copper deficiencies have not been verified in New Mexico. Factors contributing to copper deficiencies include high organic matter, sandy texture, and high pH.

DTPA Extractable Manganese. Manganese deficiencies have not been verified in New Mexico. They usually occur under conditions similar to those in which iron and zinc deficiencies occur. Manganese levels in the soil can also vary with the soil moisture content.

Conversion Factors
Soil test results can be converted from parts per million (ppm) to pounds per acre by multiplying ppm by a conversion factor based on the depth to which the soil was sampled. Because a slice of soil 1 acre in area and 3 inches deep weighs approximately 1 million pounds, the following conversion factors can be used:
Soil sample depth inches Multiply ppm by
3 1
6 2
7 2.33
8 2.66
9 3
10 3.33
12 4

Fertility Considerations
A good soil sample and an accurate soil test interpretation are not the only considerations for good yields and maximum profit in crop production. Although the appropriate amounts of fertilizer based on a soil test are recommended and applied, other factors override the effects of fertilizer by limiting the yield potential of a crop. These factors include 1) the soil type in the field, 2) proper insect and disease control, 3) irrigation water quality, and 4) irrigation water management. Of these factors, the soil type and irrigation water quality are difficult for the grower to control. However, insect and disease control and water management are under the direct control of the grower and his management skills.
http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/a-122.html

http://www.sierrasoil.org/

Note to self: Seedling Order: http://www.sierrasoil.org/html/seedlings.html

Pecan Harvest

2008-12-14T15:46:00.001-08:00

Pecans are in and with last night's wind (23 mph with gusts to 65 mph) we will have more to pick. We have taken some in to be shelled by San Sabo in Las Cruces and we've sold some. I've got 50+ lbs to make into gifts. The farm is already giving back.

Three types of chocolate dipped pecans (white, milk and dark) along with Turtles, brittle and packaged pecans and we have more to do. Hard to believe we have hardly made a dent in the boxes of fresh pecans.

While collecting we did have a small visitor to the house who decided that s/he should get his/er share of the pecans. That only lasted one night and we took precautions.

We do share and Andy and Kathy called tonight to say that the chocolate pecans didn't last very long. Makes me wonder if we should put more in the gift packages.

At any rate, USPS here we come, family and friends should enjoy these this year. Sure beats last year when we gave them in the shell.

Note: We also got a very nice note from the Senior Center which said they were pleased to get shelled pecans. The kitchen made pie. How cool is that?

Start 2008 Review

2008-12-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

2008 Beginning-not much to our garage!

P and S Farm is a Pecan/Fruit Tree haven for wildlife. We are growing pecans and have recently harvested and shelled 100+ pounds of pecans. This year we've also harvested apples, cherries and pears, various herbs and some vegetables and have been able to utilize or trade most of our produce. We've also found we will be ending the 2008 year with 11 chickens and a duck who just thinks he is a chicken (chuck).

Wildlife have visited pretty regularly this year. We've seen coyote and deer, pack rats, squirrels, 1000s of birds and minnows in our creek. We've seen a colt born in July, named Comanche, son of Cash.

As we end 2008, we have made good progress on creating a farm that will become sustainable. In January 2009 we will have our 5.4 kwh solar array connected and will be taking the next step towards sustainability.

There are some new things on the horizon and we are looking forward to the change of year and blogging our progress in moving towards a more sustainable life with less of an impact on the environment.

The final solar panels go on as we get ready to ring in the new year.