It continues to be a busy winter in these hills. The opening shot above is of the full moon on New Year's Eve. Our cover crop is growing nicely, and our citrus is fertilized and re-mulched. The avocados are next on the list. (Update 01.30.09- Avos are done!) We have finished with winter pruning of pomegranates, grapes, kiwis, roses, pone and stone fruits. The cuttings from our Black Manuka table grapes are potted up and should take. We've had some ripping burn piles so far, and there are still a few to go. The shaded fuel break we put in last fall has attracted birds of all stripes this winter, as well as the many hawks who prey on them. We've begun planting out the baby lavender; there's more of that to go as well. Today was actually the first sunny day in a couple of weeks now that El Nino is active. Over a foot of rain has fallen this January, and that has freed up time to build some gates and fences to keep the quackers off the patio and a new greenhouse, which will play a role both in the propagation of starts and in sun-drying tomatoes, peppers and the like each fall. We continue to get duck eggs every morning, although there have only been 4 every day this week. I'm not sure what's up with that, other than the Buff has been awfully broody lately. For a while, she was holding her egg and making secret nests under various Toyon bushes. All of our perennial landscaping has appreciated the recent wetness and is rewarding us with its splendor. We already have all of our seeds for next season, and our seed potatoes are set to ship mid-March. We're also gearing up to place a big order for more citrus and avocados from Four Winds Growers. It was fun to see some old faces at the CASFS Mixer at Eco Farm, and much gratitude to all who came to the workshop at Roses of Yesterday and Today.
Thank you all for keeping in touch...stay warm and dry, and many blessings in 2010!
