Winter Update

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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!

Broccoli & Gratitude

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A bit of a belated update here. We have so much to be grateful for this year. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with pies from our pumpkins; the end of the Poblanos: roasted, stuffed with cheese, and baked with cornbread; a freshly killed Tofurkey resting on a bed of our onions, potatoes, and rosemary; cases of persimmons; heirloom pink popcorn; and of course broccoli and cauliflower from the garden. We're on track to our 100th duck egg in the next couple of days. Our cover crop is growing, and we're mapping out next Spring's plantings already. Today I took down a seven foot tall Doug Fir and wrestled it through the front door and into our converted-wheelbarrow tree stand. We've even finished our card ahead of schedule this year. We pick it up tomorrow and plan to get it out over the weekend. It looks like we're in for a bit of rain starting Sunday. It will be a welcome change from last week's power-zapping windstorm into cold snap.

1...2...3...4...Guy!

Halfway through their third week of laying the ducks have had their first four egg day. Appropriately, this brings the total number of eggs they've lain to 40 so far. After counting the eggs, Estelle added her guy to the nest box this morning, hence the post title.

Eggs At Last...

The full moon and a supplemental light on a timer kicked our ladies into production over the weekend, 25 weeks from their birth. We've found two per day since finding a lone egg on Sunday morning, for a total of 7 so far. Due to the size and color of the eggs however, I think that more than two ducks are laying. The eggs have clean, hard shells and are rich in flavor. Their golden yolks reflect their nutritional value.

Tiburon Poblano Peppers

Last Friday was our final harvest of Tiburon Poblano peppers for this year. We sold a season total of 117 lbs from 60 plants, and we still have plenty for our personal use, neighbors and friends. They are sweet at the base and scorching hot starting about halfway up the pepper. As we pull out the plants to cover crop, we will string the stragglers onto ristras and hang them to dry. A dried Poblano pepper is referred to as an Ancho chili (from the Spanish word for "wide'). We use them in our recipes to remind us of hotter, drier times throughout the chilly, wet winter. It's hard to believe it's coming. We have a crystal clear 80 degrees here today.
The other pepper we sold this summer --yet to be mentioned on this blog-- is Italia. It is a sweet, frying pepper that gets 8-12 inches long when red and ripe. Essi sono magnifici!