Finally some sun!

Here is the crop of Austrian Winter peas that we planted as a cover crop. The ground has finally dried out enough to work so we turned the peas under on Monday. A legume cover crop has converted as much atmospheric nitrogen into a soluble form that plants can take up when it has started to flower, so when we see the blooms we get ready to disk the foliage under. Besides adding nitrogen to the soil a good cover crop adds lots of biomass, which breaks down into carbon particles, which aid in water retention. I managed to get a first row of seedlings transplanted too. Here are some baby sunflowers I got into the ground. Artichokes are next.

Next to the sunflowers you can see the wire mesh that the beans will climb up. I planted perennial runner beans last year, and as soon as the soil warms up we will see the underground tubers push up the shoots of this year’s bean crop, so there’s no need to plant them- I just have to weed the rows so that the slugs and snails don’t destroy the emergent stems and leaves.

Besides working the soil and getting the transplants out we’ve got a lot of winter related remedial damage control to get through. A big eucalyptus fell over, covering my rototiller, box scraper, and disk harrow, as well as crushing a harvest wagon. Also buried were beds of oregano, sage, sorrel, borage, mint, and fennel. Before it was chopped up the tree reached all the way from the leaves in the foreground to the trunk on our neighbor’s property. But we now have firewood for life!

The wind can be problematical, but all the rain has been good for our citrus orchards. Our lemon trees are so loaded down with fruit that the branches are at the point of breaking. Thanks to our friends at The Dream Inn, in Santa Cruz, we’ve been able to harvest a lot of lemons for their kitchen. Here Starr looks down on me, picking from above, as I lie on my back and pick from below. Each “dwarf” Meyer lemon tree has been yielding 100 lbs of lemons. We have many specialty varieties of young citrus trees that have appreciated the copious rain that came our way this winter and they’re growing like crazy.

Given all that has transpired over the last several years we are not in a position this year to deliver regular boxes of mixed veggies, fruits and herbs, as we have in the past, but we will resume a schedule of pop-ups when we have the crops to back them up, and we will be opening the farm for a series of events, u-picks, and workshops. Join us Saturday, May 6th, to celebrate World Labyrinth Day with a Labyrinth walk, a tour of the farm and rose gardens, and a presentation by Danielle Kingsley of Wild Beauty Cosmetics about the skin care products she makes from our rose petals. Keep an eye on the newsletter for details. Here I am in a shadow selfie waving “goodbye” to a long, hard, cold, wet winter and “hello” to you all and a fruitful, floral, and flavorful season.

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PS- The tomato plants are waiting until April 15th to go in the ground. No use taking chances with something so important.

Thanks, again. Andy and Starr