Meanwhile, Back At the Ranch

Home at last!  First back to San Francisco, then finally back up to the ranch in the Cazadero hills.

 The good news—my housemates in the city have actually kept the gardens watered, and even the tubs in front of the garage were flourishing.  Tomatoes were growing up my tomato tower and the graywater system seems to be working fine.  In some future post I’ll write a description of it.

 Up at the ranch, Tina has moved into her yurt and has fixed it up beautifully.  I indulged myself by doing a mosaic on her bathroom vanity where we’re installing a beautiful hand-painted Mexican sink that my friend Donna brought back from vacation fifteen years ago.  It was collecting dust on top of my closet ever since, but now it will be put to use.

 The goats are alive and well and Valentino has grown. 

Saint Buck with a halo, and Valentino the baby goat

Buck and Greg have had a good summer, spun lots of yarn and sold quite a bit of it, and the goats have not destroyed the olive grove.  Buck cut his beard and got a haircut.  Pretty Boy, our giant Hungarian sheepdog with dreadlocks, has become much more friendly and even lets me scratch him under the chin sometimes.  The pears and apples are heavy with fruit, and the Asian pear is overburdened.  The wasps are having a feeding frenzy.

 None of the terrible things that could have happened did happen, at least not yet—no major fires, no one fell off the roof limbing trees or got bit by rattlesnakes.  The trees all got watered and many have grown.  We still have about 5000 gallons stored, even though the spring is now down to 270 gallons a day.  I found the mysterious leak in the line between my tank and the main tank, Tina and I dug out the pipe and she and the guys will fix it.

Pretty Boy says "Welcome Home!"

 On the down side, the summer veggie garden, while not dead, is exhibiting Failure to Thrive.  I think the plan is to move it this winter, as it seems to be evolving into a forest garden.  The trees, shrubs and bushes all do well, and winter crops like kale and collards are happy, but there’s just not quite enough sun and water for tomatoes and squash to flourish.

 The big tanoak next to my cabin is succumbing to Sudden Oak Death, and all the grant money for cutting trees has been spent.  But I will have to do something about it, as it’s becoming both a fire hazard and a danger to the structure itself.  It breaks my heart to see these big, beautiful trees go—such an important source of food for wildlife and for the original peoples of this land.  In Pomo, the word for tanoak is ‘Chiskale’, which means ‘beautiful tree.’  They are the hardest hit from this disease.  Some experts think they will all go—others that a few might survive.   We tried treating this particular tree with lime and rock dust—that’s the natural treatment recommended by Dr. Lee Klinger http://suddenoaklifeorg.wordpress.com/

and other permaculturalists.  We scraped moss off the bark to prevent acidification and spread rock dust around.  For quite a while, it seemed to work and when I left in the spring, the tree looked healthy.  But now about a third of it has died.  Perhaps I should have repeated the treatment.  On the other hand, my neighbor Caerleon Safford who is Sudden Oak Death coordinator for the county believes that treatment is, as she so delicately puts it, ‘snake oil.’

 After Portugal, our land looked lush and green, even though the hills are dry and the fire danger is extreme.  But our forests are tall and lush—and the late rains in May have left a slight tinge of green in some of the grasslands.

 I generally find, after I’ve been away for awhile, that I get back, look at the overgrown or under-producing gardens, and feel completely overwhelmed.  I have to go away and read trashy novels for a few days before I can cope.  But now I’m gearing up to get back there with my pruners and brew up some fertility teas.  It’s good to be home!