2020

DECEMBER

Hi Everyone!
I am getting excited for the upcoming open house!!  I have been making, making, making and packaging up tons of beautiful goodies for your purchasing pleasure. So far it looks like the weather will co-operate. Yay!  It has been getting more challenging to promote such events so I appreciate your help in getting the word out to a wider audience.  Feel free to invite friends, forward this email or share the event pages linked below.  Also I have posted 4 Saturdays of intensive zoom based learning in January & February for the IUH Winter session.  These classes are also available for purchase as gifts, see details below.

Spring Retreats & Weekend Work Stays @ Faerie Road Farm 2021
I will write more about the Spring retreats in January.  I do have applications available. Application Deadline is January 30, Decisions by Feb 15.  Additionally I will be offering weekend work-stays Summer & Fall…more about that coming soon.

Winter Classes Via Zoom
Four days of intensive learning, each with three topics over the course of the day.  You can sign up for the whole day or for individual sessions.
Full day sessions are also available for purchase as gifts.

NOVEMBER ~For all things a season

Hello All
What a year! It is a time of transition and change for me and for the world. Lots of offerings in the works for 2021, in the meantime please mark your calendars for my December Open House!

Winter Open House ~ It’s On!
Saturday December 12 Noon-4pm
Sunday December 13 Noon-3pm
138 The Uplands, Berkeley
Bundle up, bring your silliest mask and come on by! My year end social features tasting, small-batch hand crafted goodies from my farm and serendipitous encounters with farming friends, plus mid-afternoon micro-workshops with Q & A (any topic requests?).  This years event will take place outside in the backyard at the same location as last year, 138 The Uplands.  Thank you Ravenel family for your genrosity. Pray for good weather!  Mustard, Shrubs, Jam, Cordials, Salves, Tinctures, CBD on the cheap, Soap, Dried Goodes (tomatoes, fruit, peppers), Ceramic Tiles, herb & garlic salts, Caramels, Mead, Liqueur, Sherry, Sachets, Pickles, Lip balms, hand-spun yarns and much much more. Mark your calendars and look for details in next months newsletter! Also seeking volunteers for set up, clean up and support during the event both days.  Volunteers get a bag of goodies!

DIY Gifts: Holiday Infusions
Hand made gifts are always a hit, especially when they are delicious!  Two easy yummy gifts are infused vinegars and infused olive oil.  They take almost no time to assemble.  Start with good quality cider vinegar or olive oil.  Place into a wide mouth jar and add fruits, herbs or spices, making sure they are submerged.  Let sit for two weeks, strain and bottle.  Attractive bottles can be purchased at a local hardware store, or many places online. Flip top bottles are popular.  They can sometimes be found housing sodas and be repurposed. Both oil and vinegar can be flavored with garlic, herbs, spices—your imagination is the limit!  Vinegar can additionally be flavored with fruits. Add your own label for an even more personal touch.

 

Dahlias after the frost ~ Natasha & Picarone, a Llama and a Mixti (Llama X Alpaca) newly arrived

News From the North ~ Transitions & Openings
As I sit here to write we’ve had a nice hard frost.  The greenhouse thermometer reads 17 degrees and the dahlias are feeling it. All good things come to an end.  And some challenging things too.
My farm partner and I are parting ways. This location never fully worked for him, and it set us on a path of conflict and misunderstanding. I am sad to loose a capable farm partner, but look forward to a more harmonious day-to-day. I never intended to be up here on 22 acres by myself, but here I am, and I will do my best to make something of it. My way, even back in Oakland, has been to share the bounty and to create opportunities for participation and edification.  This property is special and magical. Starting in 2021 my guest room will be available for informal Air BnB and work/trade weekends.  I will start working on my (long envisioned) glamping spot, and guest facilities. I may seek an on-site caretaker or long term farm partners once I have a moment to settle in and take stock. For this Spring I am looking to offer a couple low-cost, two-week farm retreats. My RV spot with hook up will eventually be available and I will officially open the RubyFox River Retreat (Air BnB on my family property 20 minutes away). Please consider availing yourself of these opportunities. Description of farm, Air BnB and spring retreats below.  Finally, It’s my borthday!  I turn 59 this Wednesday 11.11.20, so 2021 is auspicious.  This all starts to make sense…my second Saturn Return, if you believe in such things. I invite you to join me for my 60th trip around the sun. Educate, agitate, pollinate!

Faerie Road Farm
Faerie Road Farm is 22 acres of pastureland nestled in a pristine valley on a bend of the Rogue River, Northwest of the town of Grants Pass. It is about a 6.5 hour drive from the Bay Area and a great way-station en route from San Francisco to Portland. The property has 8 acres of fully irrigated pasture, 9 acres of partially irrigated pasture, an acre of oak woodlands and 4 acres of homesite with orchards and gardens. Once owned by the Ford Family as part of a larger tract, the property shares an ancient water right which delivers ample water for pastures and other agricultural projects.  A 10 minute walk to the Rogue River, surrounded by mixed forest and bordered by 80 acres of public wild space, the location boasts clean air, big skies, a lack of light pollution, noise pollution and traffic. The land is a poultice for frazzled nerves and overtaxed adrenals. The property has been developed with infrastructure to raise heritage lamb.  In addition to sheep there is a handful of cows, a flock of chickens, geese, ducks, pigeons, rabbits and a herd of guinea pigs. The farm boasts over 100 fruit trees spread over multiple orchards, including a dedicated hard cider orchard, grapes, berries and a lovely pond where dragonflies dance in the summer and blue herons visit in the winter.  There are extensive gardens including an annual kitchen garden, dahlia patch, rose garden, medicinal and culinary herbs, dye garden and annual flower garden. The long term vision is a multi-use farm including opportunities for camping, artist retreats and education.

Support the Farm Transition
My partners exit requires me to buy him out as well as to replace tools, equipment, supplies and animals that he will be taking or liquidating.  The best way I can think of to support this transition is to come to my winter open house and grab a few goodies! If you feel moved to offer support independently of that, my Venmo ID is KRuby-Blume and my mailing address is IUH/K.Ruby 842 Ferry Rd Grants Pass, OR 97526.  Any donations will directly support farm operations and are tax deductible through IUH, let me know you would like a receipt and where to send it.  

Spring Retreats ~ Calling artists, writers, dreamers, homesteaders and you!
Come spend 10-14 days at Faerie Road Farm in Southern Oregon this Spring.  Spend the first few days with me, learning animal care and farm systems, participating in various farm projects and learning a variety of skills (based on your interest and seasonal needs of the farm). Then spend 8-10 days on site, with a private room/studio, access to kitchen, wi-fi, hottub. Aside from morning and evening chores your time is your own to write, read, draw, paint, take walks, and otherwise create and/or rejuvenate amidst the great natural beauty of the farm. If trying out farm life is one of your goals, farm tasks or projects can be assigned, but there is no obligation to work beyond the basic chores. 2021 dates are in April and May. Email for application and further details.

RubyFox River Retreat
RubyFox River Retreat is a cozy, tidy, upstairs studio with kitchenette in a serene rural setting right on the Applegate River. The property is off the beaten path down a secret one lane road.  Forested with sweeping lawns, deer, turkeys and other wildlife pass through regularly.  The studio has a bedroom with queen bed, bathroom, living/dining area and balcony with a sitting area.  There is a twin daybed in the living area for a child or additional guest. As our guest you also have access to the lower part of the property across the lane for river access and picnicking in a park-like setting. The retreat is close to Rogue River recreation areas, historic Grants Pass, wineries and hiking in the Little Applegate Valley.  Our small family farm, 20 minutes away on the Rogue River, offers tours and farm experiences.  The retreat is named for Jacki Fox Ruby who spent her last year here by the river.  She is survived by your hosts, husband, Mike and daughter, Ruby who together tend the property.   Jacki was a life long gardener and passionate grade school teacher.  Please email to be sent brochure, pictures and pricing.  The space is currently available for booking directly through me and will be listed on AirBnB starting Spring 2021.

Classes, Lessons, Consults, Design
The last round of classes was marginally attended, but I got great feedback from the folks who participated!  The next class offerings will be in 2021, it is not yet clear how many will be zoom based or if there will be some live in-person.  You can look forward to learning about bare root fruit trees, fruit tree care & pruning, spring gardening, container gardening, soapmaking and fermentation. If there are other things you would like to learn, let me know!  I will continue to offer zoom based lessons and consults through the winter.  Over the past six months I have done private sessions on drip irrigation, garden design, salve making and more. Finally I offer flyer, brochure, web and business card design. 35 years experience designing promotional materials for small business and reasonable rates. 

Be safe, be well & thank you for reading.

 

OCTOBER

Hello Lovely Peoples
Thank you to those who responded last month with kind words. I am feeling a bit more upbeat this month in spite of the continued fires and the foreboding and imminent election. Will it never end? I saw a silly internet meme promoting “Yearquil”—go to sleep until 2020 is over! LOL.  I think whether we sit to the left or the right we can agree that we need to take the message of fire seriously and that tending the environment is a place where we need to come together. I have been sifting and sorting and trying to dream my next offering and it has something to do with this bigger picture of human and nature and trying to situate ourselves in relation to microbes, seeds and soil, fire and water.  Some say “God is in the detail.”  I don’t think you have to be religious or even spiritual to appreciate that the web of nature is mysterious, precious and miraculous. 

October in the Garden
You still have time to get some cool weather crops in the ground this month and have them be productive before things go semi-dormant for winter. Broccoli, Kale, Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Arugula, Peas, Lettuce, Chicory, Raddicchio, Beets, Radishes  and Turnips are all great choices for this season. You can pull out any summer crops that are starting to wane and look ratty, especially if you’ve had your fill! And if you are trying to develop new garden areas, October is the time to get your sheet mulch laid down to take advantage of the winter rains we hope will arrive sooner than later!  Sheet mulching is the process of super charging the soil by adding lots of organic matter all at once, mimicking the biological processes that take place on the forest floor.  Sheet mulching jump-starts the soil food web and engages earthworms and other macro- and micro-organisms to till and aerate the soil for you. There are many approaches to sheet mulching.  Here on my farm we use burlap and sheep manure, but for an urban environment you will need to import materials, some from the waste stream.  Here’s  my “How-To” 

News From the North
The west coast is on fire.  I have been fortunate to be an hour away from any fire activity, but there has been vast devastation.  The small lovely towns of Talent and Phoenix have been completely destroyed by the Almeda fire, over 2500 residences lost.  To the North our beloved Breitenbush Hotsprings lost all of their cabins, but thankfully their main buildings and springs are still standing. I recently read this long post about some ranchers affected by the Bear Fire in the Northern Sierras. I am sure many small farms and ranches have been destroyed, but this long interesting read gives us a window into traditional cattle ranching as well as the devastation some are facing.   As I sit writing new fires have begun, the Glass fire is currently active and my heart and prayers go out to you all.

Here in my corner the air cleared and I’ve been having some lovely Fall weather.  The cooler days have made it possible to be quite productive. I bought a little trailer and have been purging and cleaning.  Got rid of a pile of reject firewood that has been sitting since before I moved here—you know the stuff you can’t easily split.  Clearing out yard waste, doing some dump runs, building burn piles. The last round of lambs went to butcher and I managed to secure a brand new freezer in time to store them.  Did you know there is a nationwide shortage of freezers and canning jars?! Crazy. You cannot buy a half pint jar anywhere in my town.  I had to order them from a specialty glassware supplier to continue my canning. To go with the theme of “everything in the garden was late this year,” my tomatoes finally ripened (in September!) and my struggling dahlia patch is finally giving up some love.  I even have a volunteer dahlia—I assume from seed as it is like nothing else I have.  It is one of the more hearty ones in my patch this year.  The dogs destroyed my squash and bean patches digging for some unknown critter, but I did get good harvests from both inspite of that. 

WINTER OPEN HOUSE Save the Date December 12 & 13 (Berkeley)  December 19 (Grants Pass)
My wonderful winter social and sale will be happening at the same Berkeley location as last year, outside in the back yard. I don’t yet have a plan for rain, although depending on the space, I may be able to simply set up some canopies. If you have access to any space that is outside but protected from rain, can you let me know?  I think it has only rained once in all the years of doing my sale, but with all the crazy weather I have to be prepared.  For the sale we’ll be observing physical distancing protocols as much as possible and asking folks to wear their masks of course.  Jam, mustard, soap,tincture, shrubs, tiles, pesto, caramels, homebrew, pelts and more…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheep in the smoke ~ When the air cleared ~ Zinnia going strong

OK—Be safe out there everyone!

SEPTEMBER

Hi Everyone!
Are you all feeling it? A little bit down?  A little bit Apocalypse?  Even here, where the skies have stayed blue and I am surrounded by green grass, everything feels a bit off. I have had some personal hardship & loss along with everything else and it is affecting my get up and go.  How about you?  I am struggling to sit down and write my monthly newsletter as I just don’t know what to say.  But this has been my practice now for the past 12 years since I started IUH, the first of every month, whether anyone reads it or not! So even if I am dragging my butt by a week, let’s see what creativity I can dredge up to offer some pearls of wisdom or hope.  Also—Check out 5 weeks of class offerings starting the end of this month including 1 day of in-person hands-on learning in a Berkeley location (outdoors with masks and physical distancing)! See below for deets!

September in the Garden:  Drip Irrigation & Pulse Watering
When I teach gardening people often ask—well, how much do I water?  The answer is that your soil should be neither sopping wet, nor bone dry.  Most plants like a small steady supply of moisture.  Roots will rot in soggy soil and plants will wilt and get stressed if they go too long without a drink.  Bone dry soil is hydrophobic—meaning it does not uptake water easily, so it is best to water before the soil is completely dry. If you are overhead watering, by hand or with sprinklers, the trick is to do your regular watering routine, wait 12 hours and then dig down into the soil to see if your routine moistened the soil down to the root level of the plants. Drip irrigation does the best job of delivering water to where it is needed without waste.  There is no run off and little evaporation.  Instead, small drops soak into the soil at a slow steady pace and this water wicks down into the root zone while also spreading out.  A simple system is easily set up and can be put on a battery operated timer.  Use emiter line or micro sprayers, depending on your planting style and don’t worry too much about different plants needing different amounts. Just remember, 90% of what you grow wants a slow steady supply of moisture.  Finally, while I used to recommend a once-a-week-deeply watering regimen, I am now on board with pulse watering.  This is the system of offering shorter, but more frequents watering  3-10 minutes, 2-4 times a day. Over the course of the week, it only adds up to an hour to an hour and a half of watering. Most systems will work well with 5-7 minutes every 12 hours, so try that then adjust.  To learn more check out the books by local root specialist and drip irrigation guru, Robert Kourik.

Preserving the Harvest: The Little-Known Steam Juicer
I love my steam juicer. This little known device offers an easy way to extract juice from a wide variety of fruits with little processing. I have used it to make juice from apples, grapes, plums, elderberries and more.  The best thing about it is that you pretty much just plop the fruit into the basket and fire it up. I do cut apples in half, but grapes, berries and plums just go in the basket.  There is a reservoir at the bottom for water which creates the steam, and a reservoir in the middle that catches the juice.  When the juice reservoir fills up, just put a sterile jar under the spigot, fill, cap and invert til it cools. Amazing!!

News From the North
I don’t know about you, but it seems like the older I get the more maintenance there is. More bills, more family, more health stuff, more property, more garden, more animals…just a lot to manage and maintain.  My farm partner is away working a wine harvest and I am holding down the farm, doing all the chores, morning and evening, running irrigation both locally around the house and flood irrigating the fields, which takes about 3 days of tracking the water and moving dams and weirs every hour to attempt to get it to go where you want it.  Managing hay delivery, managing the fruit harvest, managing lamb butchering and so forth. The last few days I have been in farm clean up mode. Picking up after projects (finished or not), moving materials here and there and starting to cut down spent sunflowers and other things as parts of the garden “finish” for the year. My summer was filled with “quick trips” to the Bay Area delivering beef and lamb.  Our last round of lambs will be ready for harvest in a couple weeks and it will be nice to be done with that for the year.  Donations of a walk-in freezer or a reefer truck appreciated (joke).  But seriously, never thought I’d be wishing I had those two items!

CLASSES!
My next round of classes runs September 27 through November 1.  Most of the classes will take place On Zoom, but I will offer two LIVE CLASSES on Sunday October 18 in Berkeley.  These will be hands-on “Making” classes.  We will work outside with proper protocols, masks and physical distancing as much as possible. Class size for those two will be limited to 6 for safety, so the classes are priced accordingly.

AUGUST

Hi Everyone!
What are you all up to out there?  Are you getting out and about more with masks on? Are you done with online Yoga? “Over it” or overwhelmed? August is the month of heat and fire.  We had our first real wave of heat this past week, with temps in the 100s. No large fires in our area as of yet, but have been watching the reports from California and hoping everyone stays safe. 

BOOK REVIEW ~ Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
I am just finishing up listening to this wonderful tome, which brings together science, spirituality, ecology and indigenous wisdom.  It is a “must read” for our time, blending personal stories, botany and traditional skills to promote a vision of right relation to the land.  Because I  listened instead of read I didn’t realize until I was pretty far into the book that it is wonderfully organized around the seasonal cycle and usage of sweetgrass, from planting to harvest and braiding.  The author draws us in with personal stories of maple tapping and pond restoration…then portrays through science and indigenous wisdom an inter-dependance between people and the land based in love.  Gifts from nature are described both poetically and scientifically including fire, rain, lichen and willow.  We learn about plant guilds through the story of the three sisters and are encouraged by her stories of tending her garden. Deeper into the book she delves into land destruction and restoration and bigger issues of our relationship to land in this time.  There are many moments that brought tears or inspiration. The book is probably about three chapters too long and can be a bit heavy handed at times, nevertheless offers both knowledge and hope.

Cardoons in Flower ~ Melons in the Grass

NEWS FROM THE NORTH
My garden is a mess. Maybe it is the heat, that keeps me hiding inside a bunch of the day, maybe it is the multiple trips to the Bay Area to deliver lamb and beef, maybe it is the demands of trying to keep up with animal chores and irrigation, but I am failing to keep up with mowing and weeding.  We have a terrible bindweed problem here. There is nothing you can do but continue to weed it every week.  We have been overhead watering from our pond, which makes for nice lush plants, but that water feeds grass and weeds too…so what to do when the melons and the squashes flow onto grass pathways and the grass cannot be mowed? I was complaining for months that my garden  was slow to start, but now cucumbers, melons, bush beans, tomatoes and potatoes are flowing over pathways in a tangled mess. I installed my berry rows too close together and getting through to harvest is dangerous.  My dahlias are very sad this year and my attempts to plant rare varieties of gladiolus failed miserably. OK.  Thanks for letting me vent.  This is just to show that in spite of my years of experience and plant knowledge, I too struggle along at times.    But the orchards are looking fantastic thanks to the watering and mowing efforts of my farm partner and his giant pumpkin experiment is coming along great! He got seeds from pumpkins that grew in excess of 1000 pounds and is hoping for at least several hundred pounds. Fun! My Air BnB on the Applegate River is approaching readiness, I will send out a separate email announcing it when it is up and running. Oh.  Also I started some weaving projects and got a new kitty ( :

Luscious Lillies ~ Weaving on  Small Loom…the yarn is handspun from our sheeps wool and dyed with Lichen and Marigold

WINTER OPEN HOUSE ~ your thoughts and ideas?
Many of you have enjoyed my Winter Open House Social and Sale which I have put on the last 10-15 years and which I have continued to offer since I moved thanks to the generosity of community members who have hosted….The sale aspect of the event is how I manage to get through the winter.  Now with Covid I am not sure what to do…it is not a time of year to be outside and I fear an online event will not be nearly as gainful or fun as in person….any ideas? 

CLASSES
The response to this round was a bit under whelming, so I streamlined the offerings and will focus on making a strong effort with a Fall series to start Mid September. These are two awesome classes though!  Please consider signing on.  I have tried for years to offer the seed saving class, which seems to me to be so important for self-sufficiency, but for some reason it is a hard sell. Please consider the importance of saving seed and adapting varieties to your area. Gardening for the Second Half of the Year gives a refresher on soil care and what to do in the garden from now through December, when to plant, what to plant and particular challenges of Fall and Winter Gardening. Join me on Zoom!

JULY

Hi Everyone!
How y’all doing out there with all that is? My personal takes….

Pandemic: Where I live the population density is low and we still have only a few cases county wide. But statewide daily increase has more than doubled and we now have a mask mandate, with a fine for not wearing one.  Folks here are angry. My personal take is that we should wear a mask to show we care at the very least, but at the same time we should also continue to take measured risks.  Dine with friends outside. Risk a hug. Get your haircut. Support small businesses and continue to order take-out from your favorite restaurants.
Some positive unintended consequences of Covid 19 SIP: More people growing gardens, less air pollution, more time in nature
Some negative unintended consequences of Covid 19 SIP: Increase in domestic violence, more fear of germs/human contact

Black Lives Matter: And they always have. Friends of Color report they are afraid to go into town and especially to protests here as police supporters/counter-protesters are walking around heavily armed. Scary stuff. I appreciate all of you who have been out representing at protests and all the businesses small and large who have sent emails of support and are taking action. To do my bit, this month I celebrate and promote some of the most invisible folks of color in the land:  Black Farmers.  Below, a short list of farm/ag related organizations worthy of your notice and support. 

Black Urban Growers https://www.blackurbangrowers.org/
Acta Non Verba Youth Gardens  https://anvfarm.org/
Black Earth Farms  https://www.blackearthfarms.com/
SF Gate Article & list of local Black Farms https://www.sfgate.com/food/slideshow/Black-owned-farms-you-can-support-right-now-203357.php
Pollinate Farm & Garden Store, owner Yolanda Burke  https://www.pollinatefarm.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Inter-dependance Day
People forget so easily that the American Revolution included many instances of Direct Action and Property Destruction  (Boston Tea Party! and the lesser known Gaspee Event). Keep speaking up and speaking out!
Protest and even some amount of well directed “trashing” are appropriate responses to random murder inflicted on innocent citizens by government employees.  Looting, while not helpful, is understandable given the current social and economic state of our country.  My favorite meme from recent times: “If you don’t like looting, you’ll hate the British Museum!”  Stay safe out there.

ZOOM CLASSES A SUCCESS and more to come!
My distance learning experiment went fairly well.  I felt stronger with some sessions than with others but overall it was successful and I got good feedback.  It is time for a short break as I ease into my summer rhythm of harvest and preservation (and battling back the bindweed-blackberry forest), but I will run another three week series starting towards the end of this month. We’ll see if we are ready for face-to-face learning by the Fall, but I expect to offer sessions of Canning, Fermentation, Soap Making, Medicine Making and one way or another, so if those were classes you were hoping for, keep your eyes out for them then.  I think I enjoyed the one hour farm talks the most.  The shorter format lends itself well to Zoom and gets me to condense the information to essentials.  Be glad to give more of those, so if there are topics you are excited about, let me know!

ZOOM BASED CONSULTS & Lessons
I am here for you. Gardening lessons/questions.  Site design consults. Heirloom Kitchen skills.  I am glad to offer one-to-one zoom or phone sessions on a wide variety of ag, farming ans kitchen skills and my pandemic sliding scale is pretty flexible.

Preserving the Harvest: An Overview of Techniques
Canning: A sterilization process based on acidity & heat. Low Acid Fruits and vinegar-pickled vegetables (ph 4.6 and lower) can be canned in a boiling water bath. Soups, stocks, meat sauces and vegetables without vinegar must be canned at 240 degrees in a pressure canner. Of the various methods canning preserves the least nutritional value.
Freezing: Meat, fruits and veggies as well as prepared foods can be stored in the freezer if you have space.  Freezing pops the cell walls of produce, so fruits and veggies will loose their crunch and be varying degrees of mushy when they are thawed. Blanching before freezing is optional.  Freezing preserves most nutrients in the food.
Dehydration: Fruits and vegetables may be dehydrated in the sun or in a dehydrator to remove the moisture to a shelf-stable state.  The dried products should be store in an airtight container or ziplock bag. If dehydrated at 115 or less, this food can be considered “raw.” and most of the nutrients, fatty acids and enzymes will be preserved.  Meat Jerkies should be dehydrated at a higher temperature to reduce/eliminate bacteria. Excaliber brand dehydrator are recommended.
Fermentation: Naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria are engaged to acidify fruits and vegetable ( although cured meats and cheeses are also fermented by the processes of these same bacteria). This is an anerobic process that tkes place in a salt brine.  Fermented foods are high in B vitamins, essential fatty acids and probiotic bacteria which help our guts.
Preserving in Vinegar, Alcohol, Sugar or Salt: Fruits and vegetables can be preserved in 5% vinegar or 40 proof and above alcohol without further processing or sterilization.  The can also be packed with salt or sugar to preserve them.
Shrubs: One part vinegar, one part fruit and one part sugar. Add herbs or spices for interest. Steep for 1 week and strain.  Makes a delicious syrup for adding to mixed drinks, juices or sparkling water.

News From the North
We are watching our lambs grow, mowing, weed-whacking, weeding and irrigating.  Lots of maintenance, moving materials, cleaning up some of the messes left behind from winter and shearing season.  It has been cooler than usual this spring and early summer, which we welcome, but the garden has gotten off to a slow start…finally now it is starting to look like a garden, but still far behind the Bay Area gardens I saw on my recent trip down there to deliver beef. This is our fourth summer here and the list of projects seems to get longer rather than shorter.  We have yet to dive in to building our glamping area or bath-house, which would make it more possible to host guests and gathering, but I am hoping to find some time to get that started this season.  I am working on outfitting a studio at my folks place as an airBnB style rental.  It is a sweet space down a small country lane, right on the Applegate river about 20 minutes from my farm.  Appropriate for 2 Adults, one child with a kitchenette.  I’ll let y’all know when it is officially listed, but in the meantime if you are traveling through and need a place to stay feel free to connect with me directly.  If you pay to stay there, a tour of my farm is included. 

JUNE

Hi Homesteaders
As the days lengthen towards the longest of the year, life here is full speed ahead.  The garden is in, cane berries are edging towards ripe, lambs and bunnies are growing, alpacas and sheep are being shorn. We watch with sadness and support as things out in the big wide world turn upside down and hope that you all out there are healthy, engaged and safe.

Zoomah Zoomah
So the jury is out, distance teaching is not my favorite, but the response to the classes and talks has nevertheless been positive overall.  There’s still 4 weeks of classes coming up and plenty of room for more folks to participate.  As well, I am looking to start another series this summer and wondering what people want to learn?  Or if there are current topics you are hoping I will repeat?  I will do a 3-4 week series In July/August and we’ll go from there.  See below for the list of sessions still to come.  When you register, be sure to look for the comment or notes box and tell me what dates/topics you are signing up for. Remember everything is NOTALSC (no one turned away).  I send out a materials list a week ahead for classes that have a “follow along at home” componant and the zoom links and handout are sent out the day before the session.

News From the North
Its irrigation season and the water is flowing!  We have water rights from the Rogue River.  We share our water right with 7 other properties – it is an original right from the 1850s when it was one large property owned by the Ford Family.  In spite of it not being exactly “plug and play,” and requiring quite a bit of work and management, it is an excellent water right and we are glad to have it. Our WW II era 25 HP pump sits in the river a mile down the road from us.  The water is pumped up the hill and then flows down a mostly dirt ditch by gravity to get to us.  It takes 2-3 hours for the water to arrive and 2-3 days to irrigate the pastures.   We flood irrigate using an archaic process of smaller ditches and homemade dams and we fill our pond.  Our orchards and gardens close to the homesite are irrigated with the pond water using a smaller 2 HP pump. The water does not belong to us and we do not deplete the water table by using it.  It passes through the landscape, goes into ground water and back to the river.  Maintaining the main ditch is shared by all the owners of the water right, so last week we all met with our weed whackers, rakes, leaf blowers and chainsaws to clear the ditch of fallen trees, blackberries, sticks, leaves and pinecones.  Yesterday the pump was turned on and today it is winding it way through our own overgrown ditches to our pond.

Tips from the Garden Guru
One interesting aspect of the pandemic has been a great increase in the number of people gardening and growing.  The nursery business is making bank, as are feed stores as thousands take on gardening and chickens for the first time.  I have had more calls for gardening advice from random corners of my community this last month than ever before.  It is good, it is great and who knows, maybe it will stick for a few people. This coming Sunday I will offer a course on container & raised bed gardening.  We’ll cover the basics, see some container gardening examples and get questions answered.  If you want advice on your specific space, I am glad to set up a distance consult and help you get going.  

Are you starting a garden or landscaping project on your property for the first time?  Here is my top advice for getting started.
1. Identify what is there that needs to go. You are not required to keep trees, bushes or any other plants you don’t like or that don’t serve you. Make a list and a plan for how to remove.  Some things will be easy and some more difficult.  Many plants left from previous occupants are there because they are hardy and difficult to erradicate.
2. Identify places that will be good for growing. Food plants need sun. Fruit trees need sun and should be placed so they don’t create shade where you don’t want it. Vines & Canes need support or training and tend to spread.
3. Prepare and amend.  Weed the places to be planted and amend the soil.  If you have clay, water deeply the day before you want to dig.  Clay soil is good soil!  It has tons of nutrients and water holding capacity.  It just needs to be opened up and amended. Till with a garden fork and add abundant compost and manure.
4. Plant and maintain.  Plant annuals and perennials in separate areas.  Plant what you like to eat and start small. Have a plan for water. Drip irrigation works!

BRAVE NEW WORLD SERIES
Pandemic Special May 24- June 29
Sundays With Ruby  2-4PM (except for Bees Naturally, see June 21)

DETAILS & REGISTRATION FOR ALL SUNDAY SESSIONS HERE
Sunday, June 7, 2-4pm Container & Raised Bed Gardening
Sunday, June 14, 2-4pm Canning 101: Theory and practice
Sunday, June 21, Bees Naturally   Part 1: 10am-12noon, Part 2: 2-4pm
Sunday, June 28, 2-4pm Folk Medicine: Make your own Salves & Tinctures

Monday Morning Farm Talks  10–11:15 AM
DETAILS & REGISTRATION FOR ALL MONDAY SESSIONS HERE
Monday June 8, 10-11:15am Compost & Compost Tea
Monday June 15, 10-11:15am Backyard Chickens
Monday June 21, 10-11:15am Food preservation 101: Dehydration, Freezing, Canning, Fermentation—an overview

MAY

Hi Everyone!
Well we are deep into it now.  I don’t really understand the data.  The US has 10x more cases than China? How is that possible.  I am feeling for urban folks who are cooped up in their houses.  I am out working in my garden and shearing alpacas, with very infrequent trips to town for supplies. Life is more or less normal, except for the new fashion craze of wearing masks in public.  I heard Sonoma County now requires, so as handy as I am, I browsed Etsy to order a couple fashion forward pieces.  Let’s look for them on the runway soon!  In other news, I have brainstormed a series of live talks and classes for online consumption and hope you can join me.  No excuse not to!   I have a sliding scale posted, but the pandemic special is no one turned away for lack of social contact (NOTALSC).  And for those of you who can afford to pay the normal high end of the sliding scale, I won’t fault you for paying higher than stated.  Finally, while these are scheduled items, I do hope to offer recorded sessions for download before the end of the summer—I’ll keep you posted!

News from the North
Suddenly  Spring!  OK it’s been Spring for eons in the Bay Area, but here in the North it is only the last couple weeks, that spring has become truly palpable.  Fruit tree and maples in bloom, bees buzzing.  Tulips have been enjoyed and continue to give cheer. The columbine shot up and opened it’s funky flowers just the last few days—5 or 6 different varieties are naturalized here.  Irises, peonies and foxglove are not far behind.  I did get my dahlias into the ground, but the spring garden is slow to materialize. Seeds are in flats and so far I have planted peas and onions,  but I am far from having my summer garden in the ground.  Shearing season progresses.  I’ll be doing another quick tour of California and then my local shearing work starts.  I pray it goes well and everyone tips me a million dollars . LOL.  After that who know when I will work?   Our lamb crop is looking AMAZING this year.  I didn’t manage to get a post out about pasture raised meat last month so read on…..

Pasture Raised Lamb ~ Get on the list to get on the list!
Lamb available for the freezer direct from our farm. If you haven’t read about our heritage lamb project you can read more here.  Response to the quality and flavor have been excellent. The lambs run $250-400 for 30-50 pound hanging weight, which is the total weight after skin and offal have been removed. The lamb comes to you cut, wrapped, labeled and frozen. Though that may sound like alot of meat, these are the perfect size for a home freezer.  We sell whole lambs only and do not offer half portions, but customers often go in with a friend.  If you are interested, respond to this email to get on our “interested” list.  There is no commitment.  Once we know how many lambs are available and when they will be delivered we’ll email that list to request a deposit. At that point it is first-come first serve until they are all claimed. Your deposit pays for the cost to process the lambs.  The balance is due on delivery.  Our dates will be earlier this year.  Possibly July and September.  Commit to purchasing a pelt from your lamb at the same time and yet a 30% discount on the pelt—details will follow on that.

Wild Grass-Fed Pasture-Raised Dexter Beef
We’ll be processing one of our cows and offering 10 and 25 pound shares. Our cows free range year round in our upper pasture, managing the grass for fire abatement and pretty much doing their own thing.  They have water and shade and the occasional treat but otherwise are pure and wild. The beef will be processed to ground beef and steaks and the shares will be an equal portion of each. 10 pound shares $100 and 25 pound shares $200.  If you are interested in a larger share, we’ll cut you a deal.  We’ll be taking orders in May (check or venmo) and hope to deliver in June.  Please respond to this email with your desires and I will set you up to pay for your share later this month.

LIVE ONLINE COURSE OFFERINGS!!!!
I have yet to actually learn to use Zoom, but I am working on it and have planned a six week series.  If it goes well and if we are all still locked up, I will continue.  One thing that is awesome is that folks no longer need to be in the Bay Area to learn from me, so if you have friends and relatives in other places I so appreciate your reccommendation referral and/or forwarding of this email.

THE BRAVE NEW WORLD SERIES
Pandemic Special  May 24-June 29

Sundays with Ruby  2-4pm
Live Action classes with demonstrations and handouts. Gather your supplies ahead of time and follow along!
Sliding scale fee: $25-70 NOTALSC (no one turned away for lack of social contact)
Descriptions & Registration

Sunday, May 24th, 2-4pm Lather 101: Home Soapmaking
Sunday, May 31, 2-4pm Microbes in the Kitchen: Fermentation Theory & Practice
Sunday, June 7, 2-4pm Container & Raised Bed Gardening
Sunday, June14, 2-4pm Canning 101: Theory & Practice
Sunday, June 21 Bees Naturally (2 parts)
     Part 1 10am -12 noon A look inside the fascinating life of bees. A talk for everyone, but especially Wannabee beekeepers.
     Part 2 2-4pm Beekeeping Naturally. Hive systems, tools of the trade and management strategies  (morning session is pre-requisite)
Sunday, June 28, 2-4pm Home Making Medicine: Salves & Tinctures

Monday Morning Farm Talks & Demonstrations  10-11:15am
One hour talks on diverse subject with Q & A
Sliding scale $15-35 NOTALSC (no one turned away for lack of social contact) except for 5/26 which is FREE (donations accepted)
Descriptions & Registration

Monday May 26 10-11:15am Farm Tour Faerie Road Farm FREE! (you still must sign up to get the link)
Monday June 1 10-11:15am Easy Cheesy: Ricotta & Chevre
Monday, June 8  10-11:15am Amend the World: Compost & Compost Tea
Monday June 15 10-11:15am Backyard Chickens
Monday June 21 10-11:15am Food preservation 101: Dehydration, Freezing, Canning, Fermentation—an overview
Monday June 29 10-11:15am Farm to Fiber: Woolgathering

APRIL

Hello Homesteaders and Shelterers
It has been a wild ride.  So much information —good, bad, ugly, conflicting.  Lots of conspiracy theories floating about and hard to know what is true and real.  When in doubt, just add compost….IMHO at least you can never go wrong growing a garden and raising some chickens.

As you know I live rurally and “Shelter in Place” most of the year.  But I also travel to teach and to shear. As of this writing,  I have just returned from a week on the road shearing alpacas, sheep, goats and Llamas.  I was careful and cautious as I traveled, staying away from grocery stores and carrying gloves and hand wipes for gas stations. My last stop was a farm on 2000 acres in Napa where I usually shear just their baby alpacas. When I got there, my farmer friends said they had fired their other shearers as they didn’t trust them to have been cautious and would I shear their whole herd of 60 animals? So much other work had cancelled, that I said I would try. Alpaca shearing requires close teamwork.  We shook hands, wrangled the animals and worked in close proximity for 3 days.  We shared food.  Some people went to town and back. It was a great challenge with great people and a substantial paycheck at the end. I don’t think I will get sick, but I cannot know for sure. I think all life is about measured risks…whether it is getting in a car, traveling abroad or starting a new relationship. I hope during this time that you find the right balance and that you are able to live in hope and possibility and not in fear.

Update on Classes and Possible Learning Opportunities
For the present moment, classes at IUH are cancelled.  I have plans to travel again in early May, but can’t imagine we will have a clean bill of health as a nation to meet in person, let alone play with food together. So for the time being IUH is on hold.  I haven’t quite figured out if I want to try to translate our most popular classes for distance learning or what format would be best. I am open to your thoughts.  Live classes with zoom?  Or recorded classes you can watch any time? A homesteading education package with audio, video and pdf handouts?

Below are topics I can teach well. Let me know if you are interested and we’ll see what I can wrangle together and offer…I am glad to arrange small classes for your family/living group via zoom or teach private lessons via phone, skype, zoom or whatever format floats your boat to help you through any gardening, beekeeping or homestead kitchen questions. Feel free to hit me up with your learning desires ( :

Fermentation Talk & Demonstration
Beekeeping Talk & Demonstration
East Bay Soils & Soil Remediation Talk & Demonstration
Intro to Organic Gardening
Container Gardening
Soap Making Talk & Demonstration
Canning Talk & Demonstration
Backyard Chickens
Raising Rabbits
Basic Butchering
Small Animal Tanning
Spinning & Felting
Medicine Making (salves, tinctures, balms etc)
Dehydration
Hand Sewing Basics
Machine Sewing Basics
Cheesemaking 101

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News from the North
The days growing longer and the grass is too.  Lamb and bunnies frolicking, flowers springing to life in colors, fruit trees a’ blooming and ever hopeful for more rain. Time to hook up all the irrigation, set seeds in flats, till in some compost, mow the grass and weed weed weed.

Be safe, be well, be healthy.

PS  It is called “physical distancing,” not “social distancing.” Let’s stay connected!

 

 

 

MARCH

I’m late! I’m late!
March crept up despite the extra Leap Year day and then life got in the way of my usual first of the month sending. Finally getting this out, the first day of “daylight saving,”  which I think should actually just be called “clock shifting,” as the daylight is exactly the same as yesterday…We have had some gorgeous weather here, but I know it is hot some places it should not be hot yet and we are missing some rain that would be greatly welcomed. Nevertheless, Spring is most definitely in the air, with daffodils, plums and cherries giving a cheerful show. Our geese have been hiding a clutch of eggs (8 last count), chickens are laying in glorious colors and pigeons, some 7 of them, are sitting on nests.  

Recipe: Clean-Out-the-Freezer Berry Sauce
You may not grow enough berries to freeze them, but I always have extra and with the new berries on their way it is time to use up last years bounty.  I dump whatever is left in a pot and slow cook them for about 45 minutes with nothing added.  This year there were strawberries and blackberries and a few cherries. Then I use my food strainer—and excellent tool, with the finest screen to press out the seeds.  Add sweetener (or not) to taste, vanilla or a dash of cardomom, pour into 3 part mason jars and can in a boiling water bath 15 minutes. This sauce is excellent on ice cream or cheesecake and adds flavor to plain yogurt. 

March in the Garden: Year Round Gardening?  (reprint from March 2016)|
There is a lot of confusion about the timing of planting in the Bay Area for the mythic “year round gardening.” In truth each crop has an ideal planting window and rotating beds and crops is something learned through years of experience. For bare beginners I recommend starting with one planting: Start your annual vegetable garden in April or May. April will be a little early for some crops and a little late for others, but most crops will do fine with this timing. With this one planting you will learn how long each crop takes to mature and finish, without worrying about when you can plant something after them. The next possibility for slightly more experienced gardeners would be two plantings: Spring and Summer. You would put your cool weather crops in the ground Feb/March and your warm season crops May/June. Some of your cool season crops will finish in time to pull them and replace them and with our growing season extending into October this is plenty of time for the warm season crops to establish and come to fruit. Lettuce can be grown succession through the entire season. Finally for the “year round” effect, you can add a third planting in late August/September to produce and finish by November. Root crops established during this time can stay in the ground for harvest through the winter, as can hardy greens like kale, chard and radicchio A fourth planting in October/November of cool season crops may overwinter, but heading crops like Broccoli and Cauliflower planted late will usually be stunted and give a small yield. Nothing should go into the ground in December or January… even if it is not cold enough to kill the plants, there is not enough daylight for them to establish and thrive.

News From the North
We’ve been lambing like crazy here, with 32 little ones on the ground and more to come.  It has been a wild ride with some good learning curves.  I have learned what to do with a bad birth and retained placenta and how to “graft” an orphan lamb onto a ewe who has lost a lamb. We also have a couple straight up bottle babies, also called “bummer” lambs, that follow us around and suck on anything you put near their wee faces…fingers, earlobes, shirttails…. We finished pruning and spraying our orchard and are slowly gearing up to prep the Spring garden.  I was amazed to get a bountiful crop of broccoli and kale off the starts I planted in October and with the warm days you can literally hear the grass starting to grow.  Here in the North our plums and peaches are just starting to bud with fear of hard frost to dampen our spirits. And shearing season is underway—we finished shearing our own flock this morning and are busily working on scheduling spring shearing from Southern california to northern Oregon. Lastly I just posted some writing about our pastures and the work that my farm partner has done to attempt to regenerate them.

Pelts
We are very excited about the new batch of pelts we got back from the tanner — they are one-of-a-kind and gorgeous! You can check them out here: https://welovesheep.com/?page_id=535.  The process of creating the pelts is a bit of work, but extremely worth it.  We built a special stand to keep the blood off the pelt as much as possible on butcher day.  When the skin comes off it gets brought inside and laid out on cardboard.  We pull off any bits of flesh and fat and then fully salt the skin and let it sit until dry.  Easily done in the summer, but a bit of a pain in the winter when it is damp here!  Once they are dry the salt is brushed off and the pelts are packed and shipped to the tanner.  Some 3 – 4 months later they come back to us. This year promises to be an awesome year for pelts.  Our ram, Gandolf the Grey, is a coloring called “Silver Saddle.”  You can see a sample of a silver saddle pelt on our pelt page. Gandolf is turning out tons of amazing colored lambs—more than half of them are black, grey, brown and silver saddle.  We’ll be taking deposits for pelts a little later in the year.  People who opt for a “package” — a lamb for the freezer and a pelt to go with it– get a 30% discount on their pelt.  More on that a few months from now!

 

FEBRUARY

Around and around and around we go…as we move again to the light.  Lots of short topics this month—please give it a scan!

February Classes 2-fer Special
These two classes are as yet undiscovered gems.  Please check them out and come!
Special offer for mailing list subscribers:  Purchase one ticket for either of these classes at the top of the sliding scale and the second person comes for free. I must be able to find your purchasing email on the IUH newsletter subscription list.  Registration links below.
Urban Orchard: Planting, Pruning & Care.  This mini-intensive focuses on Bay Area fruit trees, selection planting and care, plus a thorough pruning primer with hands on demonstration and practice. We’ll also learn about grafting and get a grafting demonstration. A real bang for the buck for anyone wanting to maintain a few fruit trees in their backyard
Wine From Honey: Making Mead, Metheglin & Melomels Learn the simplicity fun and joy of making your own wine from honey, fruit, herbs and spices. We brew up a batch and taste several others.  Friday evening party format!  Snacks provided.

February in the Bay Area Garden ~ Time for seeds
This month you can seed all your cool weather crops into flats outside (peas, broccoli, kale, arugula, beets, cabbage).  Warm weather crops can be seeded on heat mats with added light later in the month (tomato, basil, zucchini).  remember that with the exception of beets, most root crops like to be sown where they will grow. Turnips, radishes and potatoes can be seeded directly now.  Carrots and parsnips need warmer soil temperatures and consistent moisture.  Start seeding them late April.

News From the North
January was quite a month.  Mid-month rain turned to snow in the night, and then to rain again saturating the snow, bringing trees down all over the county and power lines with them.  Close to 20,000 people without power. Our outage was the longest I have experienced here — 3 nights & 4 days.  We are fortunate enough to have wood heat and a propane stove–some elderly neighbors had to get a hotel, as it was freezing temps and they had no heat.  Most of our valuable frozen food is in freezers in our unheated shop, so 4 days was no problem, through we ran them on a generator 2-3 hours a day just in case.  And another small generator was just enough power to run wi-fi and entertainment ( :  For the rest we used candles and flushed the toilet with rainwater.  Early January we started lambing, with 6 of them so far and many more on the way. 

Spring lambs!

Knee Surgery Postponed

I met with my surgeon and he said it would be OK to wait until summer so that I could work and save up for 4 months of recovery, so my new date will be in July after my shearing season. I just have to be careful with it this spring. I should be mobile by September and will certainly offer some classes in the Fall.

Web & Graphic Design For You
Although I am not yet going under the knife, I’d be glad for some extra work.  if you need support with websites, flyer or brochure production, business cards, or posters, hit me up. 30+ years graphic design experience. Let me know How I can help. Reasonable sliding scale and I can send samples of my work.

Pruning Service/Private Lessons
I have a few windows when I am down in February to prune for you and/or teach as I go. Send pictures of your trees for an estimate. 

Cow Share coming up in Spring
We will have one of our Dexter cattle butchered this Spring. Delicious, lean, 100% pasture raised beef. We will most likely be selling 10 & 20# shares (steaks and ground), but if any one is interested in a quarter beef (about 75 pounds hanging weight), we’ll be offering a special price.

March Classes Added! Locations Sought
I have added three classes for the last weekend in March.  Looking for appropriate homes to teach them from. For Fermentation—a large kitchen with adjoining dining or living room that can seat 8-10 people.  For container gardening, a nice garden with either containers or raised beds.  For beekeeping if you have an active colony of bees in any style hive that would work, but if you have a top bar or warre hive even better!

winter storm weighed branches down to the ground (yah, that’s a tree on the far left)

we didn’t realize it would snow in the night,and one of our shelters collapsed

 

 

 

JANUARY
Happy 2020 Dear Readers!
I hope you have had wonderful abundant holidays and are looking forward to learning living and loving as the earth moves around the sun in 2020!

Thanks & January Special Offer on Goodies
Thank you to everyone who came to the open house and took home my hand-crafted goodies! I had a great weekend with so many wonderful visitors. My hosts, the Ravenel Family were a dream come true! They were so relaxed and accomodating—they fed me and helped with clean up—I couldn’t have asked for more. It was a productive year, so there are goodies left, and I need to clear out the pantry to make room for next years bounty. So if you forgot a few friends or family, or want more for yourself, I will make up a special box of goodies and send it off!  In January, order $50 or more of goodies and I will pay the shipping as long as supplies last!  Below are some sample packages I can make up for you and flavors currently available.  

Two ways to order
1. Go to PayPal and send $ to wisefool@lmi.net  using the friends and family option (“send money to someone you trust”).  In the comment box write the package you want and any flavor preferences.  Make sure to confirm the shipping address and if you are sending to a friend, put that in the comment box as well. If you want to support me and pay the shipping, add $10.  I am also glad to receive money with venmo, but may need some coaching. My Venmo name is krubyblume.
2. Respond to this email and tell me what you want.  I will send you an invoice.  I will add 3% to cover the PayPal fees, but will still pay your shipping.  

4 jams & 4 mustards $50
4 jams & 4 shrubs $7
2 jams, 2 shrubs, 2 vinegars $55
2 jams, 2 shrubs, 2 cordials $55
Goodies Grab Bag small (can include jam,seeds, shrubs, mustard, salve, soap, hotsauce, salsa, pickles, dried fruit, mustard, cordials and more) $50
Goodies Grab bag medium $75 (more of above)
Goodies Grab bag large $100 (and an even more generous selection of above)
4 Tiles $60

Jam: Blackberry, Blueberry with Port, Apricot, Simple Strawberry, Bing Cherry, Lapin Cherry Cabernet, Maple Nectarine, Red Globe Peach, Pluot with Pinot, Spiced Apple Butter, Blackberry, Marionberry,
Mustard: Coconut Curry, Roasted Red Pepper, Honey Bourbon, Sherry Shallot Tarragon
Shrubs (sweetened infused vinegars for sodas and mixed drinks): Raspberry Rose Geranium, Blackberry Vanilla, Spiced Strawberry (not spicy hot), Cherry Cumin, Lemongrass Lime, Plum Cardamom
Cordials (sweetened infused liqueur): Rose, Cherry, Basil Lime, Tayberry Lavendar
Vinegar: Strawberry infused, Garlic Rosemary
Tiles: Goat “Rise Up”, Rabbit “Persevere”, “Grow”, Strawberries “Nourish”, Chicken “Thrive”, Pea Vines “Resilience”, Artichoke “Take Root”, Beets “Occupy”, Dog “Work is Love in Action”, Cat “Regenerate”, Ram (no words), Bee (no words), Boot with Flowers (no words),Girl Holding Sun (no Words), Sun & Moon (no words), Owl “justice”, Flying Pig in A teacup “Delight”, Garlic (no words), Cow “Courage”, Hummingbird “Strength”, Dragonfly “Wonder & Beauty”,
Also available: herb salt, garlic salt $10 each. Natural Dye Kits $15 each. Lavendar Castille soap or Rose hand-lotion soap, $10 each.  CBD: full spectrum salve $20, full spectrum or hemp tincture: $15/1 oz. or $25 / 2 oz.

Rant: Farm Fantasy vs. Farm Reality
When I was working on the farm tour, I gathered with the featured farmers and several told me about the recent movie The Biggest Little Farm.  “You will LOVE it,”  they said.  I had my doubts, but one rainy night in December I watched it with my farm partner.  We could barely make it through the film. I understand that most people will find this movie inspiring and uplifting, but for me it was infuriatingly idealistic, leaving so many gaps in the story of what farming actually requires.  “We had some generous funders.”  No doubt.  The property alone cost $11M. You read right. Eleven Million Dollars. This is more than 20 times what I had to invest. And how much additional capital did it require to construct barns, sheds, corrals and coops, buy a stable of shiny new farm machines (30-50K each), install miles of fences and irrigation lines, reconstruct a pond, rip out 55 acres of mature orchard, completely terrace and keyline those same acres and plant thousands of fruit trees? How did they pay for the farm, the labor, the commercial scale worm composting and compost tea systems, the livestock and guardian dogs?  How long did it take to get marketable crops and what did they live on and pay their farm workers until then?  Could they have made it happen without their Hollywood investors? They did not show the backbreaking daily work required or demonstrate that permaculture/biodynamic farming is economically sustainable. We did some math and came up with a conservative estimate of $20 million dollars for the project. What couldn’t any of us do with that much cash in hand? While I agree with the core message of the movie (SOIL is LIFE!), there is a reason most farmers work on an industrial level: the farmer has to make a living.  Farm reality is that we cannot just do whatever we want and farm decisions are almost always dictated by the limitations of budget.  Most small-scale farmers also work off the farm in order to pay for the farm. So while it is great that they are now selling 55,000 pounds of fruit a year and employing 60 workers, we greatly doubt they have made a dent in getting a return on $20M. Here on Ferry Road, we struggle to pay our basic bills and to afford the materials to improve our infrastructure. We do not have the luxury of purchasing a single tractor or hiring a single farm hand, let alone a stable of either. We are lucky to be able to defray some of the cost of our farming with what we produce.  I am not angry or jealous of the gap.  I love the agrarian life, the critters, the manure, the clean air, the quiet nights and the gorgeous food we produce for ourselves with some extra to share.  But what I would LOVE to see is a film that equally promotes organic/holistic farming with a realistic budget and practical solutions for mid-to-low income folks who would like to return to the land. Now THAT would be inspiring.

News From the North
This time of year is very dark up here in the north—not light til around 7:30am and the day darkens by about 4:30…We’ve had some snow, some rain and plenty of freezing nights and have been keeping cozy with daily fires in our stove.  Still appreciating an insulated house after living in the Bay Area so many years!  In December we built a tree house for our new guard puppy, from some of the wood we milled from the giant tree we took down and we continued to improve our sheep feeding area, which has drainage issues (read: winter mud) bringing in 12 tons of decomposed granite, which we have been moving in increment with a wheelbarrow.  Think Sisyphus.  We have a guinea pig empire in our barn. I think we are up to 11 babies (these are meat guineas, not pets, sorry to those who disagree with this) and we are prepping for lambing season, setting up our lambing jugs (small enclosures with shelters where mama sheep can bond with their lambs as they strengthen the first few days).   The garden is still sleeping, though we replaced the torn plastic on our greenhouse and will soon plant some winter greens. Looking towards pruning the orchards and logging shearing contacts. Additionally we continue to muck and schlep and build our giant compost piles…promising a fertile 2020.

Knee Surgery
I injured myself in September after stressing my body out with off season shearing.  Took a wrong step running for the phone.  Fell down and couldn’t stand up or bear weight on the offending leg.  It seemed to heal to 90% somewhat quickly and have been doing PT, but the MRI shows a possible tear at the root of the meniscus, so its off to surgery I go.  My date is right after I return from February teaching and there is a 6 week strict non weight bearing period and more recovery after that.  I fear I will go crazy and have no idea how I will manage it. I would love to hear from anyone who has had this surgery about their recovery experience and tips.  Additionally I will be reaching out in February seeking deskwork projects to pay the bills and pass the time—i would be glad to help you design business cards, brochures, flyers or websites and I am also skilled at digitizing photos/doucments and doing archival workmore about this in next months newsletter.  I may also be looking for part time intern help on the farm and/or with my shearing business this Spring.

Host A Class
Seeking locations in Berkeley & Oakland (Alameda, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond but not further out) for February classes.  Specifically needing a property with a few small fruit trees for the Urban Orchard Instensive with the option of an indoor space for lecture. Introduction to Urban Gardening also needs the option of an indoor space and Wine From Honey can take place in any dining room or kitchen with room for 10 to sit.  Let me know!!  Hosts attend for free!

Classes for 2020
I have a few classes on the books for February, but am unsure what will happen after that…hoping to create another weekend or two of classes this Spring, and need to wait to see how things pan out with our shearing schedules and knee surgery.  If there is a class you have been waiting patiently to take, please let me know and I will try to include it. In the meantime, please populate these February classes and anything you can do to spread the word is appreciated!