Life Is for Learning

I have come to lose the smog
And I feel like I'm a cog in something turning
And maybe it's the time of year
Yes and maybe it's the time of man
And I don't know who I am
But life is for learning
We are stardust, we are golden
We are 2 billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
~Woodstock by C,S,N & Y


Jeff and the kids starting the first row

Jeff has been steadily digging rows in our "back yard" and has about 240 square feet dug. In this environment that is an incredible feat involving a pick axe, a shovel, and a strong back for boulder tossing. The first row (this 240 square feet) is being "double dug" to allow for more intensive gardening. Twenty to twenty five percent of the earth that he is digging is rock; ranging in size from fist size to beach ball size. Once he unearths them he has to throw them into a pile that will eventually be used for landscaping the "front yard". The rest of the rows will be raised bed. This week we hauled around 400 pounds of partially composted alpaca manure here to the house, a bit of straw, and 14 large trash bags full of partially composted leaves. This will be mixed into the beds along with compost tea, Texas Greensand, lime, mychorrhizae, biochar, and compost.


The first row (240 sqft) almost dug

Spraying the beds and fields with a raw milk mixture is something that Jeff has been researching for almost a year, and Acres Magazine just ran a feature article on it this month (maybe it was last month). This is something that he plans to test with some of the beds and, I think, the west meadow.

Azomite is something that Jeff is wanting, but we aren't sure we can budget for with all of the other things on the list this year.

Biochar is believed to have been used by Pre-Columbian Amazonians to increase soil productivity in nutrient-poor soil. It is best suited for severely weathered and deprived soils like ours. Among many other benefits it increases water retention (paramount here!) and available nutrients for plants. Jeff has been making it and storing it for about 6 months.

Jeff has been researching gardening since Quinn was a wee baby and there is no one "right" way to garden. People have their favorites, and all seem to have their equal pros and cons. Lasagna gardening is likely to make its way into mix after this fall's harvest, as well as on the rows that we won't plant this season. It is a much less labor intensive way to garden, but unfortunately we did not have time to get this done last year with all the homelessness and all ;-)

Though many friends and neighbors have offered us their tillers and tractors, tilling is something that we plan to stay away from because it can really limit the productivity of the beds by creating a hard packed shelf that restrains roots as well as water flow.

Permaculture, Biodynamic, and lasagna/sheet mulching gardening are on the list for next year. This year we're focused mainly on getting seeds in the ground and a harvest in the fall because we have many hundreds of feet of fencing and gates to build, as well as a green house, an overwintering shelter for the chickens, and maybe (oh, gah, if we're lucky) a spot to have a dairy goat next year.

By June 15th we hope to have around 700 square feet of planted vegetable garden in the back and 200 square feet of medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, and flowers decorating the front of the house. If we can swing it we're hoping to turn the ancient dry creek bed that runs through the front yard into something a bit more pleasing to the eye but also looking totally natural. I'll be heading out to the local organic nurseries to research some native, drought tolerant grasses, grass bushes, and wildflowers for the area.

Whew!

And my sister is coming in July! And this time she will be enjoying her visit, sitting by the pond, visiting Ojo Caliente, and sipping margaritas on the portal with me - rather than sweating, crying and mourning our loss with us like last year! Yea for do-overs!!!

Oh, and thanks to Sheriff, our amazingly dedicated livestock guardian dog, we will be free-ranging Buff Orpington chickens and Ancona ducks again this year.


Sheriff enjoying the snow we got last week - He's like a crazed puppy when it snows; running, rolling and leaping

I think that's enough for now. We'll talk about harvest and storage plans another time ;-)
What are your plans for the summer?

I bought the kids a yoga DVD a couple of years ago and they have been doing yoga on their own ever since. Neeka is particularly in love with the practice. It seems to fit in the same heart space as her dancing.