February 21, 2012

What is in this week’s Veggie Box

Salad Mix, Spinach, Caranata Kale, Yellow Onions, Cabbage, Red Carrots and Lemons.

What is in this Week’s Fruit Bag?

Navel Oranges, Tangelos and Raisins

 

 

This Week on the Farm-
I needed to get out of the office to see what was going on around the farm this morning. It is so easy to get caught up with the e-mails, the head part of the operation, and not really know what is happening out in the fields. Reports come in as to what is not there or what is starting to go to flower, or what we have to harvest this week, but never really seeing beyond the windows or the garden close to the house where most of my work is….so I took a walk out back to check in the guys and to see what would be something to write about in today’s newsletter. And as you can see from the photos here, what is exciting, so exciting, is that the apricots are in red bud, and the early stages of popcorn and a few open flowers. As some of you may remember last year we had a very sparse bloom-and with the late rains the apricot crop was just about nil. We harvested about 20 boxes when in a normal year we will harvest about 400-500 boxes. And it was the first time that we can remember that the trees just didn’t put out a lot blooms. So as I walked through the orchard and saw the apricots trees with these plump reddish buds, as in spring when buds are swelling, so was my heart. I know that sounds dumb, but you just never know.
That’s the truth, you just never know. One minute the aphids take the broccoli, and the next the oranges are better than they have been in 18 years. One minute the deer eat half the tulips and the next a red fox trots off with a gopher in its mouth. There is absolutely no predicting the next happening at the farm. It has been such a constant kaleidoscope of events that it reminds me of one of those rides at the fair or something that you get on and just stay on as long as you can, taking in the constant swirl of events until you can’t take any more and have to jump off. We haven’t jumped off yet, but who would ever think that after a whole bunch of years, nothing seems to have slowed down at all. I can honestly remember when Annie and I started out, that the act of getting up in the morning, no matter how much or little sleep, presented us with the excitement of more work than we could possibly do, and the challenge of knowing it had to be done, so that tomorrow could dawn the same way. Now, when I drag myself out of bed in the morning, I gaze at, I swear, the same vista that I saw 35 years ago. Can it be? If I hadn’t learned that I just never know, I’d be right back in bed. But I just never know what’s coming, and what I do know, if I know anything at all, is that I have to be there for it. That’s the only way that I know of to earn my keep, is to just keep being in my place in the morning. And whatever it is that oversees my work, it’s been good enough to keep taking care of me, just. Nothing to get cocky about, no, but a good, solid piece of work to be proud of being part of doing.
See, now, all that talk about doing, and getting up in the morning, and never knowing about what comes next, had got to be telling you that Aunt Em, we’re certainly not in the winter doldrums any more. It just happened, the grass is deeper green and about a foot taller, the robins on the lawn are more reckless, as a matter of fact all the birdlife seems to be giddy and forgetful, and I see the cats around the farm looking sleeker. All of creation seems to be saying that spring is on its way, and the energy levels are rising irresistibly. And I’m not the only one thinking we can kiss off water surpluses after months of promises. Yep, end of winter, start of spring. And on the farm, we get up in the morning and, as master songwriter and lyricist Bill Staines says, “we take the little that we know and we do the best we can, and we see the rest with the quiet faith of man.” And maybe, I have to remember to remember, that’s as good as it gets.
I started this and then ran off and Jeff picked it up… just like when you do as a kid, start a sentence to a story and let the next person finish it-


This weekend there was a going away party for my mom in Santa Rosa, so she has officially moved from her home in Santa Rosa to her new home here in Capay. I had to put this photo in the newsletter-we were taking the holiday photo and we all got all giggly, I think because we were looking into the sun and each photo all of our eyes were closed. I am notorious for not being able to keep my eyes open in photographs, and I just started laughing so hard I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t even open my eyes, and tears were running down my cheeks… and Claire just kept taking photos…well here are two peas from the same pod! My mom and I both were laughing, unknown to each other that we were doing the very same gesture, and the rest of the family were laughing at us. Just today Zach said while mom and I were making lunch together that the two of us sounded like an old married couple bickering over how to make the tuna salad. I have to say that I feel so glad that mom can live with us, put up with our ways, fit in and be able to find her own space, chores (she cooks a lot of the meals and does a lot of laundry!!!!!). She has also brought so much of her furniture and beautiful things to add to our house, that we have definitely moved out of the barn venue and into a much more sophisticated one…yes Jeff take your shoes off the couch! But my mom is quite amazing, I only hope that I can live as long and as well as she has, she is refinishing a large armoire… sanding, varnishing, sealing, and she is already got her eye on the next project she is going to tackle. But I guess all of this isn’t as good as it is hearing her and Jeff talk about the old days when she lived on the farm in Santa Rosa , or who owned the ranch next door, or how mean Aunt Hattie was….you know just stories about family and her life. And as we slowly finish the house-this week the living room oak floor got it finial coat of sealer and it is worth a good slide with socks across it, mom is pulling out of her packed boxes little touches to add around. And this is really why I haven’t walked the farm, I have been totally dedicated to getting the house finished, and getting mom moved out of her boxes, and us moved in before spring takes over. Now to the rest of the tile floor. Have a great week~Annie