There are great plans for these acres they bought. Not only will Dave and I build an ADU to live there (with NO stairs) but I have been given the role of providing at least some of the food we can grow. In the spring that should include some chickens since fresh eggs are just delish, but mostly fruits and veggies that I mostly will not eat. There is the start of an orchard already planted, and we even got to sample the apricots, plums and apples from this season. Ok, I ate part of one tasty apple! There are a few mandarins and oranges that still have fruit on the tree, and those are starting to color up. The orchard officially belongs to “Matt” but Dave and I are caring for it this fall and winter. I am investigating the type and times for trimming (some need it desperately), and fertilizing for next year. They also have some trees they’d like to still add. Mostly right now we need to do something to cover the ground so Dave doesn’t have to keep weed whacking all the dang weedy growth. I’m thinking wood chips or something. I think eventually there should be paths but Matt wants to get the feel of it rather than just lay them out ahead of time. And don’t worry- Jenny has lots and lots of flowers to be in charge of, including roses!
There is also a 45×40’ fenced in garden area that also has a million weeds or so. Once it was very nice but obviously wasn’t kept up this year. The fencing is similar to the property in that the frame is metal pipes with V fencing to keep out most critters. Rodents and birds can get in. It has a small greenhouse and had quite a few raised planters and some watering system. I like that I won’t have to run a sprinkler if I am gone since that should decrease molds. We will keep the two red table grape vines and add a couple more green grape vines, and maybe also keep the strawberries. This area is planned to become a permanent garden with blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, grapes, blueberries, strawberries and flowers. Unfortunately most of the planters were made of pressure treated wood so we will get rid of those. Most of what goes in here will be in the ground to help with water retention. Dave and I will dig up up some soil samples to get them evaluated for nutritional content and soil composition, as well as any hazards. It is very hard soil but looks like it has mostly been cattle land in the past. The original owners must have had horses because there are 2 nice stables and paddocks, and a well fenced arena and pasture. But most of the ground seems original!
Matt spent a weekend getting rid of the pressure treated wood, and then the three of us almost emptied the garden. I had been spending a couple hours here and there taking out the plants but it didn’t seem like I was doing much. Then Matt came and we mostly emptied it out. He and Dave took the greenhouse out and removed the rest of the beds. We transplanted a few nice looking basil plants. Now there are lumps of soil where the beds used to be and a growing compost pile. Dave or Matt will make me some bins from the Master Gardener plans when they can from the not pressure treated wood! I also started some seeds for the Tower Garden and my own home garden here. Nice thing about Nor Cal is we sort of have a year round growing season. It rarely freezes hard so winter plants can survive. They may not always have active growth days, but they do get enough to keep them alive!
I started some potatoes, garlic and yellow onions in grow bags at the house. These are all long term growth so need to be started now for the late spring harvest. We just used the watering system that followed the fence line for them and they are looking pretty good.
It has been a week since I wrote and lots has been done. Including turning in a soil sample and semi leveling the ground. There is still an ornamental grape (just haven’t gotten to it), one tomato plant and an artichoke to remove. We also started up the Tower Garden, aka Hank, with Romaine, collard greens and Swiss Chard. He is staying in the barn for now. The neighbors are probably wondering why there is a light on in the barn these days!
And finally, I found a grower of The Prime Ark Freedom blackberries I want to grow. We only bought 4 for now although we can probably grow 8 more. But we don’t have the garden tilled or trellised yet so….? They came from Missouri and look good on arrival! I will continue with updates as the days pass.
