Well….we still do not have the permit to start building our ADU. We are so off the timeline now that we will just have to take what we can get now that tariffs against Canada are going into effect soon. Stupid, stupid politics. I am desperately hoping the cost of our ADU does not go up 25%! Sigh… now we have to get fire approval and pay the school district and then maybe, MAYBE, we can start figuring out things like the septic system and where the foundation goes. Driving back home today from MBDF I realize just how much time is spent in cars these days. Matt, Jenny and Dave drive back and forth from San Leandro every week. Nuts.
Having said that, work continues on the farm. The tarp is almost ready to remove from the permanent garden and placed on Matt’s bean garden. The greenhouse was moved over by the barn (Matt and Dave carried it) for temporary usage since we still don’t know for sure if the permanent garden will have to be adjusted or moved. I have started some flower seeds and the artichokes in there since they are slow growers. I figure I can transplant the flowers into pots around the pool area or in Shingle Springs.
Another thing going on right now is that Matt ordered 6 (?) cubic yards of wood chips for the orchard. Dave, Cherie, Matt and Jenny helped get it spread out around the trees. It looks great and over the years will help improve the soil there. I don’t think it is going to kill weeds though, as Matt hoped, because it isn’t deep enough. They should die back when it quits raining. Everything is growing like crazy right now- it has been perfect amount of rain interspersed with nice sunshiny days for the grasses to go wild. Trees look “happy” too. So green! The plum trees have started to bloom and you can see buds on the apricot, pluot and apple trees also. I haven’t seen any bees so far so we will see how it all works out. I should work on getting the bee “hive” tubes out there.
Matt and Dave also built 2 of my raised beds and put them on the roundabout of the driveway for this summer. We have 6 total so maybe I will get to plant them out for our winter garden!??! There are already drip lines in this driveway area so I can get started planting our more desired crops and seeing if I can get it to work. Each “Birdie bed” is 4’ x 8’ so it is a lot of surface area to plan out. After the ADU is built, we can figure out the beds’ more permanent placement.
Another cool thing is that the Hope grape has made a bud! After almost 2 months of watering a stick, it has the beginning of buds! The master gardeners were pretty sure it wouldn’t grow when they gave us the cutting. So now I need to keep it alive!
Finally, I did transplant out the blueberry and raspberry plants I got at Green Acres. I was told they can live for 2 months or so in these new pots as long as they only have limited sun exposure. The blueberries are starting to bloom. After we take off the tarp, Matt and Dave will make some trellises and we can move the blackberries and raspberries onto those, and the blueberries into their half wine barrels. The kiwi and huckleberries should be arriving soon also!
So overall the gardens at MBDF are coming to life as we approach spring. We’ve had some nice weather although the nights are still pretty cold, but not freezing. Keeping our fingers crossed as I figure out how to really grow some food!
Update:
The artichokes and grape continue to grow. Apparently I set the seed tray warmer too high so I had to replant the flowers. Live and learn!
