After more than three years on the land we’re getting a better feel for the rhythm of the garden and the fruit trees and have successfully stocked the larder with treats for the rainy season to come. Working with friends and neighbors, we’ve harvested and pressed all of our Gravensteins, which yielded about 20 gallons […]
Tag Archives: california flora
Vicis Vigio
the unique Red Gravenstein, just picked and ready for the press I never thought I needed a motto, but Vicis Vigio, which translates loosely as ‘Week in Bloom’, appears to suffice. I’ve become interested in the notion of mottos because they tend to go along with things that have lasted the ages, from heraldry to […]
The Week in Bloom
“There’s nothing that keeps its youth, So far as I know, but a tree and truth.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Deacon’s Masterpiece, 1858 After last year’s bumper crop of apples and the disarmingly early drop of the Gravensteins, we vowed to do our best not to let any go to waste this season. Our Gravensteins […]
Giant Eucalyptus
Taking a break under a giant bluegum eucalyptus on Whitaker Bluff The eucalyptus was planted extensively throughout California by Australians during the Gold Rush for use as timber. They mistakenly thought the wood to be well suited for railroad ties, but the trees took differently to the soil and tended to grow in spirals, the […]
The Week in Bloom
Shell Beach, from the Kortum Trail I thought appreciatively of Bill Kortum as we hiked the section of the California Coastal Trail named in his honor. Bill is an environmentalist of local renown who has been instrumental in protecting the coastline for public use. The late morning fog kept us cool as we made our […]
The Week in Bloom
“When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since. ivermectin dose for dog scabies “Â -John Muir At just over 14,000 feet, Mount Shasta is […]
Green Walnut Harvest
Ene and Aili harvested hundreds of green walnuts from our tree to make our annual batch of nocino, the homemade digestif we like to share with friends and family on special occasions throughout the year. The nuts peaked about a week later than last year, and we managed to clear the tree of the plump, […]