27 March 2016

Strolling the farm at leisure is something I don't always remember to do, but there are always so many interesting and beautiful things transpiring, even if I don't look in any of the crop fields.Today I walked with a camera, taking pictures along the way.  This was my Dad's camera, and I have been using it since he died almost two years ago.  In using it I feel as if I can look at the farm through his eyes too, and share my daily life with him.  I am also looking through my mother's eyes, since she has been such a strong support and a close friend. 
I like the idea that I can share these photos with all of you who eat and enjoy our produce and support our farm.  Thanks everyone!

The farm is a balance between wildness and cultivation.  The crops benefit from the wild communities of life which border the fields (forest, riparian area, creek).

A community of life by the creek in the foreground, a young cascara tree.  In the middle, snowberry bushes.  In the background, a great oak tree with a birdhouse mounted on the trunk.

Elderberry by the bridge.

Willows along the creek.

We grow a few fruit trees in a home orchard,  which don't get much attention from us.  We tend to favor the annuals with our time and energy, but we sure love eating any fruit that comes our way.  There are also lots of wild, flowering cherry trees to brighten our world.

A grove of wild cherry trees at the base of the butte in bloom.

Asian pear blossoms.

New cottonwood buds are sticky and smell like sun-warmed honeycomb.

This cottonwood at the culvert may be over a hundred feet tall.  We have selectively thinned some of the cottonwoods growing adjacent to crop fields, since they cast too much shade for the vegetables.  But in the riparian area there are plenty of tall and majestic trees.

Even our cover crops are a polyculture.  Here, a clover and rye pasture mix is studded with occasional dandelions and wild onions.

Growing a grass and a legume together in a cover crop mix enhances each plant's usefulness.  The wheat and vetch compete, inspiring each plant to grow taller than it would alone, and the wheat provides a trellis for the vetch.

We grow native flowering plants in hedgerows adjacent to crop fields, to attract, feed, and shelter pollinators, beneficial predator and parasite insects, and birds.  Other wildlife which favor undisturbed ground also use these corridors to travel between the butte and the river.

Indian plum.

Red currant.
 

Red currant and Oregon grape.

Willows growing along the creek bloom earlier than many plants, providing a prized early season source of nectar and pollen for beneficial insects.  Many big leaf and vine maples are blooming on the farm too.

Maple blossoms.

Pussy willow.

In their fifth week of life, the "peepsters" are almost big enough and ready to go outside into a training yard.  Until they can go out among the lush grasses and clover, we give them greens like kale, which they are snapping up with much enthusiasm.

Fully fledged: all of this bird's baby fluff has given way to new feathers.

Kale, yum.

The balance between human and natural activity shows itself once more at the shop.  When we constructed this building, which serves as a storage area, carpentry and machine shop, and community kitchen, this pear tree was right in the way.  It yields some of the tastiest pears we've ever had, so it stayed.  We drive around it happily in anticipation of its lovely fruit, and in appreciation for its beautiful blossoms.