This week I had the chance to attend the California Climate and Agriculture Summit. The day was filled with farmers, scientist, and policy folks. The various workshops and panels dealt with the effects of climate change and strategies to improve…
This past week I’ve been busy working on my taxes, the stormy wet days are perfect for hacking away at paperwork. But there has been a break in the rain and the sun shining. Even though the soil is soaked,…
The greenhouse is coming to life, sprouts are popping up everywhere I look. No matter how many years you’ve farmed or how many seedling trays you’ve filled its alway a relief to see that your seeds have germinated. Some seeds…
This week I began working in the greenhouse. To start the season, I picked up a truck load of seed starter mix. After dusting off the growing trays and wiping the cobwebs off of my various greenhouse supplies I was…
This time of year is all about crop planning. I start by determining how many pounds per week I would like to harvest of each crop. From there I can determine exactly how many seeds I will need for each…
Last week I returned from a cross country train trip. My husband and I hopped on the California Zephyr train in Davis and rode for three days to Chicago. Then switch over to the Capitol Limited train which took a day…
Except for bagging up popcorn, I have not been doing much farm work. This time of year the labor does not involve heavy lifting. It’s the end of the year and I’m spending time reflecting on this growing season. Thinking…
It is the gift giving time of year. I’ve been busy making most of my holiday gifts. It can be tough to figure out what to give friends and family but I have always found handcrafted items bring a smile…
After a bit of a dry spell, the rains are back. In December this hauls any fieldwork and sends this farmer inside to stay dry. But there is plenty of farm work to do like organizing everything in the barn,…
I’ve been doing a lot of mowing and removing a lot of irrigation. This is the early winter work involved in putting the field to bed for the season. It’s typically this time of year that I realize there is…