In a small canyon in the Southern Cascades
Today I installed a brand spanking new bat box at the Canyon. I bought it last week at the Chico Farmers Market. There is already a small colony in the old bat box on the house. So we are trying to establish another one. Bats need water so I put this box up high on the old cottonwood tree that stands next to Ann & Bobs pond. More about the pond in another post.
So the last of the large grey pine trees with in the fire safety zone of the home have been removed and almost entirely cleaned up. Winter is the best time to reduce the fire fuel with in the safety zone of the home & structures. There is still more to go but the big offenders have been taken care of.
We are cleaning the road-trail that goes to the approx 1/4 mile of creek that runs through the eastern most portion of the Canyon. There is lots of opportunity to collect fire wood.
We are cleaning the road-trail that goes to the approx 1/4 mile of creek that runs through the eastern most portion of the Canyon. There is lots of opportunity to collect fire wood.
I swung by Chico Food COOP before heading up the hill and bought 4 six packs of starts. Red Kale, Purple Cabbage, and a couple other kale & cabbage plants.
The road cut above the house has grown several pretty large Grey Pine trees. One of the largest of these died a few years ago and was leaning out over the road toward the house. It dawned on me that hey this was a significant fire hazard as well as crush a passing car hazard so we had GoodLiffe Tree Servicie take it down. I have been little by little taking down and hauling away from the homestead area the other Grey Pine within 100 yards of the house.
The road cut above the house has grown several pretty large Grey Pine trees. One of the largest of these died a few years ago and was leaning out over the road toward the house. It dawned on me that hey this was a significant fire hazard as well as crush a passing car hazard so we had GoodLiffe Tree Servicie take it down. I have been little by little taking down and hauling away from the homestead area the other Grey Pine within 100 yards of the house.
OK so there must be a lot of things I could be better. We will continue with the drying and milling just for the learning.
OK so there must be a lot of things I could be better. We will continue with the drying and milling just for the learning.
A cool but mostly sunny day. I left for the Canyon pretty early. After picking up a few things Arturo had requested from Safeway I was on my way up the mountain side by 7:30 am. About halfway up, before cell phone coverage is lost, I got a call from Arturo. He had a couple more things to add to the list, so I said I would stop at the Forest Ranch Store to pick them up. When stopped at the store for those few items, and got inside with the nice smells from the deli counter, I decided what the heck, I’ll stay at the Canyon for lunch. I ordered a couple of deli sandwiches. The Forest Ranch Store makes fabulous deli sandwiches, just a tip.
I didn’t see any wild life on the way down in the Canyon. Often there are turkey & deer, rarely, but sometimes, fox, and bear, and lion, oh my! My mission I decided was to split all the beautiful black oak rounds I had cut last trip up. I couldn’t wait to see if the rounds would split a nicely as I imagined.
After greeting Arturo and unloading supplies I pulled the pick-up close to the pile of rounds, rolled down the windows and turned up the radio. It was a bit cold so I started slow but was soon down to a my long sleeve T-shirt happily splitting away. Not even one round I could not split with simply two splitting mauls! Ahhhhh what satisfaction.
Another nearly all day opportunity at the Canyon. I had to stop in Forest Ranch first for a little real estate brokerage task. I could go into that another time. I arrived and Juan was weeding the garlic and onion beds, after that we added about 8 inches of straw mulch. The nights are getting frosty. I brought some deer resistant plants to finish off the patio terraces. (see photos of plant labels).
I planted all these along the foot of the middle terrace. They will hopefully thrive and improve the appearance of the patio and stability of the ground/soil.
I also completed the deer fence around the test pasture. The fenced area takes in a nice old apple tree, so though the deer will be kept out by the fence, the bear will hear nothing of it. – We will just have to put up with it till the apples are gone. – It won’t be long. The bears have become quite comfortable around the place according to Juan. A shot gun blast in the air doesn’t scare him or her off very far and they come right back. (Some times there are more than one). I am considering getting some salt shot to get a little respect from the bears. Eventually I can put up some electric fencing.
It is a good feeling to know you have the firewood gathered for the winter. All year-long as you go about the business of the Canyon you are in the back of your mind looking for a good place to get firewood. Last year I found a very nice situation below the old pig corral / now materials depot. This year I found an even BETTER one, still accessible by pick up truck, the perfect situation. A large limb of a black oak tree, which has aged dead, still in on the tree, falls but only touches the ground in a place or two, so sits another year or so aging, laying just above the ground in such a manner that you just start up your chain saw and cut off the beautiful rounds, that split apart like pistacheo nuts. Hmmmm good.
Arturo and I also fetched a load of old oak from where I had cut some rounds in the spring while clearing the trail along the water line. This is also the trail to the “Broom eradication site”. The photo with this entry is our load back from picking up some of those rounds. The wood is ok but not great. A little too “digested” by being on the ground. I think we’ll let the rest of that carbon stay where it is and slowly become soil. We have better dead wood in other spots. The trail along the water is quite nice now, or at least passable. We spend a little time each year at improving “the water line trail”. This spring (2011) the CCC crews spent all their time on the water line trail. Last spring (2010) the crew focused on the area around the “mine pond” and the “high road” to homestead. I am happy to say we have the Broom Infestation “on the run” . Of course every year time will need to be spent pulling up fresh seedlings and cutting re-sprouts of “too-big-to-pull-old plants”, and searching and attacking smaller isolated stands. BUT the big infestations have been hit very hard.
This Saturday was a treat. I knew I was going to be able to spend nearly all day at the Canyon so I got a early start. I didn’t have any errands to run or things gather to take up, so by 6:30 am I was on the way up the hill. Of course I did have to buy Juan a coffecito. It is such a treat to enjoy a cup of “store bought” coffee with Juan as we walk around the place first thing while Juan shows me all the work he did.
Juan shot another rattlesnake this week. That makes two so far this season (summer). Last season Juan shot a total of ten in the season. There are far fewer this season, understandably. The first kill of the season was near the satellite dish post in garden, this last kill was in the stack of boards under the pole barn. Last year Juan mistakenly killed a Gofer Snake, and I am sad to say a King Snake. I have explained to him now the value and importance of a healthy snake population (we want the “good” snakes). He gets it now. I keep reminding him.
There are so many things to “work on” that I have really put little time into vegetable gardening, but I started a book by Steve Soloman, Gardening When It Counts – Growing Food in Hard Times, and it is already a great help to me. It has spurred me into just getting started. So today I went into the basement. Rummaged through the box of seed packets and pulled out a bunch of pumpkin seeds, acorn squash, beets, & sunflower seeds. I planted the pumpkins on the vinca pile, the beets in the old herb garden, the sunflowers along the garden fence by the entry gate and the acron squash near the pile of rocks. Like all things I will learn as I go.