Labor

... of various sorts has been transforming life here.

On January 14, the newest member of our family joined us.

On January 19, we began an orchard.  Our almost-a-neighbor tree man is planting a cherry bush, soon to be joined by 7 apples and 2 peaches.

We now call early evening/late afternoon (that time with children that is sometimes called the witching hour) the "bobcat hour," as recently, a bobcat has repeatedly tried to kill our cat.  She is smart, though, and has escaped, although (s)he treed Andromeda once.  We're learning to remember to shut her up in the barn before dark, aka, the bobcat hour.

The weather has been unseasonably warm, and now there are tornado warnings for places to the east and south.  Fortunately, we seem to be confined to possible thunderstorms.  As we could use the rain, bring it on!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

katie z.

Potato Planting

Last week's plowing cut today's work down from 10 hours to 96 minutes.  (Last year, tilling, composting, moving the compost, digging rows, and planting took nearly 10 hours.)

First, James and my M., my sister, marked the rows with yard sticks and a broken hoe.

Each line is approximately two feet apart.

(Remember it from last year?)

 Next, James, my dad, my sister, and I began digging trenches for the potatoes.  Dad and I worked under the "dig a row, plant a row" banner while James and M. dug like machines!

Not too long after, some new-to-the-Ranch friends came with another trusty shovel and strong back.

On with planting!  Each potato is loosely 12" away from the previous.  Loosely because we didn't measure.

After covering the potatoes with SIGNIFICANTLY less labor than last year, we celebrated with a little lunch.

Tuna salad and egg salad on homemade bread.

Welcome to Purgatory!

Many thanks to our friends and family who made such short work of planting!  Dan and Myle, we missed you.

There's still plenty of space for more goodies.  We're thinking onions.  What else?

And, one more important item of business:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE SCREAMER!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

You Say Po-tay-to, I Say Po-tah-to...

We all say FUN!

The men departed first in order to rent a tiller attachment for our 13hp (and 13 wee horses at that) tractor.  Upon arrival at the rental store, James attached the tiller, lifted it up… and nearly flipped the tractor.  So they rented a tractor too… a big tractor, for us.

By the time I arrived at Purgatory Ranch, James had mastered the basics and was getting a little frisky driving the tractor.  It certainly made short work of tilling both the old bed (and doubling its size) and a new bed.  The fluffiness (I considered saying “tenderness,” but I don’t know if anyone else would say that) of the soil was amazing in comparison to last year’s unbroken hardness.

During the tractor escapades, my girls enjoyed a little time running around the borrowed trailer.

Upon completion of his work, James reloaded the tractor onto the trailer, and I fully appreciated how much larger it was than our little tractor: James’ truck almost came off the ground.

Needless to say, James and Dan “need” full-size pickups, a large tractor, and a trailer to haul it.  Myle and I say we’re too broke.

While James was returning said tractor and trailer, Dan and I began marking rows with sticks.  Myle arrived with their kids, and we broke bread together.  Yum.  

Shortly thereafter, a man arrived with nearly 4 tons of dirt that we hoped he could dump gradually across the bed.  Most of it ended up in one large pile.  (It’s Purgatory Ranch for a reason, so we all moved a little dirt.)

Around the time of the compost moving, my dad, older sister and her son, and second youngest brother arrived.  They were amazing.  I walked all the kids to Six Penny Pond, but it is still dry.  70 pounds of potatoes later (Kennebec, Blue Viking, and Yukon Gold), we are looking forward to an exciting and gigantic crop in the summer.

At the end, the men (who by now were aching and sore, no doubt) loaded their children into the wheelbarrow and gave them a run up and down the patch.  I think they were happy (the kids, I mean).

 Later, we will be planting sweet potatoes and onions in a new patch that James freshly tilled.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Canopy Success!

This afternoon, we took my middle brother out to the land for the first time. When he arrived, he asked, "Where's the house?" then laughed. That's my middle brother for you.

We brought out our new canopy & net to set up for the first time, along with camp chairs. What a difference that made! I could lay down on a quilt in the shade and not worry about the tick that bit the Assistant last time we were out (I found it just inside her hairline while we were at the doctor, so the doctor removed it).

James shot at a few rats, and I shot the BB gun for the first time.

The weather was fabulous, and the pond is still dry.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise. It's Purgatory Ranch.

(I will add pictures when I get them off the camera)

June 2

I arrived second to the land in the evening, around 7:15. Dan had arrived just moments before, but that's fine as he had the important equipment: a trailer to mow our overgrown paths. A nearby neighbor kindly loaned it (he even brought it and mowed part of the trails). Part of me thinks it would be great fun to have a tractor to drive around, but then the other part of me is reminded of the costs involved and how I want to do more with less... is a tractor in the plans? James arrived a little later with his dad and family, who had never before seen the land. I think it's overgrown state was a little more than they expected.

Then again, Dan almost hitting the van with the trailer was a little more than I was expecting.

We can one again drive to Six Penny Pond and search for the skunk. The saplings have paths around them so the grass competes just a little less.

I managed to weed one more row of potatoes, trying to lay down my weeds as neatly as my dad had on Monday, when he completed a row. The obvious distinction between use of compost and not will continue to be a lesson for me on soil quality. I tend to grow things a bit willy-nilly, attending to weeding and care of the plant more than care of the soil. Not anymore.

Until next time, remember: this is not paradise. It's Purgatory Ranch.

Visit to the Land

With James' parents in town for Q's baptism on Sunday, we decided they needed to see the land. I also wanted to check the status of our potatoes. The men had reported sprouts, but I wanted to confirm. I am a doubter by nature...

There had been thunderstorms during the day, with hail called for. On our way out, however, we saw no signs of hail, and there was no rain to dampen our enthusiasm.

Potatoes are sprouting through the returning grass. Our next task will be to weed and hoe (our neighbor chided James for not hoeing better). The east end has more and larger sprouts, and James says that is where he has hoed previously, so it is time to get to work! Garlic sprouts were nonexistent, so either they were eaten or the cloves were bad.

There are plenty of leaves on many of our saplings. To be honest, I feared they would mostly die, so I was greatly relieved to see green shoots, even though many of the saplings are planted too deeply.

We trekked to Six Penny Pond, where James and his stepdad saw a skunk (was it the same Dan shot at?).