When the weekend started off, we were hoping to be able to do a Special Report on the Sonoita Vineyards, as we had tickets to attend the 2017 HarvestFest. We did attend and had a really lovely day to visit. We were able to get a quick lecture on the wine-making process, taste some great, good, and ok wines (by our palates), and enjoy some delicious food pairings; however, when it came time to tour the actual Vineyard, we were unable to do so because of the hard rains they had been receiving the previous days. We were told that it would be very difficult for a tractor alone, at this point, to get up through the vines due to all the wash outs, let alone one pulling a trailer with people in it. So, we’ve resolved to go another time and see if we can’t get a tour – perhaps on foot. Then we’ll be able to do a much more in depth report on vineyards in the high dessert. Let’s go on to other weekend happenings then…. Continue reading
Weekend Happenings
31 Monday Jul 2017
Posted in Co-workers, Fun Stuff, Projects, Weather
A couple of weeks ago, I was tickled to find out that the behavior we’ve always noted with chickens- having a hen or the rooster give vocal cues for good little tidbits they find- is actually called “tidbitting”. I thought I’d use it here as a title, because all I have for you today are tidbit updates. The first one is… our view from the back porch into Mexico. We’re hoping that those rain clouds come up the valley and give us some moisture. As I type this, the rain is now in front of that mountain range and perhaps heading in our direction. One thing is for certain, the thunder is getting more prevalent. Let’s take a look at what else has been going on. 
heavy storm. The water tank was filled to overflowing! It’s really good that we’re finally getting some heavy rains. We want that to deep water all the trees as much as possible. And be able to help replenish the aquafer in our area that supplies our well. This is why we’ve been talking so often about the importance of keeping the water on the land as much as possible, rather than having it run down the road and away from the property. I’m so happy that it’s raining! It does tend to put a damper on the projects though. Although, if you know Sue, you know there are still things going on. 
This was a quiet weekend. Not that we didn’t do things, but that it was just kind of “more of the same”. Saturday we gave the chickens more room to roam by combining two fences and pulling them out as far as possible – they seemed to enjoy the new territory. Then we worked on planting out the blackberry bushes under the shade of one of the oak
trees, and getting ready to plant out others, into pots, as well. We’ve been collecting horse, goat, cow, and burro manure, along with household scraps and coffee grounds, for a while now, and composting them in bins made from pallets; I mixed up 2/3rds compost and 1/3 dirt for a potting mix/soil additive to use on the plants. By 2pm, I was just done. It was so hot and beginning to get a little muggy, so we simply finished off doing the normal chores and called it a day. We weren’t really expecting rain until midweek, but that night we had some sprinklings… just a taste of what was coming. 
Hügelkulture – AKA “The Abyss”- Sue made huge strides this week in completing this project. She ordered yards and yards of mulch from the transfer station in Sierra Vista and had it delivered. The guys that delivered it also planted the bigger trees for us and moved the mulch around into the abyss and added the dirt etc. That saved us a great deal of work and they were done in two days with what probably would have taken us a week or so. The photo at left shows the progress th
at was made yesterday: the trees are placed and the mulch pile at the back is being distributed around the grounds. These other two photos are of the finished work from today. The guys covered our trees and and also mulched previously planted trees. It’s just so nice to have the trench filled in… now we’ll see how well the trees do as the mulch, manure, cardboard/paper, and wood breaks down over time. The way the trench was filled and the fact that it’s all on a downward slope should also help us with the watering, especially during the monsoon season. The yards will be looking so lovely, as long as we can keep the trees growing. Sue did make gopher proof planting baskets for the trees, so – hopefully – we won’t loose things to those little buggers. 
Wing and a Prayer 