Wow, here we are at 2 months.

As you can probably tell, we have been getting in to the busy season here. A month has gone by and we have seen massive change on El Rancho. Lettuce heads from seeds planted 4 weeks ago are approaching harvest time. Strawberry plants have gone from having 1 barely ripe fruit on each one, to flourishing with 6-8 ripe fruits at a time. Today the last transplants of our 10,000 plant tomato field went in the ground. The days are getting long both in terms of sunlight and work, but it is an exciting time in our world of produce.

We are still 100% thrilled we are following our dream to eventually start our own farm, and this is a perfect first step. More interns are joining the staff which will provide us with more time to learn at greater depth. Most days, the washing and packaging of all the produce being picked has taken up most of our time. We have, however, found plenty of time for side projects like building and filling 2 large planter beds with local native flora, planting and maintaining long beds of herbs and an experimental garden. We are learning tons about farming every day, as well as improving our Spanish speaking since we are in close communication with the crew.
All the hard work hasn't prevented us from having lots of fun doing our own things. In the past couple weeks we have made our own soap (Mary's 2nd time), made homemade mozzarella cheese (1st time!), and brewed our first batch of beer which will be ready to drink very soon! When we had some extra strawberries lying around, Mary made 2 batches of strawberry jam which were really simple to cook up, but sooo delicious. Today while Mary was at work, I caught 2 good-sized bass out of our pond which we'll have for dinner tomorrow night. Now that the weather is getting significantly better, we will probably be out on our bikes more frequently, too.

Working with the earth every day is incredibly enriching and rewarding, in ways we have not appreciated before. Learning the ways of many different species of plants, adjusting to the constant changing of the weather here, interacting with innumerable animals from gopher snakes to red-winged blackbirds to angus cows, and immersing ourselves in farming and the natural world has been a transforming experience. We are both looking forward to the summer months, anticipating an extremely busy and prosperous season for the farm. I think we are equally anxiously anticipating the summer crops just for our own consumption.

Our prime crops for the next few months will be our various lettuces which comprise about 1/3rd of our cultivation and sales, Arugula/Rucola, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Peppers, Squash, Basil, Sweet Pea flowers, Broccoli and Spinach. Other secondary crops will be various bitter greens for salads and cooking, herbs, fava beans, several cresses, and root vegetables such as onions, beets, radishes and turnips. Additionally on the property we have tons of blackberries -- YUM!!! I think I am gaining weight just thinking of all the delicious dishes and treats we will be concocting from our multitude of fruits and veggies.

We hope to not to take so long for our next post, but like the weather here, you just never know!!