fire things

-
this is the first fire season I've been in California for a while, as normally I head back to NY around this time. it is very strange to be experiencing fire things here, and it still seems early!

we are most impacted by the pt reyes fire, which isn't too bad but is definitely impacting us. some smoke but i think maybe being by the ocean makes it less bad, it smells but i havent had trouble breathing. it makes it difficult to decide what is safe to do as outdoor activity or exercise. we are also preparing for evacuation just in case, and spent wednesday morning clearing out all the brush around our houses.

camp has been cancelled, so all the teachers have been on support doing ranch projects! it is actually quite fun to be working as a team in this way, and we did a lot of pasture rotation work, moving electric fences and setting up new paddocks for the rumis. we are also bed prepping in the garden and have been doing a few check ins to talk about what teaching will look like here in the fall. Slide Ranch is a bit disorganized about this at the moment, but seems to be working on various possible ideas to get kids to the space or provide virtual programming.
im definitely enjoying all the ranch work, especially since its nice to do physical things since ive been hesitant on exercise due to the fire conditions.

we cooked on wednesday! we did lots of veggie pancakes, 2 cabbage inspired -miso and kimchi, 1 curry with squash, potato, pea, bell pepper, and 1 potato celery herb. it was a mission to use eggs because we have LOADS and the one vegan resident is currently away from site. we also had some blowtorch and egg using fun with a cardamom ginger crema catalana. continuining in veggie use, we did roasted romanesco and squash, and two salads: arugual with walnuts, raisins, and chevre and a cabbage slaw with almonds and strawberries. it was a hectic cooknight because i also had night milking, but a fun meal

night milking is a lot quicker now because we are drying off the goats, so i only had to milk 2, and i've gotten faster, but it was still an ordeal because i wasn't quite fast enough so goat 1 (dotty) kicked over the milk as she got restless after eating her food, and then goat 2 (grain) was really offput by the milk on the stanchion and so wouldnt get into it. i spent like 30 minutes in the milking parlor trying to cajole her into the stanchion and eventually another teacher came and supported by picking her up and putting her in the stanchion. oof. im hoping things will go better next time!






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beginning

-
Image
On March 14, I left a special food adventure in Ecuador to return to California. Today is June 14, and I left my house in California to begin a new food adventure...also in California, a mere 50 minute drive from my door in El Cerrito, but an adventure all the same! I find it useful to write about experiences that I sense are special, and while I think that journaling on pen and paper feels more appropriate for this experience, I'll also make use of the ease and speed that typing allow, as well as the share-ability of this space. This afternoon I moved into Slide Ranch! It is literally on the California coast, right next to the ocean. I can hear the waves outside my tiny house as I write now. My new living space is a small cabin called "the chapel" or "the buoy house." All of the residences have different names and their own personality. My house is one of the smallest, but I have a good feeling about it...there are some lovely, kind notes left by former inh...
Read more

wow! a long week

-
the hiatus in blogging is evidence of a very very busy week! we were getting trained in milking of the goats this week, which mean an 8 hour work day + 3 hours of milking from 7-10pm on Tues, Wed, and Thurs. it's also just been a somewhat hectic week as staff transitions and preparing for camp are in full swing. i anticipate that the rest of the summer will be similarly busy, so the blogging will likely happen with less frequency...but i'll attempt to share some notable moments and highlights! night milking! i am now proficient at milking goats, but still a bit slow, particular the last step that requires massaging the udder and stripping the teat to get all the milk and prevent mastitis. one of the goats kicks, so i need to improve my reflexes...i got a pailful of milk all over myself bc she kicked after i had already milked out most of her udders. yikes! another new discovery from night milking is that the barn is an ideal pee spot, bc its covered and there is straw on the...
Read more

Day 34

-
Image
1) early morning run on the trail! glad for a convenient bathroom on the way back 2) goodbye to our ecolodge! twas a fun stay 3) another morning on the chaupi molino farm! less work, more listening. quote "cow shit is the future of the world" bc we were learning how to use cow poop to make anaerobic plant fertilizer 4) fed some solid microorganism by making a mix of molasses, jungle dirt/organic matter, rock powder, and water. a microorganism cake to feed to cows or the soil! also learned about bocashi, a japanese recipe for microorganism. we love soil health! 5) there was an emphasis on how natural systems (esp re soil) are much cheaper (monetarily, there is some labor and knowledge involved) than chemical inputs, and a reminder that inputs were created to use up leftover chemicals from the world war 1 and make money off of farmers 6) pan de yucca for snack, and then delicious lunch! lasagna, green salad, pea and corn salad, and soup. tomate de arbol, poached, for desse...
Read more