Garden of Dreams

Sukey at my new Place in Ashland

2011-08-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

My five-year old cat Sukey, surveying the scene. She doesn't stray very far from here, and I usually know where to look for her when I get home. I live in the railroad district, the downtown area of Ashland, but it's very quiet here because I'm off an alley between streets. I'm two blocks from the main strip with the cinema and the Shakespeare Fest, etc.,and two blocks from the Ashland Food Co-op, a fantastic grocery store that's also a place to see friends. Everything else in Ashland is reachable for me by bike, unless I'm gardening for someone in the hills, in which case I use my truck.
These were taken awhile ago, probably April, when precipitation was still happening; here she's licking up rain off my worm compost bin, right next to my front door.

Above: I put a cardboard box on the deck table, and she started nesting in it.

Putting in new raised beds and plants in the spring at my new house in Ashland

2011-08-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Above and below: See bottom paragraph for full description; this is the largest of the two wooden framed beds my landlady had installed for me. I later removed this alfalfa, added compost and other soil, and then put the alfalfa on top again. Below, you can see the trellised entrance to my little house.
Above: I moved here in December 2010; in April or so (can't remember exactly), Some cool things happened. Above; this is a view of the wooden trellis enclosing my front yard/deck area. You can see straw there on either side of the rosemary, which I planted into with various perennial flowers from my old flower field at Full Bloom, which was eventually tilled under to make room for another farming project. You can see the black pots on the right, full of various perennials -- liatris, eryngium, veronica, monarda, echinops (globe thistle), etc.
Above: Just inside the trellised area, there's a sunny little corner. I had sheet-mulched it here with cardboard and weeds, and on this day my landlady, Rabbitt (below) hired a man (also below, can't remember his name) to build the two frames, one of which went in this spot, and the other went in front of my house (top photo). Behind the two of them, under the tarps, is some amazing compost from a compost specialist in Gold Hill named Denny Morelli, full of microbes, forest duff, and various nutrients. Behind them is the truck with the two bed frames. Sorry, I thought I was downloading these in sequence, but they didn't turn out that way.

The established garden bed at my house in Ashland, in spring

2011-08-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

Above and below: grape hyacinths.
Below: crocuses.

Above: This bed was already packed with bulbs and beautiful perennials (a peony in that white-wired area), but I wanted to save some of perennial flowering plants I'd cultivated in my flower field at Full Bloom for three years, so I went out there, dug a bunch up, and planted them here and at other places around my new house. I've been here since December, and these got planted, probably in April.

Worm bin at my current house in Ashland

2011-08-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

I must admit that these pictures are from this spring, when my worm bin was happy and healthy. I have since let up on the maintenance and lost my worms. But this is a pretty good picture of a happy, healthy worm bin.
The worms are feasting on all kinds of things -- tea leaves & coffee grounds, fruits & veggies. I don't feed them any meat or processed foods like bread, although some people do and it works fine. I also generally don't put in corn cobs, avocado skins, or any pits from avocados/other fruits, since the worms don't eat them and they take forever to decompose. And I limit the amount of citrus, which worms don't like much.

I got this plastic bin from goodwill for a dollar. It already had holes in the side, which you need so that the worms have air flow. I punched a hole in the bottom right corner, so that the "worm juice" (liquid worm castings) could seep out -- I put a yogurt container below it, which you can see on the right there. It's very user-friendly, and right outside my front door. I've since moved it a short distance away, in a shadier spot.

First flower of the Year!

2010-03-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

We planted a bunch of bulbs last November, including these Narcissus "Paper Whites". They were the first to bloom. Soon to come: more daffodils, tulips and other bulbs.

March 1: Tilling the flower field, part 1 (ripping for roses)

2010-03-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

The first tilling of the year happened on March 1st. We opened up new ground at the top of the field, and Matt used a ripper to break up the dense sod. Then he disked the ground (pictured in subsequent entries) before roto-tilling and bedding it up for the new rose bushes we'll be planting.

Below: the end product of the ripping, with Willie looking at...something downhill.

March 1: Tilling the flower field, part 47 (The tractor ride!)

2010-03-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

OK, these photos are actually backwards in order (start from the bottom and you'll see the chronology). As part of the tilling festivities, Willie got a ride to the field and back on the tractor from Matt, the first time he'd been on a tractor before. He was pretty happy. This was the return trip.

March 1 Tilling the flower field, part 52 (the roses)

2010-03-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Matt discing the new ground at the top of the field. The next step (done but not photographed yet) was that Matt roto-tilled here and then created 4 new beds; the top two will have 70 new rosebushes bought from a local grower, set up on drip irrigation, and the bottom two will be various varieties of cut flowers.

March 1: Tilling the flower field, part sixty

2010-03-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Matt discing the lower half of the field. You can see the finished product at the bottom here. This area will sit and start to grow weedy until I need more bed space, at which point Matt will come in again to roto-till and bed up (i.e., make garden beds). In the meantime I'll be looking for volunteer flowers that've reseeded themselves, which I'll remove and transplant to the upper half of the field.

Bread Delivery December 2009

2010-03-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

I did some deliveries for Jo and Rosie's Rise Up! Artisan Bread company. Above is the checklist of the drops to make; below, the goods -- "JCS" stands for "Jacksonville Country Store" and "RCS" stands for "Ruch Country Store". The calculator is for calculating how much $$ in buybacks the bakery has to pay the stores each week.

Above: Baguettes for the Ashland Food Coop and other various breads. The mainstays are ciabatta, ciabatta with rosemary, goat cheese sourdough, sourdough levain, multigrain, spelt, olive levain, fig sourdough, apricot sourdough, the baguettes and a few more I'm not remembering. Below; the full load of bread for the day. This doesn't include the 60 loaves of ciabatta the bakery usually delivers to Lark's, a fancy restaurant in Ashland.

Frosted Mushrooms

2009-12-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

Maru's son Willie found these on a walk we took down the road with our dog Lily. I was overwhelmed with awe....Blow these up and blow your mind.

Halloween weekend 2009

2009-12-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Above: view of the common building and the mountains beyond from the new home I now share with Maru (the strawbale cottage that Ryan and Eden built; it's unclear if they will want it back or will be building a new home on the land). Below: Maru's puppy Lily, who's about six months old. She's half lab, a quarter mastiff and a quarter American bulldog, and she's very sweet, frisky, loyal and quiet.

Above and below: Right to Left -- Maru and her daughter Lanxin, who came to visit on a break from college in Eugene.

A visit to the Rosenbergs, Part I

2009-12-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

My parents and I paid a visit to Marvin and Lilli Ann Rosenberg, neighbors of ours who are established mosaic artists, having done murals and sculptures all over the place. They're in their eighties, and have lived in the Applegate for about 20 years, in a house that was originally built by Richard Bach, author of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". It's in constant flux, with new art and additions being created and added to it all the time. I'd been there once before and knew that my mom would like this place, so I arranged a visit while my folks were in town. ABOVE: I love this tree, with the treehouse. BELOW: A view of the Little Applegate valley from their garden

Above: Marvin Rosenberg, my parents Susan and Andy and Jeremy (on the floor), a ceramicist and carpenter who has become the Rosenberg's partner in art as well as doing carpentry and landscaping projects all over their land.
Above: Jeremy & Marvin in the kitchen; Below: I don't know why, but this is my favorite art piece in their place, the airplane made of junk. There's something so fun and whimsical about it.

A visit to the Rosenbergs, Part II

2009-12-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

Above: Lilli Ann with one of her creations.

Above: the pool which they still swim in every day. Below: shower stall.

A visit to the Rosenbergs, Part III

2009-12-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

Above: Lilli Ann Rosenberg. Below: Some of the materials they use to make the mosaics.

Below: A garden with their indoor pool in the background.

Variety show at Boone's Farm, October 2009, Part I

2009-12-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

Five local farms gathered at Boone's Farm, otherwise known as the Siskiyou Crest Goat Dairy, to blow off steam after a long season and enjoy each other's company. Originally to be a "Battle of the Bands," it evolved into a less competitive version, with each farm covering three songs. Full Bloom led off the show with songs from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," complete with drag costumes and electric guitar, with an impromptu guest drummer to round out the title song, and rocked the house. Boone's Farm, Wolf Gulch Farm, Wilding and House Alive all performed fantastic numbers. Above: Wolf Gulch Farm, who did some beautiful folk/bluegrass tunes. Below: Tom and Maud Powell from Wolf Gulch.

Above: Maru; below: Jo (photo by Maru's six-year old son William).
Below: Silas, Usnia and Mookie of Boone's Farm.

Variety show at Boone's Farm, October 2009, Part II

2009-12-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

Above: Some of the residents of Boone's Farm after performing their set; Below: Drew Mebane

Above: Usnia; Below: Maru & me
Below: Ocean

Variety show at Boone's Farm, October 2009, Part III

2009-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Above, Boone, namesake of Boone's farm; Below: L-R -- Ocean, Malynn and Khaliqa.

Above: My girlfriend Maru's son William; below: Jo warming up for the show....

Sheet mulching a flower garden bed

2009-12-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

When Bria was here in September, she helped me begin sheet mulching the flower field. Sheet mulch is cardboard laid on soil and weighted down with organic matter -- straw, compost, etc. The mulch prevents weeds from growing (being deprived of sunlight), and adds organic matter to the beds. This project involved cardboard followed by straw. Next spring I will poke holes in the partially decomposed cardboard and plant the starts I've grown in the greenhouse. Eventually all the straw and cardboard will turn into soil.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August/September VIII

2009-09-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Bria Bonet, who was up for all of September, helped us out in so many ways, including finishing up the plastering.
Below: Cob bench w/cubbies; Above: Cob bench w/cubbies, after being plastered.

Above: a praying mantis Bria found as she was plastering. I moved it down to the flower garden, where it will hopefully eat a lot of cucumber beetles.
Above: cob bench and walls, finished.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August VII

2009-09-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Above: Working on the finish interior plaster. Below: Bria, our September intern, putting cob in the cracks on under the roof.

Above and below: Maru and Ryan putting finish plaster on one of the cob benches.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August VI

2009-09-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Cob Studio Shots, Late August V

2009-09-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

Above: Tammy, photographing her handiwork: Below: Tammy and Chazz.

Above: Looking out the french doors.

Above: fireplace, cob bench, shelves.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August IV

2009-09-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Above: Ryan and Eden applying the finish plaster to the interior walls.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August III

2009-09-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Above: Josh and Tammy, who stayed on after the cob apprenticeship to finish the studio, taking a little break inside. Below: Cob fireplace

Above: miniature scale model of a cob oven that Tammy's partner Chazz made, complete with satanic horns. Tammy and Chazz have moved on to several places since us, building full-scale cob ovens. Below: test samples of finish interior plasters.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August II

2009-09-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

Above: Josh, looking in on the plastering progress. Below: Interior earthen plaster shots.

Cob Studio Shots, Late August

2009-09-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Above: Finish plaster on the interior walls, drying. Below: Drying finish plaster and a look at the cob bench with cubbies.

Above and below; rough plaster on the exterior walls.

Cows on the move

2009-09-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Daniel, our friend and neighbor, drove his cows from one part of our land over the dam to another one of our pastures....

Flower shots in Late August II

2009-09-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

Flower shots in Late August

2009-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Flower shots in August

2009-09-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Ocean, Coda and Dinah

2009-09-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Coda's sister Dinah came to visit along with Rosie's parents....

Bread labels

2009-09-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

Flower shots in late July

2009-09-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Insulating the roof of the cob studio

2009-09-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

....We used blue jean insulation, the same stuff we used to insulate the roof of the common building.

Concrete counter top

2009-08-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

...A look at the finished counter top in the kitchen....

Individual Flower shots in July, VI

2009-08-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

Above: Panicum, an ornamental grass; Below: Gaillardia, or Blanket Flower

Above and below: Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes), a member of the sunflower family, which can be used as a cut flower, and then the roots can be dug up to eat.
Below: Four O'Clocks, or Marvel of Peru.

Individual Flower shots in July, V

2009-08-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

....These are all shots of flowers in a California Wildflower seed mix I bought from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply a few years ago. I love the variety. The only one whose name I know is the yellow one below, which is called "Tidy Tips".

Individual Flower shots in July, IV

2009-08-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Above: Plains Coreopsis; below: Clarkia

Above: Ornamental Yarrow; below: more Clarkia
Below: Echinacea Purpurea

Individual Flower shots in July, III

2009-08-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Above: Delphinium; Below: Poppy

Above: Orange Prince, a daisy; Below: Penstemon, "Huskers Red"
Below: Calendula

Individual Flower shots in July, II

2009-08-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Above: another shade of Godetia in the grace series; below, one of the sunflowers I grew last year, which went to seed and bloomed again this year.

Above: Snapdragon, part of the Rocket mix; Below: Shungiku Chrysanthemum (also used in cooking for its leaves)
Below: Cleome

Individual Flower shots in July

2009-08-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Above: an Oriental Lily; below: Burgundy Amaranth

Above: Tobacco; can't remember which variety (I'm growing five heirloom varieties of this). I'm growing this to see if they're usable as cut flowers, and I'm also curing some of the leaves to see what it's like to smoke tobacco without the 6,000 chemicals the cigarette companies put in.
Above: an amaranth called Autumn's pallet; Below: Godetia, the grace series.

Cobbers field trip -- Ted's cob house, interior II

2009-08-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Above: another look at Becky B's bench. Below: the bathtub/bathroom.

Cobbers field trip -- Ted's cob house, interior I

2009-08-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Above: cob bench built by "Becky B", one of the more famous cob builders in the area and author of a book on building with cob.

Above: wall above the bedroom. None of the interior walls in the house go all the way up to the ceiling, but they separate the space into bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and living room. Below: Ted explaining some of the features of the house.

Cobbers field trip -- Ted's cob house, exterior

2009-08-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

...We visited an older gentleman named Ted (whose last name escapes me at the moment), who lives in Williams and built himself a beautiful little cob house there, with help from others.

Cobbers field trip -- a cob house II

2009-08-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

..more pix of this awesome house...

Cobbers field trip -- a cob house

2009-08-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

We visited another house in the area; Below: one of the walls.

Above: the upstairs room.

Cobbers Field Trip -- White Oak's Common House, Interior

2009-08-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

This space looks a lot more lived in than ours, as it should. Above: looking toward the kitchen; below: an upstairs room where flowers are being dried for wreath-making.

Above: Dining/Kitchen area; below: the cupola.

Cobbers Field Trip -- White Oak's Common House, Exterior

2009-08-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

...I accompanied the cob apprentices' field trip to several places in Williams, a 45-minute drive from Full Bloom. First we visited White Oak, whose Common Building is the inspiration for ours. Here are a few outside shots...
Above: a cob oven outside the building.

Cob ceiling

2009-08-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

...Plastering the ceiling, as well as working on some of the shelves in the walls...

Cobbers in the flowers II

2009-08-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Above: Tammy; below; Zack & James

Above: Bobby, Clint & Leslie; Below: Coda, the community dog, playing with Finny, Tammy's dog.

The cobbers help out in Flowerland

2009-08-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

Each week during the six-week cob workshop, the cobbers would spend an hour helping the community out -- either with me in the flower garden, with Matt & Aria on the farm, or weeding the kitchen garden that provides our community with fresh veggies. Above: Bobby digging paths. Below: Rosie and Ocean also joined us.

Above: Zack; Below James.
Below: Clint, also digging out paths....

A bake day

2009-08-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

Jo & Rosie shaping dough for bread on a bake day.

Finishing the countertop

2009-08-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

...After the concrete was poured, Jim Slate came back and applied the varnish...

You-Pickers

2009-08-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

A few friends have signed up for You-pick subscriptions; $100 and they can come fill a large can with flowers 10 times. Leah (above) and Khaliqa (Below) both live nearby and this was their first trip out to pick their flowers.

The roof goes up II

2009-08-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Above: The cobbers having fun experimenting with finish plasters for the walls....Below: Tammy and Jonathan getting out of the heat. We had about 2 weeks of 100+ degree heat every day.

Above: Bobby working on the roof.
Below: James, the teacher of the course.

The roof goes up

2009-08-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

...Some pictures of the roof going up; the rafters covered with chicken wire mesh, which will be covered on the inside with earthen plaster; on the outside will go plywood, then cardboard, then pond liner and finally a "living roof" -- sod, most likely.

Above: Josh, one of the cobbers, having a good time on the roof...

mid-July bouquets

2009-08-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

A few bouquets made on July 11th from the flower garden...

Dressin' Up

2009-08-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Fridays during the cob apprenticeship were dress-up days. Above: Talia; Below: Ocean.

Above: Tara; Below: Bobby
Below; sexy Josh.

The rafters go up

2009-07-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

Shots of the rafters and the ridgebeam being installed today. The ceiling/roof's coming soon.......

Building Matty's Bath House

2009-07-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

The cobbers took a break from building our studio and headed up the road a few miles to the land of our good friend Matty, who's done quite a bit of carpentry work for us. He's in the process of building his own home, but he also needed help with the bath house -- installing the light straw/clay insulation. I wasn't able to make it up there, so I asked Ursula to take photos for me because I knew it was going to be amazing. The following two entries are the photos she took. Above: Harry mixing up the light straw/clay. Below: James jokingly beating the insulation into the building; Eden insulates in the background.
Below: a look at the insulation.

Above and below: L-R: Zack, Josh, Clint, Leslie and Jonathon.

Building Matty's Bath House II

2009-07-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Various perspectives, inside and outside of Matty's bath house/sauna.

Building the cement countertop

2009-07-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Jim Slate is contracted to build this. It took several days to set it up correctly and build the forms for the cement pour. The cement itself is colored. It's sitting now and curing slowly...

Cobbers' faces

2009-07-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

Above: Tammy; Below: Clint sanding a pole that they harvested for our land, which will be one of the rafters for the roof of the studio.

Above: James, teacher extra-ordinaire; Below: Bobby, co-teacher.
Below: Jonathon.

The cob walls get taller

2009-07-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

What can I say here? Just more work building up the walls to the proper height....

CSA bouquets

2009-07-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

Above: My third round of bouquets for the Siskiyou Cooperative CSA. Every week I make seven bouquets for CSA members. I don't have a lot of variety at the moment, but every week something new blooms......

Bread & Chocolate

2009-07-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

On the same day that Jo was baking bread, Avara came over with her daughter Sophia to make raw chocolate treats with Eden. Above, some of the ingredients; below, plotting the great chocolate conspiracy. (The treats were delicious)

Last three pix: Jo pulling out the last batch of bread (spelt). I believe the other two batches seen below are sourdough baguettes and sourdough bread. Things are really picking up for the bakery, and bake days are now Wednesdays and Fridays. Oh, the fresh bread! The cobbers (students here for the cob workshop) and the Full Bloomers went thru 7 loaves on the last bake day.

Building the walls of the Cob Studio

2009-07-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

A look at the cob walls from a few different angles...

Below: an experiment in a slightly different mud building technique: adobe bricks.

Finally filling our newest pond

2009-07-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Our friend and neighbor Roarke recently patched up the leak in this pond with bentonite clay, and we finally have it filled. the two poles sticking up are going to be attached to a dock that we'll put in at some point, maybe with a diving board. This is the only pond of our 3 ponds that has shade; it should become a premo swim spot during the summer.

Goofin' around

2009-06-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not spending much time in the white house any more now that the Common Building's become the community's main hang-out space, but I still come down to use the internet, and I happened to walk in on the Bettinger-Vivrett clan clowning around. How Matt got in (or out) of this caterpillar thing is beyond me....

The walls come up...

2009-06-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

...You can see the beginning of the walls here, with the door and window frames in place. The north-facing wall has strawbales for better insulation....

Cob Feet

2009-06-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

I love looking at the feet during the mixing process. The clay often has small pebbles in it, so after awhile the cobbers started taping their feet to protect them from harm. I especially love the detail on the last picture. Anyway, here are some of the feet of the cobbers.....

Cobbin'

2009-06-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

Above: some of the window frames for the studio. Below: James, the teacher of the course, dumping clay into a bath to hydrate it, before it gets mixed in with the sand and straw to make cob.

Above: mixing the clay and the water; Below: the first bit of cob wall going on top of the earth bags (see description of earth bags in previous entry).

Making cob

2009-06-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

Cob is a mixture of sand, clay and straw. Above and below: mixing by foot, which is the standard way to start to integrate the ingredients

Above and below: Step two -- Harry and Zack are rolling the cob around in a tarp.
Below: adding the cob to a big pile, which will then be used to build up the walls.

Faces

2009-06-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

Some of the wonderful people who've come from all over the country to take this six-week cob workshop. Above: Harry, from Boston, and Zack from TX. Below: Tammy, also from TX.

Above: Josh, from PA; Leslie, from CO.

The cob workshop: the foundation

2009-06-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the cob studio. Here the foundation's been dug and filled in, and then "earth bags" -- bags filled with soil -- laid around the perimeter of the building.

The common building kitchen

2009-06-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Above: a raw strawberry shortcake that Eden made for breakfast one morning. It was amazingly delicious. Below: Ocean clowning around.
Below: Rosie moving appliances and food into the kitchen.

Moving into the Common Building

2009-06-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Above: kitchen sink w/dishwasher. It turns out that the water isn't hot enough for the dishwasher to work properly, so we may end up replacing it if we can't fix the problem. Below: Dave Kennedy, our friend and the plumber for the building, in the middle of installing the final plumbing fixtures.

Above: Freezer and fridge in the utility room; Below: the on-demand tankless water heater in the utility closet.

Moving into the Common Building

2009-06-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Above: a couple shots of the kitchen sinks and stove; below: the bakery side of the kitchen.

Above and below: Rosie finishing the stove installation...

Baby chicks

2009-06-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

We got a bunch of new baby chickens recently; we have a small coop set up for them within the larger coop; if we let them loose the bigger chickens will peck them to death. We've got a warming light shining on the coop 24/7. They're super-cute, as you can see.

The stairs

2009-06-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

These pictures are in reverse order; sorry 'bout that. Way below: Silas taking a breather from working the stairs. First two pix: putting in the pickets.

The Stairs, part III

2009-06-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

The stairs, looking as close to done as they'll be for awhile; there's still some trim that needs go go on the sides, but otherwise they're done and working well......

Some flower garden shots in June

2009-06-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

Above and below: Ocean playing in the garden while Jo, Rosie and I pulled weeds.

Above and below: Sweet William.
Below: Bee Phacelia

Finishing the farm reefer/packing shed

2009-06-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Above: Matt and Ryan Stanley putting the farm's walk-in refrigerator together

Above: Matt pleased with the condenser; Below: the finished walk-in. It works great.
Below: The finished product. Well, almost; it still has to be stained, and there'll be a table and sink installed eventually, to deal with harvested veggies.

Avara's 50th Birthday Party

2009-06-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Avara Yaron, a good friend and neighbor, had a beautiful party on May 31, the day after we had our big bash in the common building. A week before her shindig, she had a heart attack. At the party she was simply radiant and said she's doing "better than ever." It was wonderful to see her so happy. Above: Eden; Below: Margaretta & Lillianne.

Above: Asher blowing the shofar; below: Ryan
Below: Avara.

Avara's 50th Birthday Party

2009-06-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Above: Avara's daughter Sophia rolling her down the carpet, a symbolic ceremony sending her on her way to the next 50 years.... Below: Asher basking in the glow....

Above: Asher and Avara calling people to the beginning of the ceremony. Below: Lee Showerman playing the drum for the ceremony.
Below: Avara playing an African horn....

Avara's 50th Birthday Party

2009-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Above: a friend of Avara's from her Jewish community in Ashland, drawing a picture of her. Below: another friend, who's name I sadly can't remember; she's great and warmly invited me into her Ashland home last fall for a Sukkot celebration. Here she is speaking loving words to Avara; Many people got up and said a lot of beautiful things about Avara.

Above: Eden and Chantia; Below: Leah Mebane, good friend and painter who lives nearby.
Below: I just love this picture. This is Drew Mebane, Leah's partner and a great guy.

Avara's 50th Birthday Party

2009-06-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Above: Ocean. Below, L-R: Susannah and Chant of Trillium, good friends, and a woman I don't know.

Above: Chant; Below: Chantia Smith, Eden's roommate in Ashland and fast becoming a good friend to me.
Below, Dennis Meiners, our friend and neighbor and fabulous ceramic artist.

Avara's 50th Birthday Party

2009-06-28T13:13:00.001-07:00

Above: Rosie on the lawn; Below: My brother Paul.

Above: My mom, Susan; Below: Paul and our good friend Margaret, who lives on a horse ranch nearby. Her boyfriend Andy and Jo are starting a band.
Below: Jo and Dennis Meiners, a good friend.

Late May and Flowers

2009-06-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Things are coming along in the garden. Above: Clarkia, which I did not sow this year but came up on its own. I have a lot of wonderful flowers coming up like that. Below: Sweet William.

Above: a variety of Penstemon called Mystica. Below: The flower garden.
Below: Bee Phacelia.

The Party

2009-06-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

...We had a blowout party to celebrate Ryan's birthday and wish him luck on his six-week travels (he left Monday for school in Arizona). And to open up the Common Building for our friends to see. We had 3 music sets. The middle set was played by Jo and Andy, with a surprise appearance by Rosie on vocals (first 3 pix). The first and third set was played by Funkamungus, a ten-piece band started by John DiFruscia, our friend and the man who oversaw the construction of the Common Building. Chris Keefe, the architect, sings lead male vocals. It was their first gig and they rocked the house.

The party, Part Seven

2009-06-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

...Setting up the stage for the band.
...John Di Fruscia, good friend and the builder for the Common Building (and bass player for the band), talking with our good friend and neighbor Andy.
Above: friends arriving: Sumi, a woman I don't know and Brooke, coming from nearby Williams. Below: Mike Patterson and Jennie Gilman.
Below: L-R Melissa Mathewson, who runs Barking Moon farms with her husband Josh, talking with Rachel and her daughter Thea.

The Party, Part Nine

2009-06-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Above: Eden with her mom Sheldon, hanging out in the mill room. Below, L-R: K.C. Welch & Chris Beekman. K.C. painted the interior of the building. K.C. and Chris are both in our weekly men's group.

Above: Click on this to blow it up -- the sun peaking thru the overcast sky. We had a ton of thunder and rain during the party, on and off, which was awesome. Below: Siana, daughter of Ben and Kristina, good friends of ours and neighbors.
Below: Ben Yohai (L), father of Siana and one of my good friends. He's also in our men's group, and runs a small organic farm, "Wandering Fields," nearby. Pictured here with Luke & Aaron (described below).

The Party, Part Seventeen

2009-06-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Above, L-R: Luke, Greg (w/Thea) and Aaron. Luke & Aaron are friends who run Black Oak Forestry, a local outfit that manages fire risk by removing brush and selectively thinning forest. Greg is a teacher in Ashland who used to live out in the Applegate with Thea and his wife Rachel.
Above: a shot of the dining room...
Above, L-R: Matt Garrity, his mom and Heather. Matt is in our men's group and worked as a carpenter on the building; he lives in Williams. Heather is the partner of K.C. Welch who painted the interior walls of the building. She came up from Sonoma for the weekend.
Above, L-R: Steve Isser and Drew Mebane. Steve is one of my oldest friends, going back to the '70s when he moved up to Ashland with his family from Berkeley. He and his wife Anita came to celebrate here with me and see the developments happening. Drew is a new friend, a great guy who lives in the area.
Above, L-R: Dave Lefkowitz and Andy Jokelson. Dave is a local who's doing a film doc comparing the back-to-the-land movements of the sixties and now. He interviewed my dad here, who was up from Berkeley with the rest of my family.

Outside lights

2009-06-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Jerry, one of our electricians, installing the lights outside the mill room...

Installing the bread mixer

2009-06-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

...Finally got the mixer in the kitchen, and used it the next day!

Installing the stereo

2009-06-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

We had a stereo installed in the kitchen, dining room and outside patio last week. Upstairs (above and below) is the circuit box, located in the office. Downstairs (last three pix) we had the speakers installed, with an ipod dock and console.

More cabinetry

2009-06-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

Below: Dave Kennedy, our plumber, on the spot where the cabinet goes.
Below, L-R: Mike, Ryan and Silas getting ready to lift the cabinet onto its spot.

Above & below: the cabinet in its proper place, although not yet finished.

Final Exterior plaster coat

2009-06-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

These are in reverse order, but they show the final coat of lime plaster on the outside of the building, being put on.

Mikey makes us a cabinet

2009-06-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Mike Patterson built the island in the middle of the kitchen that will house sinks, shelves and drawers, in front of the walk-in fridge. It's still not quite done. He built most of it on site, and is at home now building the countertops.