Results!

It is always nice to wake up and see results of months of changes and hard work. The nasturtiums are beautiful and delicious in the salad mix as I had hoped. The spinach is growing like crazy now that I discovered that the issue was not nongerminating seed, but critters eating the seed before it had the chance to germinate!! Cilantro can be grown during the summer in the right setting. Romaine heads can be grown in a greenhouse in 90 degree temps. With the right shade cloth Swiss chard and beet colors are more vibrant than ever! Winter squash can survive three freezes in a row with 4 inches of mulch and be producing before the tomatoes. I should have more confidence in my abilities....my 3 week old tomato transplants (dogs destroyed my initial trays) are out growing the organic commercially raised ones I paid top dollar for. Raised herb gardens even in the desert with constant wind thrive and provide a wonderful array of herbs, medicinal plants and some of those medicinals such as Calendulas are absolutely beautiful and finally if you spend 4 months filling a field with chicken manure and let it sit tilled in for another three months you can grow onions that are sweet like Vidalias and over a pound each....yes...now I will sleep well. Moonstruck signing off.

Little Glimmers

Some of you may remember the story about the man who was drowning and prayed to god to save him, and one by one row boats went by and he continued to pray eventually perishing and going to heaven. In heaven he asked the lord why he had not saved him…..the lord said “I sent the row boats???”. True miracles are not a daily occurrence and most of us will not experience one, but once in a while we receive a glimmer that reminds us he is truly there. The last few months have had many, many trials, and things began to turn around lately, and Paul came into my life supplying the strong back I needed so to work by my side once a week. But still I wondered if I was meant to stay on this crazy roller coaster ride….if the lord was sending messages saying “quit” like “row boats” and I was just looking the other way. Then tonight I decided not….after a father’s day dinner of London broil, cheesy au gratin potatoes and peas I told my husband I was going to plant a final row and come in. I did a final check of the fence area having still found rabbits in the fields just yesterday and perplexed at finding nothing started out the gate, but paused and looked over at the tires piled inside the compost piles 7, 8 and 9, which needed to be prepped for upcoming manure from the Bashaws. Something told me “risk the wrath of your husband….move the tires.” I did, and sure enough in the far corner hidden by the tires the fence had never been buried or rocked over….there were three rabbit holes…they were walking right in under cover of the tires!! I was quickly rocking it in when my husband yelled “come on lady!”, and I said just a minute “I got a message!!”.

Thank you everyone who has supported me by purchasing through thick and thin or working by my side and dealing with all the hard times. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Rowena
Moonstruck farms CSA

Welcome Filet to the farm

Life on the farm always has bumps and bruises....quite a few lately, but we are starting to see the results of the bruises healing and the changes taking affect. Slowly we are catching up, but the lack of large tomato plants and sprouting broccoli and broccoli raab hit a sore point today, but the good news is I do have some sprouting broccoli and in the new field it is responding beautifully to the chicken compost and the weather. New starts are started and the Fall crop of sprouting broccoli and raab is looking very promising. We will have the opportunity to see how long tomatoes last in the new greenhouse this year, and with the help of Paul maybe we will even do a little hand pollinating if the results are good. Calendula is popping up beautifully in the herb garden....not just beautiful but nice to have around in case of a medicinal emergency. The field on the west side of the greenhouse is almost completed with watermelon, eggplant and cantalope. We already decided to add eight or ten 50 foot long beds in front of the house for the allium family next year...onions, garlic, shallots and leeks and the potato family. We are already missing our leeks and potatoes that we left out of the equation this year due to limited resources, and are looking forward to adding them back in next year. Filet was added this week too...our first beef project. She is a beautiful Angus heifer brought in from the hills of Cherry Valley, and she is not very happy right now, but seems to be settling in fast. Once we have numbers and feel comfortable we will pick up some more calves for our customers this Fall. The greens are really taking off now, which makes me realize that our ground temps were no where where we thought they were....the long winter, not severe, but consistent really did a number on the ground temps and we are just seeing what we normally see by the beginning of May. Big day tomorrow...coop and market...Moonstruck signing off.

Thursday Delivery Rescheduled

I am sorry but I will have to reschedule Thursday's Phelan delivery. I will be contacting everyone who ordered and arranging to have your order delivered. A family member passed away over the weekend and the funeral is scheduled for Thursday in the Los Angeles area.

Mojave or Diamondback

Strange year everywhere...we have not seen a Rattler in years. We had to kill off Southern Pacifics for the first few years we lived here, but the good guys eventually took over the property until today. Paul almost stepped on a Mojave Green and then had to kill it with a shovel. I don't want him or anyone to have to get that close again...buying a 22 pistol with snake shot so we can shoot from at least 10 feet away. I have always killed babies so I never did get a good look at an adult to be able to know the difference. I know now...clear menacing diamond head and you could probably hear the rattler going off on the other side of the house. Between that and my distribution list crashing/deleting again I felt like this day lasted 60 hours....and nothing really accomplished but a huge adrenaline rush....I'm calling it a day...Moonstruck Signing off.