Surviving the heat in the wilderness!

This is our first summer here at bluebird and it’s been a hot one.  I planted a few things in the spiral.  I planted a lot of echeveria succulents because i know they can be ignored and still look good.  The plan was also to plant some veggies and not get too attached since the ground squirrels have come in.

We had a lot to mow this spring with all the rain.  That was a bit overwhelming but I think we did ok.

If areas around the stone house or roads looked like this then we needed to mow it down.   Now that we are in summer, it’s especially important to keep our back roads clear in case of a fire.  Looking at how dry everything is around here we know that campfires, even if they are contained, is a big no no.

When we moved in last year in September there were so many deer around that when winter came and they disappeared, i expected to see tons of them back with their babies in the spring. I also realized that the deer start coming back as it gets hotter.  Not sure if it’s because they are looking for water or if their food source has dried up.

Here’s one grazing on the grass.

Since i’ve come on as caretaker i’ve been thinking about how i can better serve this wild land.  I’m not a tree trimmer which is a lot of the work that needs to be done here so i’ve focused on bringing in more revenue so we can pay someone to take care of the many trees that need to be tended too.  The eucalyptus trees eventually need to come down and some have already come down on their own.

  You can see this tree is leaning and actually fell down on it’s own.  I never realized how much work it is to cut down a tree and to get rid of it.  A lot of times we just move it out of the road.  It would be ideal to have someone cut it up and shred it but that would take a giant chipper which we don’t have.

So this year i’ve worked hard in offering Yoga retreats, classes, workshops and i’m thinking later in the year I’ll have an art show and or small holiday craft fair to bring in some revenue.  We have also joined Hipcamp in offering camping here.  We want to add an eco project component to it but haven’t nailed down what exactly that will be.

Lastly our lastest project that we are very excited about is our new green house.

This green house is the result of a grant we received to grow food to donate to The Shepards Pantry which is a local food bank.  I think it will serve to also grow and sell plants.

If you love the wilderness and would like to be part of Bluebird Ranch as a volunteer contact me by emailing me at jrivasraymer@yahoo.com.  Our hope is to build a strong community of friends that have the same passion in conserving this beautiful land.

Happy gardening   ~ J