Gasshō,
Life is fast at A Long View Farm! There is so much to tell you that we’ve decided to go with just a series of pictures along with the first video describing where we are now.
Here’s a visual of the 25 acres, how it’s currently being used and how we plan to grow it in the future.
Current Layout |
Future Vision  |
Planting trees
Along the “top” (north side) of the property is a hedgerow of alders. That buffer continues down the edge of the forest garden in front of the bamboo stand, and along the “road” back up to the house. This will create a wind break as well as privacy.
Our first big push was to get mountains of wood chips delivered to the property, as you may recall from the pictures of the semis bringing hundreds of yards of the material. We then loaded up Mojo, our trusty truck brought up from ZMPC, drove over to the nursery gate, unloaded the chips into wheelbarrows and moved it to the sections of cardboard throughout the nursery, aimed at suppressing the grass growing in the area.
Here is a view of the nursery.
We then began the process of creating the “Miyawaki forest.” (Ecosia that process for a full understanding of the brilliance of this approach.) These trees, alders, conifers, big leaf maples, as well as the bushes and shrubs that will come later, create a dense growing area that requires the trees to “compete” for resources and inspires rapid growth.
A spot was opened for one of the tiny trees, its roots gently positioned in the hole, the earth nestled back into place, copious amounts of water given, and then a warm, cozy blanket of mulch placed around it. 
These new trees are fitting into an area already inhabited by the 150-plus trees that we planted soon after the property was purchased. Those trees were meant to be the canopy for the future food forest that is now being furthered. We needed to create pathways for the older, now isolated trees to connect with their new friends and relations. This required digging paths that were filled with nutritious soil and covered with mulch so their roots could travel easily.
Green House
The Epic Adventure!
Our farm manager, Brian, knew where he wanted the Greenhouse based on future needs and ease of access. This produced the second difficulty with the Greenhouse, the fact that that area, along with currently a lot of the property, is very boggy for many months out of the year. (Even though the annual rainfall is approximately the same as Murphys, the way the land is situated lends itself to water retention. The “currently” refers to the fact that we’re creating drainage pathways across the property that will alleviate that issue.) The first difficulty with the Greenhouse is that it is a giant structure that arrived in at least a million tiny pieces. Fortunately, we had an indoor space--and Bob—to take our potentially overwhelming situation to a successful outcome. 
The location is slightly to the south west of the house.
The structure is 10 feet by 30 feet and needs a “foundation” to get it up out of the path of winter waters that might like to pass through or linger in the area.
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 And, the foundation needs to be precise. First stage accomplished! |
Beginning to bring down and install the sections Bob had put together in the house.
And, there she is in all her glory. (That space between pictures makes it look easy, right? Only “restraint and religious observance” kept the patience available and the language acceptable!)
Operation Green House Floor
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The foundation of the structure was created to keep the water out, but the inside was still a soggy opportunity for weed growth. Solution? Move in five yards of gravel to create a floor. 
Bucket by bucket a floor is created.
Readying Seeds
Each one of the seeds needs to have a little “home of its own” to get a good start in life. Here “seed blocks” are being created to accept one of those folks. 
A warm, toasty environment makes for happy babies.
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An old friend comes to visit
With farming a regular activity for more and more folks, we found we needed a space to get out of the rain, have a cup of tea or lunch, and generally get to enjoy outdoors while protected from the elements. Those of you who were at a Summer of Sangha will recognize an old friend. (You also know what’s meant by needing a place out of the elements even in what is mostly lovely weather.)
Digging Ditches
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As mentioned, this area holds water during the rainy season. This ditch and pool were dug to drain off water standing near the side of the Greenhouse. As time goes on there will be ditches dug throughout the 25 acres that will allow excess water to flow away from the planting areas and into tracks that will lead them back in more beneficial directions. Here is one of the ditches being dug to direct water away from the Greenhouse, the sod from which is being used to create raised beds for tomatoes. |
The two lines of soil by the white bucket are the raised tomato beds.
The future home of tomato seedlings
Compost
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The compost pile is currently being fed primarily by the items from the Food Bank that cannot be distributed because their “use by” date has passed, our own food scraps, those of a few volunteers, and now by scraps from our first restaurant contributor, the Ramen Shop. We’ve written before about the Ramen Shop, the local lunch spot that uses the “business” model we hope to adopt with our pizza/soup kitchen. If you can pay for the meal, great. If you can’t pay for the meal, great. If you can pay for an extra meal, that will buy lunch for someone who can’t afford it. They’re now saving their kitchen scraps in five-gallon buckets we’ve provided, we pick them up each week, feed the goodies to our pet compost pile and everyone benefits. |
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 Taking the compost from the pile and sifting it to prepare it for its final destination on the nursery beds. |
The Nascent Forest Garden
This is the area that has been planted out with a variety of fruit trees. What we’ve created with the various fruit trees are “meditation” rooms. The hedge will be alders, shrubs and bushes.
And here is the actual view!
This is a roundup of who has come to live at A Long View Farm.
Hedgerow:
Douglas Fir (x50)
Western Hemlock (x50)
Western Red Cedar (x25)
Big Leaf Maple (x30)
Red Alder (x75)
Silverberry (x3)
Crop Trees:
“Red” Mulberry (x2)
“Illinois Everbearing” Mulberry
“Pakistan Fruiting” Mulberry
“Gem” European Pear
“Rescue” European Pear
“Orcas” European Pear
American Persimmon
“Hachiya” Asian Persimmon
“Fuyu” Asian Persimmon
“Hudson” Cherry
“Minnie Royal” Cherry
“Bing” Cherry
Little Leaf Linden (x10)
Crop Shrubs:
Red Flowering Currant
Thimbleberry
Elderberry
Crop Grasses:
Sweet Shoot Bamboo
Furniture Maker’s Bamboo
Annual Vegetables:
Red Romaine Lettuce (x216 germinated starts)
Forellenschleus Lettuce (x72 germinated starts)
Butterhead Lettuce (x72 germinated starts)
Italienischer Lettuce (x72 germinated starts)
Perennial Vegetables
Caucasian Mountain Spinach (Hablitza)
Egyptian Walking Onions
Sunchokes
We are also awaiting the arrival of quite a few more fruiting shrubs and perennials, and gearing up to start a number of warm weather vegetables including:
Crop Shrubs
“Sweet Scarlet” Goumi Berries
Salmonberry
Giant Jostaberry
“Poorman” Gooseberry
“Blanca” White Currant
To see the first video tour of the Farm click here.
A couple of announcements:
- The Farm Steward program is now closed, all slots accounted for.
- The non-resident Farm Steward program will be announced as soon as the facilities are developed to support visitors.
In gasshō,
ch