Loma Verde Farms

Always good things out there about avocados!! I keep telling myself that I should grab the ones off the ground & if they're not good enough to eat, just slather them all over my body!!

Last one, had a HUGE amount of orchid tree seeds (and I left the 1st group in a cup too long & they got all moldy, so I went over there and grabbed some more from the ground. Let's see how well I do. Am not usually a "seed" person, I'm more of a "grafting", divide the roots & make more kinda a girl.

I also gathered some of our palo verde seeds...Found this website that goes into more detail...Don't you just love the Internet?

I have this wonderful Tipu tree that we planted years ago when the Evergreen Nursery in Spring Valley closed. I've been gathering seeds, so today I'm going to soak them, then plant them & hope for the best!!

Hubby didn't take his tool belt off, but has taken on a different project this weekend, his chicken coop. It's where the old garden was. I think after finishing the bathroom cabinets & the kitchen drawer fronts, he needed a change. Anxious to see how it turns out.

Now that we're living at the farm, life is so much easier. I'm able to be inside when it's cold & go outside when it's warm, then back inside when it gets TOO hot!! Have been using a bunch of coffee k-cups which I know aren't very "environmentally practical". Read up on how good coffee grounds are to add to your compost, so decided to try to be more environmentally conscious & save $$ at the same time.

Went over to water the pomegranate trees (those volunteers my husband dug out of the garden & put into 5 gal containers) and you can see little sprouts popping out on almost every single one!! We should have never let them get that big, but if they all survive, heck, even if only 1/2 survive, I think that's pretty awesome!

Still moving forward in 2020. John hasn't worked much on the chicken coop, but we did meet another Jamulian who raises chickens & checked out her chickens & coop. Have moved all of my plants from the Spring Valley house (yay), so I'll be busy planning our exterior courtyard & rock garden, drip system, etc. One more week & the SV house should be on the market & we won't be having to go there anymore. Looking forward to "life on the farm"!

While digging out all our volunteer pomegranate trees from our old garden, my husband dug out a volunteer orchid tree. I knew it had been growing in there for a few years & had grown through the chicken wire above. Let's hope this 10-15ft tree survives!!

Starting out with a bang this year. Can honestly say that my husband has worked more on the farm this year (all 5 days of it so far) than he did all year in 2019. Started breaking down the garden beds, taking down the chicken wire & framing on the 3rd, digging out all our "volunteer" pomegranate trees with the tractor (Trust me, don't ever put your pomegranate arils in your compost) and cleared everything out, finishing today, the 5th. Chicken coop here we come!!

This is the recipe that we used for our plum margaritas. Go lighter on the sugar if you want a more tart, less sweet drink!

What's in the bag? I'm glad you asked...frozen plum juice. We have lots & lots of frozen plum & pomegranate juice in the freezer just begging to come out!! What did this bag become? Plum margaritas. We were having a party & thought this would definitely be a recipe to try. Once we tried it, I made another batch (okay, John & I drank a few margaritas while sampling & there wasn't enough for the party). One adjustment my husband suggested was go lighter on the sugar...you still want it to be a margarita, not a daiquiri!!

Finally...Have started using some of our yummy frozen fruits we didn't have time to process last year. Can you say blackberry syrup? OMGosh it was so good on our waffles this morning. Only made 5 bottles, but definitely a good way to use those berries up. Can't wait to take a bottle over for the grandkids!!

Did you know vitamins are still vitamins even though their dates have expired? You can put them in your compost or crush them up & put them on your plants? If there's any vitamin value still lingering in them, why not donate them to something you love, your plants instead of throwing them away. Same way it makes me feel better to throw those fresh veggies I buy thinking I'll start cooking/eating better & then find them weeks later wilted in the vegetable drawer (another fail) but they're not wasted if I put them in my compost, right?!! Win/win all around!!

Not a BIG apple harvest this year but had some of our biggest apples on the tree. We're thinking this has to be a crabapple tree since they are usually so small & tart. Had to grab these babies cause the birds were already going after them. Read you can freeze them whole & they will last indefinitely & work great for applesauce & apple pie!! Sounds like a plan to me (since we usually make applesauce for the grandkids).

It's that time of year again (ok, it has been for months now but I'm just now getting around to it). What time is it? Recipe time!! Loquats are March/April, but we let the birds have them this year (if you ignore fruit long enough, the birds will always help you out if you're just too busy to bother). Plum time has come and ALMOST gone, since the birds got to the first 2 plum trees before I did. Even looks like there were apricots by the number of apricot seeds on the grou...nd, but we never saw them!! I guess the number & size of the weeds all over the farm distracts you from seeing what's beyond & above them. So, with a bowl of dark plums & a new recipe, I think I'm going to try a new recipe for plum BBQ sauce. Won't be easy since John's still in the kitchen building cabinets, but I'll try one batch & see if it's a winner & will let you know. See more

It's been a long time since I've posted "farm" information. Life & building the house has just taken over our lives more than expected. My plan was to keep a farm journal, one to follow through the years, either what TO do (what worked in past years) or what NOT to do. Our year usually starts with bees & avocado flowers around March. With this year's rains, cooler temperatures, & avocado trees that were pretty much neglected & in really bad shape (to the point of looking d...ead) & the fact that John hasn't donned his bee suit in 2-3 years, we have very few bees & almost no flowers this year. We were just thrilled that many did leaf out, but there's a lot of trimming & topping of trees to do this year. Come March/April, the scent of loquats filled the air & as usual, our loquat trees did not disappoint. But, again, with keeping busy, we picked a few bins of loquats to share with friends and preschoolers, the rest were donated to nature. One BIG surprise we had was the blackberry bushes. What was thought to have been pulled out & composted, took over an entire area. It is an area we can let them flourish, so we'll see how they do. So, this is the beginning of our 2019 journal... Blackberries July 2019 The blackberry take over!! Our first harvest!! Doesn't look like much now, but there's a lot more coming. "To store fresh picked blackberries, put them in a shallow container and place them in a cool spot or in the refrigerator as soon as you can after picking. Fresh blackberries are very perishable and should be eaten or frozen with two or three days of picking. Do not wash the blackberries until ready to eat."

Noticed a broken avocado branch coming in today, so hubby grabbed it & started up the shredder. We made the mistake of putting pomegranate arils in our compost a couple of years ago & have regretted it ever since. Must be 10 volunteer pomegranate trees growing in our garden now (the only things growing in there). Yesterday I started cutting branches and clearing out weeds. Took the pomegranate branches & added it to the avocado branch & made the most beautiful mix for our compost bins. Now all they need is that compost goo from home to make a vitamin rich compost for our future garden.

I finally did it....took all the egg shells I've been saving up, put them in my Vitamix, and turned them into a fine powder. I'd read that they're a great source of calcium & that certain flowers & plants can use a little boost of calcium. We've all heard about putting your eggshells in your compost, well I went one step further. Now, to read up a little more on where & how to best use it!!

Was a great day at the farm yesterday. Finally got the family together for picture day. From the beginning, our slogan has always been "From our family to yours" & here we all are in our new cover picture here at Loma Verde Farms. Can't wait to get back to creating new recipes here in the new house. To 2019 & and our new life as full time California Avocado Growers!!