Many strange things are happening during this very mild winter. Down here by Lake Roosevelt there is no snow. The grass is starting to grow. Sweet pea leaves have stayed green all winter. Some insects were flying even though I thought they held off until temperatures were in the 50s. One effect that caught my… (read more)
I am writing this a couple days before the Winter Solstice. By the time you read it Christmas will be over and New Years too. Hopefully we have survived both events. I had a prioritized list for Christmas: write newsletter; get cards; print labels; buy stamps; send cards and newsletters; figure out gifts; get tree. … (read more)
Harvesting grapes saddles you with responsibilities to make wine, put away your tools and clean up the vineyard. But in the midst of endless work there are surprises both pleasant and problematic. On the pleasant side, finding old bird nests is one of my favorites. It is a good reminder that not all birds are… (read more)
Back in the winter of 22-23 we had a heavy snow after a long warm period. I still had a shade cloth over my 24’ by 20’ greenhouse. It caught the snow. The roof collapsed. As if have said several times, I learn a lot by making mistakes. That left me with the wall structure… (read more)
On a warm Sunday morning as I was travelling south along Lake Roosevelt on Hwy 25 the Watch Duty app on my phone kept sounding off as new wildfires popped up along the way. Nine of them would be active by the end of the day. The Wicked Drive fire grew to 700 acres. Three… (read more)
