Uncategorized Archives - Page 41 of 43 - Morning Song Farm

The Clampetts are Celebrating

By | Uncategorized | One Comment
After the December, 2007 notice from Rainbow Water District telling us that since Morning Song Farm is an “Agricultural Discount” customer, they’re taking the fine print option of putting us on a mandatory 30% water use reduction, we decided to go for broke and drill for water. Amid the cinders of the October fire loss, Farmer Donna takes a quick look at her P&L; for the year, and comes to the obvious conclusion that the farm couldn’t possibly continue to operate at all without an alternative water source. There’s just no way we could cut our production 30%, and continue a farming operation. The farm isn’t an income source for the Buono family as it is, but 30% less than “right around zero income” would mean we’d be paying a whole lot of off-farm income for the privilege to grow for others. I love my job! It is a privilege to do what I feel I was meant to be doing! But jeez, there’s a point where I guess I would have to let it go and find something else productive to do. Husband Frank, in a strongly worded soliloquy, let it be known to all involved, and some that weren’t, that the farm had to stand on its own.

We do have a well already in use on our farm, but our water bill from Rainbow Water District is often over $2,000 a month, which augments our water well. We also have a live spring that bubbles water up from the ground. The previous owners built a pond that catches that water, and we pump it out twice a day. And now we needed another well! Right after the fires, I made a call to the well driller who had drilled the farm’s first well, many years before we bought the farm. He came out, did some “well witching”, plunked a flagged stake in a suspiciously convenient place to drill (right in the middle of my first garden, at the end of a paved road), got his $2,000 deposit, and said he’d be back in a week or two. Never heard from him again.

Amid the devastation and disappointment of the fire loss, I had to come to the conclusion I’d been taken! Crap! I was despondent. We had to start all over, this time with a well driller that was well known. Again, we made a deposit, and got put on the waiting list. Husband Frank wanted another witcher to come out, since the first guy turned out to be a con artist. Since where you drill is such a huge decision, and so much rides on the result, not relying on the recomendation of someone who’d proven himself dishonest was a no-brainer. To tell you the truth, I thought the whole witcher thing was iffy, anyway. My opinion is backed up by well driller Paul Stehly, who was uncomfortable telling me his honest opinion because the issue evokes feelings that border on the religious for many of his customers. I just about had to drag it out of him, but the truth be known, he wouldn’t hire a witcher if he was drilling for himself.

“Okay Paul, what do you think about witching?”
“ I like to think it’s important what you, think.”
“ Okay Paul, you think what I think is important. I think what you think is important. So tell me, what do you think about witching?”
“ Well, you could hire a witcher, and then water might be found where the witcher tells you to drill.”
“Or not?”
“Yup.”
“ If I hire a witcher will I have a better chance of hitting water when you drill?”
“ No.”
“No?”
“No. My experience is that it doesn’t increase your chances, except to feel better. You can witch and hit water. You can witch and not hit water. You can not witch and hit water. You can witch, and then the city won’t let you drill where the witcher suggests, drill somewhere totally different and hit water. You gotta feel good about where you’re drilling because it’s a huge risk, and you’re the one paying the bill. If witching would make you feel better, especially if you have to write a check for a couple of unproductive wells, I’d recommend witching. If you witch and don’t hit water, maybe that would make some customers feel better; like they did everything they could do to increase their odds. But witching isn’t going to increase your chances of actually finding water. If there was any method, any method at all, that could predict where to drill for a sure, the person who offered that service would be one rich guy. There wouldn’t be any more dry wells dug, ever!”

I relayed this morsel of valuable information to my husband, who had seen some television science show on witching for water and insisted I was out of my mind and we needed to hire a witcher. I didn’t want to hire a witcher because it would add a delay, cost money, and the expert out there said it wouldn’t increase my chances of hitting water anyway. An argument ensued. We solved it thus: Frank had to pay for the witcher out of his own pocket (which I’m not sure what that exactly means since we’re married, and all pockets are fairly commingled—except for this: the farm business wasn’t paying for that witcher unless we hit a whole lot of water) Then, filled with risk-taking bravado, Frank threw a $100 bill at me and said he’d bet me we’d hit a whole lot of water and was I in or what? So the deal was if we hit a whole lot of water, the farm had to pay him back for his witch guy, plus I’d lose the $100 bet.

So the witcher came out and flagged a spot that wasn’t all that convenient but a whole lot better than drilling in the center of my garden. Just for fun, I asked him to witch the spot that the previous, disgraced well driller/witcher/con artist man had flagged. He said, “Got no water here. Maybe 2 or 3 gallons a minute, but not worth pumping.”

Well that’s interesting. Not that I’m saying I’m admitting the witching thing is credible, but at least the witchers, doing their witching thing, which according to them is scientific, should have been in agreement. Unless one of them was a con artist.

Paul, the driller, said he’d have his rig in probably on Tuesday, the day after the Martin Luther King holiday. He had said he’d go down around 500 or 600 feet before giving up; that being a typical well depth for the area. We could go right to 1000 feet, but my concern about a 1000 foot well, even if we did hit a good water supply, was the cost to pump that water up. The further we went down, the higher the monthly cost to pump would be. If we didn’t hit water at 500 or 600 feet, we’d probably want to cough up enough to immediately try another location. Paul warned us that a dry well was a possibility, and two dry wells were a possibility as well. And of course we’d still have to pay his bill, immediately, with or without water. That’s the risk, and why so many farmers don’t drill. If you sink two holes on the same day, it’s cheaper than trying on separate occasions because of the cost of the rig move-in and set-up. We were braced for whatever the outcome would be. Whether or not we continued farming hung in the balance.

So when I got an excited call from Paul on MONDAY, I was shocked! He’d started to drill, and I wasn’t even there! I sure had wanted to watch. I thought he was going to start on Tuesday. Frank was even going to take a day off from work, which is really something for Frank.

Over the roaring din of a drilling rig, Paul shouted that he’d hit quite a bit of water and he was only at 105 feet or so. Just to let us know! YES! I lost the bet!

Monster Grapefruit Looking Thing is a Pomello

By | Uncategorized | One Comment

Those would be some pretty whoppin’ grapefruits, but no, they’re pomellos. Considerably larger than grapefruit, the pomello is milder and takes a little more work to enjoy. The segments look exactly like grapefruit, but the pithe between each segment is too tough to eat. Separate the fruit from the pithey segment material and pile into a bowl to enjoy. They have very little tartness to them, so some people who don’t enjoy grapefruit, do enjoy pomello. I keep saying I’m going to cut the few trees we have down because we only get a few fruit on each tree and they are a whole lot of work to eat. That is, if it weren’t for my daughter, Tess, who loves the fruit and doesn’t mind fiddling with the whole peeling procedure. Tess is quite protective of the fruit trees she in particular enjoys, (mulberries, guava, fig, blackberry, kiwi and pumello) so for now the pumellos are safe.

Weird Looking Root Thing is Kolhrobi

By | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The weird root looking thing in baskets this week is kohlrobi. Peel and prepare much like you would beets. Cut into large pieces, steam, drizzle with a little olive oil or freshly made butter. A nice addition is a little crumbled macadamia nut scattered on top. Some people like them mashed, with butter, salt and pepper. I’m told the Chinese prepare it two ways, typically: one is very lightly sauteed and still a little crunchy, and the other is cooked fairly well to the consistency of a scallopped potato. Either way is delicious! Who knew such an ugly looking thing would be so tasty. Enjoy.

Kumquats

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

For some reason, Blogger is not cooperating today, so I am posting the following for Donna – T.

Those little bitty orange looking things in the clamshell are Nagami Kumquats, in season now! Usually they come in, in time for Thanksgiving dinner. This year they’re quite tardy. Chris Aliseo, Costa Mesa CSA supporter sent me this link for recipes: http://www.kumquatgrowers.com/recipes.html. My favorite use of kumquats continues to be a simple reduction. Throw them all in a blender, add water to top. Blend. Force through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Boil down with sugar to taste into a syrup or reduction. I use the reduction in margaritas, on top of crepes, to sweeten limeade, and as a dessert topping. Another favorite is cooking them whole with a little sugar and water until they’re translucent and using them as a jam.

Wierd white looking roots are parsnips

By | Uncategorized | One Comment

Hi,
Today’s basket has the first of many avocados, it’s a Bacon. Soon we’ll begin the Hass avocado harvest. As most of you know, we lost the majority of our avo grove in October’s fires, but we still have enough surviving trees to keep our CSA supporters well supplied. Hass is usually released sometime in January. (We can’t harvest our avocados until the Avocado Commission says the oil content has reached perfection. Release dates for our Hass is usually mid-January, although I haven’t checked on-line, yet.)

The weird, kind of ugly root thing in this week’s baskets is a parsnip. You have to try it! Last night I peeled a few and baked along with a whole chicken, some potatoes and carrots. These parsnips taste something like sweet potato, with a little sharper spiciness. Make sure they’re completely cooked, and as soft as a cooked sweet potato would be.

Everything else in the basket this week should be identifiable. There’s the last of the fioja guavas, and plenty of Satsuma mandarins. There’s a bunch of arugula (you can eat it raw in salad, or lightly steamed.) We didn’t get much of a grapefruit harvest this year, but we put a single fruit in every basket. Macadamias are in every basket. Here’s a quick holiday dessert that we do every year about this time: Melt some really nice chocolate (we buy from Trader Joe’s) in a microwave safe bowl. Toss in a bag of macadamia nuts and stir to cover chocolate evenly over the nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and chill for an hour or so. Serve.

We’re skipping December 25-26th baskets, as well as January 1st, Tuesday baskets. If you pick up on Wednesdays, your next basket will be January 2nd. If you pick up on Tuesdays, your next basket will be Tuesday, January 8th. If you are a Tuesday supporter, but don’t want to miss out on two weeks of baskets and would like to pick up on Wednesday, January 2nd, e mail me: donna@morningsongfarm.com, and we’ll switch you for that week only, to Wednesday’s roster.

Final Fire Update, CSA back on track

By | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

So many of my fabulous customers and supporters have poured in their concern for Morning Song Farm, and I sure want to take a second to thank everyone. This will be the final fire update, after which I’ll go back to my usual once a week publishing. Here’s where the farm stands:

All buildings safe. It’s clear fire fighters fought hard to save my grove, as 6 inches beyond the grove line is total blackened cinder for probably 500 acres. We lost bigtime in one area: the avocado grove. It looks like the fire whipped up really fast, but not very hot. The trees weren’t burnt to a cinder, just blackened and singed. Most of the 2007 crop is lost on the lower 350 trees, but most if not all may eventually regrow and provide a harvest if I can figure out how to operate the farm business with half the income for 2 years or more, while paying for water, input, labor, etc as they regrow. Also infrastructure is a wipeout in that area. The irrigation pipes and water valves melted. I’m maxing out farm credit today to begin to replace, as the trees can’t be watered at all until the system is up and running. I have a commercial account at Miller’s Irrigation in Fallbrook, but couldn’t get through Mission Road in Fallbrook, so Home Depot gets my business.

The “secret forest” at the center of the farm, with towering oaks, our live spring and hidden grotto, lost undergrowth, but big trees are fine. That’s an area we decided to leave untouched, except to keep clean and enjoy. The previous owners put a picnic table, camping site, tables and chairs along the little path, but never told us about it in escrow; leaving us to discover it on our own. Wildlife can go in there for a safe and always-present drink of water from the spring. We owned the farm for a year before we came upon it. What a joy! It truly is enchanting! Fire fighters didn’t know how to get in (entrance was hidden and secret) so when they saw flames they hacked into it. I’ll have to rent a chipper/shredder for a week or so to chip up what’s left there, plus all the downed branches all over the place from the Santa Ana winds that whipped through with the fire. The fire took out the little bridge that spanned the creek inside the secret forest. That will have to be replaced. Plus, I’ll want to replant to cover the gaping holes left so that it can again be “secret.”

The acre or so of Australian Blue pumpkins was incinerated. Nothing left.

A few macadamia trees were singed, but not destroyed. Every single chicken made it through despite not having food or water from Monday night until Friday morning. Llamas have an auto system that continued throughout the blaze. Whatever it costs, I want the chickens to be provided with an automatic system as well. Because they make a mess of the auto systems we’ve tried in the past, (climbing in with their dirty feet and clogging everything) some ingenuity will be required. Also, as grove water pressure alternated between high and low, the system would either blow out and spray the startled chickens with a wild, whipping hoseline, or shut down because pressure reduced below minimum operating requirements. Maybe someone reading this has seen a grove system that works… Previously, I had just given up and reverted to hand watering and cleaning their dish twice a day. This is a wake up call. We’re going to figure out how to get the system automated!

Here’s the really good news: row crops look great. I was expecting leafy greens, herbs, tomatoes to have died in the heat. But air quality hid the heat of the sun and protected them despite not being watered for 5 days during a Santa Ana.

So the bottom line is this: the farm looks pretty good as you drive into it; houses and barns standing. Only commodity that took a hit is the avocados, which may regrow. The immediate pressing problem is financial. The farm squeaks by all year until December when the commercial avocado harvest begins in earnest. Between the Santa Ana winds and the fire, most of the crop is gone. There is enough avocodos to put in our CSA baskets, maybe not more. A small upper block is left untouched, except for the wind loss, and the old trees we were cutting down aren’t fire damaged and have a few fruits left hanging. We were coming up on that time of year when the purse strings loosen and we can sigh the annual sigh of financial relief. That relief is now nowhere in sight.

The other commodities we sell in wholesale quantities are kumquats (half the crop blown off in the Santa Ana winds on Monday) and my wonderful Bearss limes. Last Friday, several days before the fire, our primary wholesale lime buyer let us know he wouldn’t be doing business with Morning Song Farm anymore unless I could accept a 15 cent premium above third world pricing he’s now getting from CCOF Certified Organic Mexican limes. Let me explain. Since CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) which certifies my fruit has gone down into Mexico and certified with the California Certified Organic label, and growers are just now coming into full production, the large United States wholesale buyers are shifting their attention to our southern neighbor. When consumers here in the United States see the well-respected CCOF label, they may think they’re supporting the few local organic lime growers left in Southern California. I’d sure think that! American lime growers lost the conventional lime and lemon business to Mexico a decade ago, but only now have we lost the organic lime business, as well.

Between the unprecedented ’07 frost, just announced mandatory water cut offs, Santa Ana winds, newly emerging import competition and now the ’07 firestorm, many farmers right now are evaluating whether or not they should continue at all. If there ever was a time to quit and sell out to a developer, frankly, that time has clearly arrived. I don’t have the answer, myself. The reality of my situation will unfold as I examine financial avenues; including grants, loans, fund raising and increased reliance on volunteers. Perhaps the farm could increase revenues, at least in the short term, by opening the farmhouse to ecologically-minded vacationers on a weekly basis. Not that I’d expect anyone to pay us to shovel manure, but perhaps some sort of “farm experience,” would be of interest to some people.

I sure could use a volunteer committee to help with cleanup as well as brainstorming financial alternatives in the next two months as we address the enormous tasks ahead of us. Since almost all my supporters live in Orange County, I don’t know how realistic that is, but I thought I should put it out there that help would be really appreciated! A few offers have trickled in to come out and help next weekend when power and water will be back on. I surely am grateful for the offers. E mail me at donna@morningsongfarm.com if you’d like to come out and help. I’ll get directions to you, and particulars.

We are back on track for CSA basket delivery this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. Credits for the missed baskets from last week will show up on next week’s November invoices. Thanks!

Friday Morning Update

By | Uncategorized | One Comment

Hi,
I climbed into my truck before dawn this morning, and dragged girlfriend Maria Thomas out of her bed to accompany me to Rainbow in hopes of seeing to my livestock’s safety and my farm’s fate. We were stopped, same as before, at Rainbow Glen Road. This time we were able to take Mission Road, which was open for Rainbow residents East of the 15. Again, CHP professionals were kind and supportive, but firm. No one passes. It was suggested that I get in touch with animal control to see if they’d go up and check on livestock. We hung around with the small crowd of would-be Rainbow Glen Road returnees for a few minutes and were thrilled when animal control happened to stop by. They were very happy to take my farm address and check on my animals. They suggested I return to my evacuated position and wait for a return status call, as they had numerous farms to visit in the little Rainbow Glen Valley.

We drove into Fallbrook proper in the hopes of getting a view of the farm from one of the northernmost crestline neighborhoods that look down into our valley. Although I saw no evidence of fire in all of Fallbrook, many neighborhood streets were shut down to all but residents of that street, and we were turned back from any of the side streets that would have looked down on the valley. Since it was a total evacuation, I had expected to see quite a bit of damage, but saw nothing.

The fire got fairly close to south San Clemente, and there was never a mention of an evacuation, so the mandatory evacuation of Fallbrook let many of us to assume Fallbrook was in cinders. Just not so!

It took us quite a while to get on our way back out of Fallbrook proper to San Clemente because road closure information is still inaccurate. A CHP officer that stopped us at a side street road closure directed us to go to Mission Road East and on to 15, but when we arrived there it was blocked off.

Later, while we were on our way back to San Clemente, animal control called to tell us what they saw. They said chickens and llamas were very hungry and thirsty (chickens had had no water since Monday, 5 days ago) and that the flames had gone right to the door of the farmhouse, but that the house was saved. She said some of the grove was lost.

I just received a call from Rabbi Shalom who grows his sacred ethrogs on the southwestern corner of my farm. Unbelievably, two days ago, during the height of fire storms, he managed to talk his way past the roadblock and he just now called to tell me he’s been to the farm and wanted to tell me what part of the farm’s grove at that time had been lost. I’m flabbergasted! I’m the owner of the farm, and had hungry and frightened livestock but couldn’t get in. But he got in! Wow, I thought I had a pretty convincing need to get in, and if there was any way they could let me, they would have. And hey! I brought donuts!

Animal control has kindly offered to continue to care for my livestock until the eviction has been lifted, so I won’t be returning until I’m guaranteed passage through Rainbow Glen Road. Why waste the gas?

Llamas safe

By | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

I just got back to San Clemente, here’s the news: I left San Clemente at 7:00 and was one of the lucky ones that got through I-5 before it shut down. Took 78 across and 15 north. Got off on Mission in Fallbrook, and was turned back, but advised to try the Rainbow Valley Blvd. exit a few miles north. I did that, and got all the way to Rainbow Glen Road before being turned back. I got out and spoke to the CHP officers blocking Rainbow Glen, and during a lull, one was kind enough to go the 1/2 mile up Rainbow Glen to feed the llamas. I waited anxiously for his return and was relieved to hear the llamas are fine. The bad news is that he said a fire crew was fighting to save the farmhouse when he arrived, and that we’d lost trees around the house and some of the grove. He said it looked like the trees that were lost were avocados, and that the macadamia trees appeared to be safe. Great! The macadamia trees, that are nothing but a public service, are left standing, but the trees that pay the bills have burned. Anyway, it could be much worse, and I’m grateful for that!

He suggested that by nightfall or certainly by tomorrow morning, owners should be able to return to their homes. By the way, if anyone has to interact with a member of the CHP doing “road block” duty, a couple dozen donuts and coffee would probably be really appreciated. These officers are stuck for hours having to do the tough job of turning anxious owners away from their homes, and particularly in remote areas, can’t always get away for a bite to eat.

Oh, obviously no baskets this week, but can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t resume next week, as things stand now.

Latest News about the Rainbow Fire

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Precious little is out there for the worried residents of Fallbrook and Rainbow, but here’s what I’ve gleaned from other blogs: The Rainbow fire as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night is only 10% contained, is currently burning on Rainbow Glen Road, which is the road Morning Song Farm is on. In this “Rice Canyon” fire, 206 homes, 40 outbuildings, 91 vehicles and an astounding 20,000 avocado trees in 7,500 acres have been consumed by flames.

No word about livestock rescue efforts. The near-total news blackout of Rainbow continues to leave us very frightened, but hopeful.

Roads are currently shut down for returning evacuees, but if there is anyway I can get into the area to feed, water and check on my animals, I will at daybreak.

Book Now!