One of the most important jobs when growing grass for hay is irrigation. Through trial and error our irrigation process has evolved. When we first arrived at the property in 2004, we made a visit to the local irrigation office. The Maricopa Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District (MSIDD) is the group that organizes the distribution of irrigation water from the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal system to us and our neighbors. This CAP started many years ago and the repayment for the project to the federal government by the state was based on the projected price of cotton many years in advance. The state owed the feds for the construction of the canal system and the details have elluded me despite some shallow investigation. "Desert Cadillac" is a book about the wheelings and dealings of the possession of water in the southwest. Water is like gold to people in the desert.
We made a deposit to MSIDD so that we could order water to irrigate our fields. We call at least 24 hours in advance to schedule the amount of water, approximate time duration, and to what water box it should flow through. In 2004 the cost of water was $21.00 per acre foot. That is a foot of water on an acre of land. The water box houses a meter which tells us the flow rate of the water and a numerical reading that informs us of the total acre feet that runs through to our fields.
The guys that drive all over the district monitoring the meters and starting and stopping water, start their day at 7:00am and make it back to the office by 3:00pm. If you need anything done after hours it will cost us $50.00. The start of our water is delayed by the amount of time it takes for the guys to drive from the office to our water box and the shut off is early enough to give them time to get back to the office by 3:00pm. That means that we have between 8:00am and 2:30pm to get assistance. We have to have their personnel open and close the gate for our water or adjust it to increase or decrease the flow rate. That is the rule, and the big padlock on the chain on the wheel that opens and closes the gate enforces that rule.
Before we could begin watering we had to do some modifications to our ditch that runs from east to west at the southern end of our fields. The previous owner had applied for a grant through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to have the ditches (previously dirt) converted to concrete ditches. To make a long story short, the contractor did not do an acceptable job in the opinion of NRCS and told the previous owner not to accept the work. The previous owner told NRCS that he would accept the work, took the check and then told the contractor that he didn't accept the work and wouldn't pay them. So he stole the money. As a result, we can not get any further assistance with the ditches and they are very thin in places and crack easily. We spent time mending cracks and knocked out pre-cut circles in the ditch to attach corrugated pipe to direct the water into the fields at three points on each field. This required hauling a trailer with a generator, concrete mixer, and water in a barrel (gravity fed) to install these. The project seemed endless, but we finally got all but two ports complete. The two remaining port holes are on a field that we have not at this point planted. Donald also spent a great deal of time and energy hand shoveling the ditches of accumulated silt and debris. This has to be done regularly to keep the ditches clear to handle thewater volume, otherwise the water will overflow.
When we started we asked lots of questions about how much water we should expect to use for our fields from local farmers. The advice was to call for shut off when the water reaches 2/3 of the way down the field. Each of our fields are 1/4 of a mile long. The meter measures the amount of water used to calculate our bill. Our very first irrigation was a family affair. We all waited excitedly for the water to make its way down the ditch. Our yellow Lab, Star, was present and made the best of the experience. We even videotaped the "irrigation celebration."
Through the years we have made some changes to our irrigation process. When the mosquitoes hit mid-summer in swarms so thick, the horses had to be put in the barn to prevent them from hurting themselves in their frantic runs to get away from the pests. It was miserable, and we all still dread mosquito season. In attempts to at least minimize the mosquitoes, and decrease water usage (as the price has gradually increased to $45.00 per acre foot by 2009), we began working with calculations of acre feet of water per field. We now take a meter reading and switch water to the next field when the prescribed acre footage has been sent to a field. So at this time we water our 10 acre fields with approximately 1.5 to 2 acre feet per field each irrigation session. This helps to minimize the standing water. Of course, insects have become very adapted to the infrequent rain fall of the desert and complete full life cycles within days when water becomes available. So we still have a mosquito issue, but it certainly is not as bad as when we took the advice of the locals, waiting for 2/3 of the field to be covered.
We have investigated non-toxic products to add to the water in attempts to eradicate the mosquitoes, but haven't found anything that works with our ditch system as of yet. If there is anything that would drive me from this lifestyle it would be the mosquitoes. I just can't tolerate them myself, let alone the severe irritation they are to our animals, and the fear of West Nile disease. We have two Mosquito Magnets running all season long and the horses wear flysheets and fly/mosquito spray. Each horse stall has their own sprayer misting fly repellant intermittently throughout the day and night. As soon as the sun starts to go down, we go inside and don't come out until daybreak through the summer season. The grasses are full of mosquitoes looking for cooler hiding places, so that the horses' noses are covered with mosquitoes while the graze. They have blood spots all over their bodies from smashing blood-filled mosquitoes with their noses.
We receive a monthly statement from MSIDD which informs us of our usage and the balance. We must maintain money in the balance in order to receive water. There are mistakes that appear at times, so it is very important to keep accurate records of the meter readings to compare to the statements. We currently have four land owners that share the leg off of the canal in which the same water box provides the meter readings. It is manageable at this point because for the most part we are able to communicate when we are planning to water and coordinate any "handing off" of the water. I always will call into the dispatcher to make them aware of the meter readings and time at which any exchange from us to another or vice versa occurs. In the future as we increase the number of users on the ditch, it will be necessary to start our own group with a designated water master to coordinate water assignments with the locals and MSIDD. We still haven't gotten too far with this project, probably because we know it involves a great deal of research and clarifying the legal ramifications of the responsibility.
One of the on-going challenges of the irrigation process, particularily for me, is the tumbleweeds that tumble across the desert and into the ditches. There are points along the ditch that have turns or piping that the debris will get clogged. I try to clear the ditches when they are dry. I am strong enough to toss dry tumbleweeds, but if the wind is blowing them in once the water is in the ditch, I am in for a weight lifting experience. There have been times that a clog has overflowed and I have to fork the compressed debris out as fast as possible, so as not to wash out a roadway or waste gallons of water (that we pay for). I have been in tears struggling to continue pulling debris out, laughing at myself crying in self pity and from the burning pain in my shoulder muscles. See I irrigate during the week when Donald is away at work, and I am on my own to do the job. I am very thankful when there is no wind on an irrigation day.
Another challenge to the ditch system is the gophers that dig from upwards of 50 yards away, up to the concrete ditch. They dig out vacancies below the ditch that make it vulnerable to cracking. Once a crack occurs the water will leak through the gopher's tunnel system to a lone hole yards away, where the water accumulates quickly. The vegetation is always thriving in these areas. We have tried to pour concrete into the holes to fill, but the space is so vast that we discovered that it never fills. We patch cracks now. We also drive heavy equipment next to the ditches in order to crush any pockets that the gophers have dug and to smash the tunnel systems to stop up the water passages.
At this time we have developed a day to day irrigation which allows us to sleep through the night, or a one-nighter that requires us to switch from field to field after approximately 5-6 hours if the flow rate is 5 cfs. The flow rate has to be below 7 cfs or the water will overflow the ditches. At that speed the water can't force itself through the port holes fast enough and will eventually spill over the ditch. We have worked it out so that the 4.5-5 cfs flow rate allows us enough time to water the three planted fields overnight with out requiring the assistance of the irrigation personnel that would cost additional money. This is assuming that they get the cfs set correctly before they leave or that there are no scheduled changes in the night that may increase or decrease the flow rate. Decreases are less of a problem. We just water longer. Increases are a problem. If the water is coming too fast we finish watering before any one is on duty and we have no where to send the additional water.
Today is and irrigation of one of the horse pastures. This field only requires approximately .5 acre feet to irrigate sufficiently. However, today I will be testing the tree watering trench that cuts into the northern or low end of the pasture and feed northward to all of our newly planted trees. I am hoping to use this method of watering so that I can eventually discontinue the process of hauling water from our well in the front loader of the tractor to water each individual tree. I will have to do so until the trees are established and from time to time when the summer temperatures become extreme this first year. Eventually, I would like to add trenches with tree wells around the various horse areas (arenas, roundpens) in order to provide some shade and of course the beauty of trees.
I have to go and close the neighbor's gates so that the water will make its way to our property and dig out a few clumps in my tree trench, so the water will make its way to the trees this morning. Nothing like a little manual labor to start my day.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Balancing Ranch, Family, and Community
Lately I have been very busy with the challenges of juggling the various tasks and obligations of the demands of the ranch, family schedules, and concerns regarding the developing community. We have two daughters that have their areas of interest. Many require lengthy drives to get to scheduled classes, lessons, or activities. As we are situated out of the limits of the nearest city, Casa Grande, even simple tasks such as grocery shopping require at least 45 minutes driving round trip. When there is a trip to town planned, it is just that "planned." Every errand is coordinated with the mental map drawn out, so as to mark everything on the list. When we are going to the "city," that is further north in the valley, coolers are packed to take advantage of the markets that are currently unavailable in Casa Grande. It becomes a race around the city to accomplish all the errands before a class or lesson is over. I use my Blackberry task list to organize the errands, with accompanying alarms, so that I am urged forward to the next, for time is running out and then "Ding" time to pick someone up and go back to the ranch.
The day to day chores of the ranch generally have become automated. The care and feeding of the animals is a pretty set routine that we take for granted now that we have worked out all the kinks, making it all flow without any real disruptions. I suppose the dogs are the ones that require the attention to detail. We have acquired several dogs that have been abandoned in the desert. One adopted us after realizing there was usually someone or something here at all times to keep him company. His name is Bear and he is truly a desert survivor. He must be upwards of ten years of age at this point. I will be supplementing his diet with some glucosamine, as his hips seem to be giving him trouble these days. We have two Great Pyrenese/Border Collie mixes. They were abandoned by the guys managing the sheep at one of the fields several miles away. I suppose the fact that the pups were crosses was enough of a reason to leave them behind. The pups had a rough start and have a tendency to be too aggressive for my comfort, but we intended on them to be our "security patrol." We had both the Pyrenese, Titan and Zeus, neutered to avoid complicating the dynamics of our "pack." I can't imagine how aggressive they would have been if they had remained "fully intact." Their aggression is directed at other dogs, but they do their job alerting us when something or someone is skirting our property. They have worked out a heirarchy within our "pack." Fearing for Bear's safety, he has been banished from the immediate area surrounding the house, staying outside the fence. Zeus is the alpha male, often putting Titan in his place. It is disturbing to all of us to have to witness these battles, but interfering only makes it more aggressive and longer lasting. Over time Zeus seems to have developed a specific posturing that signals his dominance, standing rigid with his long tail curled around the back of Titan, growling momentarily, until he is assured that Titan understands his place once again, avoiding the snapping teeth and all-out fights.
As a result of this continual heirarchal battle, care and delicacy is required at feeding time. These dogs all know that the humans are the real leaders and have been through all of the training establishing this fact. We can take away their food at anytime during their meal or make them sit and wait until given the release to eat. But we have learned that the easiest way to get through their meal time is to physically seperate them. The release back into their territory must be done in a certain order as well to prevent any squirmishes.
So why do I acknowledge these conflicts? When it comes time for the family to make a trip away from the ranch, it is necessary to find someone to take over these chores. We have never done this in all the years that we have been here. When we traveled to the John Day ranch, we hauled all the animals with us, even the rabbit that we had at the time. But once we invested in the Bermuda fields in Casa Grande, we were required to be here through out the summer growing season. As we accepted our long summers in Casa Grande, we accumulated more and more animals and chores to go along with them through the years. As I have said, we have a comfortable routine that any one of us is capable of doing if it falls to our charge. But to ask someone else to step in conjures images of training sessions to review the processes and procedures, making the temptation to leave someone behind if travel is required, very appealing.
And so we have continued now for the last six years that we have resided on the ranch, always having a family member present. But the time has come to make a family trip back to Maryland. Donald's mom has passed away and it is time for all of us to return to the east. We have not been there together since 2000. The girls were just little toddlers really. To make the trip, Erin will have to miss a couple days of school, and Emma will miss a couple rehearsals for Les Sylphides, a community service obligation, and piano lessons.
It is so tempting to bail out and stay home, sending the rest of the family off to Maryland. But it has to be done at some time, so I have begun to pre-plan. We have to consider the irrigation schedule. In order to keep the fields alive, the irrigation schedule has to be manipulated so that the fields will not require watering while we are away. The irrigation of the horse pasture must be planned so that both sides of the divided pasture are dry enough for the horses to be turned out while we are gone, but not so dry that we lose the pasture. Refilling water and visual inspections of the horses would be necessary. If the fields aren't dry enough then the horses have to stay in the barn, requiring hay feeding twice daily and stall mucking. I would like to make less work for someone, so that we are not imposing as much. Of course, if we actually were to get rain while we were away, then the horses would be in the barn requiring more attention anyway. All the trees will have to be watered in advance.
The dogs feeding procedures will have to be reviewed and demonstrated, so as to prevent our care giver from running away in fright after a dog fight breaks out. The little Chihuahua will stay with Grammy giving them both some companionship and hopefully not too much inconvenience for Grammy. The Lab will inhabit the house for the most part, but letting her out to do her business requires the containment of the big boys from the yard, so that she is not bothered by the youngsters. Star the Lab is pushing twelve years and really can't take the enthusiasm the pups (over a year now, but Star can literally walk under their bellies). She adds the additional challenge of being allergic to just about everything and requires a special diet and monitoring.
The poultry shouldn't be too much of a problem. Collecting their eggs, feeding and watering, along with turning on and off their misters to survive the heat of the day should cover their requirements. Although, Emma has a huge new flock of ducklings and chicks that will all need special attention. I am going to have to convince Emma not to put any more eggs into her incubator that would have a hatch date while we would be away. That will be hard for her to agree to, since she is having a very successful hatching season with some rather difficult birds to hatch. The Emu is intimidating and will also require training and demonstration for the feeding and watering. I am always leary of that giant, inquisitive bird. I always feel like Pebbles the Emu would really like to take a peck at one of my eyes. We joke that one must wear goggles, gloves, and males must wear an athletic cup, when entering her pen. She is curious and attempts to peck jewelry, freckles, and logos on your shirt.
I have contacted the president of our local 4-H club to manage the ranch while we're gone. If she can confirm, I will feel much better about leaving, as she has had a great deal of experience with animals. She has raised lambs too, so my new Jacobs would be in good hands. With technology today, she can call or text if there is a problem. So the pre-planning and set up for the ranch is on the agenda for the next three and half weeks.
In the meantime, the proposal for the prison is still being debated and will be presented to the council during the time we will be gone. Opposition to this prison is extremely important to our family and ranch business, so missing the first official presentation is a little frightening. Not that I personally can stop the proposal, but I have done a lot of research on the company making the proposal and they are not impressive. I will have to share this with others that will speak at the meeting, so that this company's indiscretions are fully revealed. I will have to trust others to be articulate and thorough.
Leaving for even a short time will require a great deal of work in advance to make things run smoothly. There are always those unpredictable disasters that can destroy even the best laid plans. I suppose I should have instructions for what to do if the well stops functioning. The air conditioning could go out on us, leaving poor Star in the heat after being pampered with cool temperatures indoors for the last eleven summer seasons. I better find a number for a repairman for that as well. The utility company's number will be necessary for power outages. Those happen randomly out here in the desert. I'll have to leave Bear to ward off the coyotes. In addition, I will have to convince myself to let things go into the hands of others for the week. Now that may be the biggest challenge of all.
The day to day chores of the ranch generally have become automated. The care and feeding of the animals is a pretty set routine that we take for granted now that we have worked out all the kinks, making it all flow without any real disruptions. I suppose the dogs are the ones that require the attention to detail. We have acquired several dogs that have been abandoned in the desert. One adopted us after realizing there was usually someone or something here at all times to keep him company. His name is Bear and he is truly a desert survivor. He must be upwards of ten years of age at this point. I will be supplementing his diet with some glucosamine, as his hips seem to be giving him trouble these days. We have two Great Pyrenese/Border Collie mixes. They were abandoned by the guys managing the sheep at one of the fields several miles away. I suppose the fact that the pups were crosses was enough of a reason to leave them behind. The pups had a rough start and have a tendency to be too aggressive for my comfort, but we intended on them to be our "security patrol." We had both the Pyrenese, Titan and Zeus, neutered to avoid complicating the dynamics of our "pack." I can't imagine how aggressive they would have been if they had remained "fully intact." Their aggression is directed at other dogs, but they do their job alerting us when something or someone is skirting our property. They have worked out a heirarchy within our "pack." Fearing for Bear's safety, he has been banished from the immediate area surrounding the house, staying outside the fence. Zeus is the alpha male, often putting Titan in his place. It is disturbing to all of us to have to witness these battles, but interfering only makes it more aggressive and longer lasting. Over time Zeus seems to have developed a specific posturing that signals his dominance, standing rigid with his long tail curled around the back of Titan, growling momentarily, until he is assured that Titan understands his place once again, avoiding the snapping teeth and all-out fights.
As a result of this continual heirarchal battle, care and delicacy is required at feeding time. These dogs all know that the humans are the real leaders and have been through all of the training establishing this fact. We can take away their food at anytime during their meal or make them sit and wait until given the release to eat. But we have learned that the easiest way to get through their meal time is to physically seperate them. The release back into their territory must be done in a certain order as well to prevent any squirmishes.
So why do I acknowledge these conflicts? When it comes time for the family to make a trip away from the ranch, it is necessary to find someone to take over these chores. We have never done this in all the years that we have been here. When we traveled to the John Day ranch, we hauled all the animals with us, even the rabbit that we had at the time. But once we invested in the Bermuda fields in Casa Grande, we were required to be here through out the summer growing season. As we accepted our long summers in Casa Grande, we accumulated more and more animals and chores to go along with them through the years. As I have said, we have a comfortable routine that any one of us is capable of doing if it falls to our charge. But to ask someone else to step in conjures images of training sessions to review the processes and procedures, making the temptation to leave someone behind if travel is required, very appealing.
And so we have continued now for the last six years that we have resided on the ranch, always having a family member present. But the time has come to make a family trip back to Maryland. Donald's mom has passed away and it is time for all of us to return to the east. We have not been there together since 2000. The girls were just little toddlers really. To make the trip, Erin will have to miss a couple days of school, and Emma will miss a couple rehearsals for Les Sylphides, a community service obligation, and piano lessons.
It is so tempting to bail out and stay home, sending the rest of the family off to Maryland. But it has to be done at some time, so I have begun to pre-plan. We have to consider the irrigation schedule. In order to keep the fields alive, the irrigation schedule has to be manipulated so that the fields will not require watering while we are away. The irrigation of the horse pasture must be planned so that both sides of the divided pasture are dry enough for the horses to be turned out while we are gone, but not so dry that we lose the pasture. Refilling water and visual inspections of the horses would be necessary. If the fields aren't dry enough then the horses have to stay in the barn, requiring hay feeding twice daily and stall mucking. I would like to make less work for someone, so that we are not imposing as much. Of course, if we actually were to get rain while we were away, then the horses would be in the barn requiring more attention anyway. All the trees will have to be watered in advance.
The dogs feeding procedures will have to be reviewed and demonstrated, so as to prevent our care giver from running away in fright after a dog fight breaks out. The little Chihuahua will stay with Grammy giving them both some companionship and hopefully not too much inconvenience for Grammy. The Lab will inhabit the house for the most part, but letting her out to do her business requires the containment of the big boys from the yard, so that she is not bothered by the youngsters. Star the Lab is pushing twelve years and really can't take the enthusiasm the pups (over a year now, but Star can literally walk under their bellies). She adds the additional challenge of being allergic to just about everything and requires a special diet and monitoring.
The poultry shouldn't be too much of a problem. Collecting their eggs, feeding and watering, along with turning on and off their misters to survive the heat of the day should cover their requirements. Although, Emma has a huge new flock of ducklings and chicks that will all need special attention. I am going to have to convince Emma not to put any more eggs into her incubator that would have a hatch date while we would be away. That will be hard for her to agree to, since she is having a very successful hatching season with some rather difficult birds to hatch. The Emu is intimidating and will also require training and demonstration for the feeding and watering. I am always leary of that giant, inquisitive bird. I always feel like Pebbles the Emu would really like to take a peck at one of my eyes. We joke that one must wear goggles, gloves, and males must wear an athletic cup, when entering her pen. She is curious and attempts to peck jewelry, freckles, and logos on your shirt.
I have contacted the president of our local 4-H club to manage the ranch while we're gone. If she can confirm, I will feel much better about leaving, as she has had a great deal of experience with animals. She has raised lambs too, so my new Jacobs would be in good hands. With technology today, she can call or text if there is a problem. So the pre-planning and set up for the ranch is on the agenda for the next three and half weeks.
In the meantime, the proposal for the prison is still being debated and will be presented to the council during the time we will be gone. Opposition to this prison is extremely important to our family and ranch business, so missing the first official presentation is a little frightening. Not that I personally can stop the proposal, but I have done a lot of research on the company making the proposal and they are not impressive. I will have to share this with others that will speak at the meeting, so that this company's indiscretions are fully revealed. I will have to trust others to be articulate and thorough.
Leaving for even a short time will require a great deal of work in advance to make things run smoothly. There are always those unpredictable disasters that can destroy even the best laid plans. I suppose I should have instructions for what to do if the well stops functioning. The air conditioning could go out on us, leaving poor Star in the heat after being pampered with cool temperatures indoors for the last eleven summer seasons. I better find a number for a repairman for that as well. The utility company's number will be necessary for power outages. Those happen randomly out here in the desert. I'll have to leave Bear to ward off the coyotes. In addition, I will have to convince myself to let things go into the hands of others for the week. Now that may be the biggest challenge of all.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Raising Our Own Meals
Yesterday I spent several hours driving to New River, AZ to pick up two lambs. These are Jacob sheep (I posted a link for more information about this breed). I decided to get this particular breed because of its smaller size and desirable meat product. Yes, these are for next year's processing. I am told that the fat deposits along the breast bone on these lambs, so that it is in demand with the gourmet restaurants for their menus.
The girls are definitely giving me a hard time about the idea of taking these animals to process (I have a hard time saying slaughter) next year. They really aren't on board with the idea. Although, they have both raised hogs that they have sold at auction with the 4-H. Of course, those porkers didn't end up on our table. This is a test for me as well. I have to admit baby animals are so cute and cuddly, it is hard to believe I will be willing to haul them down to the University of Arizona's meat lab next year.
We have been trying to get started on raising more and more of our own food. The livestock for the meat and our garden for the veggies. We even have plans for a mini-orchard. One of the first issues with the livestock is housing them in secure pens. That takes extra labor and we have a list of priority items that are directly related to generating an income for the ranch that are at the top of the list. Food is for the family.
The other consideration is where to put the meat. We don't have a freezer for this and always seem to have other expenses that have prevented this purchase in the past. I figured that starting with a smaller animal would be a good training tool for the entire experience. Hence the lambs. I am told that when these animals are "dressed out" they end up only being about 40 lbs of meat. I imagine that now that we have them, the freezer will become a little more important as the time comes and we'll make the purchase.
I have taken over the girls' 4-H hog pen with our new lambs, so a new pen for the lambs will be in order come fall. We have a design for a line of livestock pens with a large turn out run for their exercise. We just have to find the time to get it built. It will need to house the lambs, an Emu and a hog or two.
Donald wants to raise a hog for our freezer next fall. The girls have had their hogs through the winter months and that has been manageable. As the weather heats up it is very difficult to keep the hogs from stressing, so processing in the spring eliminates that difficulty.
Another idea in the works will be meat poultry. This isn't going over too well with Emma, as she has names for all her chickens and spends a good amount of time getting to know them. So my meat flock will have to be seperate from our egg layers and her show birds. What I would like to do is have a mobile pen that would be placed in the pasture for the chickens to graze, relocating as necessary. I'd like to try grass fed as we have a good deal available. I have talked with Emma about what type of birds would be best for my project. She recommended the Jersey Giant, but then conceded that the Cornish Rock cross would probably be best for her soft heart. This cross is a "fast grow" and she figures that they can't survive their own bodies weight gain, so they would die anyway, so she could accept that as opposed to a chicken that could potentially have a long life. Of course, it may be a ploy on her part to put an end to my meat poultry project altogether considering my Thanksgiving turkey experience.
I raised a Broad-Breasted White turkey for our holiday meal last year. I went to the neighbor's day-before-Thanksgiving gathering to learn how to butcher and clean turkeys and ended up with an extremely large bird for our feast (no roasting pan large enough, even with the oven racks removed). To sum it up, it was a disaster. The meat could only be described as turkey jerky. I ended up throwing it in the trash, not even feeding it to the dogs. Emma warned me that the mutant birds bred for fast growth weren't the way to go. Perhaps she is thinking that I will have a similar experience with the chickens and give up.
As I build my courage and we build the fencing, we will eventually move up in size to the steer. The realities of an animal that size take some serious considerations. Hauling isn't so hard when it is a calf, but when it is full grown it has to be hauled in the horse trailer. Getting a full grown steer into a trailer may be easy for the experienced, but I will practice with the reduced-size experience of the lambs first. The hogs haven't been so bad, because the girls have spent time walking their pigs around the property. They have to do this so they can participate in the Showmanship classes at the county fair. It also builds the muscles so that the hog is a better meat product in the end. Honestly, the size of a steer is intimidating to me. I was always fascinated that my mother's favorite animal was a cow knowing that she is afraid of our horses. I have a great appreciation for animals that understand they have their space and I have mine and the spaces only intersect when I decide they will. Cattle seem to go where they want and if you're in their way, you may get smashed into a fence as they go by. I am determined to work through my personal fears and accomplish our goals.
As for the garden, we have had a challenging start. We planted tomatoes and green peppers, grapes and herbs, melons and carrots. The first go around we realized that the Jackrabbits and Cottontails had to be fenced out, for they ate all my early plantings and nibbled away the growth of anything coming up the day after we excitedly noticed. So the rabbit fence went up. In the meantime the chicken flock had grown enough that they were expanding their range and quickly discovered that a brief moment of flight landed them into the area of "good eatins." By the way, chickens love green pepper leaves. I came out one morning and all that was left were a long line of green stubs sticking up from the dirt. Oh the heartache.
We eventually re-fenced to keep our own chickens out and we were growing the garden. Things were yummy and it was so convenient to walk out and pick what we needed for a recipe or salad. The seasonal differences were a little tricky for me after having a small vegetable garden years ago in Ohio. It is just too hot during the Arizona summer to plant the same way I did up north. I spent a lot of time trying to find specific literature about planting in the desert and had some nice plants producing well by early spring.
Watering the garden was done with drip lines buried just under the surface. Sprinkling or spraying water here is wasteful. Evaporation is high. The drip lines get the water to the roots under the surface and decrease the evaporation. The watering schedule was set on a timer for convenience. Of course we had to trench over to the garden location and put in two drip line connections for each garden bed row (eight 40-45 foot beds). That was laborious as usual. But the location of the garden just so happen to be the previous owner's roundpen location, so the earth was extremely compacted and it took the neighbor's tractor to break through the earth. This was 2005, before we had purchased any significant equipment.
The garden was growing well and it was time to leave for Oregon for several weeks. We had a neighbor lined up to check on things. Shortly thereafter we received the call that our well pump had died and the neighbor wanted to know what to do about the garden and tree watering. The work that needed to be done on the well had to wait until we returned, so we lost the garden and some trees. The garden has been waiting ever since for me to get back to it.
But I am determined to start again this year. I have taken the back hoe and dug up the earth at least 3-4 feet down to loosen up the soil. The clay soil really lends itself to the making of bricks. So I have amended the soil with organic manure from the local organic dairy and gypsum sand from the local quarry. I have mixed this with the back hoe like using a big spoon. Unfortunately, the clay chunks are still clay chunks and really need to be tilled to break them up. The motorized hand tiller can't even get through them. I have revised my plan to focus on one bed row. I intend on getting more composted soil to add to the bed and watering in attempt to break down some of the clay chunks and hand till (yes with my own hands and garden tools). I then intend on framing this first bed up with wooden planks to make it a raised bed for perenially plantings. Once the framing is in I will not be able to use the tractor to re-till or disc in the future, so this one will grow permanent plants; herbs, asparagus mostly. And I better do it right.
With all that we don't know about the chemicals and additives that are put into the foods at manufacturing and processing plants and feed lots, I prefer growing my own if we can. I suppose that is the point, we can so why not? We have the space, we have the motivation, we just have to make time. We learn as we go. Even if we think we have done all the research, there is always something unique to our experience that teaches us another lesson along the way. I figure the people have managed to raise crops and livestock in our history before the technology and machinery of today, so we should have a pretty good shot at growing enough to put a few meals on the table.
The girls are definitely giving me a hard time about the idea of taking these animals to process (I have a hard time saying slaughter) next year. They really aren't on board with the idea. Although, they have both raised hogs that they have sold at auction with the 4-H. Of course, those porkers didn't end up on our table. This is a test for me as well. I have to admit baby animals are so cute and cuddly, it is hard to believe I will be willing to haul them down to the University of Arizona's meat lab next year.
We have been trying to get started on raising more and more of our own food. The livestock for the meat and our garden for the veggies. We even have plans for a mini-orchard. One of the first issues with the livestock is housing them in secure pens. That takes extra labor and we have a list of priority items that are directly related to generating an income for the ranch that are at the top of the list. Food is for the family.
The other consideration is where to put the meat. We don't have a freezer for this and always seem to have other expenses that have prevented this purchase in the past. I figured that starting with a smaller animal would be a good training tool for the entire experience. Hence the lambs. I am told that when these animals are "dressed out" they end up only being about 40 lbs of meat. I imagine that now that we have them, the freezer will become a little more important as the time comes and we'll make the purchase.
I have taken over the girls' 4-H hog pen with our new lambs, so a new pen for the lambs will be in order come fall. We have a design for a line of livestock pens with a large turn out run for their exercise. We just have to find the time to get it built. It will need to house the lambs, an Emu and a hog or two.
Donald wants to raise a hog for our freezer next fall. The girls have had their hogs through the winter months and that has been manageable. As the weather heats up it is very difficult to keep the hogs from stressing, so processing in the spring eliminates that difficulty.
Another idea in the works will be meat poultry. This isn't going over too well with Emma, as she has names for all her chickens and spends a good amount of time getting to know them. So my meat flock will have to be seperate from our egg layers and her show birds. What I would like to do is have a mobile pen that would be placed in the pasture for the chickens to graze, relocating as necessary. I'd like to try grass fed as we have a good deal available. I have talked with Emma about what type of birds would be best for my project. She recommended the Jersey Giant, but then conceded that the Cornish Rock cross would probably be best for her soft heart. This cross is a "fast grow" and she figures that they can't survive their own bodies weight gain, so they would die anyway, so she could accept that as opposed to a chicken that could potentially have a long life. Of course, it may be a ploy on her part to put an end to my meat poultry project altogether considering my Thanksgiving turkey experience.
I raised a Broad-Breasted White turkey for our holiday meal last year. I went to the neighbor's day-before-Thanksgiving gathering to learn how to butcher and clean turkeys and ended up with an extremely large bird for our feast (no roasting pan large enough, even with the oven racks removed). To sum it up, it was a disaster. The meat could only be described as turkey jerky. I ended up throwing it in the trash, not even feeding it to the dogs. Emma warned me that the mutant birds bred for fast growth weren't the way to go. Perhaps she is thinking that I will have a similar experience with the chickens and give up.
As I build my courage and we build the fencing, we will eventually move up in size to the steer. The realities of an animal that size take some serious considerations. Hauling isn't so hard when it is a calf, but when it is full grown it has to be hauled in the horse trailer. Getting a full grown steer into a trailer may be easy for the experienced, but I will practice with the reduced-size experience of the lambs first. The hogs haven't been so bad, because the girls have spent time walking their pigs around the property. They have to do this so they can participate in the Showmanship classes at the county fair. It also builds the muscles so that the hog is a better meat product in the end. Honestly, the size of a steer is intimidating to me. I was always fascinated that my mother's favorite animal was a cow knowing that she is afraid of our horses. I have a great appreciation for animals that understand they have their space and I have mine and the spaces only intersect when I decide they will. Cattle seem to go where they want and if you're in their way, you may get smashed into a fence as they go by. I am determined to work through my personal fears and accomplish our goals.
As for the garden, we have had a challenging start. We planted tomatoes and green peppers, grapes and herbs, melons and carrots. The first go around we realized that the Jackrabbits and Cottontails had to be fenced out, for they ate all my early plantings and nibbled away the growth of anything coming up the day after we excitedly noticed. So the rabbit fence went up. In the meantime the chicken flock had grown enough that they were expanding their range and quickly discovered that a brief moment of flight landed them into the area of "good eatins." By the way, chickens love green pepper leaves. I came out one morning and all that was left were a long line of green stubs sticking up from the dirt. Oh the heartache.
We eventually re-fenced to keep our own chickens out and we were growing the garden. Things were yummy and it was so convenient to walk out and pick what we needed for a recipe or salad. The seasonal differences were a little tricky for me after having a small vegetable garden years ago in Ohio. It is just too hot during the Arizona summer to plant the same way I did up north. I spent a lot of time trying to find specific literature about planting in the desert and had some nice plants producing well by early spring.
Watering the garden was done with drip lines buried just under the surface. Sprinkling or spraying water here is wasteful. Evaporation is high. The drip lines get the water to the roots under the surface and decrease the evaporation. The watering schedule was set on a timer for convenience. Of course we had to trench over to the garden location and put in two drip line connections for each garden bed row (eight 40-45 foot beds). That was laborious as usual. But the location of the garden just so happen to be the previous owner's roundpen location, so the earth was extremely compacted and it took the neighbor's tractor to break through the earth. This was 2005, before we had purchased any significant equipment.
The garden was growing well and it was time to leave for Oregon for several weeks. We had a neighbor lined up to check on things. Shortly thereafter we received the call that our well pump had died and the neighbor wanted to know what to do about the garden and tree watering. The work that needed to be done on the well had to wait until we returned, so we lost the garden and some trees. The garden has been waiting ever since for me to get back to it.
But I am determined to start again this year. I have taken the back hoe and dug up the earth at least 3-4 feet down to loosen up the soil. The clay soil really lends itself to the making of bricks. So I have amended the soil with organic manure from the local organic dairy and gypsum sand from the local quarry. I have mixed this with the back hoe like using a big spoon. Unfortunately, the clay chunks are still clay chunks and really need to be tilled to break them up. The motorized hand tiller can't even get through them. I have revised my plan to focus on one bed row. I intend on getting more composted soil to add to the bed and watering in attempt to break down some of the clay chunks and hand till (yes with my own hands and garden tools). I then intend on framing this first bed up with wooden planks to make it a raised bed for perenially plantings. Once the framing is in I will not be able to use the tractor to re-till or disc in the future, so this one will grow permanent plants; herbs, asparagus mostly. And I better do it right.
With all that we don't know about the chemicals and additives that are put into the foods at manufacturing and processing plants and feed lots, I prefer growing my own if we can. I suppose that is the point, we can so why not? We have the space, we have the motivation, we just have to make time. We learn as we go. Even if we think we have done all the research, there is always something unique to our experience that teaches us another lesson along the way. I figure the people have managed to raise crops and livestock in our history before the technology and machinery of today, so we should have a pretty good shot at growing enough to put a few meals on the table.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Capturing and Managing Rainwater
The summer of 2005, Donald stayed at the Casa Grande ranch, while the girls and I headed to the John Day ranch. We were anticipating the erection of the horse barn that fall and Donald would be trenching for the water and electric lines, and then join us in Oregon later.
As it turned out, Donald ended up with Valley Fever that summer. It is unique to the Sonoran desert, and is acquired by inhaling spores found in the soil that then deposit in your lungs. It has different symptoms, but commonly acts like pneumonia. Unfortunately, the treatment with antibiotics for that misdiagnosis irritates the Valley Fever spores and makes things worse. It can be debilitating for some and even cause death. My dad had it the year prior and it really kicked his butt. We were suspicious immediately and requested the blood test to verify, but not before they gave Donald antibiotics for the misdiagnosed lung infection. Of course, they insisted that he had heart burn for a couple hours while we waited for them to arrange the lung x-ray.
His Valley Fever was diagnosed after the girls and I had arrived in Oregon. Typical Donald, he didn't let on how bad he really was. So he attempted to work in the 110+ degree summer, trenching and hand shoveling. He would last a couple hours and then he would sleep almost the rest of the day and night.
2005 was also the summer that Donald experienced the wrath of his first "microburst." A microburst is like a desert dust devil on steriods. This isolated tornado blew through the ranch at wind speeds documented by the weather station just east of the ranch, at 90 mph. Then came the torrential rains. Donald was trapped in the modular house that was placed on its jacks by the previous owner. The house was shaking and Donald thought for sure the wind would shatter the windows.
When the worst of it was over, Donald went out to investigate the damage.
When we purchased the property, there was the little house and some stalls that housed the previous owner's stallions. They were heavy duty. We had our RV and a horse trailer parked on the property, along with our personal vehicles at that time. The materials for the barn to be built were on the property at this point as well. We also had acquired a very large tank for capturing rainwater and irrigation overflow that was still on the flatbed trailer.
After the storm, the horse stalls resembled a spider carcass with the pipe rails twisted and mangled and deposited about a half mile south of the property. They were unsalvageable. Debris had flown through the air and smashed windows on the RV and one of our cars. The A/C units on top of the RV were ripped off and blown away. Donald found the water tank about 4-5 miles away in a wash, but that was about 4 months later. There was standing water everywhere. Tools had been thrown and then submerged so that they were found (and are still being found) scattered throughout the desert. The air compressor was completely submerged and ultimately destroyed. Horse blankets and supplies were underwater. Fortunately, no horses were home at the ranch for this storm.
Donald sent us pictures of the damage. It was frightening that a storm could do that much damage. But we were the lucky ones, not too far away, people with similar homes had them tossed over. We realized that we had another issue that needed to be addressed and planned for in the overall design of our property; water.
When we arrived at the ranch we had been niave about the damage storms could do. With paved roads, "stick-built" homes, water drainage, and wind breaks we never had been adversely effected. We quickly realized we were going to have to make some modifications so that we could weather the storms.
Years later after the horse barn had been erected, Donald and I recognized a storm heading our way and set to the task of preparing. We tarped the hay, brought in the horses, moved vehicles to the compacted gravel surfaces and unplugged the electronics in the house. Usually with a storm the electricity would go off more often than not. By the time we got the last horse in, the down pour trapped us in the barn. We figured it was a hard rain that would be short lived and we would wait it out. But this one just kept coming down and as we waited we watched the waters rising all around us. The water was flowing so fast that it was eroding the soil like time-elapsed photography. We were reminded of the importance of getting busy on that plan to deal with all the water that we could potentially get at one time.
Ironically, that week (yes we finally made out of the barn to the house), I heard a radio interview on NPR about rainwater harvesting. Brad Lancaster from Tucson was talking about capturing the rain water and reusing it. http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ Donald and I had just spent those hours in the barn watching the rainwater beating down on the roof to the ground, swelling, and running across the property to the adjacent field set at the next tier, and decided we needed to figure out the next step to take advantage of all that water by catching it, or re-directing it. We had elevated our roadways and put down AB gravel for a parking area for vehicles and equipment. But more was necessary.
I spent some time reading Lancaster's work and doing some research about rainwater and greywater harvesting. Donald started designing some ways to make use of the rain water. Some ideas were pretty simple; gutters to holding tanks or rain barrels, creating low areas for planting. He also designed and set up a way to capture the water from our horse wash bay. The water drains to plumbing that runs underground to a French drain situated under newly planted trees. These were planted next to the future site of our round pen.
Donald also designed a drainage system that would be under our round pen.
The soil here on the property is primarily clay. Water sits on top of it for days at a time depending on the rain fall. So many horse facilities are basically inoperable when the rain hits, because the riding areas are flooded. We wanted to avoid that situation. We dug parallel trenches across the location of the future round pen. A porous landscape material was placed in the trenches and filled with large rounded rock. The landscape material was wrapped around the rock and covered with a sand. The area was once again level and bedding sand was spread over the area and the round pen panels installed. Now when it rains the water is able to drain through the sand and instead of sitting on top of the clay foundation, it drains down into the trenches. The trenches were dug so that they all had a slope that drains the water to the east at which point a perpendicular trench butts up to the others for a final collection point. Trees and other vegetation will be planted behind this so that their roots can take advantage of the underground water supply.
Just this week I finally finished planting 10 new trees. There is a trench that runs from the irrigated horse pasture that will provide irrigation to the trees through the summer. We have to irrigate the pasture as often as every 2 weeks, so in between I will be carrying water in the front loader of the tractor to get those baby trees off to a good start.
As it turned out, Donald ended up with Valley Fever that summer. It is unique to the Sonoran desert, and is acquired by inhaling spores found in the soil that then deposit in your lungs. It has different symptoms, but commonly acts like pneumonia. Unfortunately, the treatment with antibiotics for that misdiagnosis irritates the Valley Fever spores and makes things worse. It can be debilitating for some and even cause death. My dad had it the year prior and it really kicked his butt. We were suspicious immediately and requested the blood test to verify, but not before they gave Donald antibiotics for the misdiagnosed lung infection. Of course, they insisted that he had heart burn for a couple hours while we waited for them to arrange the lung x-ray.
His Valley Fever was diagnosed after the girls and I had arrived in Oregon. Typical Donald, he didn't let on how bad he really was. So he attempted to work in the 110+ degree summer, trenching and hand shoveling. He would last a couple hours and then he would sleep almost the rest of the day and night.
2005 was also the summer that Donald experienced the wrath of his first "microburst." A microburst is like a desert dust devil on steriods. This isolated tornado blew through the ranch at wind speeds documented by the weather station just east of the ranch, at 90 mph. Then came the torrential rains. Donald was trapped in the modular house that was placed on its jacks by the previous owner. The house was shaking and Donald thought for sure the wind would shatter the windows.
When the worst of it was over, Donald went out to investigate the damage.
When we purchased the property, there was the little house and some stalls that housed the previous owner's stallions. They were heavy duty. We had our RV and a horse trailer parked on the property, along with our personal vehicles at that time. The materials for the barn to be built were on the property at this point as well. We also had acquired a very large tank for capturing rainwater and irrigation overflow that was still on the flatbed trailer.
After the storm, the horse stalls resembled a spider carcass with the pipe rails twisted and mangled and deposited about a half mile south of the property. They were unsalvageable. Debris had flown through the air and smashed windows on the RV and one of our cars. The A/C units on top of the RV were ripped off and blown away. Donald found the water tank about 4-5 miles away in a wash, but that was about 4 months later. There was standing water everywhere. Tools had been thrown and then submerged so that they were found (and are still being found) scattered throughout the desert. The air compressor was completely submerged and ultimately destroyed. Horse blankets and supplies were underwater. Fortunately, no horses were home at the ranch for this storm.
Donald sent us pictures of the damage. It was frightening that a storm could do that much damage. But we were the lucky ones, not too far away, people with similar homes had them tossed over. We realized that we had another issue that needed to be addressed and planned for in the overall design of our property; water.
When we arrived at the ranch we had been niave about the damage storms could do. With paved roads, "stick-built" homes, water drainage, and wind breaks we never had been adversely effected. We quickly realized we were going to have to make some modifications so that we could weather the storms.
Years later after the horse barn had been erected, Donald and I recognized a storm heading our way and set to the task of preparing. We tarped the hay, brought in the horses, moved vehicles to the compacted gravel surfaces and unplugged the electronics in the house. Usually with a storm the electricity would go off more often than not. By the time we got the last horse in, the down pour trapped us in the barn. We figured it was a hard rain that would be short lived and we would wait it out. But this one just kept coming down and as we waited we watched the waters rising all around us. The water was flowing so fast that it was eroding the soil like time-elapsed photography. We were reminded of the importance of getting busy on that plan to deal with all the water that we could potentially get at one time.
Ironically, that week (yes we finally made out of the barn to the house), I heard a radio interview on NPR about rainwater harvesting. Brad Lancaster from Tucson was talking about capturing the rain water and reusing it. http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ Donald and I had just spent those hours in the barn watching the rainwater beating down on the roof to the ground, swelling, and running across the property to the adjacent field set at the next tier, and decided we needed to figure out the next step to take advantage of all that water by catching it, or re-directing it. We had elevated our roadways and put down AB gravel for a parking area for vehicles and equipment. But more was necessary.
I spent some time reading Lancaster's work and doing some research about rainwater and greywater harvesting. Donald started designing some ways to make use of the rain water. Some ideas were pretty simple; gutters to holding tanks or rain barrels, creating low areas for planting. He also designed and set up a way to capture the water from our horse wash bay. The water drains to plumbing that runs underground to a French drain situated under newly planted trees. These were planted next to the future site of our round pen.
Donald also designed a drainage system that would be under our round pen.
The soil here on the property is primarily clay. Water sits on top of it for days at a time depending on the rain fall. So many horse facilities are basically inoperable when the rain hits, because the riding areas are flooded. We wanted to avoid that situation. We dug parallel trenches across the location of the future round pen. A porous landscape material was placed in the trenches and filled with large rounded rock. The landscape material was wrapped around the rock and covered with a sand. The area was once again level and bedding sand was spread over the area and the round pen panels installed. Now when it rains the water is able to drain through the sand and instead of sitting on top of the clay foundation, it drains down into the trenches. The trenches were dug so that they all had a slope that drains the water to the east at which point a perpendicular trench butts up to the others for a final collection point. Trees and other vegetation will be planted behind this so that their roots can take advantage of the underground water supply.
Just this week I finally finished planting 10 new trees. There is a trench that runs from the irrigated horse pasture that will provide irrigation to the trees through the summer. We have to irrigate the pasture as often as every 2 weeks, so in between I will be carrying water in the front loader of the tractor to get those baby trees off to a good start.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
What? A Prison? Here?
What do you get when you put a room full of long time residents of an RV Park and a man representing a company presenting a prison proposal into a small room? Well I'm sure there's a really good punch line for that, but honestly it was a very loud (I'd say 80% were wearing hearing aids), and lively attack on the representatives.
The latest excitement around here is the idea of building a prison about 8 or so miles up the road. It was communicated to me through the "grapevine." Someone told someone, who told someone.....In a nutshell, the company that specializes in privately run/owned medium security prisons is looking at this location to present a proposal to the city and county to build. They notified residents with in a 1200 ft radius about the proposal and last night's informational meeting.
Well if you're familiar with the desert territory, 1200 ft within this expansive terrain doesn't reach too far when you're trying to contact people. We're pretty spread out here on purpose. So the only ones that were contacted were the residents of a long ago established RV park that borders the southern perimeter of the proposed site, and the foreclosed golf course to the west. As to whether the guys at the golf course picked up and ran as they heard news of what was coming or if they just failed due to the economic climate, I don't know. Needless to say the 1200 ft radius did not inform many residents that this would effect. But those gals at the RV park got busy and told everyone at church and passed the word, so that the ten chairs that the prison guys set up in the tiny room at the Francisco Grande didn't meet the needs of the attendees. It was standing room only.
The fact that the meeting started with the very impressive presentation by the marketing guy telling us about the fabulous accomodations provided for the prisoners (the CAD education program, good food, and GED incentive program), hit a sour note with a good majority of the attendees, didn't get things off to the start they probably wanted. I have to admit when he got done talking about the place I was ready to sign my girls up, forget the expenses of college. Shoot they wouldn't have to survive on mac n cheese while they were getting their education, oh but this is an all male facility. It just didn't sit right telling a bunch of struggling ranchers and fixed income seniors of the benefits these criminals would receive. Don't get me wrong I am not suggesting torture for these wrong doers, just not a luxury retreat.
The tenor was set when the seniors started screaming out in their wavering voices, "Speak up, I can't hear you." The volume for the rest of the meeting was very high, which gave a certain agitation to the overall feel of the meeting.
There were two people that thought that the prison was a good idea as proposed. Of course one admitted that she probably wasn't going to live long enough to see it built so it would really impact the others that were going to survive.
Overall, the design and philosophy is good, just not up the road from us. They admitted that they had had escapes in the past, and the criminals were potentially murderers that have learned to work the system and behave so that they could get transferred to a lesser security prison. They were probably a little put off by the angry crowd telling them they came across as underhanded and secretive by not informing people in advance and only a limited number.
The benefits to the city if a facility were to be built as a result of an annex that would have to take place for the property to be considered Casa Grande, would be nice. Unfortunately, none of those benefits would extend to the rest of us that would be stuck with the facility glaring at us as we drove home, locking our doors as we read the signs posted not to pick up hitch hikers.
The company will present this to the city April 19 and the county June 2, all the way over in Florence. That is a good drive for us. The dates, conveniently for the prison reps, will eliminate some of the attendees as a result of the migratory patterns of our snow birds that inhabit the RV park for the winter. By the way, the name of the RV park is "Rustler's Roost: Escapees Park." I just loved that one!
I have the meeting dates in my calendar and will probably attend those meetings as well. I really find the disruption to my schedule inconvenient, but I don't want this to slip through and building to begin the end of summer as proposed. I am sure this topic will re-emerge in the future.
As for the ranch, the daily chores will take up most of the morning. I will have to take the little tractor with its bucket down to a water spigot and fill the bucket with water. I will then drive to the recently planted trees on the perimeter of the property and pour the water on each of the eight. I believe they all show signs of life despite the band of Indian horses that took the liberty of pulling them all out of the ground and throwing them to the side. Yes that is another story for another time. As for my precious trees, I am happy to report that my Mulberry trees planted 2-3 years ago, have greened up and look a tiny bit bigger this season. I am going for the "park like" setting around the equestrian section of the property. I find myself chanting, "grow little trees, grow little trees."
Time for chores.
The latest excitement around here is the idea of building a prison about 8 or so miles up the road. It was communicated to me through the "grapevine." Someone told someone, who told someone.....In a nutshell, the company that specializes in privately run/owned medium security prisons is looking at this location to present a proposal to the city and county to build. They notified residents with in a 1200 ft radius about the proposal and last night's informational meeting.
Well if you're familiar with the desert territory, 1200 ft within this expansive terrain doesn't reach too far when you're trying to contact people. We're pretty spread out here on purpose. So the only ones that were contacted were the residents of a long ago established RV park that borders the southern perimeter of the proposed site, and the foreclosed golf course to the west. As to whether the guys at the golf course picked up and ran as they heard news of what was coming or if they just failed due to the economic climate, I don't know. Needless to say the 1200 ft radius did not inform many residents that this would effect. But those gals at the RV park got busy and told everyone at church and passed the word, so that the ten chairs that the prison guys set up in the tiny room at the Francisco Grande didn't meet the needs of the attendees. It was standing room only.
The fact that the meeting started with the very impressive presentation by the marketing guy telling us about the fabulous accomodations provided for the prisoners (the CAD education program, good food, and GED incentive program), hit a sour note with a good majority of the attendees, didn't get things off to the start they probably wanted. I have to admit when he got done talking about the place I was ready to sign my girls up, forget the expenses of college. Shoot they wouldn't have to survive on mac n cheese while they were getting their education, oh but this is an all male facility. It just didn't sit right telling a bunch of struggling ranchers and fixed income seniors of the benefits these criminals would receive. Don't get me wrong I am not suggesting torture for these wrong doers, just not a luxury retreat.
The tenor was set when the seniors started screaming out in their wavering voices, "Speak up, I can't hear you." The volume for the rest of the meeting was very high, which gave a certain agitation to the overall feel of the meeting.
There were two people that thought that the prison was a good idea as proposed. Of course one admitted that she probably wasn't going to live long enough to see it built so it would really impact the others that were going to survive.
Overall, the design and philosophy is good, just not up the road from us. They admitted that they had had escapes in the past, and the criminals were potentially murderers that have learned to work the system and behave so that they could get transferred to a lesser security prison. They were probably a little put off by the angry crowd telling them they came across as underhanded and secretive by not informing people in advance and only a limited number.
The benefits to the city if a facility were to be built as a result of an annex that would have to take place for the property to be considered Casa Grande, would be nice. Unfortunately, none of those benefits would extend to the rest of us that would be stuck with the facility glaring at us as we drove home, locking our doors as we read the signs posted not to pick up hitch hikers.
The company will present this to the city April 19 and the county June 2, all the way over in Florence. That is a good drive for us. The dates, conveniently for the prison reps, will eliminate some of the attendees as a result of the migratory patterns of our snow birds that inhabit the RV park for the winter. By the way, the name of the RV park is "Rustler's Roost: Escapees Park." I just loved that one!
I have the meeting dates in my calendar and will probably attend those meetings as well. I really find the disruption to my schedule inconvenient, but I don't want this to slip through and building to begin the end of summer as proposed. I am sure this topic will re-emerge in the future.
As for the ranch, the daily chores will take up most of the morning. I will have to take the little tractor with its bucket down to a water spigot and fill the bucket with water. I will then drive to the recently planted trees on the perimeter of the property and pour the water on each of the eight. I believe they all show signs of life despite the band of Indian horses that took the liberty of pulling them all out of the ground and throwing them to the side. Yes that is another story for another time. As for my precious trees, I am happy to report that my Mulberry trees planted 2-3 years ago, have greened up and look a tiny bit bigger this season. I am going for the "park like" setting around the equestrian section of the property. I find myself chanting, "grow little trees, grow little trees."
Time for chores.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Bermuda Grass Hay by Default
The dogs are fed, horses are eating, chicken eggs collected, steel cut oats simmering, and the running list of things to attempt above and beyond the day's obligations has been compiled.
The turkeys, ducks, chickens, and emu still have to be fed, but Emma will take care of that. The turkeys will get to wander and eat some of the weeds that have sprung from last month's rains. Emma has new hatchlings in the brooder with new lovies hatching throughout the week. All of that project is Emma's creation and responsiblility.
At this point in time, Generations Ranch has primarily become a haying operation. We have spent the last four years regrouping, researching, and implementing our newly laid plans. We currently have 30 acres actively producing Bermuda grass for hay. We will continue to plant acreage as we are able in order to increase our productivity. We have developed a very nice clientele that have been pretty loyal. We try to go out of our way to grow a very good product, testing our hay for protein content, and delivering.
When we started growing our hay, we were growing for our own use. We had show horses and a few with special dietary needs...not "easy keepers." We needed good quality grass hay that would provide the nutrients they needed. Alfalfa hay was not an option. For those unfamiliar, alfalfa is a legume and is not the easiest on a horse's digestive system.
We had taken the horses to Oregon our first summer as an official LLC. There they were introduced to grazing on the 120 acres of pasture. They had never experienced grazing like this. We had to halter them and stand with them in the pasture for increasing increments of time, so that firstly when the time was up we could easily remove them and secondly control their introduction. If left to graze in this huge space, we would have spent hours trying to recapture them once they realized their huge boundaries. We were concerned that the transition be made slowly as to not cause them any problems such as founder.
So they were grazed on some of the best grasses available to horses; Timothy, Orchard, and some others including a little clover. They thrived and our "not-so easy keepers" stayed sound on their new diet. When we hauled back to Arizona we took a good amount of our Oregon hay to hold us over for our Arizona winter.
When we returned we got started planting 10 acres Timothy and 10 acres Orchard for a winter crop. Donald contacted the University of Arizona Ag dept. and worked closely with them on providing the right conditions to grow these grasses in the Arizona climate. We conceded that they would require replanting annually, but wanted to provide the best for our horses and sell the surplus.
In the meantime, we had 10 acres of Bermuda left from the previous owner that was struggling to gain a foothold after years of neglect. We contacted the local irrigation district and began the process of ordering our metered water to grow our grasses.
I feel like I have to explain what happened to the Timothy and Orchard grasses. We had incredibly good fortune with the longevity of our non-native grasses. We produced enough to feed our horses and sell the surplus. But after 3 years the Timothy and Orchard weren't able to hold fast against the spring weeds and we plowed it under.
The first of our hay business obstacles presented itself to us that first year; lack of shelter. We had no out building to protect our hay. So we did like so many attempt to do out here in the desert, we strapped tarps over our hay. Well let me tell you this is a hopeless exercise. The winds that we get here can exceed 80 mph, the sun exposure can literally turned items to powder, and once you have a tarp strapped down you can never remove it because it will never stay in place again. We spent a fortune on tarps only to have them crumble in our hands after exposure. The winds would whip the tarps off the hay in the middle of a monsoon storm so that there was no way the top layer of hay would ever be consumable for horses again. So we began the second phase of our hay production, cattle hay. Anything that got rained on became cattle hay and went for a discounted price. After 6 years of this ongoing battle, we finally have a hay barn this season.
I'll talk more about the learing process of irrigation another time. It is rather an engineering feat as well as an art form.
This spring we will add another 20 acres of Bermuda grass, with the possiblity of another 10. I will settle for the 20 myself. Donald has a different pair of rose-colored glasses than myself. We spent a great deal of time hauling organic manure from the local Shamrock Farms Dairy farm's organic section. We chose to use manure for a slow nitrogen release as opposed to the liquid fertilizer. We are really trying to stay away from synthetics and opt for a progressively more organic operation in the end. I spent days pushing the manure piles around the fields. I will plow the fields next.
So we have become a Bermuda grass hay emphasis at this time. But we have some plans to diversify for the future. But I'll get to that as I fill in the missing time in our progression.
Of course, we are a family and have all of the obligations of the kids' activities as well as our commitments to the community that are priority over the ranch for the most part. I guess I wear two hats as many moms do today. One of mine just happens to be a beat up straw hat.
Tonight after I make a few more calls to rally the neighbors in the vicinity, I will attend a meeting regarding a prison that someone is wanting to build down the road a few miles. Needless to say, we are not in favor of this. As Donald is out of town for work, I will represent our family at the meeting tonight.
Time for more chores.
The turkeys, ducks, chickens, and emu still have to be fed, but Emma will take care of that. The turkeys will get to wander and eat some of the weeds that have sprung from last month's rains. Emma has new hatchlings in the brooder with new lovies hatching throughout the week. All of that project is Emma's creation and responsiblility.
At this point in time, Generations Ranch has primarily become a haying operation. We have spent the last four years regrouping, researching, and implementing our newly laid plans. We currently have 30 acres actively producing Bermuda grass for hay. We will continue to plant acreage as we are able in order to increase our productivity. We have developed a very nice clientele that have been pretty loyal. We try to go out of our way to grow a very good product, testing our hay for protein content, and delivering.
When we started growing our hay, we were growing for our own use. We had show horses and a few with special dietary needs...not "easy keepers." We needed good quality grass hay that would provide the nutrients they needed. Alfalfa hay was not an option. For those unfamiliar, alfalfa is a legume and is not the easiest on a horse's digestive system.
We had taken the horses to Oregon our first summer as an official LLC. There they were introduced to grazing on the 120 acres of pasture. They had never experienced grazing like this. We had to halter them and stand with them in the pasture for increasing increments of time, so that firstly when the time was up we could easily remove them and secondly control their introduction. If left to graze in this huge space, we would have spent hours trying to recapture them once they realized their huge boundaries. We were concerned that the transition be made slowly as to not cause them any problems such as founder.
So they were grazed on some of the best grasses available to horses; Timothy, Orchard, and some others including a little clover. They thrived and our "not-so easy keepers" stayed sound on their new diet. When we hauled back to Arizona we took a good amount of our Oregon hay to hold us over for our Arizona winter.
When we returned we got started planting 10 acres Timothy and 10 acres Orchard for a winter crop. Donald contacted the University of Arizona Ag dept. and worked closely with them on providing the right conditions to grow these grasses in the Arizona climate. We conceded that they would require replanting annually, but wanted to provide the best for our horses and sell the surplus.
In the meantime, we had 10 acres of Bermuda left from the previous owner that was struggling to gain a foothold after years of neglect. We contacted the local irrigation district and began the process of ordering our metered water to grow our grasses.
I feel like I have to explain what happened to the Timothy and Orchard grasses. We had incredibly good fortune with the longevity of our non-native grasses. We produced enough to feed our horses and sell the surplus. But after 3 years the Timothy and Orchard weren't able to hold fast against the spring weeds and we plowed it under.
The first of our hay business obstacles presented itself to us that first year; lack of shelter. We had no out building to protect our hay. So we did like so many attempt to do out here in the desert, we strapped tarps over our hay. Well let me tell you this is a hopeless exercise. The winds that we get here can exceed 80 mph, the sun exposure can literally turned items to powder, and once you have a tarp strapped down you can never remove it because it will never stay in place again. We spent a fortune on tarps only to have them crumble in our hands after exposure. The winds would whip the tarps off the hay in the middle of a monsoon storm so that there was no way the top layer of hay would ever be consumable for horses again. So we began the second phase of our hay production, cattle hay. Anything that got rained on became cattle hay and went for a discounted price. After 6 years of this ongoing battle, we finally have a hay barn this season.
I'll talk more about the learing process of irrigation another time. It is rather an engineering feat as well as an art form.
This spring we will add another 20 acres of Bermuda grass, with the possiblity of another 10. I will settle for the 20 myself. Donald has a different pair of rose-colored glasses than myself. We spent a great deal of time hauling organic manure from the local Shamrock Farms Dairy farm's organic section. We chose to use manure for a slow nitrogen release as opposed to the liquid fertilizer. We are really trying to stay away from synthetics and opt for a progressively more organic operation in the end. I spent days pushing the manure piles around the fields. I will plow the fields next.
So we have become a Bermuda grass hay emphasis at this time. But we have some plans to diversify for the future. But I'll get to that as I fill in the missing time in our progression.
Of course, we are a family and have all of the obligations of the kids' activities as well as our commitments to the community that are priority over the ranch for the most part. I guess I wear two hats as many moms do today. One of mine just happens to be a beat up straw hat.
Tonight after I make a few more calls to rally the neighbors in the vicinity, I will attend a meeting regarding a prison that someone is wanting to build down the road a few miles. Needless to say, we are not in favor of this. As Donald is out of town for work, I will represent our family at the meeting tonight.
Time for more chores.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Original Intention
Generations Ranch, LLC came into being in 2004. It originally was to be a show horse business, with Oregon and Arizona locations. John Day, Oregon was built and ready to be put into use. The Casa Grande, Arizona location required a great deal of planning and building.
We were excited to begin and we all moved to the John Day ranch the summer of 2004. We had a great time exploring. The girls were so young still, Erin 10 and Emma 7. That fall we all returned to Arizona, moving the horses into the existing stalls on the Casa Grande ranch property.
The plan was to build a barn for our show horses and broodmares, a facility to ride and train, and property for people to come and see our horses available for sale. That "was" the plan.
Just the thought of what has taken place over the past 6 years in the attempt to set up our Casa Grande ranch exhausts me right now. I will start fresh another time and decide whether to dwell on what has taken place in the past sequentially, or as inspired, or march forward and experience the present.
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