The Drought is Here

"We join together as many and diverse expressions

of one loving mystery: for the healing of the

earth and the renewal of all life."

                           U.N. ENVIRONMENTAL SABBATH PROGRAM

A goldfinch landed
on the nyger seed feeder
just to my left as I was watering
the recently planted flower seeds.

 Don't Spray It Sweep It

Break out that broom

anytime you need an

outdoor cleanup rather 

than spraying with water.

Santa Rosa Water

"To ensure adequate water supplies 

are available for current 

and future water demands 

under varying water supply conditions, 

Santa Rosa Water has an 

aggressive water conservation program

and provides recycled water for urban 

and agricultural irrigation 

to reduce demands on 

our precious drinking water.”

The view of the mulching from our
sliding back door onto the slate patio.
Please note the heart rock that
Dwight gleaned from the banks
of the Santa Fe River as a
birthday present to me while we
lived in Santa Fe.

Water is a precious commodity not only here in the West but throughout the world. The population continues to grow well beyond Mother's Earth capacity to safely harbor all of her inhabitants. Wildlife, forests, expansive plains are all struggling to survive amidst the burgeoning number of humans.

"The Drought is Here" signs have popped up in many yards throughout our small burg. One has a sign in her front yard while her neighbor to her left and two across the street water their lawns every day . . . every day???? What are those humans thinking? In my opinion they are "not thinking" nor taking action to conserve water. I ask, "what is the purpose of a green lawn?"

Fortunately the City of Cotati is still giving "lawn rebates" which we are in the process of receiving. The yard will be fully sheet mulched first, plants chosen and purchased then in early November all the plants will be planted into the ground. A full list of plants as well as cost of the mulch will be considered in the amount of the rebate. Of course, we will not submit any cost for the latter since we are using "wood chips".

The completely mulched backyard:
8" to 10" in woodchips were
laid over natural fiber clothing
and/or cardboard.

I was quite amazed that the city's recommendation is for 2" of mulch. From my experience that minimal amount really does not provide any benefit of either weed suppression nor feeding the soil so microbes thrive making for more vibrant, healthy soil. While removing all of the vegetation here, I found the soil dead ... it feels dead, it looks dead and for sure it is dead. The state of the soil was masked with huge amounts of redwood fluffy shavings. Oh my gosh, I am so glad all of that was taken away by Cookie earlier this Summer just passed.

I can barely wait until the planting can begin.
Bare root apples (x3) and 1 Blenheim apricot tree 
have just been ordered from Trees of Antiquity. 

The present idea is to plant the apple trees to the left of the Santa Rosa plum, the trunk of which is in the middle of the picture above. The write up on Trees of Antiquity's website says that the Cox Orange Pippen is on of the best fruit trees to espalier. Since we have limited space which is the primary reason fruit trees are espaliered, I am going to try my hand at this technique. Right now I am undecided whether to do this along the fence pictured above or the fence along the West side of the house. Stay tuned.

It is a mystery to me why the pictures above look "cloudy" in appearance. That is not how they appear in iPhoto???? To let this go I'll have a hardy belly