It Is a Fuzzy Solution to a Slimy Problem

Snails are the bane of gardeners’ existence.  Sneaky slimy shellful things that eat your lovely veggies and fruit trees (the ugly ones too, probably – they’re pretty indiscriminant).  Invasive to this country, garden snails proliferate at impressive pace and nom anything in their wake. 

Thus, unsurprisingly, snails are an issue here at Fallbrook Permaculture.  While not reaching full-on THREAT status, they are, at the very least, a nuisance.  A nuisance known to seek shelter en masse during the hot hours of the day.  But where the devil do they go?

Well, last week while mulching citrus trees, we got our answer.  It would appear that they take to the trees.  In that they hide snails-on-snails-on-snails style within the grooves of shaded tree trunks.  Tricksy tricksy.  

Snail Trail!

Thus, on a bright San Diego afternoon, we found ourselves – scattered mulch shovels abandoned, forgotten wheel barrow askew – Snail Hunting.  The incriminating evidence had been discovered, the gauntlet of trees along the driveway found out: all guilty of Snail Hoarding in the First Degree. 

Aha! Gotcha!

Our gastropod apprehension procedure was swift and merciless – each individual was armed with a ziplock bag and set loose with single-minded purpose: all snails found faced the plastic prison, no exceptions.

“But they are kinda cu-“

“NO! They are PLANT KILLERS”

“I mean look at those silly little faces tho-”  

“IN THE BAG”

“Sigh Okay”

To the Dump with Ye!

That evening over dinner, we discussed the snail problem (What you don’t talk about snails over dinner? That’s…kinda weird), and learned a new Permaculture Saying.  “If you have too many snails, that means you don’t have enough ducks.”  Of course all us WWOOFers were very pro-ducks, but the owners of the homestead remained hesitant.  They certainly wanted ducks eventually, but was now the right time?  Baby ducks could be a lot of work.  Did they really want to add new animals to the property?  Etcetera.  The WWOOFer counter-argument, "But...ducks!  Ducks are so cool!" for some reason did not seem to sway them. 

The subject of ducks was dropped after that, apart from hypothetical musings: “If we were to get ducks what kind would we get? What color should they be?”

Then it happened.

Two days ago, Mike and Sonya came home and I emerged from my room to see a large box on the dining room table.  A box with holes.  My fellow coworker stood over it, peering at its contents.  WHAT’S IN THE BOX.

This.

Was in.

The box.

We have been told that they grow quite rapidly, and I'll be sure to keep y'all posted on their progress.  The yellow and black ones are Swedish Blue Ducks (despite the name, they will grow up to be black and white) and the yellow is your standard white duck.  His/her (haven't sexed them yet) name is Odd.  Odd Duck.  The one Odd is hugging above is named June.  We keep them in a little duckling house in the living room, which I imagine they will outgrow soon enough.  Should be snappin' up snails in no time.  For now, though, I am enjoying writing this post with a Standard Poodle on my lap and squeaking ducklings beside me.  Life is indeed good here on the farm.

Until next time!

~Rachel

It is Andrew's Birthday

Well, that's a lie.  I lied.  Andrew's birthday was two days ago.  Also, there is nothing about permaculture in this post.  No farming at all.  If you are here for farming, best move on now, get along with your day, nothing to see here.

...

You stayed?  Awesome.  You won't regret it, promise.  You're curious, right?  Why the deviation from my travel blog focus?  Understandable to break things up every once in a while, sure, but THIRD POST, seriously?  

I'm sorry guys, it had to be done.  The world had to know.  The world had to know what Andrew's birthday taught me.

What?? What is it?? The suspense!  

It is this:

...Wait what?

Oh sorry, maybe you want another angle:

That's right guys, it's that thing you've all been waiting for.  Haven't we all thought to ourselves, "Man, I sure wish I could take a nap right now, but I don't have a large pillow encompassing my head and face!"  I know I have(n't)!

Now, you can make that wish a reality, with the Ostrich Nap Pillow!

Are you standing in a long line and wish you could just fall asleep against the wall but the wall is too hard and now you're sad?  NO LONGER:

Are you at a fancy restaurant and the appetizers are done but the main course is taking a while and you wish you could just grab a quick power nap on the table but you don't feel like putting your face on the tablecloth because that would be weird and unhygienic?  NO LONGER:

Are you sitting on a couch at home surrounded by fluffy comfort and perfectly good pillows but all the same thinking, "Man, I wish there was one more level.  I wish I could push my comfort just one step further, in a way that would also impede all other possible activities." WELL NO LONGER:

With the ostrich nap pillow, anything is possible.  The world opens up in ways you never dared hope.  Naps can happen anywhere.  ANYWHERE.


Anyway, now you know.  You're welcome and have a lovely day.  Have a lovely day brightened by the knowledge that somewhere in this world there was a person who came up with the idea...and someone who believed enough in the beauty of Head Pillow to make it a reality.  Real time and money went into this thing.  Think about that.  

Follow your dreams kids, no matter how crazy they might seem.  Because somewhere out there is another crazy person with too much money who wants to make your dream a reality.


This inspirational post brought to you by
~Rachel


Oh, and Happy Birthday Andrew!

aoipubfkj CAKE!!! :D

It is a New Beginning

I arrived at Fallbrook Permaculture one week ago tomorrow.  Since Mondays and Tuesdays are off here, that means I’ve made it through my first week of work.  Huzzah!  I’m a permaculture expert now! Right? No? Not right? Ah well.

How was my first week?? What did I do?? Who did I meet?? What the flip is permaculture??

Settle down y’all, I’m getting to it.  But let’s begin at the beginning, yeah?

Day One: Arrival.  After six hours driving through rather unforgiving heat, I unstuck myself from the leather seat (lost water weight having served as effective butt-glue) and made my way up to the front door.  I was immediately greeted by a pair of dogs, two volunteers, and the owners of the house, who were all about to leave for a dinner at their friends’ house.  “Just drop your stuff off and get in the car!” Then, as everyone was leaving: "Grant, grab the pigeons from the fridge!" 

Introductions were made on the drive down.  Grant and Jackie (the two volunteers preceding me) were on their way out (they left the next day) but seemed like lovely people, if not a bit disconcerting in the intensity of their friendliness.  The intensity of their everything, actually.  Grant looked like your standard blonde haired blue eyed athletic all-American, while Jackie looked like she should be off modeling surfboards.  Their last day here they built a day bed from scratch.  In a day.  Because why not.  As they rattled off all the projects they had completed in their three weeks here, I gave up keeping track.  To this day I just assume Grant and Jackie built anything wooden I see outside.  Before we got in the car they gave me a granola bar they’d made from scratch that day after they’d finished building a bench.  They referred to each other as “G” for some reason and operated as a single functional highly enthusiastic unit.  Bloody terrifying.

The property we visited for dinner was amazing.  My new bosses' young, mildly eccentric engineer friend had converted his entire backyard.  He lived in the middle of the suburbs, but had terraced the hill behind his house and built himself a pool, a deck area, a chicken coop, a small house/shed thing, and was in the process of making an underground bunker.  

Homemade Pool

Seating area complete with bar and fireplace

Underground Bunker-in-progress

Plant and some wood and a solar panel and ?

Once we explored the property I mingled with the other guests trying to act social while actually just eating copious amounts of chips and guacamole.  Then we sat down to dinner on the lovely deck pictured above and ate a feast of barbecue ribs and pigeon.  The pigeon legitimately tasted like little baby steaks.  It was like eating tiny fingerfood steaks.  None of us could get over how good that pigeon tasted.  Someone needs to go make themselves pigeon steak wrapped in bacon NOW.  It would be the perfect steak-to-bacon ratio.  Seriously, I'm counting on someone to come through for me on this.  I need to know if it tastes as good as I think it would.

After pigeon steak, it was sadly time to go.  My fellow new volunteers were also showing up that night and we didn't want them arriving to an empty household.  And so, my first evening as a volunteer drew to a close.  My journey had begun.  The next day, our real work began.

It Is a Travel Blog

Yes. Yes I AM doing this again.  Look skeptically at your computer screen all you want, that won’t weaken my resolve. Oh you have reason to doubt, sure.  I got your hopes up back in Guatemala, strung you along for a while, wrote some rather lovely posts (if I do say so myself), and then CRICKETS.  Nothin but crickets.  Fast-forward to South Africa.  Posted my first post.  Sounded all chipper.  I’ll blog regularly I said.  I’ll at the very least TRY I said.  CRICKETS.  Well, tortoises for a hot second.  BUT THEN CRICKETS. 

I get it.  You don’t want to go through all that again.  It’s rough.  I break it off with no warning.  I make promises I can’t keep.  This time, though.  This time is different.  This time I’m DOUBLE promising.  I am cyber-pinky swearing to all of you, THIS BLOG SHALL GO ON.  NO excuses this time.  Do you believe in me?  I believe in me.

Okay okay fine, but why now?  You might say.  What’s the occasion?  The occasion, dear readers, is WWOOF.  

Nope, I did not just receive a swift punch to the gut.  WWOOF is, in fact, an acronym: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.  The WWOOF website offers the chance for me (a seeker of opportunity) to connected with a farm (organic).  It’s a great way to see the world and gain skills.  My biggest gripes about academia center around the idea of being stuck.  Stuck in a classroom, stuck taking classes that fall short of expectations, and stuck in one location knowing there is so much more world to be explored.  WWOOFing is an opportunity to learn outdoors, in a constantly changing environment.  There are new projects and new obstacles every day.  I decide where I work and for how long.  If I don't like a farm or want to learn something new, I now have the agency to make the change.  Bottom line: WWOOFing puts me in control of my education.  Specifically, it is how I aim to educate myself about the future prospects of sustainable agriculture.  WWOOFing will provide me first-hand farming experience as well as knowledge gained from people who live the day-to-day struggles and rewards of sustainable food growth.  

While I have decided to begin my WWOOF experience closer to home, I someday hope to venture out to other countries.  This year that could include South Africa and/or the UK.  Beyond that, I hope to make New Zealand a reality.  For now, I will be making the most of my first week here on a homestead in Fallbrook, California.  Shall let everyone know how that goes in my next post.

Until next week!

~Rachel