Our backyard!

So this is our backyard! I transplanted ten of the twelve rows with Broccoli Raab's.
There is also a ton of stuff growing on the fence line like herbs, greens, flowers, salad mix...

Soon i will have my summer home garden up and running. I will be doing three varieties of tomatoes; a paste tomatoe for sauces and canning, and two heirloom varieties! Two varieties of onions, salad greens, herbs, radishes and all kinds of other fun stuff!

Final step

Final step is to water in the transplants and cover them with either mesh cloth,if the weather is warmer or plastic for colder temperatures. This creates a greenhouse effect and lets the transplants settle into their new soil. We lay straw down on the walkways to help block weeds and retain moisture... Starting to look like a farm? In a few weeks these transplants will be goin crazy with regular water and some sun!


Cool interior views of our new crop!

Progress

Six full beds of trans[;ants is ton of produce! We arent even half way done...

Ground view of fresh young transplants, standing straigh up and looking happy!

Smalls starts done in soil blocks transplant straight into the ground. This tray alone will fill a large amount of bed space. This tray has three varieties of Japanese greens, restaurants eat this stuff up!

After amending the soil and flattening the beds its time for transplants!

Breaking Ground

A week ago we broke ground on a new plot of land here in the city. The land was given to us by the home owner, who was eating lunch at Ned Ludd (the restaurant we sell produce to and also farm the back lot) http://www.nedluddpdx.com/ . The hole yard was long, overgrown grass that hadnt been mowed in who knows how long... We Mowed and weed- whacked, then got busy with a sod cutter. After we cut out all of the grass and removed it from the area we planned to plant, we tilled the soil. After tilling we mapped out the beds and cut in trenches... We rake the loose soil into mounds and flatten using a hard edge rake.

Gary flattening beds... We got lucky with warm sunny weather all weekend.

We made walls for our compost pile out of the rolled up sod we removed!
The walls will eventually break down into the compost, we think we are the first ones to do this!
It saves a ton of money and labor not having to removed and dispose of old sod... Work smart not hard right?

To keep the plants happy and healthey and the soil's micro-biology crankin we amend the soil. We use a lime and kelp meal mix. Turns out plants on land can benefit from oceanic plants nutrients! We also do heavy scoops of pig and goat compost mix into the beds. We get our compost from Gary's friend Richie who lives within the city and has a pi and goat farm!
We turn our amendments into the soil before flattening the beds and transplanting.

Off to Portland!

The drive from Orland, CA to Portland, OR is about 71/2 hours, so i got up early and hit the road!

The drive is amazing!
As soon as you pass through Redding,CA it's all mellow mountain roads.
Man i wish i could have taken more pistures but it gets pretty hairy trying to hang my arm out the window and zoom and focus, while navigating a fully loaded truck through mountain roads i have never been on. I saw so many amazing sights, coming through bends onto bridges over the most amazing lakes and streams, huge snowy mountains and incredible forrestry!
And before you know it you're in Oregon and the beauty just gets more and more amazing!
Thank god the weather stayed nice so i could see and enjoy the new state i'll be living in!

71/2 hours later, HELLO PORTLAND!
Gary was in the front to flag me down, and the first sight of my new home, neighborhood and city was great!
Took me hardly any time to unpack, and before i knew it me and Gary were at the local watering hole talking about my trip, family, what it is i want to do in Portland, travel and every=thing else we could think of!
It was like catching up with an old friend, no weirdness or anything, just two guys shootin the breeze over a cold one!
More on my first week in Portland to come. Maybe tomorrow... Theres a lot to tell, so ill have to get back to it!
But my first week has been great, meeting lots of people, getting the streets down and riding a Bicycle!!!!!!!!!!! Im having so much fun!
I miss you all, but im doing well!
Ill put more posts up soon!

Left the Bay Area for Orland, CA!

Got into Orland around 8 pm, beers and bikes were waitin for me in my buddy Casey's garage!
Casey sold me my first bike, the Honda and has always been cool with helping over the phone when i ran into problems.
He has always said im more than welcome to come up and stay at his place if im ever passing through, so i took him up on his offer and im sure glad i did!
He had cold beers, stories to tell and cooked me a great dinner!
He made wild Hog pork chops, from a Hog he shot while hunting North of where he lives!
Sooooo gooood!!!!
He had a ton of cool bikes at his house, and since he sold me my first chop he has been in magazines and people are starting to see what hes doing and diggin' it! I wished him luck and thanked him for the awsome dinner and took of in the morning, Portland bound!

Berkeley, CA 3/14

Spent Sunday afternoon in Berkeley with Robert and Nina...
There is a ton of "Hippy" culture in the bay area and most of it ends up in the small college town of Berkely... So needless to say these "Drug Free Zone" signs that are all over are kind of funny and definitely do not reflect the people and activities in Berkeley!

Though it is a Hippy town, there'e a lot of cool stuff going on!
Art, music, political awareness and fee spirits fill the streets. Coll town to see, but i couldnt see myself hanging there.