Farm Update!
We have made it through our first spring and summer at the farm. Of the 3.75 acres we started growing on about 1 acre. (We rotate crops and allow the plants the spread how they want, building a more self sustaining system, so we never grow an entire area at a time.)
This year we successfully grew: Mexican melons, carrots, various basil (lemon, cinnamon, sweet, and amethyst), ewedu, cotton (green and brown), indigo, azafran, fennel, dill, epazote, tomatoes, peppers, moldavian balm, beets, sorghum, kenaf (a variety of hibiscus grown for it’s fibers), lots of flowers (zinnias, sunflowers, black hollyhock, nasturtium, red clovers, borage, cempasuchil, and ulam raja), various okra (yuma red, burgundy, and spineless), nopal, tobacco, de milp tomatillos (purple), red castor, agave, hibiscus, and sooooo much passionfruit (next year we will have a super abundance as they’ve already begun spreading and taking over). Also there were some volunteer pumpkins!! We did transplant a few varieties of sweet potatoes. And some of them survived and are doing pretty well.
First Davis green cotton grown on the farm
We started the passion fruit from seeds (all the transplants died) and they have been thriving !
We always grow sunflowers
Now we’re well on our way prepping for the fall/ winter season. we’re working on the next acre of the field. We’ve been cleaning up the summer plot, weeding and sprinkling flower seeds to fill in the gaps.
What we’re hoping for our fall/ winter harvest: beets, purple broccoli, cabbage, cilantro, flowers (echinacea, bachelor button, black knight scabiosa, coreopsis, calendula, marigolds), herbs (cilantro, fennel, sage, thyme), carrots, cauliflower, greens (mustard, kale, collard, lettuces, etc), artichoke, cardoon, radishes, garlic, onion, chickpeas, peas, beans, and more.
As we grow more and more flowers, and continue to save the seeds, we’ll be spreading them around the field. Our hope is that eventually the entire 3.75 acres will be filled with flowers mingled with the herbs and fruits and vegetables we’re growing.
How the community can help us:
We always welcome volunteers who want to help us weed, sow seeds, fill milpas with compost, extend fencing, etc. We try to schedule opportunities, but anyone is welcome to come any day we are on the farm. Typically Mon-Wed, and Fridays or Saturdays.
We will need more concrete blocks to cap our irrigation furrows and reduce water waste at the end of the rows.
We always welcome compost and yard trimmings, and whatever else you think may be helpful or fun for the farm.
We were also accepted into an incubator program to help us become better equipped for the growth of ORO House. Part of that program is developing a fundraiser. So if you’re unable to physically volunteer, and don’t have have cement blocks, etc. you can still donate to and/ or share our fundraiser. Heres the link ORO House Fundraiser
As we get settled into the next season and things are actually growing, we will resume our community offerings of workshops (seed saving, how to use various plants you’ve grown, and will expand into medicine and artistic uses of the plants we’re growing). We will also soon be able to offer dye/pigment plant seeds now that we’ve had our first season.
As for our plot at Las Milpitas, our friends at Sketching the Senses will be taking it over.
