Rick and Lavinia Ross Farm & Music Newsletter for August 2016

Since we live in the volcanically active Cascade Range, Rick and I decided to take a short vacation to Crater Lake National Park to celebrate our anniversary this month, now that we are able to travel a bit.  We stayed in a beautiful little bed & breakfast in the Fort Klamath area just outside the park.

Our feature photo this month is a view of Crater Lake, a caldera lake created roughly 7,700 years ago when Mount Mazama erupted here in southern Oregon.  The feeling one gets upon viewing this magnificent, pristine lake for the first time is indescribable.  It is the deepest lake in the United States, and the 10th deepest lake in the world.  According to the National Park Service, is considered to be the cleanest and clearest large body of water in the world.

Crater Lake Bed & Breakfast – a wonderful place to stay and hosts international visitors
http://www.craterlakebandb.com/

Crater Lake links for the adventurous traveler
https://www.nps.gov/CRLA/planyourvisit/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_Lake

Geologic history of the region
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mazama
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs092-02/

From the pull down menu on this page, one can take a peek at what is going on with other volcanoes.
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/crater_lake/crater_lake_geo_hist_133.html

Our camera is on the old side, and apparently memory sticks are not readily available for it in stores anymore.  With only enough storage for approximately 9 photos, we tried to be careful what we kept.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

On the way into the park.

Such a beautiful blue reflecting pool! Wizard Island is a cinder cone that emerged after Mount Mazama blew.

Another view of the lake from the rim.

It is along way down from the rim. Those trees are full height, which should give the viewer some perspective.

News from the farm

August brought the expected yearly blast furnace of high temperatures and no rainfall.  Dust Devils and other earthly sprites of the dry times relish the heat.  It is their time.   Once emerald green and lush from winter’s rains, grass has withered, curled and baked to a light tan in its dormant phase, and crunches underfoot like dry leaves.  Our days typically begin in the mid 40s to low 50s, soaring into the 80s, 90s, or 100s by afternoon.  We are visited by the Wind in her various moods as the land warms and entices her, though she leaves no footprints now in the dormant grass.  Her passing is noted in the rustling of weary, yellowing leaves that are slowly slipping away with the daylight hours, and in the waving of the Queen Anne’s Lace.  They too, are curling their spent umbrels inward, waving their newly formed goblets in Wind’s wake as if in supplication for cooler, wetter times.  Won’t she leave the thirsty gardens a little moisture, they implore?  She whispers it won’t be too long now, all life must have patience.

The neighbors’ Number 0003 came over to the fence to pay a visit.

We are enjoying the abundance of produce, even as we wait for cooler weather and shorter days to slowly settle in.  Picking, pickling, drying on top of much spot watering are priorities now.

We have no shortage of pickles and fresh cucumbers! I grow the starts and tend the plants. Rick is our resident pickle-meister who makes all the good pickles. The variety is a dual-purpose heirloom called Edmonson. We purchased seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange http://www.southernexposure.com/edmonson-pickling-cucumber-2-g-p-134.html

The growing season has been a strange one, presenting a few conundrums along the way.  For those readers who have been following along regarding our troubles in the vineyard, we have the answer from the Extension Service to last month’s puzzler.

Analysis from the Extension Service

“If it is what I think it is, it basically is a result of some sort of mechanical damage that occurred to the berry skin that was not enough to damage the whole berry and allowed the rest of the berry to grow and expand while the damaged area remained restricted. This results in the “pushed out seed” phenomenon. I get this inquiry almost every year, and it usually is on a small percentage of berries throughout the vineyard (not on all berries within a given cluster). This year, it seems to be associated with some sleet or small hail damage at the right stage post fruit set. I know there were some sleet storms in mid late June that went through the valley, and this could be to blame.”

We had two hail storms pass through on the same day during that time frame, and the damage to our vineyard was not extensive.  We have a good harvest of grapes on the way, with table grapes being well ahead of the pinot noir, as usual.

Table grapes, variety Cascade, developing nice color now.

Pinot noir, behind the table grapes in ripening.

Our new Moonglow pear tree, which was severely pruned by the neighbor’s horse earlier this summer, has survived with a little help from a generous amount of horse manure and lots of water.  It is even attempting to bloom again.  I am always amazed at the tenacity of life.

New leaves and new blooms! Note the two new white blossoms on the right, down below the lowest fork. This tree may survive yet.

News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms

Old Willow would like readers to know that some days, she just likes the comfort of a nice paper bag.  She thinks everyone should have one, for those times when the world is pressing in, and one needs to shut it out.

Willow enjoying her bag. She is somewhere in the vicinity of 20 years old, although we don’t really know how old she is for certain.

Without further ado, the feline matriarch of Salmon Brook Farms would like to turn the news over to Mr. Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent.   For those who may not be familiar with Mr. Otis and his companion the lovely Izzy, these two talented cats hail from the far away eastern lands of Connecticut, and with the able assistance of their human staff R & C, file a report from time to time to let readers know what is going on in their area.

OTIS REPORT: SUMMERTIME!!

It has mostly been a hot, humid, oppressive summer here in the Northeast. I spend my days languishing either on the porch’s wicker couch or snoozing on the window seat under the ceiling fan.

Mr. Otis at rest after a hard day of work.

The weather has been similar to that found in the deep South and I now understand why Southerners move so slowly. August brought quite a few afternoon thunderstorms with soaking rains, which left the earth a steamy, soggy landscape only to be parched again by the heat of the next day.

The lovely Izzy taking time to nap in the summer sunshine.

The flower and vegetable gardens also felt the harshness of the heat displaying wilted leaves as the sun reached its zenith and were then rejuvenated again by the passing afternoon storms. Tomatoes, kale, peppers, rhubarb, Swiss chard, black berries, blueberries, strawberries and lettuce did well. However, the peas, eggplant, basil, dill and leeks had a hard time of it because of the early heat. Flowers were lovely this year except for the hydrangea that never bloomed because of the cold snap we had this spring. The black-eyed susan is my favorite flower and it seemed to thrive in the heat along with the plethora of weeds that cropped up everywhere!

All the critters of Hope Valley have spent the summer moving to a slower rhythm, too. The horses spend their morning in the field, but are back in the barn as the temperature rises and the bugs become more active. Rosie, that annoying terrorist, even lounges on the other window seat under the ceiling fan, much to my dislike.

Rosie enjoying a window view.

Sadie and Izzy seem to be the only ones loving the current climate and one can always find them nosing about the farm on some adventure. They often sit together on the front lawn or share moments with Mr. Shrew and his family or the chipmunk gang.

Sadie and Izzy keeping an eye on activities in the garden wall.

There was a handsome juvenile bald eagle hunting the meadows one weekend. I kept myself safely on the porch as I watched him carry away 4 rabbits over 2 days. He was quite clever and persistent in making his dinner plans and I marveled at how efficient he was. I must say, I was just as good in my youth, too!

Bald eagle catches a rabbit in the meadow.

Well, enough said. I need to find my water dish and then my window seat. My mistress will not let me outside after 5:00 now that the shadows are growing longer and the coyotes have been roaming about. I don’t mind though…I love my snooze time! Enjoy the rest of your summer and here’s to hoping for cooler, dryer fall weather!! I do love autumn!!

Cheers!!

-Otis, Northeast Regional Feline Correspondent

Music News (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page)

We enjoyed seeing our friends Laurie Jennings and Dana Keller again up at Marks Ridge Winery in August.   We had a wonderful evening listening to some really wonderful folk musicians!

The Jennings and Keller concert started in early evening.

And went on into the night.

Please visit Laurie and Dana’s website at  http://www.jenningsandkeller.com/

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And as for me?

I am still working through various medical issues and still on hiatus from performing, but continuing to play and enjoy down time with my guitars while I continue to recuperate.   I will know more by next month, and hopefully have a better idea of when I will be fully back on my feet. At the moment I take life one day at a time.   I learned how to make videos in late winter and do some rudimentary editing.  Technology continues to make leaps and bounds, allowing the small-time geek, tinkerer, and putterer like myself another means of expressing and sharing creativity.  Expect a surprise in months to come!  I won’t promise when, though.  I am savoring this time of few obligations to anyone except myself, the farm, and it inhabitants.

In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.

Bookings and home-grown produce:
Lavinia and Rick Ross
Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms

http://home.earthlink.net/~redwine5
https://salmonbrookfarms.wordpress.com

And a special note of thanks to Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene at Teagan’s Books for featuring us in her blog post https://teagansbooks.com/2016/08/06/guitar-mancer-episode-19-head-on/ I am always deeply touched when someone reads, enjoys, and comes away with something positive from our Salmon Brook Farms blog posts, and feels they are worth mentioning to others. Please stop by her site. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have! Thank you, Teagan!