And we continue to grow and prosper.  Since posting last we have had many changes to the property; all being very positive and an amazing learning experience for all.  It just occurred to me that our actions these past weeks have been very fast and sometimes furious, replicating the changing of seasons; from kind of windy to ridiculously windy.  You will see below just how much has changed in such a short time.

You can see that our little lamb friend that has many names ranging from Lucy, Lamb Chop, Skunk, Thumbelina Soria, Lamby to Lamb 1 has been growing by leaps and bounds.  She still does not bond with the sheep and is thus left in the goat pen where she enjoys three feedings a day along with grazing when she so pleases.  Little lamb is running, jumping, taking jaunts  to the mailbox (about 1/4 mile away) drinking over 4 cups of milk per day (she started at 35cc per feeding) and most importantly growing.  She made it!  Our first experience with a "bummer" lamb has been quite a huge learning curve.  We have learned many things including but not limited to: Lambs are outside creatures-even if they are sick, they urinate a lot in the house, need special attention and mothers mourn the loss of their child as Timothy and I have noticed in our unfortunate "Bummer 2" lamb who is being nursed by "Bummer 1"'s mother.  Unfortunately, another was born sickly and we are trying again to nurse this one to strength.  We have a lot of support as you can see by the picture below, with Amelia and Koel sharing the responsibility of holding the syringe filled with milk out to Lamby 2.

  

The chicks.  Yup, another major learning curve.  These small beings require 95 degrees, multiple daily water changes, constant food and at the beginning no dark.  We read, studied, got ready and when they arrived still we had no idea.  So, chicks we have learned eat a lot, drink a lot, require constant attention so that they may grow and certainly let you know when they are not totally satisfied.  We are getting a better understanding and yes, they are growing.  Their feathers are beginning to come out and some have begun to jump leaps and bounds (to the top of their drinker) and others are beginning to roost.

And then the French.  Where do we begin?  They arrived, only two weeks ago and have changed our farm lives dramatically.  We were joking with them the other day, stating that whatever we ask them to do they do amazingly well...so leftovers, were totally consumed along with the Tupperware  cleaned and put away.  To say the least, they have been a total blessing.  How can one go wrong with a French chef and a French Master Carpenter and now, as of two days ago a French artist. Here is a short list of what these beautiful humans have done:  raised beds in the garden, fences and gates for the garden, a humanure toilet, a solar composting toilet, a tent site, an outdoor laundry, a solar clothes dryer, many delicious meals, numerous chores, help in the garden, cleaning and sorting of the adobe building to be used for future WWOOFRs, a cold frame, the beginning of a gray water system, unloaded and stacked 128 bails of hay,  and began the construction of an outdoor kitchen.  Look at the pictures below, and please pray to the WWOOFR gods to send more like them.  We love them.  And they are starting their journey across the USA soon. In all of this, we have thus planted peas, cilantro, collard, sunflowers, dill, cabbage, onions, chard.  Much more to follow!  Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions for us,we are constantly learning from everyone and everything around us. 

The 92 are in the house!!!

Lamb invasions, 4x8 foot mysterious cement slabs in the garden, 93 chickens and French men

Our little girl is growing up.  She is out of the house, still not potty trained and we are having empty nest syndrome. Ok, a joke indeed.  She spent a few nights in our house, woke us up in the night to eat and didn't get the concept of using a set place to urinate.  However, little lamb is growing, she is healthy and we are trying our hardest to teach her that she is in fact of the four legged, hay eating kind.  If you look closely you can see a black polka dot in the center; that is her.  She still follows us around, bahhs when you call her and is sweeter than any lamb we have ever raised before. 

And then we found a treasure.  Well, we thought it might be a treasure, or a grave or Mr. Stuckel's most prized possessions in the middle of the garden space.  It was none of these.  It was a randomly placed, extremely large and very thick piece of cement with nothing underneath-except for amazing rich dirt and no hopes of finding treasures.  We could not figure out what it could possibly have been, except for a huge pain in the a*& as it had to be dug out.  We had many people attempt to get it out and many hypothesise as to what it was.  In the long run, we dug up the middle of the garden with the tractor, got the slab out and began our garden almost all over again.  And I must say that the garden is as amazing as ever-minus the not pirate treasure.   What will we use these slabs of cement for?  I am sure that they will come in handy somewhere along the line.

We became a WWOOFR (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) site.  What this means is that people can come work on the farm and we host them; give them a place to sleep and feed them.  Our first arrived yesterday.  Antonin and Lenny are from the south of France.  They began their journey sailing to the island of Guadelupe, visiting Cuba and then traveling their way north through Mexico.  Along the way they contacted us and are here now.  Wow!!!  They are awesome.  Antonin is trained as a carpenter and Lenny as a chef.  In the day and a half that they have been here they have made a humanure toilet, worked on the garden fencing, created berms in the garden, helped feed the sheep, goats and dogs, and cooked great meals. You can see below the humanure toilet and the tent site.  Viva la France!  We totally dig them and their energy.  PLEASE SEND MORE LIKE THEM!!!! 

Plans for our near future:  planting the seeds in our garden, irrigation system for the garden, solar composting toilet, the arrival and care of our 93 baby chicks, and whatever else that comes our way!

February 3, 2011

Dearest Family and Friends,

We hope this letter reaches you in all of your happiness and health. Down here in McNeal, Arizona on the Tornrose Farm we have so much life springing, winds blowing and seeds ready to be placed into the earth. We sincerely hope you visit us and experience the energy yourself.

We are writing this letter to you to ask for your involvement. We know that each of you support us in our endeavors to grow local and sustainably raised food products and we cannot do this without you. You will find in this letter an explanation of our permaculture project, our goals and motivations along with a farm needs list.

We are currently working on two different projects that are integrally connected. In July of 2010, we attended a Permaculture Design course in Carbondale, Colorado. We both received our Permaculture Design Certification. A diploma in permaculture design requires two years of applied work and be verified by a professional permaculturist. Tornrose Farm is where we are doing our two years of applied permaculture design work, which will lead to a long term sustainable permaculture project. You can follow our work by looking at our blog page at http://pachamamapermaculture.blogspot.com. We are creating a working permaculture site with components such as education, public outreach, food for work, alternative economics, volunteer programs, WWOOFR and other not yet thought of elements.

In addition to permaculture, we have both been selected as apprentices in the The Quivira Coalitions CARLY (Conservation and Ranching Leadership and Youth) program. The Quivira Coalition has partnered with a number of sustainable agriculture operations in the Southwest to launch CARLY, which offers apprenticeship opportunities for people interested in the intersection of conservation and agriculture. CARLY is a leadership development program that looks to pair willing participant apprentices with experienced mentors in conservation-minded agrarian operations.
This is quite an honor for us, as we are the first apprentices selected for the 47 Ranch. “The mission of The Quivira Coalition is to build resilience by fostering ecological, economic and social health on western landscapes through education, collaboration, and progressive public and private land stewardship.” Please look at the Quivira Coalition's website at http://quiviracoalition.org We will be focusing on animal husbandry, ranching , permaculture and intensive grazing management.

Although these are two different projects, they are interconnected on many different levels. We are learning soil, water, livestock, vegetation, wildlife, climate and the human beings are equally integral parts to a whole and healthy life system. Einstein’s theory that a body in motion tends to stay in motion applies to a healthy life system. As with all systems an energetic input is required to get the ball rolling. We are in that phase where much energy input is required.

We both want to raise food; ours and yours. We want to work locally with our community in the raising of it's food. We want to share with others everything we learn. In order to do this, much energy, effort and resources are required. We have invested countless hours of time and thousands of dollars. We need your help. You can help by donating resources. Resources can be money, time (energy), seeds, feed, chickens, pigs, irrigation parts, lumber, water tanks, tools, hardware, electric fencing, building materials, food for the farmers (it's not growing yet), fuel, solar components, ambassadorship and the list goes on.

If your donation is in cash, you will be shown how that cash was turned into a usable resource in the production of local, nutritious food and the new economy.

What do you get for your contribution? You get the satisfaction and the knowledge that you are helping to change the way this nation raises and consumes food. You will be helping to steer our food production away from the corporate controlled monoculture back to a more resilient polyculture. You will also be supporting the building of an new alternative economy. In the new economy transactions are personal, time is not money time is time. We use time to create food, shelter, health, hope and joy for all.

We wish to thank you for all that you do and for being a part of our lives. Please see below for current needs list.

Our contact information is as follows:

Laura: 520 335 7183

Timothy: 520 335 7184

Email: pachamamapermaculture@gmail.com

Much love,

Timothy and Laura

P.S. If you know of others that are interested in this movement and may be willing to help please pass this letter along.

Needs List

*Any and all seeds suitable for arid desert southwest

*Live fence material(Ocotillo branches)

*Shade cloth (full rolls minimum of 60" wide)
*One gallon fruit trees (apple, pear, apricot, peach, plum, pomegranate, olive)
*Grape vines

*Sewing Scissors

*Gloves for gardening and working

*Gray water piping and fittings (ABS or PVC) 1.5" to 3" diameter
*Education materials (books on Permaculture, sustainable agriculture, Integrated Pest Management,    Livestock, Rangeland Management, Native Planting, Rangeland Conservation etc.)

*Barrels and/or water storage vessels 55gallons+

*Galvanized and brass fittings .5"to 1.25"

*Galvanized and/or PEX pipe .5" to 1.25"

*Chicken wire

*Barbed wire

*Field fence minimum 36" tall 2x4 or 4x4 grid

*Live stock panels 4'x10'

*Lumber 2x4 2x6 4x4 8 feet or longer

*Plywood 4x8 sheets 1/2" minimum

*Tool handles

*Nails and Screws galvanized or brass only

*Saw blades for sawsall, circular saw and table saw

*Fixing wire light gage

*Light bulbs 40-100 watt for chicken brooding

*Outdoor duty extension cords

*Ranch pipe 1.25" 160psi

*Sunscreen

*Postage stamps

*Printer cartridges Epson 126

*Chicken feed starter/grower mix and layer feed

*Buckets 5 gallon with lid

*Dog food

*Snake hoop

*Snake Bite kit

*First aid supplies

*Solar compass

*Solar oven

*Large Rubbermaid containers with lids

*Window glazing compound

*Wiener pigs

*Kitchen food waste

*Compost

*Commercial grade steel shelving

*Chicken waterers

*Dishwasher

*Gift certificate to Arbico Organics

*garden work pads

*Garden and tree pruners

*Guinea fowl

*Fuel

*Bird netting

*T posts

*Electric fencing solar or grid tie

*Post mix and ready mix concrete

*Pavers, bricks and landscaping materials

*Trellising materials

*Plumbing fixtures such as tub and shower valve, kitchen faucets, yard hydrants

*Roofing tin

*Portable building i.e. Tuff Shed 10'x12' minimum

*Hay

*Window screen

*.25"and .125"  galvanized mesh

*Electrical supplies: wire, outlets, switches, light fixtures

*Food for volunteers and community workdays 

*Canning supplies

*Zip lock storage bags

*Harvest, Market and Egg baskets

*Commercial grade produce spinner

*Grapefruit seed oil extract

*Galvanized pales 5 gallon
*Solar water heating components (pumps, panels and storage)

*And/or cash to be converted into these items

Current projects where help and resources are needed

*Garden

*Chicken Brooding

*Weiner Pigs

*Gray water system

*Rainwater harvesting

*Outdoor kitchen

*Outdoor shower and laundry

*Solar composting toilet

*Outdoor workspace/garage reconstruction

*Rehab of barn

*Composting systems

*Tree pruning

*Irrigation repair and maintenance

*Fence repair and maintenance

*Tractor and equipment upkeep

*Beekeeping

*Straw bale/Cobb/Adobe building construction

*Salvage and Material collection