Rancho Azul y Oro ~ Surviving the Dream

Today is the day to celebrate all things Irish, so in that spirit, I thought I'd add a modern spin on a recipe made in my family for probably over 100 years.  True, this Irish lass has reverted back to her farming roots, although we may be farming a different crop and drinking wine, not beer.  My ancestors would find the humor in the solid limestone rock in which our grapes and olive trees are planted.  However, we do honor our heritage daily and are extremely proud of the strides made by generation after generation.  So without further adieu, here is our take on an Irish favorite: Irish SODA BREAD featuring oLIVE OIL Ingredients: ·         1.5   cups flour ·         1 cup buttermilk ·         1.5   tsp of baking soda ·         1 tsp salt ·         1 spr...

In the old days (three or four years ago), there were down times at the ranch, such as summer and winter.  It could be said that it was because the plantings were not so mature and required far less work, which is, in part, true.  Experienced farmers, wine grape growers, and vintners probably know better.  Slowly, it is becoming evident that free time was abundant because we did not know we were supposed to be doing certain things on a regular schedule, such as spraying the vines, olives and lavender (yes, even the lavender) for disease and pests, thinning the shoots and fruit early in the season, regularly testing the grapes approaching harvest, performing regular chemical tests on our wine, adjusting the SO2 level, topping the barrels, then adding inert gas, all the while planning yeast choices for harvest, calculating harvest estimates and ordering barrels for the wine, bottles, labels, and corks for the oil and the wine. With all those lesso...

Bud break on the table grapes When last the ranchers drove off into the sunset, the native grasses were still gray in color and dormancy still dominated the landscape. A mere two weeks later and the temperatures have soared into the 80s, and upon arising yesterday, the occupants were greeted with bud break on the table grapes and on the olive trees. While it gladdens one's heart to see such demonstrations of the resiliency of Springtime, it also recalls to mind last year, when bud break occurred on the table grapes and olives at the end of March, and on April 8th and 9th, snow and hail decimated the newly budded plants and the crop for the year. The joyous weather and hopeful optimism of Spring could cause one to skip happily down the sidewalk, but history reminds one that happily skipping must be tempered with caution, since Mother Nature appears to be the world's great mischief maker. Be that as it may, after all the skipping down the sidewalk was completed, thes...

The rancho is going solar and will be home of 39 solar panels.   This author has wondered aloud how all those panels will mesh with the quiet majesty of nature at the rancho, but will apparently find out soon, because the engineers will be out to stake out the site over President's Weekend and then the engineering and permitting will begin, with some estimates placing installation as early as March 23rd.  Some coordination and inspection with PG & E will be necessary in order for their approval of said project, at which time, the rancho will be given the go ahead to flip said switch.  While the ultimate goal was clean energy independence and self-sufficiency, the basic hope is that when we flip a light switch, the lights go on and the well continues to pump water to the house.   Air conditioning in summer would be a close runner up.  It would be a happy day, indeed, to be able to report that this phase of planning and building at the ...