Uprooted, an eco/travel blog

Yes, that’s right: it’s time to talk about irrigation! WHOO exciting! IRRIGATION YEAH!
Okay, calm down all yous. It may not be the most fascinating topic, but it’s more interesting than you think. And it’s necessary: in places like Paonia, which gets less than 20 inches of rain a year, it’s next to impossible to farm [...]

Last Sunday, I arrived at Zephyros Farm and Garden, where I’ll be staying and working for a couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I knew I’d love this place. 35 acres of organic, healthy goodness: Zephyros abounds with beautiful veggies, scampering lambs, mouthy goats, budding blooms, and one big black dog called Ullur who spends [...]

So you lost your job, eh? Yeah, you and hundreds of thousands just like ya. That sucks, because now you’ve got a really, really slim chance of finding another job that pays as well or makes you as miserable happy as that one did.

Dang.
So anyway, what are you doing next? Because I seem to remember [...]

My time at Dandelion Farm is coming to a close, but the work here keeps on going. In fact, a whole new phase of development is just getting started.

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For the past 30 years, Loren and Candace Stolley have developed their little slice of Northern California into a beautiful organic and sustainable farm. But, [...]

These are the clothes I wore to work Saturday. It’s cold! Colder than usual; winter is suddenly here, and it’s Not Messing Around.
Before the cold snap, there was no precipitation, and water supplies were getting lower daily. The Stolleys just completed a huge earth-moving project, enlarging the lake so it could become a practically bottomless [...]

We’re installing an arbor to surround Faithful Fountain. I bet you never thought about how all that big art was installed, did you? Yeah, me too.

The arbor is made of rebar. It was built in the metal shop, which is down by the house. In order to move it up the hill to Dandelion Ballad, [...]

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Every time I think I know this place, I find some new wonder. Each door, each bend in each path, reveals some evidence of the vast amount of love and effort the Stolleys have poured into Dandelion Farm. But the most exciting surprise here is the art.

Apple juice is the best of all the juices. And apples are the best of all fruits. Right? Right.
So okay, say you’ve got a bunch of apples. How do you juice them?
Here’s how it’s done at Dandelion Farm (as demonstrated by Messr. Loren Stolley).
1. Put on rubber gloves! This is food preparation, after all.
2. Sort [...]