11/10/2014- Winter’s Exhale Another amazing season! The spiral of time has brought us back to harvest. Tis’ the season of beautiful fall sunsets and the rich fragrance of rain that replenishes our life on mother earth. Swollen mycelium erupt in delicious umami fruits while the bears have their last fill of fallen apples and pears. Frozen clouds reach from our mouths on these crisp cold nights and dissipate softly back into the breath of a full moon sky. The nebulous sights of next years visions are seen through winter’s exhale. The thin veil gently reveals the swirling pools of darkness and life graciously rests, ready to begin anew. The seeds are in, the cover crop is growing and the universe conspires to propel us forward in the name of peace, justice and love. Blessings on these trees, on their fruit and the animals that eat of them.
The new catalogue is just around the corner…
6/13/2013-Divine Cherries! So much has happened since the last update!We have explored Grass Valley, Nevada City, Camptonville, Downieville and surrounding areas for cherry trees. These are trees that we have either found ourselves or people have contacted us about, and we found some winners! We are still trying to identify them for propagation but we are confident that some of them will be a part of the Felix Gillet Nursery. One of our favorite trees in Downieville was not ripe last time we checked but Amigo and Jen will be taking a trip this weekend to find out if they are ready. They are small to medium size, almost black, sweet and embody a unique flavor. There will be some of these trees for sale this winter. We did find many that were small, tart and bitter that will not make it into the collection. Also, since we had such a warm spring there has been a bumper crop of cherries on our farm and surrounding areas. They seem to be about one month early, along with the robins and blue jays. They obviously don’t use the gregorian calendar.
Taking care of a nursery is a lot of work! We are weeding, feeding, mulching, cutting suckers, painting the trunks and organizing data. It is a fun and rewarding experience and our knowledge and appreciating deepens everyday. Life is so incredibly beautiful and this divine opportunity to be alive and aware should never go to waste. Reaching to understand the subtlety of our being and our relationships with ourselves, friends, plants, trees and our entire environment brings an appreciation that taps down so deep into our consciousness that it seems a thousand universes are created, fed and die with each breath. So Precious. All the myriad of conditions that have been created for the existence of a single cherry seem almost absurd and beyond possibility. But here it is. And here you are. And here you are devouring it, tasting it, absorbing it and perpetuating the innumerable cycles that coalesce at this one point of existence. And you get to experience it. Thank you great spirit.
2/24/2013- Botanarcheology
We have sold all but a few trees in our nursery! (We still have Bartlet Pears!)The Felix Gillet Project has been a huge success. While meeting some of the most wonderful and interesting people who have been interested in our project, we have made new friends, found many more old trees to investigate and have a more clear vision of where the project needs to go. We will not be able to do it without the help of all of you. Thank you so much for all of the feedback and interest that the community has shown. It helps improve and expand this project to it’s full potential.
While we are still collecting some scion material in the last throws of tree dormancy, we are also grafting trees for the next season’s catalogue. It is shaping up to include all the varieties we offered this year, plus many more. This project is expanding very rapidly. In order to fulfill the potential of this expansion, we encourage everyone to contact us with information on Heirloom Sierra trees such as location, type of fruit, and time of ripening. This way we don’t have to do it all our selves. This is a community project and would not be here if it weren’t for everyone that participates! Thank you! We believe this is an important part of the work we all must do in the midst of the foundational changes in all of our lives. The recognition, protection and propagation of our natural horticultural heritage helps keep us and our culture alive. We are all celebrating another Great Year in this everlasting evolution that we share. Much Love.
1/31/2013- Eco-Farm
We have been keeping busy this week catching up from the ECO-FARM trip in Pacific Grove. We are digging up, selling and preparing for grafting this February/March as well as many other farm tasks in the Heaven and Earth Farm counterpart. The Briarpatch Co-op will be planting a ‘Buerre Clairgeau’ Pear from our nursery in honor of Felix Gillet. This particular pear was planted right off his front porch at his Barren Hill Nursery in Nevada City.
Today, Amigo and Adam are about to go run up into the mountains again for scion collection up in Humbug and possibly Graniteville if we have time. Since it has been a rainless January with a few warm spells, we are pushing hard on dormant scion collection before these trees start to swell with activity. Abby has been planting vegetable seeds such as peppers and onions for plant sales and for our farm planting and Jenifer has been organizing our tree identification information into a coherent system. What a fun project!
FGI was also in The Union this past Wednesday 1/30/2013 and there is a link under “About FGI.” We are all very excited about the numerous phone calls and emails we are receiving about new plant locations for us to investigate this year. Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and help!
1/20/2013- Expedition
Amigo, Jennifer and Adam spent the day tromping around the snowy Sierra Nevada, collecting scion wood from heirloom trees. Some of these towns include Forest, Alleghany and Pike. With the help of Dan Crebbin, we will be grafting these trees onto rootstock to sell the following year. We have collected many varieties of Apples including Winesap, La Reine de Reinette, Petite Api, Striped Gilleflower, Late Strawberry, Ben Davis, Yellow Newtown Pippin, White Winter Pearmain and Swaar.