Ray in the field grafting

The day was perfect and full of sunshine.   A change much welcomed from the rain we have had over the last few weeks.  Our daffodils,  a bit of sunshine right here on earth,  are in full bloom.  Though the ground is still holding onto the moisture we can get out and do the continued work of weeding, tractor driving to begin the preparation of the soil for planting and grafting new peach varieties onto the 3 year old trees.  The scion wood from the variety of peach chosen is trimmed to the specific size and shape to fit into the slit made in the pruned limb.  The size and shape of the fit are very important as both pieces of wood need to make an extremely snug and  tight fit to ensure the beginning of new growth in the spring.   The  peach, “September Sweet”, a delicious variety,  is being grafted by Ray.  In the words of Raymond, “We’ll have a few peaches from this graft  next  summer”.

A workday at the ranch seems like a silly thing to write about  in a post.  Isn’t every day a work day on the ranch?  Well, yes it actually is but this is a special work day.

During the “off” season or the time of year that we are closed to customers our time is spent repairing and making the needed changes we can only think about during the busy season.

Ray, Kristen and Ross after bringing down a walnut tree

We schedule several family workdays during the late winter, early spring with specific projects in mind to complete.  Our two grown children, Kristen and Ross, live close enough that they can spend the day at the ranch completing that chosen task.

The tradition of the Erickson Ranch family workday,  they will tell you, started when,  as young children  mom would scheduled workdays to get actual work done at home.  That tradition has fortunately, for me, continued to the present.

Our  job at the February workday was to cut down several trees that had outlived their usefulness.  This walnut tree took the combined effort of  shovels, chainsaws, tractors and lost of elbow grease.  The roots were as large as the trunk of the tree.  Between the gentle rains that fell during the day and lots of putting our heads together to figure the best way to pull the walnut tree from the earth, we called it a successful day!

We are all in the midst of winter!    The rain has visited us with promise of more to come.   No complaints from Erickson Ranch.   The changing seasons provide those of us that farm the chance to prepare  for the upcoming season.   As each month presents itself to us we “go with the flow” so to speak.  The winter gives us the time to enjoy a bit of down time, practice our citrus jellies,  cook winter soups with the veggies in our garden and make  needed repairs.

Clearing the Creek