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

Buckets of Lemons

Our Meyer Lemon  tree has provided us with buckets and buckets of lemons.  The boughs of the 40 year old tree drooped towards the ground as it attempted to hold on to all its lemons.  The question is, “What does one do with all that wonderful fruit?”  The lemons came in all sizes. We squeezed and strained each and every one of them.  There is nothing as wonderful  in the midst of winter as the beautiful juice  of the Meyer Lemon .

We made many a Meyer Lemon Meringue pie and gave them as gifts. I must say I never realized the Lemon Meringue was the favorite of so many.  It was gratifying to see the look of pleasure on the faces of the recipients of the pies.  The giving of a home made pie, I believe,  brings back  many pleasant memories for folks.  The question still remained, “What do we do with the rest of the juice?”  The answer soon presented itself and just in time.

My good friend,  Maryanne,  found a wonderful cookbook at a garage sale,   “The Household Searchlight Recipe Book” printed in 1931.  She  presented  it to me as a Christmas gift.  Within the pages of this beautiful antique cookbook were many canning and preserving recipes and amongst them, a Lemon Jelly recipe.  We make delightful jams  from the fruit we grow but jelly is another story indeed.  The timing couldn’t have been better as this gift gave me the perfect recipe for all that lemon juice.

Erickson Ranch Meyer Lemon Jelly

I followed the recipe exactly as written and it makes the most beautifully clear yellow, Meyer lemon flavored jelly.  One may ask, “What does Meyer Lemon Jelly compliment”?  I used it as the spread  between the layers of our daughters birthday cake and topped it with lemon flavored cream cheese frosting.   Absolutely delightful!!  The jelly makes a light and refreshing  spread on a scone or  slice of  pound cake.

Our two 50 year naval orange trees  are loaded with fruit and the next project and blog  will be Orange Jelly from the Searchlight Recipe Book.  I didn’t think I would ever be making  jellies during the winter season but as any farmer knows we must take take advantage of the fruit when it in season!

Take a Walk in our sleeping garden!

Welcome to the Erickson Ranch blog, “Shed Talk”! With Christmas over and the New Year here, we are looking forward to staying in touch with you throughout the seasons.

This is our slow season and there is always a job to be done. We repair the well used equipment, and plan for spring that will arrive before we know it.

The fields are left dormant but  are seemingly full of life as the Robin, Quail and  the Sparrows are in constant search of winter’s offerings to  fill their bellies.   They dine on berries, seed pods, the remaining Hichya persimmons too high to harvest as well as juicy earth worms trying to stay hidden in the soil.

The  shed that was full of produce during the growing season, now kept warm by the stove, is transformed into our workshop for repairs and the completion of many projects. The seed catalogs have already begun to arrive. We will spend many an evening browsing and picking out not only the good old standbys but always something new.