Hurray a key!
It's happened. We now own a...mortgage. ;)
Got keys in hand today! A key for everyone. Took two of the girls out there today to measure windows and putz around the property. Kids have begun lining up who gets which rooms. Michael and the rest of the crew brought home a rental truck and began piling in stuff. We have so much stuff. So much stuff. In each of the moves over the last 5+ years, we've eliminated stuff...but still. Books have increased, music stuff has increased, cameras have increased - which makes up for stuff we've done away with, given away, sold...
I'm thrilled. And scared, too. We are going to have to refi at the two year mark to avoid the jumping interest rate. The kids, who have been maintaining, are beside themselves. It's really cool. They want a dog and a certain rescue goat we know about, another dog, some chickens, the whole deal. I want to play again with arid land gardening (am I nuts - I ask myself?!) and I need to get out the old permaculture books and pamphlets to see what we might use from them. I want fruit trees, just a few this time. And grape vines, of course. I want to work with some native plants, too. And old varieties of corn, adapted to this climate and altitude.
First we need to think about fencing. Looks like a neighbor behind us had been cuting through our property to get to his, rather than driving around on an actual road. All the roads are dirt, so I guess he figured what the hell. Would not want to have a kid or grandkid plowed over right off the bat. Anyway, once fencing begins to go up, we can find ways to house various animals within...
And we need a windbreak. Suggestions? We're between 3000-4000 feet. It's high desert where we can get snow in winter but it melts off pretty fast. Joshua Tree/Creosote scrub with scattered junipers here and there. The junipers increase with altitude but still pop up in odd locations in the immediate area. Our area has weeks of triple digits in summer (rainfall patterns have been changing in the 25 years we've been out here - we seem to be getting more summer rains than before), we have a four-season climate with relatively brief springs and falls and 3+ months of winter. It can get down to 0 degrees F or even below sometimes, but not for terribly long. Like I said - it snows some. Winds can be severe. It's a harsh climate, but surprising things will grow here, if you play with them - choose your locations carefully - a warm spot by a south-facing wall, a spot protected from the wind, etc. Windbreak plants need to be hearty enough to survive these changes. People use a variety of plants for windbreak.
Some of my thoughts:
1. We used Leyland Cypress in the past. it grows fast, is beautiful, and provides great habitat for local fauna, although it's not native, in fact it's a hybrid. Down side - they are not long-lived. They really do grow fast which is a marked advantage. They are not terribly heavy water users.
2. I've seen people use Incense Cedar, but it takes more water than Leylands and they get huge.
3. Palo Verde thrives but may not be a great windbreak - evergreens are better.
4. People use all kinds of pines which do well and make decent windbreaks, as long as they don't get big enough to fall over in a strong wind. Part of that has to do with giving them too much water, making a shallow root system. It's tricky.
5. I'm wondering if I can grow mesquite at this altitude. It's dense and edible, very nutritious. Native to Colorado Desert, but I suspect we could grow it up here.
6. Bladder-pod thrives but stinks when in bloom and again - it's deciduous.
7. Ocotillo is being used more though it's native to the Colorado Desert. It wouldn't be much help as windbreak in the winter, since it drops foliage then, but it is such a cool plant...
8. My beloved CA Fan Palm? I know they can survive an Apple Valley winter - I have photos of them topped with snow...
Suggestions? We hope to install drip irrigation for the windbeak and don't need it to go around the whole 2.5 acres...