It’s tempting to trim the swollen tufts of lavender, each with a whisper of sweetness, that shift in the breeze on the eastern flank of Black Mountain. “But you have to be patient,” said DeAnna Schaeffer, owner of Point Reyes Lavender Company. She waits until the flowers turn a purple-gray hue before extracting the valuable oil, used in sachets, bath products, and other items. Located on an old quarry site, the land had been stripped of its fertility. But the company’s hundreds of plants are doing well in lean soil, with good drainage and sunshine. One section is planted with a hardy hybrid called Phenomenal Lavender, famed for its fragrance. Other sections hold the dark purple Hidcote variety and graceful Provence, used in bouquets. Other plants complement the purples and blues, including yellow campanula and silvery white sage.
Sturdy calves are being weaned at Stemple Creek’s beef ranches, moved to adjacent pastures as their mothers’ milk dries up. These calves—red and black Angus—will be held for a year in preparation for market next summer. Older calves, which are gaining four to five pounds a day on calorie-rich grass-seed heads, are in peak condition and headed to market. That means now is the best time to buy local beef. Soon Loren and Lisa Poncia must predict how many cattle the pastures will be able to support over the dry months. To be safe, they often understock so they won’t be forced to buy Central Valley hay. “Imported hay takes a lot more fuel, a lot more labor, and a lot more money,” Loren said.
Sembrando Vida—meaning Sowing Life—is a community farming initiative in Hicks Valley that provides the Latino community with land to grow food. The all-volunteer farm, located at the Blue Marble Acres agricultural incubator on a former Spaletta dairy, is enjoying its first successful year of food production. Its organizers spent the past two years planning, fencing, preparing the ground, and installing a water system. The cool weather means that peppers are still tiny, but 220 of 360 tomato plants are planted. Zucchini is flowering, and there’s hibiscus, carrots, and lettuce. Seventy hens are laying eggs. The soil has been a challenge, compacted by years of animal use. But with the addition of compost, “roots are going into the ground,” volunteer Eleanore Despina said. “It will just get better and better.”