When Opportunity Knocks....

When opportunity knocks... for goodness sake, open the door!

This last week has been crazy!  In the best of ways.  So very much has changed since this time last week, I can't even believe it's all real.

That lovely greenhouse is but one of the two greenhouses that we just acquired for the season.  And, believe it or not, it is the smaller of the two!

Steve and I working to amend the soil in the small house

the big greenhouse - before amending the soil

In addition to the greenhouses, Doug, the owner offered us full use of this propagation house:

the propagation house

and all the outdoor bed space we can revive and plant!  And, here's the kicker.... it's all for free!

I had approached Doug back in the early spring and asked if he'd be willing the rent the greenhouses to me for the season.  They are only a half-mile down the road from my house and I had known that he was looking for someone to manage them.  He was interested, but the price was way too high.  So, I just let the idea go.  But, I started way more seed than I could possibly grow here in hopes that maybe something, somewhere might work out....

Last week I got word through the grapevine that Doug wanted to get in touch with me.  So, Thursday evening I gave him a call and he asked me to meet him down at the greenhouses Friday morning.  Of course, meet with him I did!  Turns out, a fellow had paid him in full for the season for the greenhouses but did nothing with them.  Poor Doug had no idea why nothing was being done in them.  Finally, just last week, the guy left Doug a note saying he wasn't into it.  So... Doug offered them to me, free of charge!  "Just put them to good use, take good care of them, and give me what you can't eat," he said.  The excess we can sell from a roadside stand in front of his office.

And even better... Doug is the person that we get our organic composted dairy manure from.  He owns an organic soil business.  So, he has been bringing up unlimited loads of manure for us to use in the greenhouses for free as well!  And that gigantic white bag you see in front of the propagation house is full of his organic potting soil mix that we are also free to use.  Crazy right?!

It is quite late in the season to be suddenly trying to get the greenhouses going, but we are doing our best.  The hardest part is prepping the beds for planting.  They are tired and neglected and need lots of love.  So far we have all four of the big beds in the little house amended with manure, minerals and nutrients and partially planted with tomatoes, peppers, and basil.  In the big house we have one 5x40 foot bed amended and planted with onions, broccoli and beets.

happy tomato!

planting onion sets

As of this evening when we went to water and close up the greenhouses for the night, the beet seeds that we sowed on Monday were already up!  It's amazing what a difference some heat makes!  Here in our cool, shady garden, we never get germination that quickly.  I couldn't believe my eyes!

And, oh boy, it gets even better!  Sometimes, when it rains, it really does pour....

I also contacted my neighbor just down the hill from us about renting her pasture.  She was rather surprised and overwhelmed when I asked, so I figured it was a "no".  However, she called me Monday evening and said, "You know what?  I would love to have you put some animals down here.  And I'm not gonna charge you rent.  I just need an extra set of hands around here.  And, if you're willing, I'd like it if you would teach me how to spin.  So, you go ahead and get yourself some sheep.  Get yourself a horse if you want to!"

Seriously folks, I almost passed out.  Right there on the spot.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  Was it possible that this woman who I don't even know was really telling me that my age-old dream of having farm animals (larger than chickens) was really possible?  Like, right now?  I could put animals on pasture the next day if I wanted to?  By the time I hung up the phone, I was shaking like a leaf and had to walk in circles taking deep breaths for about 15 minutes just to calm myself down.

In addition to the pasture, there is a good-sized 4-stall barn with electricity and water that we are free to use.  Her horse and old angora goat are very sweet and mellow and would be more than happy to share their barn with some new wooly friends.

And, in trade for me teaching her to spin (which I feel really funny about given that I've spun for all of a week), she would like to teach me to weave!  She has an 8 harness loom and would really enjoy showing me the ropes.  Please somebody... pinch me.

And then, just to add icing to the cake that I am both having and devouring....

I got to spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday helping with the shearing of 20 gorgeous alpaca!  I got to be the fleece skirter and weigher.  This means that, as each fleece came off the animal, I took it and laid it out on a skirting table (a high table made of wire or plastic mesh that allows debris to fall through).  I got to carefully examine and go through each fleece removing any dirty or coarse fiber, straw, pinecones, whatever I could find that would lower the value of the fleece.  The most important thing that I was looking for and removing was second cuts.  This is when the shearer travels over an already sheared section of the animal with the shears, therefore making a second cut.  The second cut fiber is less than an inch long and is unusable.  Therefore, it needs to be removed from the long, usable fiber.  Then I took the fleece to the scale and weighed it.

Do you have any idea how lovely and deliciously soft an alpaca fleece is?  It's heavenly.  They were so beautiful.  The colors ranged from pure snowy white to deep earthy brown to silver grey.  Again, they were so beautiful.  Mmmmm....

And, in trade for my helping hands, I get to go back to the ranch next week to pick out some fiber to take home!  How's that for a deal?!  As if the experience alone wasn't enough.  We were so busy during the shearing that I did not get any photos, but when I go back, I'll be sure to snap a few of those funny looking little alien animals!  They're so cute and too funny looking now that they're naked!

Well that was my crazy week summed up.  Now, I'm bed bound with some nasty springtime virus.  But, I'll be sure to be moving through this bug as quickly as I can so that I can get my hands back in the soil again and get those greenhouses planted.  I've also learned this lesson... put intentions out there, plant the seeds, and good things will most definitely happen!