We don’t take much to complaining here at the farm. Life is a blessing, and while things can (and do) go wrong all the time, we prefer to look at the positive. When its 75 degrees and sunny in late January, it’s hard to complain. When you still have mint in the garden, flowers, bees and hummingbirds, it’s hard to complain. And it is even harder to complain when we have tasty winter veggies and citrus thriving in the garden.
But this seemingly endless summer is a problem. Outside the fence line (and away from irrigation) California is brown and dry. Parched. We have a serious drought. And even for a state that always seems short on water, we are truly short right now. Usually California is green in winter and then brown in summer. It’s looking like a brown year.
At this point the plants and animals are already assuming spring. Our blueberries are flowering, narcissus and daffodils are popping, birds are nesting. It is all beautiful, but slightly our of place, seeming almost artificial. We just hope when the rain comes…if it comes…that all will recover. We are still hopeful for rain (and snow in the mountains). Winter isn’t quite over yet. There is still time.
Putney Farm 
Thanks for reminding those of us here in Chiberia that something is still alive out there! Current wind chill is -19. Just gorgeous photos. Made my day!!
Chibera…that’s good. It seems things are extreme this winter, either too much or not enough…
Still, I will take the sun….
Our best to the crew!
Beautiful photos. The irrigation seems to work just fine.
Yes- it is green around the house (for now). Past the fence everything is brown and dusty. From above California would look like a desert with green spots….
Your images are breathtaking. 🙂
Thanks!
The temp is -4, wind chill -16, so I too am very happy to see the reminders of spring. Thanks for the lovely photos.
Thanks- and keep warm!
Springtime … how wonderful – and since yesterday is the winter finally falling gentle on us here in the South of Sweden … but not really that cold yet. -4,5C last night so I got my freezer defrosted (finally). So now we are back on track – not good when the seasons aren’t on the right track. The sun hasn’t been around still – 9 weeks in totally now. But least the snow is brighten up the days now.
Thanks for the spring and the beauty … here.
Hi, It certainly is pleasant here, but we know it isn’t quite right. Still wouldn’t mind a little snow…as long as we can go back to sunny places….
Our winter has arrived now … after days with soft and gentle snow fall – we have snow storm and .. more to come for a couple of days. But it has to come down – otherwise the Spring will go totally lost.
Had 40 min of sunshine today. Last summer was fantastic, I hope this will be the same ???!!!!
We hope you get beautiful summers every year!
Thanks, Stewart …. I wish it was that simple – I hope for the best. *smile
Your photos are gorgeous! I live in Southern Nevada and we only had winter for about a week (but it was cold enough to do some damage to the garden). Also a little worried about this drought as we have broken a record for most consecutive days without precipitation and there’s none in sight. But we are certainly lucky compared to the rest of the country–can’t complain about 70s in January!
Thanks. Yeah, it’s dry. Really dry for here. Even on the coast the fog isn’t keeping things green.
But like you said- we are lucky. I was happy to miss that “polar vortex” last week…
Thanks. Yeah, it’s dry. Really dry for here. Even on the coast the fog isn’t keeping things green.
But like you said- we are lucky. I was happy to miss that “polar vortex” last week…
A beautiful post!
Thanks! The good weather is a good excuse to take some photos….
We are enjoying this better-than-summer winter weather along with you. Your garden is a great dichotomy of winter and spring produce that is unusual but beautiful!
Thanks…of course once we posted, it started to rain. No complaints….
Looks so beautiful! I have fresh herbs and busy humming birds in my garden too – so no complaining, just longing for a bit of sunshine too 🙂
Thanks- we didi get a splash of rain- but now the sun is back. We will take what we can get. Stay warm!
Good luck! I know how worrisome waiting and hoping for rain that doesn’t come for far too long can be. Here in Central Texas, people celebrate the rain every time. Even last spring when it rained more than the Willamette Valley, no one complained because it barely put a dent in the drought (we went from off the charts, back to “severe”.) I’ll do an extra rain dance for y’all.
Thanks- we got a splash but still need a few more months of rain- hope you get the same!
Your photos make everything look so lush! Like a previous commenter said, it’s nice to see flowers and greenery.
I hope you/California get some moisture before long…! I hate to think of what summer would be like if it continued to be dry. 😦
Thanks. We didi get a splash but if we don’t get more rain the state, particularly the forests, will be on fire most of the summer. We need more rain…
Hope you are staying warm up there!
The photos are beautiful–and do look like spring. Not only is our garden confused, but so is our tortoise. Darwin doesn’t truly hibernate, but he does have a cycle that includes really shutting down during the winter–but with so much sunshine, he isn’t sure what to do. We had a little rain today. It wasn’t much, but something. I’m very concerned about this drought and think we are in for some serious changes in water supply this summer. I’m questioning whether I should put in my summer vegetable garden. I remember El Niño years and have been asking if we’ll ever have one again? I feel very sorry that I ever complained!
Funny, we were just saying that el Nino doesn’t seem so bad anymore (but floods and mudslides have their own issues.
I guess the bears aren’t hibernating either. Strange year.
We did finally get some rain this weekend- so at least the dirty / dusty look may go away. But we need a few more weeks of rain to even make a dent…
Been hearing some pretty dire reports on the drought…hope u guys are holding up okay!
Thanks- doing well. We just got a splash of rain- with perhaps more on the way…
It is summer here in New Zealand and these photos could fit very well with our climate.
We are jealous of anything in New Zealand….particularly summer…
Lovely photos. Wish I could send California a little bit of our rain. Here in the UK we’re getting one storm almost straight after another, wettest winter on record in some places – thousands and thousands of acres are under water. I think this is what the climate scientists mean by ‘extreme weather events’!
Hi,
Of course, once we complained it stared to rain- we are way behind, but at least it is something.
We heard about your abundance of water- hope you stay dry….
Glad you got a bit of rain! Not too bad where I am, over in the East of the UK, thanks – but it’s pretty soggy over in the south-west, poor guys.
Atmospheric Water Solutions has the solution to california’s drought with products producing pure drinking water from the air! See press release for more information please. http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/drought-stricken-californians-turning-to-atmospheric-water-generators-458429.htm#.UvpGoiQTsxY.facebook
Should you not need moobs which were waterproof it’ll be
probable to achieve this yourself. Venture
out and have a great time with your relatives
and buddies, hiking is a good method to take it easy and the outdoors.