Take a “Psych-idyllic” trip and come visit us.
Hi Friends: Sharing our farm with visitors is a rewarding experience. A few years ago Starr & I extended a formal invitation to any passing Bluebirds to please come and hang out on the farm. Much thanks to our friend, Jo Ann Baumgartner, for her help and advice on getting and placing the bird houses. This year a Bluebird couple took us up on our invitation and moved in. Bluebirds are great creatures to have on a farm like ours that grows its produce without recourse to insecticides since they eat lots of insects that could damage our crops. It was disturbing to know that Bluebird populations have crashed across the US as their habitat has gotten destroyed. It feels good to try and push back against this trend by creating a welcoming habitat. We want to grow healthy, tasty herbs, greens, fruits and flowers for you, but in a way that honors and protects the diversity and beauty of the natural world.
You all are invited to visit the farm too, though we will steer clear of the Bluebirds’ house and give them their privacy. We still have a couple of open spots for this upcoming Saturday June 21st Summer Solstice Self-Care event from 11-2 pm. Tickets are on our website at Mariquita.com . The gate opens at 10:30. This event promises a taste of a variety of self-care offerings while celebrating the Summer Solstice with us. We will be joined by several event guides and practitioners that will provide you with a taste of their art and profession such as a mini facial massage, an acupuncture session, a sound bowl meditation and walk in the very purple lavender labyrinth or a sit down with a channeler. All of this and a nice time to enjoy the gardens and hear the birds.
We’ve also been opening the farm for a series of lavender U-Pick events. Check the website for signup details.
Besides our public events we do open the farm and host events for groups and individuals; painting clubs, blessing ways, staff parties, and fund-raising dinners and picnics have all been on the calendar. Let us know if you have an event in mind that would benefit from a beautiful, peaceful rural surroundings with an out-door kitchen, a handy labyrinth and a lot of flowers! Starr does flowers for events and weddings too. Let us know.Given that some of you may drop in I thought it would be fun to share some photos of the various creatures that have passed through or taken up residence here at Mariquita Farm. Thanks for checking in. Andy & Starr:
This little frog has found a beautiful little studio apartment on the farm. In the 1920s my Great Grandfather leased the property to a flower grower who planted Calla lilies. That grower is long gone but some Callas persist in the swampy area beyond the edge of the field.
This cute little fox let me photograph it as it made its evening walk through our spiral garden. Foxes like to eat gophers and ground squirrels so I like it when they visit. Sometimes we hear them yipping and barking in the night time. They pose no threat to people.
I found this little Robin’s egg on the pathway to the windmill field. I’m not sure how it got there but lots of wild critters want to eat bird eggs so I’m sure there was some drama.
Every magic garden needs at least one snake! This is a mature gopher snake that has made its home on the farm. Gopher snakes are a farmer’s best friend.
This is a baby gopher snake, not much longer than a pencil. May it grow up to be big and fat!
The lavender field is breaking into bloom as I write. I wish I could photograph the scent! Besides the honey bees that come from the hives on the farm the lavender patch also host numerous bumble bees and othe native bees. This flower patch literally hums. But don’t worry; the bees are all hard at work and they don’t feel threatened by us or pose a threat. Just walk down the pathway mindfully, pay attention that you don’t grab a bee when you’re picking lavender, and everybody will bee happy.
Starr uses her farm store as a herb drying room when it’s not open to visitors. One hundred years ago this little building was a carriage house turned garage that housed my Great Grandfather’s Pierce Arrow motor car. But today it smells like lavender.
This silly turkey was one of the first visitors to the farm store after Starr created the space to show off the herbs, flowers, and other goodies form the earth that she sell, but the turkey was only interested in the “other” turkey!
Yep, we have Mountain lion visitors to the farm. This beauty was photographed just beyond the deer fence that encircles the gardens. Farmers know that Mountain lions are the best “deer fence.” Mountain lions are no pussy cats, that’s for sure, but they were here first and deserve our respect. I’m happy that we almost never see them, but I’m glad that they’re there. It’s impossible to farm where there are too many deer.
Before they were “The Beatles! ” they were a cover band called “the Silver Beetles.” So I smile when I see these iridescent, metallic beetles on the farm. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Nature is so psychedelic. Starr and I want our farm to be “Psych-idyllic!”
And I’m glad that house cats are the size they are. This kitty’s name is Tassajara, or “Tassa” for short, and she follows me around like a dog and finds delight and interest everywhere she goes. What a way to live!
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