Orchard

On Sunday we started planting the orchard. This is the orchard that will eventually supply delicious fruits for Girasole Farm.

The holes were dug by a backhoe when the shop was being built last summer. The holes are very BIG.

There are 14 varieties of fruit trees. Plum-Cherry-Pluot-Pomegranate-Nectarine-Apple-Pear & Grapefruit.  

Wow- only 13 more to go!

In addition to these trees there are 12 mandarin trees waiting to be planted next. 

A... Is for Apron

There is nothing new about Aprons. They have been around for centuries.
Aprons are there to help carry the things a woman's hands cannot hold all at once. Aprons are a badge of courage and strength. Aprons remind me I am proud to be a woman, mother, grandmother, and  a homemaker.


When I think of aprons, I think of Angie. Angie wore an apron every day of her life. It was such a ritual to adorn herself with an apron that she often would wear it to town. For her it was like putting on a pair of socks and shoes for the day. Her apron completed her daily wardrobe. Angie's aprons were never fancy. They were well worn soft cotton, tied at the waist with two pockets. The pockets were of significant importance to little ones, who would often find some loose change, candied goody or a tissue to wipe little noses.

I met Angie when I was 16 years old. She became my mother-in-law when I was 17. Angie's family immigrated to the United States from Italy. Angie was born in Ithaca, New York shortly after her parents arrival here to the United States.

At first I resisted her "old fashioned" ways. It took time for me to learn from her and appreciate all she had to offer. Angie was an uncommon woman. She raised 9 children on a 30 acre farm. She lived in a time when women did not work outside of the home. She wore a dress every day of her life, she did not have a drivers license to drive, and trips to town were few and far between. She was the most frugal of women I have ever known in my entire life. Everything was made in the home...breads, cakes, pies and cookies. There was a never ending supply of fruit trees and vegetables. I am so lucky to have had her in my life. She, and her son I married,  taught me how to cook and preserve fruits and vegetables to carry over for the lean times. To waste anything was a disgrace to mother earth and all she abundantly provides.

The most basic of life necessities I learned from her. I wish I had learned more from her while I had the chance. How I wish I could make her an apron now.

That was a very long time ago. I have had the wonderful opportunity to pass along the knowledge learned form her to my three daughters. I hope that they too will pass the things learned along to their babies.

I am honored to wear an apron. I am anxious for my grand-babies to discover the magical treasures within the apron pockets.

A.... is for apron.
Gardening will come when the  sun shines brighter, and the days are longer, A is where I will begin for now.

Drawn by:

The Girasole Lady

Kindergarten-1964

Two Rock, CA.

Busy Working

The Girasole Lady

Girasole Farm

What is Girasole Farm?
Girasole Farm is Aprons to Zuchinni.
The vision I have is made of several elements, some of which I am in the process of achieving currently and some that may take about 3-5 years.
1. A garden with fresh vegetables and herbs for sale, eventually year around, and not just in the summer. I would like to, at some point, sell speciality food items from the garden to restaurants. I have been gardening for many years.
2.Variety of fresh fruits for sale.  I just recently planted a couple of dozen fruit trees and it will be a few years before they produce.
3. Aprons for adults and children.
4. Heirloom/vintage flowers, plants and  seeds.
5. Annual pumpkin patch open to the public.
6. My biggest .... A cottage store next to the garden, that carries gardening, canning supplies and bits of useful things for country living. Books on every country subject you can imagine...cooking, gardening & canning, and little bits of country wisdom and poetry. The cottage will have a name, "Sunflower Cottage".

A place that welcomes people to come and have a country visit.
I would like to teach about food preservation, canning vegetables, fruits and making jam.

I want my office to be in a corn field, not behind a desk looking out a window. I want my daily agenda to revolve around the seasons and not a computer and a telephone.

Most of all I want this to be a family Farm too.   I want to teach my grand babies about gardening, harvesting, cooking &  full moons. I want to pass traditions on to them so they can pass them on to their "little ones".

May we never forget the simplicity of living a simple country life.

"Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin' for, worth fightin' for, worth dyin' for, because it's the only thing that lasts. "
Gerald O'Hara
Gone With The Wind (1939)
The Girasole Lady

Farm Goals

I set three goals to be completed for the Farm by the end of the year. Today I completed the last of the three.

1. Girasole Farm now has an IRS EIN (Employer Identification Number).
2. A State Board of Equalization Sellers permit number.
3. A formal fictitious business name filed with the county.

I have shared my adventurous idea with a few friends, outside of family, and it felt really good sharing the Farm plan. I know this is going to be hard work to have a successful business, really hard work.. but I am hard worker, and have been all my life. The difference now is that it is for my benefit and my family, not for that of others.

I hope and pray that when discouragement comes, and come it will, I have the strength and the courage to push it aside and rise above it. If one thing doesn't work then move on to another, and another, and another, until something does work.

That by each failure I will learn something to take with me to eventual success. Without failure and disappointment, it would sour the sweetness of true success.

If I cannot believe in myself how could I ever expect others to.
For those that are pessimistic, I shall set them aside for now, for they are not needed in my life.
Eventually, they too shall have a purpose.

The Girasole Lady