Dtek Industries

We’ve planted over 100 fruit trees on the farm, including many heirloom varieties of apple, pear, peach, plum, persimmon, and paw paw.  Most of our fruit trees are dwarf or semi-dwarf trees that are 2-3 years old, and our apple orchard below the goat meadow is still in its first year. We also have an old full-sized apple tree that we inherited; it produces a hefty crop of small green apples that make delicious apple sauce.

Last year, a late freeze killed all of the blossoms and prevented any of our trees from bearing fruit. While it was disappointing, it probably helped our young trees grow stronger in the long run by encouraging them to put all of their energies into building strong roots and shoots (instead of the energy-intensive process of producing fruit).

We’re harvesting our first fruits from young trees this year. Most exciting is the peach tree, which is so loaded with peaches that some of the limbs have bent to the ground. Peaches have become a new favorite snack for River, and last weekend, Emily baked an amazing peach-blackberry cobbler.

2. that's runa's magic number. we hold up one sock and say one, rooster says twooooooo. we go shopping for groceries and there's no way we can get one avocado. we have to get twoooooo. she doesn't wanna play with one ball. she wants to play with twooooo. twoooo eyes. twoooo ears. twoooo dogs.

here are some pics of runa with her dos amigas.

a coupla morning videos for ya. they're dark because they're in the wee hours.

runa misses her wawa.

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Ann Mahoney and her grandson, Graham, visited the farm last week. Ann is a naturalist, birder, and good friend who has been a leading voice in helping to protect the wilderness and wildlife of Cumberland Island National Seashore. Her son, Graham, is clearly following his grandmother’s example: already he is an avid fisherman and amateur naturalist, and he filled his belly with hand-picked blackberries and raspberries from the farm.

yes, we are alive, folks. alive and kickin'. we got to stay with nancy and danny in abilene on our way to santa fe. sandy, luke, and debby stopped by and filled my heart to almost overflowin'.
we were tired when we arrived in santa fe. runabird's new favorite rest spot is blue's bed.


we took some pics while we lounged in the shade at the park the other afternoon. lazy. lovely.



koruna digs her horsie, her sock, her iiiiiiiivy.

our time in the land of enchantment is flying by. ian and i spend most of the days and lots of nights working down at our studios so runa gets a whole lotta grammaV and ivy time. she's in the lap of luxury - queen of the castle and she knows it. rooster digs the dogs and can hardly take her eyes off of richard when he's in the room.

runabird loves to pick raspberries in the front yard. she smushed the first few between her fingers but now holds them ever so delicately as she plucks them from the vine.




the berries are almost gone now. the roses are fading, too. we picked a perfect time to be here.

Last week, we walked out to the gardens and noticed our pond was nearly empty.I jumped down in to the shoe-sucking mud and temporarily plugged a hole in the dam, while Emily and River dragged hoses over. Water from the hoses helped some, but the hole in the dam kept re-opening every few hours.

For several days, we couldn’t figure out how the leak developed. Did a muskrat burrow a hole? Had the dam weakened over time? Did a snake poke a hole in the dam? Today we finally discovered the problem: an old, abandoned pipe in the bottom of the pond had cracked, and water was seeping out the other end into our overflow creek. A friend of ours used a backhoe to remove the pipe and then plugged and reinforced the dam with clay.

Amazingly, our fish survived a near-complete draining of the pond. Three giant grass carp swam for about an hour in six-inches of muddy water, with their dorsal fins rising out of the water like sharks.  A handful of smaller fish also survived in the mud puddle. We’re now refilling the pond, and tomorrow’s rain showers should help immensely. By the end of the weekend, the pond will be fully filled, and the fish, frogs, and other aquatic life will be grateful for the water’s return.

Cucumbers and zucchini are growing faster than we can harvest them. We have given several bushels to the community center food bank and even more to the families we support, and still our entire kitchen counter is covered in green, cylindrical-shaped veggies. Emily will use some of them to make zucchini muffins for River and me…they’re so delicious that River doesn’t even notice he is eating vegetables.

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Slippery Joaquin posted a photo:

Well, as of July 8th or 9th, Kiefer joined the rank and file in the crawling world. Before, he was kind of inch-worming himself around. Scout, who did a break-dancing twist and roll until Charlie showed her how to crawl correctly, now shoots out like a sassy, hip-wiggling bullet to whatever attracts her attention. And Charlie--well, Charlie loves to climb. When he crawls, it's always like he's crossing a battlefield--slow, deliberate, dramatic (--good for teaching, I guess). But when he gets to his objective, it's climbing time, which is sometimes followed by a pretty good digger and then more drama. But just a month or so ago, things looked a bit different. Take a look:

Man, it has been fun. Watching them develop. They are all determined, and all successful, but success and the route to it are different in each case. I can't wait until they can walk, an adventure on which Scout is already embarking--that is, when she isn't completely focused on talking. I'm telling you, she is garrulous, and ridiculously cute. Often, Suzy and I will go in after a nap and find her either kneeling or standing in the direction of her brothers, holding the railings of the crib and just gabbing away. Bla bla bla... She even once was sitting with her two little legs swinging back and forth out of the crib, and just talking to no one in particular. She seemed frustrated that we interrupted her too.
I can't tell you how much fun Suzy and I are having. Summer has been great. Coincidentally, the babes' nap schedule corresponded perfectly with the World Cup games. I saw more of this World Cup, would you believe it, than I had seen of any other, and that was a great joy for me. The World Cup, actually, is the main reason I have not totally followed through on all my projects this summer, but that was a happy choice to make. We have had some great visits too, Sally and her son David, most recently, and for two nights, two days, we even hosted TL and Steve all the way from Alberta.
Oh, and Sara and Mike's son Abel was born (well done, people), and so was Annika, my friend and colleague's first, and, yea, Andrew Kanagy's Ivan Timothy has made his big entrance (--Andrew and his wife Heidi are the main reason Suzy and I have triplets, if you didn't know it). Welcome to parenthood, my dear friends--it is amazing, fun and endlessly fulfilling...
And, of course, 'tis the season for getting hitched. Just went to Galas's wedding and spent some quality time with the Swanzy--our kids' unofficial official Alaskan pediatric dentist. And we still have three more great weddings to go to yet: yea, Chris and Sarah; yea, Alan and Allie; and yea, my main man Chuck and the wonderful Sharyl. Thanks to the Marvelous One, Suzy's mother Martha, we plan to come and have a once-in-a-lifetime kind of celebration with each of you.
But the biggest event this summer, in terms of distance and trickiness, was Suzy's cousin Maureen's wedding in Omaha. Suzy has a lot of family in the big RED state, and I don't think she has missed a wedding--not one. In addition to the wedding, we stayed with Suzy's dad, whose hospitality and generousness remains unequaled, and we spent time with all the Kiefers, including Tim's family and even Katy's family (--all the way in from Japan, in fact--every moment with them is a special and rare event). Well, the trips were like a traveling road show. Everyone wanted to see the little people, even Sharon's daughter Mallory did, and Charlie, Kiefer and Scout did so well--stayed right on schedule, slept well, ate well, and were generally pleasant as can be. The drive was the toughest part, and all five of us were certainly tired the day or two after our return, but the routine was easy to refortify, and the the trip was well worth the warming and loving embrace of Suzy's Omaha family and friends. Thank you, all.
As for the blog, it's still going strong--in my head, if not always in front of your eyes. I thank you for your patience and your prayers, and your wishes, and your love--and your encouragement. Yes, many of you have said the nicest things about the blog. The only encouragement I'll ever need is right now systematically testing the kitchen and hallway gates for weaknesses--yea, like the velociraptors in that terrible movie, but your encouragement helps a lot. And to those of you just now coming down this wonderful path of family and life, well, yours is the best encouragement of all...
With much love,
Joe And Suzy