It's becoming a once-a-year tradition to borrow Dad's truck and make a trip to Sienna Ranch for aged horse manure. They have more than they know what to do with; therefore, the property manager is more than willing to fire up the front loader and fill up the truck with this ultimate soil amendment. The hardest part of the trip is shoveling the manure out of the truck and on to our driveway. After that, it's just a matter of adding a wheelbarrow at a time to the garden, and hardly a month goes by around here that we're not adding a wheelbarrow of something to the garden, so that's no big deal. Anyway, it's beautiful stuff, if you like that sort of thing. Clearly I do. And the garden does, for sure. Every time I amend with manure, everything sort of gets a new surge of growth.

It's important to pile the manure right next to your front gate, because really, nothing says 'welcome' like a large pile of horseshit.

We took a trip up to Petaluma yesterday; we obtain all our grass-fed and pastured meats from Tara Firma Farms, and as members we were able to join them for some roasted pork on Father's Day. We enjoyed walking through the hills and fishing in their pond on a beautiful sunny day. We made some side trips to the Marin Cheese Company (stinky French cheeses for Dad, check) and Cottage Gardens (plants for Mom, check) as well as an extreme side trip to Oakland to Pollinate Farm and Garden (canning rack for me and Tom, check).

Ok, out to the garden for me - that pile o' poo won't move itself.