August already!  The garden is looking great, the bees are settled in, and we’ve been working away out here at the EcoRanch.  Our interns, WWOOFers, and volunteers have been tirelessly weeding, taking care of pests, and harvesting.  We’ve been battling the high temps and lack of water but the monsoon rains are here in full force and the plants are loving it.

We are sad to see Assoumou, our current WWOOFer leave, but he is about to begin a new adventure visiting family in the Ivory Coast where he will help his father establish a farm.  He has really helped us out and we have been able to get caught up on all the behind the scene things like emails, paperwork, planning, networking, and other jobs.  We hope he can take some of the skills he learned here and apply them to a new environment.  Our interns Gabe and Mike will be finishing their hours in a few short weeks as they return to the hustle and bustle of classes at NAU.  They will be replaced by two new interns for the fall semester, Meaghan and Micah.  Gabe and Mike will be teaching them all they have learned and the goals will be to continue maintaining plant health, harvesting, and closing the the farm for the season at the end of October.

Below are some photos for your viewing pleasure.  We hope to see you soon.

Drying Sage

Drying Garlic

A safe new set of stairs!

Our first attempt at growing oyster mushrooms.  Thanks Mycocats of U of A