We live on 75 acres, but I wouldn't exactly call it a farm. Our house and pottery studio
are in the lower third and we're surrounded by giant redwoods and poison oak, and there's
a year-round creek - even with the drought.
The poison oak is a result of logging in the past century and a half. The land hasn't been
logged in 50 years or more, however. The top third, up the hill, is owned by my eldest daughter and
is uninhabited - also home to big redwoods. The middle contiguous 30 acres, also uninhabited by humans, has
24 olive trees that we planted about 20 years ago - they survive without much of
any care, but are small to medium in size. Wildlife lives up there, since the subdivided ranch we live on
has displaced most habitat with houses. With the drought, we're seeing more and more
beasties coming down to the creek. Drives my doggies wild.
