oday’s post is brought to you by the wonder that is alpaca poop. Most ranchers I’ve met (both in real life and online) call alpaca poop “beans” — because (you guessed it), the shape of alpaca poop resembles jellybeans. You’ll have to take my word for it. What you’re seeing below is the compost heap, which includes waste hay on top of the bean piles.

Believe it or not, underneath is the most wonderful garden compost imaginable.

As you can see, over the course of the nearly two years since I’ve been owned by alpacas, we’ve amassed quite a bit of it. This turned out splendidly as, after giving away batches to neighbors, we were left with more than enough to do the beds surrounding the ranch house which were all in desperate need of compost, so it’s been a huge win all the way around (ha, literally), because to have had to have trucked in soil/compost in the amount I needed would have cost hundreds of $$. This was a huge job and took 3 days to complete — David and Megan transformed this heap into beds encircling the entire house using a lasagna gardening (layering) approach: so the beds were covered first with a layer of cardboard (and alpaca grain bags), then a layer of compost, and next comes the bark (that part is still in process). The front now features two gorgeous swoopy Dr. Seussian European Larch trees which I’ll be training to make an archway. I’ll write more about them and post photos soon.

It’s truly amazing the difference all of this work has made on the ranch, and I am truly grateful to have had such a magnificent team. When it’s all done I’ll post photos, but I couldn’t let another day go by without acknowledging what’s been going on here. The alpacas have been thrilled to have David, Megan, Tiny, Izzy and Chloe for company (and so have I!).

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I’m writing this next part down to remember what it took to get the ranch just to this point.

What you don’t see in photos is what it took to get to here. I think it’s important to remember all of this — it’s been an integral part of the journey — and I’ve learned quite a bit in the process. When you move onto a property you inherit everything that comes with it and let’s face it, all of the previous owners’ choices: the good, the bad (and the ugly). To get your place to where you want it to be, and in the case of Iolanthe, I wanted it to be open and light and airy (and kid friendly), may require a lot of work. And a lot of planning.

When I first moved here I walked around the property and made notes about the landscape. I took photos of all angles, printed them out, put them into a book and made more notes. Over the last two years I would give everything that was giveaway-able away, that which wasn’t would require hiring folks to help with the clearing out and when all was said and done, over 24 truckloads (and by truckload I mean those big Ford F series truckloads) of things + plant material were stripped off of the property. There were plant things that would have to be removed (such as big bushes with poisonous berries, there were more than 20 of them, each approximately 6′-7′ wide by 6′-8′ high, one even came sporting a wasps nest). I gave much of these bushes away on Craigslist and lots of folks came and dug them up, a few ended up in the chipper. Then there are the massive fir trees in the front of the property which would need to be limbed up; all of the fir and pine trees along the East side of the property (the treeline in the photo above) would need to be trimmed as well (no fun mowing and being whacked by 4′-6′ long limbs, I got clocked while on the mower a couple of times and it’s no joke when you get whacked in the face with a heavy limb. It’s like getting hit in the face with a baseball bat. Ouch.).

There were sumac trees on either side of the plum tree that were rehomed as well, crazy trees with these velvety dark red flowers that melted in your hands and stained your hands red — those had to go; truckloads of tree limbs and bushes were removed. Then there were the bushes in the front of the property (a rhodie, two forsythia, a lilac tree, and two rose bushes, all overrun with weeds from years of not really being cared for properly, the folks who lived here were ill so it wasn’t their fault), plus a few more truckloads of garden treasure the previous owners left for me, including a wooden ramp for a wheelchair (that was rehomed for a crippled dog so he could walk up the ramp to get into his owner’s fifth wheel easier), all kinds of bricks, wood bits, bits of rusty pipe, rebar and t-posts, and then some. All of this equalled at least another 6 truckloads worth. I met some truly wonderful people in the process, people have been so willing to share ideas and wisdom and so as a result I learned quite a bit in the process about all sorts of things. This, to me, was recycling at its finest.

I’ve lived in the city all my life. There’s so much to know, you know? Especially when you’re new to an area. And you don’t even know what it is you don’t know until someone says “hey did you know. . .” and you realize you had NO IDEA that . . . and then, there you are. Wham! More knowledge. I learned about local places to get x, y, and z. Details about things, like mowing, or weeding, or tree identification. About tools. About wildlife. About the birds.

So. Many. Things.

With those interested I shared what I’ve learned about alpacas. As an added bonus, the herd has had a nice supply of humans to observe every week.

As a species I’d imagine we’re quite fascinating.

It’s been great.

During all of this I gave away all of the moving boxes from the initial move, and every few months or so put an ad on Craigslist for more boxes because, and you may or may not know this, cardboard mating habits are very much like those of the rabbit. It multiplies when you’re not looking, I’m convinced of it.

I’ve got a few more things to rehome in the garage but for the most part it’s clear of ‘schtuff’. I have grand plans to convert the garage too into a more usable space.

What I’m trying to say here is that the ranch is starting to really feel like it can breathe. There are many (many) more plans to continue with the transformation, and I’ll write more about them soon.

Meanwhile, the sun is finally here and the fresh air is intoxicating.

Yay for Springtime!