Rancho de la Libertad

We accidentally created a mutant cross-pollinated squash. I'd heard of this, and perhaps it's happened to us before with the fodder squashes from last season (those were dreadful to me but the pigs didn't care, I thought it was more about where they were grown than their genetics), but this time it's... delightful. Most likely one of our ronde de nice summer squashes crossed with delicata, since those are what happened to grow nearby, and it's sweet like a delicata winter squash but with the texture of a summer squash. It also might be happening with another, since the "zuchinni" growing nearby is, uh, well, it looks like nothing I've seen before. I'll post a thread of mutant squash pictures soon.

In my defense, I didn't think any of this was going to grow, since these seeds were all so old. I let my children seed blast this basin thinking "well, we'll get what we get!" and then nothing germinated for three weeks so I figured it was a lost cause. Then we manured it to prepare it for the next season and, well, now we have six foot long squash vines and more fruit than we're going to know what to do with when it comes time to harvest them. Happy accidents!

#Gardening #Zone9 #MojaveDesert #California #Permaculture #Squash

Proud mama hen hatched two baby chicks early today, and we're hoping for more over the next few days. She's staying on the nest, so she seems fairly certain more are coming!

#Chickens #RanchoDeLaLibertad #Chooks #Chicks #SmallFarm

The bats last night were spectacular. I kid you not I saw one the size of a raven in the garden. Dozens swooping and dipping and maneuvering throughout the West garden, nibbling on all the odd flying insects buzzing around.

I am so curious where the bats roost during the day - it cannot be on our property so they must fly down from the mines in the mountains. I very much wish to make some bat boxes or similar encouragement for them, they're my favorite wildlife I think.

#Bats #Wildlife #EcologicalRestoration #Cycles #Ecology #Mojave #Desert #SouthwestUS

"I bought a NEW electric car and installed new solar panels on my roof with great big Tesla batteries and good lord I'll save some money in seven years if we don't talk about the car payment and installing the EV charger in my garage and the software I now pay for for the life of the gar (which won't be more than ten years anyway). But you know what, the break-even for the planet was on DAY ONE so whoduhthunkit I'm giving myself a good ol' pat on the back"

I see this, the stupidest of all takes, at least ten times a day here on ol' Mastodon.

I get real tired of saying this but let me try one more time, a little louder: THINGS REQUIRE THINGS TO BE MANUFACTURED. Buying new stuff is *not* *ever* an ecological good. EVER. Yes, I said ever. No, not even your solar panels.

Use. Less. Shit.
Stop. Caring. About. Status.
Break. The. Machine.

And save the pat on the back. You've yet to do anything difficult, or which puts you in a position to have to stand against the grain.

Do better.

#Decolonize #Anticapitalism #FuckTesla #FuckYourEV #Indigenous #Degrowth

Hello friends of the so-called Fediverse,

Rancho de la Libertad is attempting to hire a farm manager. It's a role related to project management and administrative assisting, but ideally we're looking for someone either stoked to train up their animal husbandry and gardening skills or someone who already has some knowledge in these areas.

Please read all bullets, as this may be one role but it also could be two or so smaller roles if folks find this with specialized experience in one or more key areas!

We need assistance with tasks ranging from food inventorying and ordering things when they run out to:
• helping manage a calendar of key events related to livestock breeding, planting, and harvesting
• helping to research weather trends for the year both locally and regionally as they relate to planting
• communicating with vendors, other potential hands for the farm (including helping find and vet applicants for ad hoc jobs as required)
• building a website for our rabbitry, potentially managing ARBA registration
• building a real website for the Ranch that we can self-host
• for the right, trusted person, potentially helping us manage finances better (I've been trying and failing to keep track of all of our spending on infrastructure)
• helping manage and organize key events at the Ranch including Full Moon Dinners and our Wheel of the Year events
• errand running (occasionally)

Ideally this person will be local and willing to be on site for some training and some crucial tasks. If someone wishes to just apply to build us a website, though, this could be a remote gig for the right person. Ultimately, we're looking for someone who cares about what we're doing, wants the experience, has some general background knowledge of animal husbandry and either agriculture, permaculture, or ecological regeneration OR is interested in doing the work to get up to speed. What we really need is someone who can come in and build us a system for doing things.

Initially we can offer $20-25 per hour for the right person and around 10 or so hours per week (not always on site). There's some room for this to grow, and potential for space to live on the Ranch after some time getting to know and trust one another.

So! Please boost away and feel free to share on other socials we don't have if you have em. We really would like to find someone local to the Joshua Tree or Morongo Basin, CA area but maybe you're a nomad who wants some extra cash or you can do part of this remotely - let us know!

**Edit: forgot to add that if you or someone you know is interested, please email us at ranchodelalibertad@protonmail.com to further discuss and have an official job description sent over

**I forgot to mention: this job is friendly to folks with physical or other disabilities, I suppose insofar as you can get around (transit out here isn't great but it exists, even way out here there's a shuttle to and from town two days a week). This is not a physical labor job and doesn't require a ton of time onsite.

*** We are so willing to pay under the table and prefer it if that helps you keep your tax burden low or keep critical social benefits that you'd otherwise lose with additional income ***

#GetFediHired #Job #JobOpportunity #PleaseBoost #Boost #FediHired #RanchoDeLaLibertad #Sustainability #Farm #IndigenousOwned #Community #Sovereignty #Antifa

I think sometimes we come across as too harsh or cynical, but that's precisely because we know what's possible when we let go of certain pretenses and start doing the work. We know we can do it, collectively. We might not have the power to right every wrong, to save all things, but we can and should keep trying to cultivate more and more wilderness, more and more biodiversity, more and more sanctuary for all beings. And perhaps in the midst of it all we find that this was the very thing we were seeking all along.

#ClimateJustice #Degrowth #Rewilding #RanchoDeLaLibertad

Just released the free May newsletter, titled "On Food Sovereignty". It is at once a cautionary tale and clarion call for the work we must do for liberation - which cannot only include marching but which must include cultivation. Indigenous peoples have fought this fight now for generations, and it's time that others understand its importance and join in creating networks of aid rooted in ground and not the economies of empire.

https://rancholibertad.com/on-food-sovereignty/

This month's paid newsletter will be an original recipe honoring nopales, and trust me, it's worth paying for (and supporting our project as a result).

*Edit: reworded the clause in parentheses at the end, and fixed the title of the newsletter because my brain can't be trusted these days.

#Indigenous #FoodSovereignty #Sovereignty #Food #RanchoDeLaLibertad #PoliticalAction #Liberation #AntiCapitalism #AntiFascist

Some else *ahem* @emsenn@kolektiva.social says this here a lot but uh

The purity politics do get tiring. Not like anyone expects you to really think like "who will this offend" about everything, but what if we sat down, took a deep breath and said "in what ways might my post reiterate a point that incessantly talks over the people I maybe don't want to be talking over? In what way am I centering myself and way of life by assuming that x kind of action *must mean* x negative intention?" and then starting a "discussion" that's really a feedback loop of whitecenteredness and virtue signalling as opposed to something that gets anywhere. And again, not everything *needs* to be productive, but I'm calling out a very specific kind of post that is necessarily performing some kind of leftist or progressive politics but which also is extraordinarily narrow in its perspective to the detriment of others.

That's all. Because I see a lot of performative allyship but very little legitimate questioning of biases, and I think y'all are capable of more!

#Allyship #Indigenous