High Desert

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High Desert Living
We are nestled at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, at the beginning of the high desert valley known as The Great Basin. At 4,200 feet above sea level, we get a fair dusting of snow in the winter; however, since we are surrounded by very tall hills (small mountains). Most of the snow gets dumped on the mountains before the winds roll down off the hills and carry the clouds over to our little patch of sand.

And sand, it is. At least 5 feet down, but I would suspect even further. Our little 4.77 acres is perched on what used to be a giant lake bed.

What this has meant is that we've had to make a number of small adjustments. To name only a few...

Drink lots of water - the air is very dry
Use hand lotion - I've never had to use lotion on a daily, sometimes hourly basis before
Blistex is a girl's best friend - use for chapped lips, cracked cuticles and rough elbows
Tie everything down - if it isn't windy today, surely it will be windy tomorrow - in gusts up to 50 MPH at times
Sand is everywhere - accept it and move on
Wood really does need conditioning and protecting - as in tables and chairs and cabinets
Did I say drink lots of water? - you don't even realize you are sweating here, it dries so fast
All plants need lots of water - soak them down good and deep so the salts in the sand can be leached below the root zone

The Beautiful High Desert Learning to live with and love the stark, arid Great Basin. Dried blooms in the morning winter sun, March 2006.

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Doggies in the Snow February 19, 2006 - Snow Day! A view of the "Back 4" with Mauly (Dobie) and Jake.

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May 2005 These bloomed beautifully for about a month last year. Looking forward to seeing them again.