Raven Ridge Homestead

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Raven Ridge Homestead Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains ~ Follow along as we garden, harvest, cook, build, teach, learn

🌱 Winter Sowing: Two Ways to Learn!Curious about winter sowing? It's a simple, inexpensive way to start seeds outdoors, ...
10/09/2026

🌱 Winter Sowing: Two Ways to Learn!

Curious about winter sowing? It's a simple, inexpensive way to start seeds outdoors, using the natural conditions of winter to do much of the work for you.

Want to learn more? Join us at the library!

🌿 Saturday, November 14 | 10:30 AM–12:30 PM

Join us at the Felton Library for a FREE community class focused on winter sowing native plants and perennials. We'll walk through the process, discuss what to plant and when, and show you how to get started at home.

Ready to get your hands in the soil? Join us at the homestead!

🌱 Sunday, December 6 | 1:00–4:00 PM

Spend an afternoon at Raven Ridge Homestead for a small-group, hands-on Winter Sowing Workshop. You'll prepare and plant your own containers, learn the process step by step, and take your planted containers home.

Whether you prefer to learn by watching or jump right in and start planting, we'd love to have you join us!

📍 Details and registration: ravenridgehomestead.com



🐷 A New Chapter at Raven Ridge HomesteadWe’ve added a few new faces to the homestead: Truffle, Fig & Olive, three regist...
10/09/2026

🐷 A New Chapter at Raven Ridge Homestead

We’ve added a few new faces to the homestead: Truffle, Fig & Olive, three registered Kunekune gilts!

Kunekunes are a smaller heritage breed of pig known for their gentle temperament, grazing ability, and slower growth. For us, they’re also an opportunity to expand what we’re doing here in a way that fits the scale of our homestead.

These girls will spend the coming year growing, grazing, and becoming part of life at Raven Ridge. Because they are registered females, they also give us several options as we develop our small herd.

Beginning next year, that may include raising Kunekunes for breeding stock, pork, or famiky pets, allowing us to make thoughtful decisions about each animal and where it is best suited.

For now, Truffle, Fig & Olive are just three very curious little girls settling into their new home. 🐽

Follow along as we learn, grow, and see where this new adventure takes us.




Today I picked the last of our Black Cherry tomatoes, not because the plants were finished, but because I decided it was...
09/29/2026

Today I picked the last of our Black Cherry tomatoes, not because the plants were finished, but because I decided it was time to make room.

The vines were still healthy enough to keep producing. The upside to leaving them would have been more tomatoes with no need to start over. The downside? As our days get shorter and temperatures cool, ripening slows, production drops, and those big established plants continue taking up valuable garden space.

So I pulled them.

In their place, I’m planting smaller Husky Red Cherry tomatoes and seeing if we can squeeze in one more crop before winter.

It’s a bit of a garden gamble.

Keeping the old vines: established roots, continued production, no waiting for new plants to settle in.

Starting fresh: compact plants, fresh growth, easier management, and potentially a nice late-season flush if our fall weather cooperates.

One of the things I love about gardening here is that the calendar doesn’t always get the final say. Sometimes you look at the weather, look at the garden, and decide it’s worth trying.

We’ll see if this one pays off.




Sometimes the garden decides what comes next.This cilantro volunteered all on its own, popping up just as the days are g...
09/28/2026

Sometimes the garden decides what comes next.

This cilantro volunteered all on its own, popping up just as the days are getting shorter and the garden begins its shift into fall.

No planting. No planning. Just seeds left behind from an earlier season, waiting for the conditions to be right.

One of my favorite things about gardening is watching what returns when we simply give it the chance.

And apparently, cilantro has decided it isn’t finished yet. 🌿





Salt, time, and a little patience.Today in the homestead kitchen: tucking fresh egg yolks into a bed of salt to begin th...
09/26/2026

Salt, time, and a little patience.

Today in the homestead kitchen: tucking fresh egg yolks into a bed of salt to begin the curing process.

Over the next several days, the salt will slowly draw out moisture, transforming the yolks into something firm, intensely savory, and grateable. Think of them almost like a little golden wheel of Parmesan.

Once cured and dried, we’ll grate them over pasta, vegetables, salads, soups, and anything else that could use a rich, salty finish.

One of my favorite kinds of preserving: simple ingredients, an old technique, and a completely different food at the end.

Stay tuned and I'll show you how they turn out.


When you think you need to plant a bunch of kale and this volunteer from last year busts outta the bed and dominates the...
09/26/2026

When you think you need to plant a bunch of kale and this volunteer from last year busts outta the bed and dominates the youngsters.

Pulling the blush out of the garden. Lost multiple plants to hornworms this week. Chickens enjoyed the appetizers. Black...
08/30/2026

Pulling the blush out of the garden. Lost multiple plants to hornworms this week. Chickens enjoyed the appetizers. Black Cherry is the winner this year for production. Sun Golds were sparse.

at Raven Ridge Homestead
08/01/2026

at Raven Ridge Homestead

On the way to Raven Ridge Homestead...
07/31/2026

On the way to Raven Ridge Homestead...

Asperitas clouds - rare cloud formations that resemble wave-like structures on the underside of a cloud layer. We have s...
07/27/2026

Asperitas clouds - rare cloud formations that resemble wave-like structures on the underside of a cloud layer. We have seen a few different examples of this over the past two weeks with the increased moisture from Mexico.

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285 Hillary Heights
Boulder Creek, CA
95006

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