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This is an aerial view of the Little H-Bar Ranch, taken around 1990. The oak tree in the center of the pasture has since fallen down.
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Little H-Bar Ranch
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In the spring of 1999, we planted two Cecile Bruner climbing roses on an arbor we had built around the front door. They have now grown up and covered the entire arbor, and look and smell great! At the side of this picture, you can also see some of the iceberg roses and the pink jasmine.
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Welcome!
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In the summer of 2015, our friend Georgia McDaniel redesigned our landscaping in front of the house. Our neighbors, the Malones, helped by removing about 8 poplar trees with their backhoe. Sarah Malone picked out an Arbutus Marina tree, and her crew planted it for us, while Ken Peter did all the planting and new irrigation as designed by Georgia. We are really enjoying the new look (and so did Nugget)!
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The House
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This is the barn in Little H-Bar Ranch. We have 8 stalls, a hay room and a tack room. Two of the stalls are filled with hay and junk, but the others are available for use by the horses during the rainy season. Our goat Nina shares a stall with miniature horses Jhett and Peggy Sue. In 2022, RTR Electric added amazing new lights and in 2023, Robert Eichstaedt replaced all the old, leaky and algae-covered skylights. So much light now!
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The Barn
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This is our new chicken aviary. We built it on the site of our former vegetable garden, which was built by frequent ranch visitor and good friend J. Robert Dobbson. It was already fortified from beneath with gopher wire and had 'no-climb' fencing for sides. Then my late husband Garrett arched hog wire panels over the top, and J. and Garrett welded them together. Then the frame was covered with chicken wire. We hope that nothing can get in here to get the chickens!
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Chicken Aviary
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This is a closeup of our "Mini-Cooper" chicken coop, built by the wonderful folks at myurbanfarm.net: Michael and Dana Yares. The chickens knew instinctively to walk up the ramp the first night they arrived, even though they had never been in this type of coop before. It also has a handy egg door on the back side, which you cannot see in this photo.
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Mini-Cooper
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These are a few of the rose bushes and fruit trees growing along side the number one pasture. The roses include Pascali, Mr. Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth and Stirling Silver.
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Roses
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This is the persimmon tree that grows next to the number one pasture. In the fall, it produces loads of sweet orange fruit, but not until after the leaves fall off. Then they look like Christmas ornaments hanging off the bare branches.
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The Persimmon Tree
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Naked ladies are a type of lily that emerge all at once, and don't have any leaves.
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Naked Ladies
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The summer project for 2015 also included the construction of a new patio to replace the one that came with the house. We also got new furniture and a firepit, which comes in very handy for the foggy summer nights in Petaluma.
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The New Patio
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This is one of the two apple trees in the orchard. The orchard also hosts 2 Asian pear trees, 2 fig plants and 2 peach trees. The horses love all of the fruit, which is far too much for me to eat.
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Gravenstein Apple Tree
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The Glamper was "planted" by constructing a deck on the vineyard side and stairs for easier entry. Felipe Martinez built the deck and comes back to boost the RV every so often as it is sinking into the ground. The Glamper has served as a refuge during several different fires, as well as a temporary housing for friends in need and occasional visitors. We originally bought it to go to the Black Rock playa to launch rockets with Aeropac.
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Glamper
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The greenhouse is really a sun shed - the front has windows and the back is solid. I hope to have an organized vegetable garden someday. It was one of the first pandemic projects at the ranch and was assembled by our friend Efrain Munoz and his sons, with stairs and flower box built by Felipe Martinez.
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Greenhouse
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This is my 3-horse and living quarters horse trailer. In the summer of 2023, I discovered that the roof was leaking badly and some of the wood inside had started to rot. The leaks also affected the refrigerator and the floor. I had the roof resealed and replaced some vent covers. Also Felipe and a friend repaired some of the wood rot and Robert Eichstaedt helped me cover up the bad part of the floor. Everything works now and I know how to run everything by myself, so I am keeping it and looking forward to more fun camping again in the future!
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Horse Trailer
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This is the second fortress garden built at the ranch, and one of the first pandemic projects. Felipe led the construction, which includes digging down four feet, lining the entire thing with gopher wire, then fencing it in and covering over the top, all with more gopher wire. Nothing larger than a lizard can get in and eat my tomatoes! It is a copy of the one that became the chicken aviary when the trees got too tall in the back of the house. This location gets much better sun.
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Fortress Garden
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After removing all the radio antennas (and the satellite control system), Paige Hotchkiss-Needleman (Ganesha Gardens) designed and planted this amazing native plant garden instead. I also moved some sculptures into this area that were not that visible in their former locations.
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Radio Garden
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Part of the base of the old Quagi antenna was turned into a herb garden planter box by Miguel. I have lots of oregano and chives plus some basil and scallions. The sage plant was relocated to the radio garden.
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Herb Garden
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When I got a new hot tub in 2022, Felipe rebuilt the enclosure and we put a roof on part of it so it would resemble palapas in Mexico. I use it as a bar when I have cocktail parties but much more often, I just use the hot tub.
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Tiki Bar/Hot Tub
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