Potrero!

It had been at least a year since anyone was out at the cottage in Potrero, so Karen and I decided to go see what it was like. I had been there once, about 15 years ago when my cousin Jennifer was still living in the ranch house. Now, the house is rented out to a young family, and a beekeeper keeps a couple of dozen hives on the property, and some raspberry bushes and muscat grapevines hav e been planted too. I was curious to see how things looked.
As you pull up to the property, the first thing you see is the barn (pictured above), which sits next to a shoulder of Potrero Peak (about 3300 feet). Across from the barn you see the old shed and chicken coop.
A mighty oak stands in the center of the driveway, surrounded by the shed, the ranch house, and the cottage. The local Kumeyaay people relied heavily on acorn crops for food. That's Scott & Melissa's retriever, Rex, lying on the ground, and Miss Bailey on the left, checking out the t ree.
 
Years ago, University of California Extension decided that Iran shouldn't have a monopoly on pistachio production, and they encouraged California's growers to start planting trees. Well, everyone did as they said, and now there's a huge supply of Cal ifornia-grown pistachios. As you can see, the trees in Potrero do produce, but nobody really takes care of them now. The cows spend a lot of time in the grove, and you can make out an imaginary plane demarcating the maximum height their little lips can reach.
There's a lot of interesting life out here, including these big white flowers with a poofy yellow center. As you drive by them, the look like big fried eggs.

Scott and Melissa also have three cows, three dogs, and this boar. I don't know his/her name, but to me she looks like a Sally.

And finally, if you wander into the back, near the beehives, you'll find the pond. At least, right now it's a pond. When we get a good rainy season it fills up and covers about 5 acres. There are some small fish living hanging out in there right now, and a mama duck with her little ducklings. They like to play tag wit h the dogs.
 

Back to my home page