The First Annual Festival at Rancho Ricardo and Crushpad was there. It all started out simply enough, there were seven acres of under-utilized land on our small summer Ranch in Colorado. These acres were no longer needed for growing hay for the horses. So, what to do with this gentle sloping area, higher toward the rear of the property, sloping toward the County Road at the front of the property.
Many years before, my wife Jeanne, had dragged me around Europe, treating me the overwhelming beauty of the English, French and Italian countryside. We would explore the out-of-the-way country gardens as well as some of the most grand gardens in all of Europe. After a few of these trips, I found myself looking forward to our next garden adventure. Each garden would reveal a unique blend of plants, landscape and sculpture.
While on these Garden Tours, I would dutifully take hundreds of pictures, mostly of the garden’s features. These features were of interest only to me and since I had the camera, my interest leaned toward the overall Garden designs rather than plants and flowers. Jeanne loved the plants and flowers with their uniquely beautiful blooms, none of which could be found in our winter home desert environment of granite and sagebrush.
Before we knew it, years had passed and retirement from a successful business had allowed us to get out of Arizona and the dreaded summer heat. Our summer retreat had become the cool foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, just north of Boulder. You may think that summer in Arizona is over on Labor Day, not so, the oppressive heat will continue well into October. In stark contrast to the harsh summers, the winters in southern Arizona are glorious, with a mild climate and hundreds of lush green golf courses to choose from………..
The winter months can be very productive for many creative ideas to become reality. Fall goes by so very quickly and before you realize what has happened, Halloween and Turkey Day have come and gone…….. another blink of the eye and the Holidays have also passed. But, with the New Year comes a rebirth of energy that we thought had been totally used up by the recent Holiday season.
Finally, it is time to gather our thoughts, get out the yellow pad the # 2 pencil and jot down those fleeting ideas before they get away forever. For me, this is the most productive time of year, a time to brainstorm with others, a time to shape ideas into something of meaning and perhaps something of unusual beauty or inspiration for others.
The Plan………Rancho Ricardo Garden
The seven acres of under-utilized sloping pasture at the Ranch will become a Formal Garden / Sculpture Garden. It is a long term project with a few new features to be added every summer for at least four to five years. We share this Garden with Rancho Ricardo Group members, family, friends and neighbors and celebrate the progress every summer with a Festival.
What better way to celebrate than to offer a fine cult wine from one of Crushpads outstanding vineyards. On July 22nd, 2007, The First Annual Rancho Ricardo Festival attendees were treated to a 2005 Las Madres Syrah, outstanding.....
Rancho Ricardo Wines Group members along with family, friends and neighbors joined in the unveiling of the first two Garden Features, an 18ft rotating Art Sphere and an open-air Summerhouse. Pictures of these may be seen in the Photos section of the Rancho Ricardo Wines Group at www.crushnet.com
A web-cam will soon be available to track the progress of the Garden project.... we will
blog again when the web-cam is operational.
