Fall is Coming

The temps are still warm and it isn't officially fall yet, but we can tell it is coming. My instincts are that of a squirrel, the days start getting shorter and I start thinking about our wood supply, canning and putting away food in the freezer. After several tough winters financially, having everything in place by November is very important to me.

Our summer garden was pitiful due to several reasons. It seems even more important to have a decent fall garden. With some luck and using cold frames I am hoping our greens will make it through the winter. With just greens, eggs, and flour as our basics we can have great starts for many winter meals. I have also planted turnips, partly for the greens and also to replace my small potato harvest.

After losing a few of our hens over the summer, we have brought home three more Golden Comets. This brings our flock back up to seven. My goal is enough eggs for our use and some to sell to help pay for the feed. After six months I don't think our family could ever go back to store eggs. 

This time of year kicks off the last rush of activity before winter quiet settles over us. Between our own home garden, the farm, picking up some extra work as a nanny and homeschooling it has been extra crazy. But crazy in a good way. DH took the children away for the long holiday weekend so they could spend some time in the mountains and I stayed home to try to catch up on things around the homestead. 

One of my preparations for the winter was to re-paint the kitchen. The old, stained white paint was depressing generally, and more so during the winter. I got this chore done this past weekend....

I spent months playing with different color combinations. I am really happy with the way this project turned out. Of course it makes the family room off the kitchen look that much grungier...

Peace,

Amy