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| This is an end of season gathering–we’ve had so much from the garden that we don’t know what to do with it! |
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| Our first hen-hatched chicks!!! Soooooo cute!!! |
This year has been similar to years past and it’s been incredible to see how much bounty we’ve been blessed with. This is the first year we’ve had hen-hatched chicks. There was a bit of a learning curve, as there always is, but our australorp hen is the proud mother of three. Next year, we’ll be better prepared and think she’ll be hatching many, many more to increase our flock.
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| Soooo much basil. |
We worked hard early on in the garden and even though it tapered off at the end (weeding while hugely pregnant isn’t very fun, so I focused my energy on other important tasks, like working on the shed, pasture and finishing Henry’s room), we still ended up with buckets and buckets of fresh veggies. I’ve dried, canned, frozen, cooked and eaten raw tomatoes (okay, I didn’t eat raw tomatoes, but others did), onions, potatoes, corn, herbs, cabbage, peppers, salsas, pickles, peas, beans and squash. Oh, my. So much squash!
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| Claire and Kate helping prep the squash for pureeing. |
We always marvel at how much the earth provides even when all we do is show up and harvest it. We have shelves and shelves of honey, raspberry jam, grape jelly, apple butter, apple cider and apple jelly. We haven’t bought eggs in months and our food storage room is filling up, a lot of which is from our own canning.
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| Our food storage from upstairs is spilling into the downstairs storage area now. It’s full of homemade salsa, pickles, apple cider, apple jelly, honey, wheat, beans, salt veggies and fruits! It’s a start to our goal of a year’s supply of food! |
The garden is being prepared for winter and all of the beds are blanketed with manure (and Jack says the horses aren’t useful) and will be ready for a fresh round of planting next year.
I love autumn for the cool weather, the beautiful leaves, Halloween and reflecting on the bounty God has blessed us with. We did our best, working by the sweat of our brow and He has given us the rest.
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| Welcome to the farm, little guy! |
