Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,
where we are ankle-deep in leaves!

With the freezing temperatures we've recently had,

we were stuck inside and haven't been able to 

work on mulching leaves.

Things are warming up again,

so we hope to get busy with that task this weekend.

I am so grateful to be able to experience autumn again

in the most magical way.

The chooks are all doing well,

despite the cold weather.

Here, one of our olive eggers (I think it's Esmerelda),

is helping herself to some fresh turnip greens.

This bed is left uncovered so that the girls

can enjoy the bounty!

The garlic that was planted a couple of weeks ago

has started to pop up.

The wire mesh keeps the chooks from digging up the soil

around it, so that it can grow undisturbed.

It has since been covered with used straw to insulate it 

over the coming months.

This is one of the easiest crops to grow,

and we hope that each of the 100 cloves sown,

will give us a beautiful, tasty bulb.

We'll know in nine months' time!

When pruning back some plants in the flower bed yesterday,

this lone phlox blossom was spied.

It's unbelievable how some of the ornamental plants

are unaffected by the harsh weather.

We still have blooms on our salvia,

the Florida ligustrum is flourishing,

and even the milkweed is keeping its leaves and color.

Some did not fare so well in the cold,

however.

The ginger has had it and was cut down

to the ground.

It will probably be moved to another spot,

as it was a bit in the way of a footpath here.

I also want to share some of it with neighbors.

Although the cucumbers didn't survive the freeze,

we did manage to get quite a few harvests,

even though it was planted after fall began.

The chooks love cucumber,

so this is another crop that I can grow for them to enjoy.

Once we get back to leaf mulching,

the other two bags like this one

will be filled to the top and left to sit

for at least a year, maybe two.

The decomposed leaves make a great top dressing for beds,

and add nutrients to the soil.

There will be enough leaves left over

not mulched to put into the chook run,

for the girls to scratch around in.

They love doing their chicken dance in the leaves!

The fresh-milled flour adventure continues,

and I'm happy to say that I am really feeling good about it.

So far, all the bread that I've made has been SO tasty,

and the rolls and pancakes have made me happy.

In the next couple of weeks,

I'm looking to make English muffins,

blueberry muffins and some sort of artisan bread.

My quality of life has improved immensely.

And believe it or not, I noticed that

all of my jeans are loose in the waist.

Hmmm, coincidence?  

I think not.

Something else I recently enjoyed was pot pie.

Instead of making a crust for the top,

I simply coupled it with one of the rolls I had made.

This is such a comfort food for me,

and I really need to put it on my monthly rotation

through the colder part of the year.

Soup is on the weekly menu right now,

as there are so many ways to make it.

And with a piece of homemade bread,

that's all the comfort I need.

We will be thankful for the warm up this weekend.

It's still plenty cool and with no humidity or bugs

to be bothered with,

it makes it perfect for spending time outside.

I'm sure there's something I can do out there!

How about you?

Do you enjoy being outside this time of year?