Farewell Fall

I've missed blogging lately, but have had difficulty finding the time...ahh so many things, so little time!  Definitely my life's mantra.  The fall here has been so wonderful, mild temperatures beautiful foliage and plenty of outdoorsy tasks to keep us busy from sun up to sun down.  We're going to miss the lush greens and changing colors of the past seasons as most of the trees are now bare in preparation for the cold. Living on the mountain we will experience colder temperatures than in Knoxville and hopefully quite a bit more snow.  The woolly worm forecast says it will be a moderate winter, so we'll see.  We actually saw some flurries not too long ago and had to rub our eyes to make sure it was what we were seeing... especially for Tennessee!  The winter, albeit cold and limiting on many levels, will end up being a very productive time for our homesteading chores. 

Pruning fruit trees, fixing fencing, equipment maintenance, indoor home repairs and hopefully some sewing/craft ventures for the girls and I.  One of our biggest winter projects will be planing the gardens for the spring.  Joe plowed up the garden area in the front pasture for vegetables and the area at the base of our mountain for corn/wheat.  The old horse manure in the barn was removed, placed in the garden spot and tilled thanks to Gertie our tractor.  I'm used to handling square foot gardens for limited land space, but now we'll be maximizing our gardening endeavors to store  food as well.  Canning and dehydrating are great ways of preserving the fall harvest, providing healthy family food for months.  Without close access to healthy supermarkets it is certainly more cost effective to grow as much as we can rather than continuing to drive 45 minutes to an Earth Fare.  Our goal to be completely food self-sufficient will take time and lots of hard work but well worth the task.  The old landscaping around the front of the home was mostly discarded and will be used for medicinal/culinary herb beds.  So LOTS of planning and work to be done.

Our well is working fabulously after having to rebuild much of the pump house, replacement of the pump and installation of a UV light filtration system.  We experienced some power outages this summer which with a well also cuts off the water supply...NOT good.  So we decided to install a simple pump for hand pumping.  Now water is a non issue no matter what the power does.  We also use a portable Berkey water filter if there's ever an issue with purity.  We have a  fresh water spring at the base of our mountain which can be used for drinking in emergencies and will be dug out for a pond/watering hole hopefully this winter for animals.  We are still considering goats versus Jersey cow for our dairy needs.  Pros and cons for both and for our size family and extended family we need volume, something goats may not provide.  We are still purchasing milk from a local farm but is expensive to use for anything other than drinking.  Making yogurt, kefir, cheese, ice cream and butter all need lots of butterfat and Jerseys really are the best for that.  One or two beef cows will also be run in that area and supply us with hard to find grass fed, healthy meat.

A beautiful Bradford Pear leaf in our front yard.  The children would collect the unique patterns by the handfuls, stuffing them into purses and bags (that I would later find rotten in their bedrooms, yuck!).  We so enjoyed the vibrant beauty of the trees this year.   



A tranquil late October day with warm temperatures and gentle winds, perfect for kite flying.  We love the four seasons as most are distinct and fairly mild.  Just the right mix of heat, cold and precipitation.  I lived in Maine as a child and loved the winters there, but they were so long.  The growing seasons were short and difficult for the variety of produce we prefer to grow.  



We've certainly decided that any and all animals we purchase will have to earn their keep around here.  Our Buff Orpingtons have just starting laying (thankfully), while we culled the four black birds several weeks ago who were not.  They were not meat birds, but will make great soup stock.  Last weekend we also purchased and butchered eleven roosters which WILL make for good meat.  We are still deciding what we want to raise for meat birds and think we've narrowed it to either White Plymouth Rocks or Rhode Island Reds or both.  We want good layers and meat birds combined and these two rank exceptionally well.   



We are also very excited for the possibility of getting honey bees in the spring!  A man who raises queens for research is looking for land for his 20 hives.  He doesn't want the honey either!  He will extract the honey for us and provide us general bee education.  A very exciting opportunity for all!  Oh, and NO they are not africanized...believe me, I asked!!  :)

So, lots going on and more to write about but will have to save it for next time.  We are narrowing the name choices for our mountain and should be ready to share that soon.  Thanks to all who offered their suggestions.   ALSO, the homeschool makeover challenge is still on going as the designer (ME) has to work on it in fits and starts.  Hopefully, by this spring or earlier it will be ready to be revealed!