October Recap 2022

After a hot, dry summer, our garden has been winding down this fall. The days are shorter, and the temps are considerably cooler, but we have plenty of work left to do. We are no longer harvesting anything in the front yard, but there is still soil to mulch and plants to compost. Even though this is our down season, our to-do list is fairly full.

We do have fall crops that we are getting ready to harvest, including kale, sweet peas, and lettuce. We have days that are 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with the following day being below 30 degrees Fahrenheit, so I’m not relying on having a huge bounty this fall.

Front Yard Garden

garden in the fall — Our empty front yard garden

There is always a little sadness when I look at an empty garden. One of my true passions is growing and nurturing plants, and nothing brings me quite as much pleasure as being able to go and harvest the vegetables we need for dinner.

We look forward to our days slowing down, but I would much rather be outside, growing things.

Empty garden bed with yellow house in the background — Garden clean-up in progresss

Empty garden beds in the fall — Our daughter stuck solar lights in our empty garden beds

Mint plant in a raised bed — The mint is the only plant to survive our first frost.

rooster and black hen in the garden — Using chickens in your garden after the season is over is a great way to prepare it for spring.

High Tunnel

Because we’ve had such odd weather this fall, as well as many chicken break-ins, we’ve had to plant the high tunnel a total of three times. We are just now seeing the fruits of our labor.

While I usually plant a fall garden in both the front garden and the high tunnel, I chose just to use the high tunnel this winter. Not only is it easier to cover, but it gives my soil time to be prepped and recuperate for spring.

Lettuce in a bed — The lettuce is ready to harvest

Small kale plant — The kale is getting there…

Sugar snap peas — Sweet peas are our daughter’s new favorite vegetable

Mixed seeldlings — I let our daughter plant her very own bed. I have NO idea what all she planted, but it’ll be fun to see what comes up.

High Tunnel at sunset — A beautiful fall night

On the homestead

Our last batch of chickens that we put in the incubator are starting to mature and are almost ready to lay. One disappointing aspect of using an incubator is you can’t choose what gender of chick that will hatch. We got a total of five roosters. While they haven’t become territorial yet, they will need to be butchered soon before it gets to that point.

Grey rooster on old plants — They love to climb up our compost pile

red chicken with flock — The fall molt has hit and most of them look pretty rough

Two rooster with a flock of hens — The roosters are already starting to face off

Meet Chester. He’s the newest member of our rabbit family and was given to us by my husband’s co-worker, who no longer wanted him. We were worried he wouldn’t fit in, but we’ve had no issues with aggression. He seems perfectly content.

one tan, one grey, and one white rabbit — Our male rabbits definitely prefer to be together

two rabbits eating chard — The ladies are a little more standoffish

white rabbit — These babies aren’t really babies anymore

We had the amazing opportunity to go look at my husband’s great grandparents farm. While it is condemned and we can’t actually go into the house, it was interesting to see a piece of his heritage. If anything, it made me long for simpler times and slower days.

The next few months…

These next few months will be busy with our jobs and the holidays, so I doubt we will have as much to share as far as progress on our homestead. Our big project is now our retaining wall, which was built incorrectly and collapsed.

I will spend these next few months planning out next year’s garden, organizing my seeds, and look forward to starting my peppers and tomatoes in February. What do you like most about the fall season?