By Daisy Luther
Autumn greetings from the Friday Farm Blog!
We’re getting ready to travel this week, so my book selection is a little different. I’ve got two pieces of fiction to enjoy during the long flights. I have a couple of books I’ve been dying to read but haven’t been able to set aside the time for something frivolous. The first book I’m taking with me is One Year After, (William Forstchen’s follow up to One Second After – the book that has woken so many people up to the necessity of prepping for a long-term grid-down scenario). The second is my long-awaited new addition to A. American’s Survivalist Series, Enforcing Home. I’m a huge fan of this series – you can check out my review of the first few books HERE.
One of the toughest things about having a little farm is going away. We have to travel during the upcoming week to attend a family wedding, and it has been quite the production. I stocked up on extra feed, hired a farm-sitter (the girl who used to be our petsitter will now have expanded responsibilities), and got packed. I want to leave the house clean, the barn clean, and the coop clean, and we’re down to the wire getting it all done. As well, I have written a couple of articles ahead of time so you guys will have stuff to read while we’re away.
When we fly, I have to load a travel bag with very carefully selected preps, since the TSA doesn’t allow you anything you might actually need for survival. (Here’s a link to an article about our prepper flight kits.) I’m sure that with the recent goings-on in the world, they’ll all but cavity search us when we go through the TSA line.
A new addition
This week at the farm, a new goat came to stay. I am calling her Dottie because she looks like she has polka dots.
She is Nameless’s sister, so I thought they’d be happy to see one another. It turns out, goats have a short memory, and I had to separate everyone so that Dottie could make a friend and not get picked on. When we first re-introduced them, Dottie ran off and we had to spend nearly an hour chasing her. My daughter is laughing because of the wiggly goats. Being a farm kid is a lot of fun, clearly.
Last week, I finished up another bushel of apples, some pumpkin, and did some deep cleaning in the house. My oldest daughter, the recent college graduate, will be returning from the wedding with us to spend time here during the holiday season. I’m very excited to show her the new place! She hasn’t been to the farm yet.
Late autumn days at the farm
Now that most of the food preservation is done, all of the babies have been nurtured to the point where they don’t require my constant attention, and the garden is put to bed, there is a lot less to do. Really, there’s just feeding, watering, and mucking out the bedding during this time of year. Since I have time on my hands, I’ll be spending the colder months working on a new book and planning for spring. We also have some indoor craft projects to keep us cozy and busy.
Here’s a photo that is classic Northern California. Around here, fall looks like this: autumn leaves and palm trees. This was taken at a shopping center we went to when we went to buy dresses for the wedding we’ll be attending. It’s a weird but beautiful combination. Since we’ve been getting abundant rain, this part of the state is lush and green right now.
What does late fall have you busy with? Are you still preserving food? Is your garden still producing anything? When you spend more time indoors, how do you stay busy? Share in the comments section below!
What kind of goats do you keep? Looks like a fun life! =)
These are Nigerians. Such cutie pies! 🙂
Still roasting pumpkins to make into pie and snickerdoodles (and of course, the seeds get roasted too). A lot is getting put up in the freezer since the puree doesn’t can. I’m so happy I planted a few pie pumpkins. Even though I had to pull them while still green due to the early frosts, they’ve ripened up beautifully in my room.
I have to can the last of the box-ripened tomatoes. The San Marzanos ripen in a box way better than the Romas. I think they’ll make up into one last batch of chili sauce.
Got the last of the garlic planted. We’ll see if it makes it or not. The Jerusalem Artichokes are all sanded and stored. They should hold for a few months.
Other than that, just turning the beds to try and freeze out the cabbage moths that crept. Eat ice you little burrowing worms.