Tonight my kitchen is filled with the fragrance of vanilla, cloves and cinnamon.
I am canning pears for the first time.
It is a rich, spicy aroma reminincent of Christmas cookies baking and oranges stuck with cloves. It makes me look forward to winter and evenings when I can enjoy the foods I've put away this fall.
The pears are the latest in my efforts to stock the pantry instead of relying upon the grocery store. To date I've made two batches of salsa, chokecherry jam and blackberry jelly (the fruit I picked along the edges of our fields). Tonight's efforts netted three large jars of pairs and one small. I think I will probably make more, but use the middle-sized jar the next time. Rob isn't the biggest fan of fruit and the large jars will be too much for one sitting.
I feel really good about our efforts this year. Our goal is to eventually produce half of what we consume. Although we were late starting this year and the garden was small we're pretty pleased with ourselves.
We put butchered 26 chickens this fall and our freezer is now full of poultry. The meat kings ranged from a low of seven pounds to a high of just over 10. The cockrels from the layers weighed in around four pounds each. We cooked two earlier this week and enjoyed them for supper. The meat was darker than grocery store fare, and I felt it was more flavorful too.
The pigs are weighing in around 200 pounds each and I expect we'll have them butchered in another few weeks.
Plus, from the garden, we enjoyed lettuce, peas and beets. I was also able to grow a good crop of onions and shallots. I planted a late crop of carrots, beets and turnips, we'll see, I may yet run out of growing time.
The hens should start laying soon. I expect to see the first egg in the next two to three weeks.
As apple season kicks into full gear I'll acquire some fruit and makes apple sauce, as well as freeze some for pies later on.
This winter I'll be looking at the seed catalogs with new purpose as I plan for next year's bounty.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
September Already
It is September again. A year ago today we took possession of the farm. Our only regret is we didn't do it sooner, a decade sooner. We love this lifestyle, we love this property.
We've had successes and failures. We read a lot of books and struggle to find the best way to do things. The Internet is a favorite resource answering many of our questions and our local co-op is on a first-name basis with Rob.
We've survived the first year with our enthusiasm intact, and that alone says a lot.
We've cut down saplings, raised chickens, our pigs are thriving, we have a great crop of onions and we're getting a wood stove next week.
We've lost three chickens (one was crushed as a day-old chick, one was a meat bird who died of heat stress and the third was our silver-laced Wyandotte who we had to put down because her neck was suddenly twisted and she couldn't hold up her head; the last one was the hardest as she was a beautiful, gentle bird).
The garden was a small version of what I planned. We weren't here enough early in the spring to get it ready and then the wet weather played havoc as well. But the onions and shallots did well. The lettuce flourished and we're now feeding it to the livestock because it has gotten too big. I have beets and tomatoes and cucumbers as well. The late carrots and turnips are growing and hopefully will be ready for a late fall harvest. I've learned mulching works well, but the site we're currently using probably doesn't get enough full sun. We'll look at relocating it for next year.
The days are already getting shorter and cooler; a sign of the passing season. This month I hope to get some tomatoes and make tomato sauce for the winter ahead. We're also harvesting two chickens a day (thank goodness Wally and Jen loaded us freezer space; we're having a delay in getting our own.) We'll have the pigs butchered late-October or early-November and be comfortable with the fact that we're providing the bulk of our meat.
While I don't look forward to the winter, there is a sense of personal satisfaction with all we've accomplished this year and we'll use the coming months to plan for the next season as well as enjoy the fruits of labours (as well as some farm-fresh eggs as the hens should start laying in another four to six weeks.)
We've had successes and failures. We read a lot of books and struggle to find the best way to do things. The Internet is a favorite resource answering many of our questions and our local co-op is on a first-name basis with Rob.
We've survived the first year with our enthusiasm intact, and that alone says a lot.
We've cut down saplings, raised chickens, our pigs are thriving, we have a great crop of onions and we're getting a wood stove next week.
We've lost three chickens (one was crushed as a day-old chick, one was a meat bird who died of heat stress and the third was our silver-laced Wyandotte who we had to put down because her neck was suddenly twisted and she couldn't hold up her head; the last one was the hardest as she was a beautiful, gentle bird).
The garden was a small version of what I planned. We weren't here enough early in the spring to get it ready and then the wet weather played havoc as well. But the onions and shallots did well. The lettuce flourished and we're now feeding it to the livestock because it has gotten too big. I have beets and tomatoes and cucumbers as well. The late carrots and turnips are growing and hopefully will be ready for a late fall harvest. I've learned mulching works well, but the site we're currently using probably doesn't get enough full sun. We'll look at relocating it for next year.
The days are already getting shorter and cooler; a sign of the passing season. This month I hope to get some tomatoes and make tomato sauce for the winter ahead. We're also harvesting two chickens a day (thank goodness Wally and Jen loaded us freezer space; we're having a delay in getting our own.) We'll have the pigs butchered late-October or early-November and be comfortable with the fact that we're providing the bulk of our meat.
While I don't look forward to the winter, there is a sense of personal satisfaction with all we've accomplished this year and we'll use the coming months to plan for the next season as well as enjoy the fruits of labours (as well as some farm-fresh eggs as the hens should start laying in another four to six weeks.)
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