Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Fall is a time of endless motionā
A dance with the earth, the sun lowering its flame.
In the rush of harvest, I gather the last of the tomatoes,
Their skins blushing under my fingers, each one a memory of summer's heat.
Peaches, golden as the sun that fades, become cobbler topping,
Jam sweet enough to last through the quiet of winter.
Pomegranates burst with life, their juice like jewels in the palm,
While the persimmons, patient as always, wait their turn.
The garden calls for a rhythm of letting go and renewalā
Old crops pulled from the soil as new ones take their place.
The high tunnel goes up, a shelter against the coming frost.
Citrus trees huddle in the greenhouse, safe from the nearing winterās bite.
Preserving the seasonās gifts, I fill jars with apple pie filling,
Seal the last of summerās warmth into apple jelly and pomegranate juice.
Fall is a hustle, a race against time,
But in every act, Iām storing a piece of this fleeting season,
And in every task, thereās a bright anticipationā
A season of abundance stretching far beyond the first chill.
What a busy month it has been already! Last week we had a massive wind storm that took out a large portion of a shade tree, and then took out half our pie cherry tree. You know that saying, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! So that is exactly what I will be doing. The large branches of our flowering pear tree will be made into cutting boards, wood spoons and spatulas. A piece of our homestead everlasting. Extra wood will be used to warm our home during the winter months. The tree that has been so badly damaged will come out and in will go an Apricot tree to provide food for years to come. The cherry tree will heal over time.
This week the last of the large harvest of tomatoes are being made into pizza sauce, tomato sauce and whole bottled tomatoes. Peppers are being freeze dried, herbs dried for winter flavoring and now the anticipation of our first frost is a little bitter sweet. The summer was growling hot for much longer than normal and I can't believe I'm saying it, but I am ready for winter.
We processed turkeys this week with a beautiful community of like minded friends full the need and want to learn. I am always amazed just how great people are. Building a community and homesteading is what we have always desired and now, now we have so many talented, eager friends that are a part of our lives, living a life thats full wholesomeness. Feeling thankful šš¼.
Iāve been asked many times this year if I ever get overwhelmed with everything I do. Yes! Thatās just how it goes. When we are the busiest, the wind blows and knocks over trees. We HAVE to look for opportunities in the wind.
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Autumn Harvest
In the golden glow of autumn's embrace,
The homestead buzzes with a lively pace.
With baskets in hand, the family unites,
Harvesting bounty beneath fading lights.
Pumpkins roll thick in their patches aglow,
Offering promises of treats to bestow.
From autumn's sweet breath, with spice and delight,
We'll craft pumpkin pies for those chilly nights.
Cider presses hum, as apples are pressed,
A fragrant elixir, natureās sweet zest.
Rich caramel tones in the crisp, cooler air,
Warm mugs in our hands, we savor and share.
The mornings are cooler, the evenings, a thrill,
With leaves turning crimson, the air's crisp and still.
Gardens stand at their peak, a colorful sight,
A final farewell to summerās soft light.
Jars of preserves line the shelves, all aglow,
Filled with the harvest that autumn does sow.
From pumpkin breads fragrant to spiced, sweet pies,
Each bite tells a story of sunlit blue skies.
So gather 'round fires as the daylight grows brief,
In the heart of our homestead, we cherish beliefā
That through every season, with love, we will thrive,
Embracing the magic that keeps us alive. ~Ali
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When I was growing up, my mother preserved EVERYTHING! Absolutely nothing went to waste. She grow up in the depression and that was normal. Today there is so much waste. I feel like that doesnāt have to be when we think outside the box. Chickens can take up a lot of waste through food scrapes, compost piles can turn garden debris into beautiful soil for the garden. This week Iāve been preserving from the garden and orchard. Tomatoes are first to get done and I wanted to share how I turn what could be waste (or compost) into a very useful byproduct from tomatoes waste of skins and seeds. I have a simple sauce maker that shots out the sauce in the side and peel and seeds out the back of the strainer. So easy to make sauce with. I take the āwasteā on freeze dry it. After dry I run it through the food processor or blender into a powder then put it in a jar. This powder is and excellent soup thickener, great used as a tomato paste or added to bread and there is zero waste!
Here is a link to the sauce maker if youāre interested. Itās great for making apple sauce as well! www.amazon.com/dp/B074JFGJDW?ie=UTF8&th=1&linkCodeā¦
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Itās going to be a very busy week! 6 bushels of apples, 3 bushels of pears and a lug of tomatoes to preserve.
Apples will be made into apple sauce, apple pie filling, freeze dried apples and pears with a sprinkle of cinnamon. After I core the apples and pears we run them through the apple cider press to get everything we can out of them along with a mix of 5 different apple varieties for the cider. The pear core adds so much flavor! Yummy! Iāll freeze the cider for winter use.
Pears will be mostly canned. Pears make excellent pear sauce, like apple sauce. My mother would bottled them with crĆØme de mint and I love them to this day! Iāll also freeze dry several batches with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a tiny amount of chili powder. Such a great snack for we go out on trail rides.
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Tonight we had so much fun in our Cooking with Herbs class! The house still smells of fresh herbs! I love the groups we get here taking classes, the laughter and stories. If you can, find classes in your area and get involved. Or teach some classes! They can be real fun and this is so good for the community. Being with like-minded folks makes you happy and most times you always meet new friends. They share their ideas and experiences and you can learn so much from each other!
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Once upon a time, a long time ago we moved to this small home on 1/4 acre a few days before our daughter was born. We were only going to be here for 5 years. My love of gardening has always strong. With this little acreage, I followed my wild gardening ideas of growing everything we could and be as self sufficient as we could. In no time, I outgrew my 1/4 acre and began to garden on the 1/4 lot next to me... Mind you, it was vacant and it was only a small corn patch 4 ft wide by 12 foot, plus some squash and beans (three sisters). Then it happened! The lot had a for sale sign stuck on it! My heart was crushed, I could loose my corn! Well, that's when the real story began. My husband said, well we can't have your corn patch be sold off! Lets buy the lot. Within a few days, we scrabbled and figured it out on how to purchase the ground and did it. If that piece of property would have gone up for sale ONE month earlier, we could not have bought it. THE very day we signed the papers, the hottest summer on record, in July I planted 8 peach trees and 4 cherry trees. Here is a lesson well learned. Be patient! Everything in time. The peach trees survived, barely, but the cherry trees did not. I believe I drowned them with love, after all it was hot. We have been in our little spot, which is now 1/2 acre with our critters, orchard, garden, the farm store/small nursery. It has been 36 years we have been here, building up the soil, layouts have changed, the small farmstand/nursery was added, all overtime. Will we be here forever? I don't know. I do get the itch to move when our summers soar to 115 degrees for weeks during the summer months. And, I would love to have a couple sheep and a cow. But for now, we keep on working hard, trying to be more self sufficient every year, and being better people by teaching classes in our garden and in our home. We want to be community minded. I know it's not large, it's small, intense, still hard work and it never stops. What I am saying here. You can grow a garden and add to your self sufficiency no matter how small of a place you have. Dream big, don't stop dreaming and pray daily for good things in your life! Be patient! Everything in Gods time!
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I am making my list of videos for the next three months to "try" and stay ahead of being overwhelmed. One of thing that will be Incorporated in will be an overview of our 1/2 acre as many of you have asked for it. I would also LOVE your input on what you would like to see, learn or maybe something fun! Please give me feedback on any thoughts and ideas. I love this community and how nice everyone is! Thank you from with all my heart!
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What is the first thing you do in the morning? When I was 14 or 15 years old my mom told me to get right up out of bed, turn around and make it! If I don't get anything else done the rest of the day, I at least did my one habit. I can only think of one time in life after that I didn't make my bed since that time. That's over 40,000 times of a habit that I have stuck with. I wish other habits would stick as good as this one.
The next thing I do is record the weather and what I did in the garden or what is happening on our little homestead, which I've done for almost 30 years now.
In my next video I'm taking a different angle (while it was so hot out) and filmed in our home, sharing things that I do to "help" keep me on track and keeping the home run smoother. So you get an inside peek literally.
So, what is your one first thing you do in the morning? If it isn't in the poll, list it in the comments!
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Right now we are literally receiving a gift from above! RAIN! The radar shows it might only be a small amount, but at this point we will take it after a very long hot dry summer. Our total rainfall for the entire year is under 5". This is a blessing!
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Every evening when I feed all our animals our turkeys follow me around like dogs. Them though they have been fed and their water refreshed, they still prefer to follow. š„°
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Our goal is teach how to be more self sufficient even on the smallest of acreage! Gardening and homesteading on 1/2 acre in the Southern part of Utah where we raised our two children, grow our own organic food, raise chickens, dairy goats, ducks and turkeys. On this small one half acre we have been able to become largely (80%) self sufficient, run a CSA, operate a small organic nursery and garden supply, and offer learning through the classes we teach here at our little farm. We have 48 fruit trees, dozens of grape vines and berries, plus other edibles through the 1/2 acre. Our YouTube channel is devoted to share and teach our love for all these beautiful life skills that are being lost. Join us on the journey!