Last Week On The Homestead: It's Fall!

 

October 29- November 4, 2023

Hello!  I hope this finds you doing well!  Sweater weather has officially arrived.  We've had a couple light frosts and a hard frost (26 degrees Fahrenheit) and highs ranging from 41 - 55 degrees this past week.  

As I type, I have split pea soup cooking away in the slow-cooker, spelt bread dough rising in the warmth of the pellet stove, and a hot turmeric latte next to me.  It's one of my favorite things to drink in the cold months.

November and December seem to fly by, unfortunately.  I try to take the time to enjoy the beauty and spend some time outside, but my days are filled with making and packaging products for our business in order to have enough inventory for the holiday shopping season.  We've had many people shopping early and, due to many requests, made our winter holiday products available last week.  One of our holiday soap scents, Farmhouse Christmas, is almost sold out already!  We've never had that happen before with a holiday soap - that's a lot of soap!  We try to make enough of the winter limited-edition soap scents to last through the middle of December.  Sometimes they even last through Christmas.  It's hard to know for sure.  We let our soap cure for about 4 weeks after making it which is why we have to use our best guess at how much to make - it's not a quick turnaround. 

Our official holiday shopping season, for our business, usually starts the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We also stock our products for this season at a local non-profit museum, so I have to make up enough of everything for them as well.  Our products are their top seller for their holiday Artisan Market which is such an honor!  We are so happy that we have a loyal following who choose to purchase our products each year for their gift-giving.  I try to stay on top of their inventory, so I have goals set for each week of how much lotion, deodorant, lip balm, shampoo bars and soap batches to make in an effort to avoid (hopefully) all-nighters and emergency product-making nights.  We've been there and done that.

Because of the frosts we've received, the only things currently growing/living in our garden is kale, arugula, and chives.  I will continue to harvest from them as long as I can and then hope they will return in the spring.  The fruit has been picked off of all trees and either eaten or preserved, the garden has been put to bed, the compost bins are full, next year's garlic has been planted, and we are doing one last leaf clean-up throughout the yard for the season. 

The coop girls are doing good. We are still seeing some feather loss, so the annual molt is not quite over. I will be cleaning out their coop today and am hoping that most of the feather loss has happened, so it won't be full of them again. We are receiving no eggs. The younger 7 girls may start again in the next month or two, but I doubt the rest of the flock will provide any until spring.

On the menu for this week:

Me 

Chickpeas & Dumplings (vegan version of chicken & dumplings)

Creamy Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup

Split Pea Soup

Tofu "Egg" Salad Sandwich

Jay

Salisbury Steak with Rice

Arroz con Pollo

Pork Chop with Apples & Stuffing

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

Spaghetti Pie

Creamy Chicken, Veg, & Rice (like a stove-top chicken pot pie but with rice)

I'm hoping you are able to slow-down and take a few moments each day to enjoy the season.  I'm trying to remember to do this as well!