Last Month On The Homestead: August 2024

 Happy September!  This month was welcomed by the entire homestead since it came with cooler temps and humidity.  The chickens are as appreciative as the people.

Well, the garden did ok this year.  Of course, the wildlife didn't help, and we knew that would be a challenge from the moment we saw the influx of wild bunnies taking refuge in it.  I ended up not planting as much as I normally would because they've continued to find ways to get to their favorite crops and demolish it.  We will be adding additional fencing with smaller holes next month around the entire perimeter.  This way, my early spring planting will (hopefully) be safe from little gnawing teeth.

There will be no way of keeping the chipmunks out so we'll just go into next year knowing that the first of the cherry tomatoes will likely not make it into our home or our mouths.  Once the plants were in full production this year it wasn't bad.  There was certainly plenty for us all, but I still get frustrated that they won't eat the entire tomato (cherry or larger).  Such a waste.  And the peeling of the tomato skins (and leaving them in a pile) cracks me up.

The chipmunks were also stripping our grafted pear tree early on but thankfully that seemed to have slowed down allowing for plenty to harvest.  And they are so sweet and delicious!

It's been a rather warm and humid summer for us this year.  I actually thought the temps weren't bad, but I was told it was the 9th warmest summer on record so apparently it was.  To me, it just seemed difficult to catch a break from the never-ending humidity.

I fought the urge to wish summer to be over.  By August this is a struggle for me as I'm not a fan of high heat or humidity.  I've been getting better at this!  I'm determined to enjoy the entirety of each season.

More About The Garden

I harvested a decent number of tomatoes and made roasted tomato sauce as well as a few batches of marinara.  I wanted to can salsa and more marinara, but we just didn't get that kind of harvest from them this year.  I put more zucchini and yellow summer squash in the freezer and made blueberry jam from blueberries we picked at a local farm.  I've been able to put a small amount of green beans in the freezer, but the bunnies continue to find ways to get to the plants and eat them.  

Although not funny because of the time and effort I've spent getting the garden going, it is kind of funny to look at the garden beds and see nothing but sticks (green bean plants stripped) and teeny tiny bits of green above the dirt (carrots and squash plants).  I've harvested tons of peppers, putting a lot of them in the freezer for eating later, and the plants are still quite loaded.  The bunnies like these plants too but I've been able to keep them out for the most part.  

I had planted mid-summer for fall harvest but have lost a good portion of those plants to the bunnies.  I still have cabbage (they are beautiful so, fingers crossed, I get to harvest them), celery, one zucchini plant, and a handful of green bean plants that have so far managed to survive.  The carrots which are all missing their tops, may be ok next spring (this happened for me another year) and be able to grow then, and I've been able to harvest some baby kale but have no idea when those plants will completely disappear like the ones planted for summer harvesting.  Thankfully they don't like eggplant (so far) or cucumbers so those have both produced nicely.

If we had a larger growing space this wouldn't be so impactful, but because we're working with a smaller space it's unfortunately quite disastrous.  That's gardening though - you just never know how the bugs or wildlife will impact crops.

Felix Update

Well, I hate to even write this.  I believe our feral cat friend Felix may be deceased.  He visited us the first few days of August, as he always does - twice daily, both daytime and evening, but we haven't seen him at all since.  He always sits under a hydrangea bush that's right outside of the living room window during the summer days and he hasn't been there since those few days at the beginning of the month.  It was his favorite spot for hiding, sleeping, and just hanging out.  He hasn't eaten any food, and our cameras show he isn't visiting in the dark either.  

He was looking quite old the last couple of months so I don't know if he is possibly gone due to the inevitable or if he tangled with an animal that he just couldn't compete with.  I still find myself watching for him and of course hope to see him but at this point am doubtful that will happen.

Coop Girls

It's officially the start of molting season in our coop.  We are starting to see feathers everywhere.  The egg laying slowed fairly significantly throughout August and by the last week we began seeing many many feathers.  We did lose two of the older girls this month and hope the remaining older ones all make it through the molt.

Since the temps aren't so high they are fully enjoying their free ranging days.  During the heat of summer, they get cranky and refuse to leave the coop but on 75-degree (Fahrenheit) days or lower, they are thrilled to work their way around the property.  

I can no longer go to the garden shed alone if they are out.  I made the mistake of letting them see that their freeze-dried mealworms are kept in there and now they come running and flying (and they are NOT graceful flyers) from all around if they see me even headed in that general direction.  One day I had to get a shovel out and they were absolutely convinced they were getting meal worms.  The excitement was palpable!  

They weren't, however, getting them since I hand those out at the end of the day when I put them back in.  I proceeded to head to the garden to work and they heckled me, yelled, and carried on about their need for mealworms.  I felt bad because they just didn't understand so I went back and got them a few handfuls.  Now I try to plan my trips to the garden shed a bit more strategically.

In The Kitchen

As noted above, I've done some food preservation.  Not a ton, but it will be nice to have in the winter.  I haven't made bread in August (except the sourdough discard skillet bread recipe that I shared) because I didn't want to turn the oven on.  I will start back up with bread making soon though.  I've had a few people ask if I would share my spelt sourdough sandwich bread recipe and yes, I will do that.  I want to try it with the kitchenaid mixer instead of stretch and folds to see if it will work, so once I've tried that I will post it.

I've also been asked about the fact that I store my sourdough starter in the freezer during the summer months so I will do a quick post on that too.  It works out great!  I also recommend, if you use sourdough, to either put some in the freezer or dehydrate it just in case you ever need a back-up.  Whether you use up all of your sourdough starter or for some reason it goes bad, at least you wouldn't have to start from scratch.

It is currently corn season so we are cooking and eating a lot of corn dishes (we currently have 30 ears in the refrigerator).  We've grown corn in the past, but we have a local farm that has the sweetest and most tender corn, so we typically leave the corn growing to them.  I will probably buy it in bulk next week and put some away in the freezer.  I should pressure can it but will probably just default to freezing it.  We'll see.  I LOVE corn chowder in the winter so we would have plenty for that and many other dishes.

I shared our pumpkin pie smoothie recipe this week and I've made it quite a few times already.  If you happen to have a Ninja Creami machine, it makes GREAT "ice cream" too!  Pour it into the creami pint and freeze.  When you're ready to make it, put it on the "sorbet" setting. It's so creamy and flavorful.

Jack

He's doing great!  I've been watching him seem to struggle with jumping up in the barstools.  I can't figure out if this is because he's starting to get arthritis or he's just clumsy (which he is) and fearful of falling during his attempt.  He has an annual appointment this month, so I'll tell his doctor.  I've somewhat ruled out the arthritis only because he still runs up and down the stairs like a madman and insists on "racing" us (we aren't interested in racing, but he doesn't seem to realize this) when we move from room to room.  Other than that, he's his version of normal.

The Soap Business

It's hard to believe that we'll be releasing the fall soaps this month.  It's even harder to believe that we've been making the Christmas/holiday soaps!  In August we're pretty busy with our farmers market, craft shows, and online orders.  Additionally, we try to devote 2 days per week to all-day soapmaking and the other days are devoted to all of the other products.  In our area it's still heavy tourism because of the Saratoga Springs Racetrack (horse).  Things may quiet for a couple of weeks but then they will pick up again for fall with having our local regulars back at our farmers market as well as the leaf peepers.

All of the vendors we've spoken with this year have said that their sales are down at events - farmers markets and craft shows.  Between the economy and events of the country, this isn't a surprise.  As a small business it can be hard to prepare for these times, but it's critical that you do as the impact is greater, (I think) the smaller that you are.  It's the continual ebb and flow of business.  These are the times that you realize self-employment isn't easy.  I hear all of the time "you're living my dream life".  I get it, but you have to critically think through all aspects in order to determine if this "dream life" really is for you.  There are challenges to every decision we make in life, I guess it's about determining which challenges you are willing to take on and, dare I say, embrace.

That's August on the homestead!   A lot of gardening, some food preservation, and keeping up with the critters and the business!