Last Month On The Homestead: October 2024

 October brought many surprises in the weather department.  I feel like that's the theme for this fall.  We've been blessed by receiving continued above average temps with typical fall days sprinkled in.

October was filled with picking up leaves from all around the property, putting most of the garden to bed, and making and packaging products for our soap business.  That coupled with regular household chores, cooking, and caring for everyone meant it was a busy month!

I was able to keep the celery, cabbage, and a few herbs in the garden beds along with kale and assorted greens.  In fact, I've just harvested the remaining celery, cabbage and herbs this week and have left the kale (what remains after the coop girls discovered it) and a few greens for use over the next week or two before it's completely done for the year.  Except for garlic, of course, but that won't be harvested until late spring/early summer 2025.  I'm slightly jealous of those of you who live in climates where you can continue growing but at the same time, I'm grateful for the break.

The Soap Business

It is our last busy season of the year for our soap business, so there may not be many blog posts for the next 2 months.  

So far, it's been a very busy season with many people beginning their holiday shopping early.  We are fortunate that our farmers market runs year-round although it slows considerably from January thru the beginning of May.  

During that slow-down we also slow our production of products to try and control how much money we have sitting around in ingredients and finished products.  I feel like we've got a pretty good handle on it now that we've been doing this for more than 10 years.  It's hard to believe it's been that long!

Jackson

Jack went for his annual check-up, and I was told by his doctor that if someone brought him in for the first time without any knowledge of his age, she would guesstimate him to be 3-4 years old.  Not bad for being 13 1/2 years old!  His teeth continue to be perfect and everything else checks out well.  

I changed out his food a few months ago to one higher in fat and it's helping him keep his weight on.  His heart condition is being kept in check with medication, and we see his cardiologist for that annual visit in February.  

He does not enjoy the hands-on part of the appointment and made sure she knew how unhappy he was, but otherwise he does fairly well at the visits.  Thankfully his regular veterinarian is minutes away because he is very vocal during the drive.  When we visit his cardiologist, I am stuck listening to him for 40 minutes each way.  If you turn the music up, he gets louder, so I just keep the music low and am subjected to his very long list of complaints. 

In The Kitchen

I've been making bread once or twice a month.  We don't eat a lot of it, so I keep my sourdough starter in the refrigerator until it's needed. 

Soup season hasn't officially arrived for us, although I've enjoyed some here and there as the temps have dipped.  I've been able to put some up in the freezer as well.  I also made chicken soup base to freeze for my husband.  Many days he doesn't know what he wants for lunch until right before lunch so by putting this in the freezer I can whip up soup quickly if that's what he would like.  It's just chicken broth, chicken, and diced carrots, celery and onion.  I can add pasta or rice when I defrost it/heat it up.  I will probably make a taco soup base as well and freeze that so there are options.  

We toggle between cold weather types of meals (pot pies, casseroles, stews) and using the grill.  We'll probably be putting the grill away this weekend so we're continuing to use it as the weather allows.  

In The Coop

The coop girls continue to do well.  They love the warmer days and are very active scouring the property for bugs and other goodies.  On colder days they look upset and pretty much refuse to come out of the coop.  I think they've forgotten that they are in for months of much colder weather.  Or maybe they're in denial.

What I'm Reading

I was able to read the books I had remaining from last month.  They were all pretty good.  I enjoyed the one by Louise Penny the most.  I'm having a hard time getting her books checked out from the library.  Every time I look for the next one in the series it's not available for 1-2 months.  So frustrating!

So that was October in a nutshell.  As the daylight grows shorter and we begin preparing for the colder months, I'm hoping your days are full of beauty, abundance, and all the things that bring you comfort.