homesteading

It’s fall y’all

/ Baldwin Acres / Leave a comment

I’m sitting at my desk in my chilly “office” aware of the alternating downpour/drizzle rain against my window. It’s 45 degrees F out..not super cold and there is no snow on the ground – garden bed soil might just be cool enough to plant garlic and onions now.

In the meantime, I’ve developed a list of sorts. Typically, I’m one to make mental lists and sometimes jot them down (only to lose them,) but recent developments insist I have written a list to follow, because the chores have increased. Which is a good thing.

  1. Our luffa plants absolutely took off this year. We have more than we can use, and unfortunately some will go to the compost bin. This is a little concerning because those seeds…wow..they’re prolific. The immature squash is, apparently, tasty to eat. We didn’t get that experience in. The beauty about the luffa is in it’s growing season.
    • You plant.
    • Let it grow.
    • Let it die and get brown,
    • Harvest.
    • Peel, shake out seeds.
    • DIY sponge things to use in bathrooms, kitchens etc.
  2. When the first frost came it killed all the vines so we harvested the remainder. Fortunately, these are approved to give to the cattle – in moderation. We have plenty dried sponges to gift!

2. Clean up all spent plants. Time to dig up the scraggly peppers, the droopy sunflowers, the shriveled peas you never had time for.

3. Amend the soil. Test it with you local ag or get a soil test from a seed store or local nursery. Amend with whatever it calls for.

4. We harvested our sweet potatoes, too. A keen observation: if you leave them in the ground too long, you may be harvesting spuds bigger than your head. (We had to let the harvesting go a little longer than recommended because on of us was recovering from spine surgery. Not me, this time.)

4. Time to plant onions and garlic. Here in N East Texas it is recommended to plant these when it’s colder and the soil is colder, too. Right now would be a good time, but I’m not into planting in the rain.

5. After putting the garden or raised beds (as is our case,) it is recommended to cover the beds with mulch.

6. We do a deep clean of the poultry houses twice, maybe three times, a year. This time of year, we completely clean the old shavings out and put a nice couple of inches in to offer more insulation. We try to not use heat lamps because a) the chickens are little heat machines and b) the heat lamps have, on occasion fallen and caught the coops on fire. It’s curious that at this chilly time of year, the chickens are also molting and the usual layer of warm and protection is temporarily gone, so all the more reason for added warmth. The benefit of adding some kind of artificial light is to promote egg laying as they lay off this time of year. But, some of our girls are older and maybe they need a rest….

7. This is also the time of year we harvest the turkeys. We’re conflicted about what to actually grow here on BaldwinAcres. One of us wants fast growing and a meaty harvest – usually means Broad Breasted Whites. The downfall is they cannot naturally reproduce and sometimes get heavy too fast often resulting in respiratory issues. The other person on the farm enjoys heritage breeds. They are sometimes endangered and/or close to being so, but they grow slow, and although they’re tasty, it can take a season or two and the resulting meat is not – absolutely not – the same as the more commercial BBW. It’s an ongoing discussion.

8. Now is the time, too, that the pastures go dormant and the hay is set out.

9. This year, for the first time, we were able to sell our spring calves. And, a great friend lent us his black angus bull (who came to us nameless but was quickly dubbed – Buckley. His owner and my husband refer to him as the bull…boring. So Buckley’s been with us for a month or so. Folks charge big bucks to lease the bulls so we are every thankful for this gift!

10. Special attention must be paid to the external water sources to prevent freezing and damage. We add trough warmers but haven’t dug deep enough to pay for expensive heated hoses.

11. Final clean up of grasses/pastures/driveways/acorns takes place.

12. Previous to the cold wet weather, we’ve already prepared a sizeable wood pile for the fireplace. One of us is forever chilled and so happy to have fireplace weather arrive.

13. Sometime in this time frame, we’ll put Christmas up. One grandchild makes sure to come put and get the Christmas tree and other things out from the shed and we put it up as our time allows.

14. We made the mistake of putting up a polyurethane greenhouse. It’s too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. We tried putting the evaporative cooler in for the summer and a space heater for the winter, but that drove electricity up too high. Putting solar in is also cost prohibitive. We ended up cutting away some lower sections for the summer and putting them back up in the fall along with some greenhouse bubble wrap. We have a slatted wood floor which we cover with cardboard we’ve saved up during the year. This seems to make it useable, but not ideal.

On very sunny days during this time we might enjoy the hot tub, or sitting by the firepit, but honestly that takes effort, so most days are spent inside, by the fire, reading, researching, seed drooling, planning and just being thankful.

WINDY WEATHER

/ Baldwin Acres / Leave a comment

(I know it’s not good form to capitalize the names of God or His pronouns, but I can’t bring myself to not)

Before too long the summer heat will sweep in and if the plants aren’t in the ground many will wither. So, it’s imperative in this small window of time, while the soil is not too cold and wet to rot the seed and too hard and dry to grow anything, we ‘open’ the garden. In the meantime, wind advisories are in play almost daily and I don’t like to play in the wind.

Guess, what? In real life, on this homestead, it doesn’t really matter what my personal preferences are. Chickens and turkeys still need feed and water. Barn cats need checking on. Cattle need water and protein pellets and fresh forage. Bees need checking on. Dogs need exercise, food and water. Eggs need collecting. And, yes, the garden needs tending.

I imagine some folks might think it’s laughable at my quandry. It’s chilly and windy but by chilly I mean high 60s and low 70s. I reckon I wouldn’t last long in a place where there is actually negative degrees and snow on the ground. I admire those that do, though.

I missed some of the days where I should of started seeds indoors because we were out of country, but I should have been on it as soon as we were back home. Now, I have until the end of the month (one week) to get on it. Oh, did I mention I have a tendency to procrastinate?

It’s ridiculous to spend time writing about it, when I could be out there doing it, but, again, it’s chilly and windy. The hot tub is right outside my office window and the top blows open often. Now, to my defense, I’m not just doing nothing, I’m tackling the indoor chores, because this homestead’s floors need mopping, laundry needs washing, dishes need doing, food needs fixing, bodies need cuddling and brains need feeding!

Speaking of brains, my obsession with wind and unruly weather prompted a word study in the Word. I was delighted to find quite a few references to wind. ( My obsession is no doubt fueled by my sissy attitude towards wind….but I digress.)

The scripture use the word wind to describe weather conditions but also to describe deep things like the attributes of God. It talks about an east wind and a west wind, and south winds bringing the heat. It discusses wind being used as a force to punish and also to help.

Wind might hold a special place in God’s plan. In Psalm 135:7 it says He releases the wind from his storehouses. (some translations say treasuries).

Psalm 148:7-8 says Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather, obey Him.

1 Kings 19:11 tells us that God is not always in the BIG things of wind, earthquakes and fire, but often in a gentle voice.

Genesis 8:1 God remembers Noah and the boat and God sent a wind to blow across the earth and the flood waters began to recede.

Exodus 10 God uses the wind to bring the locusts to Pharoh as one of the curses that frees His people.

Matthew 14:24 the disciples find themselves in peril because a strong wind had risen and they were fighting heavy waves and then Jesus came walking to them on the water.

Luke 12:55 Jesus admonishes those who can tell the weather by the ways the wind blows, yet they can’t interpret the present times.

With so many references to wind in the Bible, I reckon I shouldn’t be so consumed with my disdain for certain natural occurrences because He uses them.

It’s good to remember ALL the ways He uses the wind… some pollination of plants happens because of the wind, and in my own life, when it’s hot and dry out the lesser wind, called breeze is welcome. When I am celebrating and rejoicing in Him, arms outstretched, face towards the sky in praise – the sight of soft white clouds moving at His pace with His wind….is another indicator of His ever present being.

He loves us enough to give us examples of something that some might consider insignificant -wind- to learn about His faithful and good character. He is a good, good Father.