Hi everyone!
We’ve been busy hosting friends and family, and preparing for winter (already!). Here’s a quick recap of the past 2 months.
My sister brought her family to the farm in early September and AC and I had a blast with them! Our nephews are 2 ad 4 so farm life is their favorite life right now. I thought we’d venture downtown and maybe find a playground at some point, but we never left the farm! Miles (4) especially loved Sarabi and our tractor – he even got to drive it with AC!
Later that same month, we hosted Girls’ Weekend with my mom, sister, sister-in-law and her 7 month old daughter, aunt and cousin. We spent lots of time chatting on our porch in the lovely fall weather, wandering downtown Murphy, and enjoying wine and charcuterie at a local winery.
We started October by celebrating our 6th anniversary with some hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway and a quick trip to Asheville, then figured we should really start focusing on winter prep!
AC finished the greenhouse shell and I’ve been working on the inside. I put down a sand floor, built a raised bed and a work table out of pallets and scrap wood, moved some large planters inside, and am now working to rig up some water collection for (1) irrigation inside the greenhouse and (2) a heat source – the idea being that water in the barrel will capture heat throughout the day as the sun shines on it, and release it slowly overnight to (hopefully) keep the interior temp above freezing. The true test will be if the crop of lettuce and kale in the raised bed make it through the season.
We stocked up on firewood! There was an oak tree leaning precariously toward our house and nearby power lines so we had that sucker cut down. The arborists were kind enough to cut the trunk into 14 inch sections that we then chopped down to sizes that will fit in our wood stove. Bring on the cold temps, we’re ready for it!
The arborists also chipped all the small branches for us and we’re currently working to spread those wood chips in garden paths to help keep weeds down. Speaking of the garden, we expanded it! My initial plan was to divide the garden space in half with plants in one side and chickens in the other. Then, after the growing season ended, I intended to swap the spaces so that the chickens could scratch up and fertilize the worn out side and I could plant my spring garden where the chickens had already prepped the ground for me. HOWEVER, it has taken a lot of work to arrange beds, combat weeds, amend soil, etc. and I don’t want to have to do all that again on the “raw” side where the chickens have been since day 1. So, I’ve scrapped my original plan and instead, just shrank the chicken space a bit (they get lots of free range time anyway so they aren’t hurting for real estate) and added 3 new garden beds. Losing out on chicken s%!# fertilizer isn’t a big deal because we have plenty of access to even better goat and rabbit poop that we don’t have to compost before use.
The bees are getting some winter love, too. I applied beneficial nematodes around the hives to help bet rid of small hive beetles and I’m building combo quilt/feeder boxes for the bee boxes: the quilt portion will hold a thick layer of wood shavings that will serve to (1) hold heat for the bees and (2) absorb any condensation that builds up so that it doesn’t drip on and freeze the bees. The feeder portion will hold some homemade sugar bricks that the bees can eat on if they run out of honey/nectar stores before it’s too warm for them to go out and forage again.
One of my hives is going into winter really strong, while the other is a bit smaller than I’d like so I’m hoping the quilt/feeder box helps them make it through winter so that they have a head start on spring and we can finally get a honey harvest. *Fingers crossed*
The goats are…turds, but that isn’t news.
We’re winding down on milking – because who wants to do that in the winter?? – so we’re drying up Meriwether and getting ready to host a gentleman caller for the other three goats in late November. Hoping for spring babies!
In the meantime, enjoy this episode of “AC vs. Goats.”
We have expanded our rabbit operation. Another local homesteader was retiring her rabbitry so we bought a beautiful black doe who we named Zazu, and a handsome brown buck named Max, short for Maximus, after the horse from Tangled. We got 11 grow outs from her, too, so our freezer is looking pretty good right now. Even better, we have lots of little rabbits growing out on the farm…approximately 27 with Rex and Zazu’s new litters which just popped out on Friday and Tuesday, respectively.
AC is a becoming quite the processing master and is working to perfect her jerky recipe!
We just had a fun visit from one of my oldest friends. Emily and I grew up down the street from each other so we’re basically sisters. She joined us on the farm this past weekend and we had a lovely time catching up.
This week will be a rainy one so I guess we’ll tend to our actual house, haha! It’ll be weird not having lots of outside time, but will also force some downtime, which is probably a good thing.
Next week, Mom, Dad, my aunt Sarah, and her beaux are joining AC and I for a really cool event at the John C Campbell Folk School called “Forged After Dark.” I’m looking forward to that event and to even more family time!
Until next time, y’all stay warm!
Charli
I loved reading this update! What an amazing story you have to tell! You have both been wildly successful in the incredible venture! Keep the updates coming – and love the photos too!
Wow I’m tired reading this! Curious how you keep everything organized, do you have to do lists by animal? How do you make sure everything is done on time? Also, how can I get a homemade sugar cube? YUM!