With the beautiful crisp weather we’ve been having, things have been busy around here. As I’ve mentioned before, fall is my favorite season…but that also brings on a new set of chores to get done around the homestead.
Back in July we acquired a bunch of tree trimmings, which created quite the beaver dam in our front yard. We had slowly been chopping it up over the summer, but with the start of school, soccer season and karate…our schedule became full overnight. This past weekend, we finally had a free day where we were able to get the beaver dam cut up and stacked along the tree line. We wanted to get this done before the first snowfall, because we are using it as a natural snow fence.
Another chore that we have been working on, is slowly getting the garden “put to bed” for the winter. As vegetable plants finish up for this year, we are pulling the plants and putting the rows to bed. The rows get one final good weeding (if there are any), and then are covered with straw to protect them from the coming winter. Not only does this protect the rows from compacting and becoming hard from the winter weather, but the straw will also decompose and improve the rows for next year’s planting season.
The past two weeks, we’ve also been dealing with the issue of going from getting a dozen eggs a day, to getting no eggs. One day, Wyatt came in from being out by the chickens, and he was afraid that we may have had a predator get one, because there were feathers everywhere! We did a head count, and all the chickens were accounted for, which meant one thing…. they were molting. If you don’t know what molting is, it is when chickens renew their feathers. Chickens molt every year when the weather starts to get cold and the days get shorter. They drop their feathers and grow new ones. During this time they stop laying eggs, and build up their nutrient reserves for the coming winter. This is also a sign that we need to get the coop ready for winter, as chickens lay best when they have 14-16 hours of daylight, so to assist in that we place a heat lamp in the coop. It offers both the warmth and additional light to encourage egg production.
Even though we have a lot of fall chores getting done on the homestead, we also take time to appreciate the beauty of the season. The leaves are starting to turn colors, which shows the wonders of God’s artwork.
What is your least favorite fall chore? I’d say mine is probably pulling the tomato plants. It’s just such a pain having to pick up all the tomatoes that fall off the plants and taking it all to the compost. But, it’s all necessary to get the garden put to bed. Have a great week!!!
Raking leaves. Oh the blisters!