Don't Wing It Wednesday #2

O.k., I'm a bit behind due to an emergency subbing job at the school and an impromptu lunch invite, so I'm going to dive right in there today. It's Wednesday, so we're working on our "Don't Wing It" for the holidays.

I've gotten quite a bit of work done for my holiday planner. I was able to make up new versions of my planning pages on my laptop and get them printed. For those of you who don't want to fuss on your own, (I admit to being a control freak when it comes to these things!) I have some links for Thanksgiving planners that are FREE!

One page planning calendar from Ocean Spray

Multi paged plannerOne page check list from Martha Stewart

One sheet calendar for planning from Family Fun- very cute!

A 1 week planner from Family Fun- cute, too!

 Another 1 pager
A Disney 1 pager with pilgrim Mickey and Minnie

As soon as I'm able to, I'm going to try to get my planning sheets into PDF form so that I can share them. If that doesn't work, I'll at least be able to show pics so that you can get an idea of what they look like if you would like to make your own.

Yesterday I was able to play  work on the Thanksgiving lap book. Here are some links that I used for materials, including some actual lap book materials put together for you, all for free.

Nice lap book templates and some decorations

Printable coloring pages and games (I used this site for our Easter Lap book)

Although these resources are for a specific Thanksgiving book, you'll find templates and mini books that will be useful.

The First Thanksgiving mini book

Thanksgiving lap book page from Squidoo.com. Scroll down to get to printable section

Alright, so for our family's Thanksgiving, we actually get 3 (yes, THREE!!) feasts. One on Thurs. with Mama's side of the family, put on by my lovely older sister. Next up is Daddy's side of the family on Friday, which I put on at our home. And then we head up north to my aunt's for my mother's side of the family. (Luckily Aunt Audrey always does a ham in addition to a turkey, because by that time my DH and I are just about sick of turkey!) So I will be making something for each of the feasts we will be attending, plus putting on a meal. I plan on making as much ahead of time as I can. I also usually keep my meal as simple and fuss free as possible. I'll be sharing my actual menu and some tips soon.

For ways to celebrate thankfulness and gratitude, I was going to make a wreath in which we filled with leaves and acorns made of paper that we wrote what we are thankful for on. Then I found this adorable poster. Very cute and simple, it makes this Mama happy! We started a new dinner time tradition, as well. Just before we say grace, I light a tea candle in a pretty holder, the Busy Bear says grace and then thanks the Lord for something that they are thankful for that day. When they are done eating, they get to blow the candle out.

I still have more to share, so be sure to check back soon!

Blessings,

Kelly

Monday Updates

Happy Monday, Friends! And it is a lovely morning here on our hill. The sky is clear, the birds are chirping and the blanket of frost is slowly giving way to the sun's warmth. I don't know about you, but I was very grateful for that extra hour this weekend. I needed the sleep Sunday morning after trekking through the woods with Teddy Bear Saturday morning. Neither of the boys bagged a deer, but they both had chances to take a shot, and actually T.B. did get off a shot. It all happened so quickly, and my DH and I are extremely proud of how calm and collected he was as we watched about 5-6 deer hurdle towards us! Wheels would have been able to shoot but for a communication breakdown between him and Daddy. We're proud of him as well, because he was a good sport about it. They are both looking forward to next weekend, as are DH and I!

As far as home keeping, this weekend it was practically non-existent! I did about the bare minimum, as I was in a lot of pain most of the weekend. I did get the cookies for lunches made, as well as breakfast cookies, and my DH helped out in picking up the kitchen. Mostly I worked on planning and getting my leg/back straightened out.

I'm still working on this week's and next's dinner menu plan because I haven't had a chance to do a freezer inventory. As soon as I have it done, I'll be posting it. I do have a confession to make though: tonight I'm cheating as my DH said to go get KFC for dinner tonight! Who am I to argue with my hubby? ;0)

As I mentioned earlier, I was able to get some planning done, mostly in my Holiday Planner. As soon as I get all of my new pages in, I'll be posting more on that. I've decided to do a Thankful Wreath instead of a tree this year. I'm hoping to get some of the work done so that we can get it started this evening. I'm also going to be making a Thanksgiving lap book for the kiddos. I know that lap books are usually made by the children, but with them in school, they don't have a lot of time. I'm going to be including some games in it, as well as some sheets that they can all do and keep in the lap book. I'll be posting some of the links that I use for that, as well as pics of the finished product soon.

In holiday news, I've also decided on adding a Jesse Tree to our Advent traditions. If your not sure about what a Jesse Tree is, go here for a great explanation.  I'm thinking of making a sort of lap book Jesse Tree to help further the kid's understanding (And mine!) I'll be posting more links on this as we get closer to December.

That's about all for now! I'm not scheduled to work so far this week, so I'm planning on getting some housework and yard work done. I need to finish buttoning up the garden for the winter, and I'd like to get some Christmas lights up before I have to do it in the snow and freezing temps. They won't be turned on until after Thanksgiving, but they'll be ready to go! The kiddos have Friday of, so I'm thinking of doing some Thanksgiving crafts with them.

Have a lovely day, all!
Blessings,
Kelly

Friday Update

Friday greetings, Friends! Just a short update to let you all know what has been happening up on our hill, and some things to be looking for in upcoming posts!

• Youth hunting weekend starts tomorrow, so Daddy and I will be up bright and early to take the boys out. Prayers for a successful hunt would be greatly appreciated!
• I've been working since Weds. so I'm a little behind on house work, but so glad that I had my dinners planned out. I'm looking to next week's plan and will be posting that as soon as I come up with it!
• I finally got my printer unhooked from my piece of junk very old desk top computer so that the cord is accessible for my laptop.
• Yesterday I subbed for the receptionist, so I was able to bring in my laptop to work on my Holiday Planner sheets. I'm hoping to share these in PDF format, though I'm not very tech savvy, it's questionable!
• We have some chicken drama and trauma. Our poor hen, Fanny, is being very badly abused by her coop mates. There is something about her that the roosters can't resist, so her back is nearly completely bald. Despite repeated sprayings of Blue Kote, she is being terrorized by the other ladies. She stays in the coop for the majority of the time, but is skittish. I just don't know what to do to help her out. Any suggestions?
• We gave away 3 of our 4 roosters about 2 weeks ago. They are currently residing in my mother-in-law's cousin's garden to fatten up for the butcher block. They have quite a setup there, and I'm curious as to whether or not they all make it to the dinner table.
• I've been able to do some research on Thanksgiving traditions, Advent traditions and the Jesse Tree. This is only our third year of celebrating Advent, and would like to add the Jesse Tree to our tradition. The children really enjoy the Advent wreath, and it has truly enriched our holiday season.

Well, that's all for now! I hope to have a post tomorrow, though I can't guarantee it, what with hunting and baking! Have a lovely Friday!
Blessings,
Kelly

Introducing!!!!!

A flock of geese headed south for the colder months.

Happy November !!!!!!! As you may have read before, autumn is my FAVORITE season, but November has to be my favorite month. That love has grown as I became an adult and homeowner. There is no more lawn mowing, weeding, bugs, or gardening to do. Some lawn work to get things hunkered down for winter, but in the crisp, clear air, you can't seem to mind being out and working. You're not sweating or swatting. And Thanksgiving has always been be favorite holiday. Family, food, history and faith all rolled into one beautiful, scrumptious package!

I mentioned in Saturday's post that I had to re-do my dinner menu plan for Thursday, so here is this week's revised menu plan:

MONDAY: Sloppy Joe's and green beans
TUESDAY: Leftovers (mac & cheese, sloppy joe meat filling, chicken)
WEDNESDAY: Breakfast for Dinner- scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles, applesauce
THURSDAY: Individual homemade pizzas, salad, fruit
FRIDAY: Spaghetti, salad, peas, apple sauce
SATURDAY: Pot roast with potatoes & carrots in the crock pot, applesauce, canned mandarin oranges
SUNDAY: Left overs

I'm trying to keep Saturdays as a crock pot day, as I'm on my feet so much with baking, and we have hunting season now, too. Sunday's will start being a designated left-overs day, as I try to keep Sundays easy because of the Sabbath, and I truly need a restful day. I don't like to be legalistic about Sundays, but I like to relish the blessing and gift that it is meant to be, so very little (if any) house work, though I have been known to mow the lawn (riding mower) or putter in the garden.

And now for something I have been working on. I've had the holiday countdowns on my blog page for quite a while now, and as I explained, it's because I like to plan when it comes to the holiday season. So, I am introducing:

DON'T WING IT WEDNESDAYS

Counting today, we have 4 Wednesdays until Thanksgiving, and 7 until Christmas. So, instead of getting frantic about the holidays, lets use this time to plan, plan, plan!!!!!!!! It's been a while since I've posted about planning or planners, but if you've been a long time reader, you know how much I like to plan for the holidays. Last year I put together a Holiday Planner (Read here for an intro. to last year's planner) and found it to be VERY helpful. It organized all of my calendars, planning pages, flyers from school and church, as well as research that I have done on different traditions all in one place. I'll be updating this year's planner, and posting on it as soon as I'm done. I got most of my inspiration from one of my favorite blogs, By Sun and Candlelight. You can also check out Organized Home for more information and inspiration, as well as free printable pages you can use to make your own planner.

So this week's challenge is this:

• Brainstorm!!!!! Think about your usual holiday traditions, what to keep, what to try.
• Start a planner- it doesn't have to be fancy, even if it is just some notebook paper stapled together, keep your brainstorming and info together.
• Are you putting on the Thanksgiving feast? Traveling? Get dates set.
• Looking for crafts to do with the kids or a new recipe to try? Or wonder about why we do some of the things we do? Hop online or get to the library to do some research.

Every Wednesday will be something new to do, and I'll be posting what I'm up to. I have NO IDEA how to link up with other bloggers (If you think you can walk me through it or point me in the right direction, I'd be so grateful!) but you can share by leaving a comment, emailing me at Homespuninpirations@gmail.com or posting on my facebook page.

Have a lovely evening, friends!

Blessings,

Kelly



An October Surprise

It may be hard to tell, dear readers, but that IS snow! I took this pic around 6:45 THIS MORNING!!!!!

And we are expecting more from Saturday night to Sunday morning. There is a winter storm watch for our area with possiblities of power failures, so I will be preparing for that today and tomorrow. I hope to be back today with a baking plan for tomorrow, and I have to make some changes to next week's menu plan. See you soon!
Blessings,
Kelly

What I've Been Up To

Hi Friends! It's been a while since I've been able to write a post, although I have been able to read some of my favorite blogs while taking a break. As you can see from the photos above, I was very productive in the kitchen! My mother and I shared a table at one of the local craft fairs, and I decided to do baked goods this year. In all, I had 4 cakes, 9 dozen cookies, 18 mini loaves and 3 regular to sell. The bad news is I came home with almost everything minus only a couple mini loaves and a dozen cookies. The good news is the freezer is filled with baked goods, and I was able to share, as well.  I may have only made enough to cover the cost of the table, but I now have readily available snacks, goodies to offer unexpected company, and gifts. It was well worth the 2 days of baking!

Last Thursday I had a Four Wind's work shop, where I learned about beavers and muskrats. It's amazing how wonderful and unique each of God's creatures is! The children don't have school on Friday, so I think we might expand on our beaver/muskrat knowledge and make a fun "beaver lodge" out of chocolate "mud" and pretzel sticks. I'm trying to think of some likely places to find either animals (or at least signs of them) to go on for a "field trip".

Speaking of field trips, Saturday afternoon we went to an open house put on by a local Omya quarry. This is an annual event that we have gone to for about 4 or 5 years now. We always enjoy it, and learn something new. The kids, (mostly the boys!) love to see the huge loaders and dump trucks that work in the quarry. After donning a hard hat, you can get on a school bus and go down into the quarry. This year I opted out of this part, as school bus seats and my herniated disc just do not get along! I did get to see a double rainbow though! The kids came back to the van with bags of rocks that they had hacked away at with hammers. Next spring they'll join their brothers and sisters out in the flower garden. (the rocks, not the kids!!)

So that's what I've been doing. I'm hoping to get some more posts this week, as I have to more to share about using oatmeal and getting the home and garden ready for winter. Have a wonderful day!
Blessings,
Kelly

Apple Picking and More!

Family team work!

He doesn't look like it, but Teddy Bear truly enjoyed picking apples.

Good Monday to you, Friends! I hope you all have been well. I was pretty busy last week, so I wasn't able to get any more posts done, but I'm hoping I'll be a bit more on the ball this week! I'm only working 1 day this week, that I know of, so I'm planning on getting lots done around here!

Saturday held the usual baking, although I wasn't able to make everything I had wanted to. I did get 2 batches of zucchini bread and 2 batches of cookies made, though, so that was good. I also made a small batch of applesauce in my 2 quart crock pot, and I did a whole chicken in the large crock for dinner. After dinner I added water to the crock to make stock. I'm not sure if I'll be making more soup for my lunches this week, or if I'll freeze this batch. In the afternoon, my darling hubby and I took Princess and Teddy Bear into town to get some chicken feed and other supplies. Wheels was at a friends for a play date. We rarely get a chance to get to town all together, but as it was raining, it was nice to get out of the house. We even stopped for an ice cream on the way home!

Yesterday after church, we headed to the apple orchard. We had packed our lunches and ate on the way up. The drive to the orchard is beautiful, even on a cloudy day. Some of the trees had really started changing and there are many farms that we pass. We got to see alpacas, goats, sheep and, of course, cows! I asked hubby if he was sure he didn't want any more livestock, and he said no. (I knew he would, but I had to try!) Despite the clouds, it really was a beautiful autumn day.

We picked 1 bushel of Macintosh for "eating" apples, and then picked up a bushel of mac drops for baking and applesauce. We also got a half bushel of both golden delicious and Cortlands. I thought that mixing the varieties would be give baked goods and applesauce more flavor. We made sure to carefully check the drops for gashes, worms and slugs. Some were a bit muddy, but they need to get washed anyway! All in all, we had a perfectly wonderful time at the orchard!

So, today is Monday, and I did my grocery shopping. I've also gotten the groceries put away, the dishwasher unloaded and started to reload dirty dishes, and I have another batch of applesauce going in the 2 quart crock pot. I left the skins on this time, so when it's done and had a chance to cool some, I'm going to put it through the food processor.

Wheels is supposed to have a soccer game tonight, but right now it's pouring! We're going to have homemade mac & cheese with ham, some Italian bread, apple sauce (if it's done!) and corn. I'm still working on planning the rest of the weeks menu, but I know that Italian sausage and pot roast are going to be on there somewhere, as well as one of Wheels' favorite meals, onion chicken. (I'll post the recipe later this week!) The best part of making the onion chicken is that it is one of the VERY few homemade meals that Wheels will eat. And it's absolutely yummy!!!!

Well, that is all for now! Hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, and join me back here soon!
Blessings,
Kelly 

Homemaking Notebook Updates

Happy Monday, Friends! It's sunny and warm here in the Green Mountain state, however, I'm still feeling under the weather. I can't seem to shake this cold, and am feeling pretty yucky at the moment. I bought some orange juice and seltzer for myself for a boost of vitamin C and have a pot of chicken noodle soup on the stove for my lunches this week. I'm hoping these will help!

Not too much to report on in homesteading business, although my sweet hubby did get the chicken run cleaned out. After all of the rain we've had lately, it was pretty nasty, so he mucked it out and added to the compost pile. He also continued to work on getting the wood shed stocked for the winter.

Saturday was my usual baking day, although I really wasn't "in" to it! It took me all of the morning to make half of what I usually do, but the kids and I have muffins and breakfast cookies for the mornings and there are cookies for the lunch boxes. I also discovered a really great crock pot recipe for an apple pork roast. It wasn't quite as flavorful as I would have liked because I had to skimp on the apples and should have used more herbs, but it was still yummy. When I'm making up a recipe, I don't really measure, so these are educated guesses!

Apple Pork Roast with Onions and Herbs

Boneless pork shoulder roast

6-7 apples (a mix would be nice, I used all mac's)

2 onions

chicken stock (I used homemade)

 about 3 tbsp. garlic (I used jarred)

thyme and sage (I only used about 5 sprigs of thyme and 8 sage leaves, so you'll want more than this if you want to really taste the herbs!)

black pepper

Cut apples into quarters and core them. Cut onions into wedges and place in crock pot with apples, herbs and garlic. Place pork roast on top and add stock until it reaches the top of roast. I cooked mine on high from about 8 am to 3, saw that it was pretty done and turned it down to low. I then ladled out a little over 2 cups of the juices and let set so that the fat would rise to the top. I skimmed off 1/4 cup (or 4 table spoons) and added an equal measure of flour in a small sauce pan. Stir with a whisk over medium heat for a minute or 2, then add the juices, stirring continuously until thickened. I served this over egg noodles with the pork. It would also be good over rice or mashed potatoes.

After I took out the left over pork from the crock pot, I hated to see all the juices go to waste, so I let the crock cool and poured it all into a bowl, using my colander to strain out the onions and apples. then I mashed the solids all through the colander and used a mesh sieve to strain the final product into a quart sized canning jar. After all, it was just chicken stock that was even flavored even more by the pork, onions and apple. So that stock went into today's soup pot. It's almost like recycling!

Yesterday afternoon I finally had a chance to sit down at our old computer and get some new daily routine sheets made up for my homemaking journal. (You can read here  for an over view of what my homemaking notebook looks like.) It's been quite a while since I've really used it, and I needed to adjust my daily routines for this school year, and I realized that some days were just not good choices for the work I had originally assigned them for. Here is my list of "Daily Focuses at a Glance":

• Sunday, The Sabbath
• Monday, grocery shopping, meal prep and Barn Hop blog post
• Tuesday, Laundry day and clean the bathroom
• Wednesday, bedrooms and more laundry if needed
• Thursday, entry ways, laundry area, special projects and volunteer work
• Friday, weekly home blessing, big kitchen clean and getting ready for baking
• Saturday, baking, yard/garden work, Preparedness Challenge blog post

 Some days I don't always get to do the full routine for that day because I have to work, there is a child home sick, or something else comes up, but I try to stick to my routine as best I can. And laundry is nearly a daily task, but I like to get most of it done on one day.

Well, that's all for now! Have a great Monday, and hope to see you soon.

Blessings,

Kelly

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Happy Autumn 2011!!

O.k., so this is from last year. But I still love this pic!

Happy first day of Fall! Unfortunately, the weather doesn't really know it's autumn; it's warm and muggy. I'm hoping it cools down to a more seasonal norm for the temperature soon, like perhaps tomorrow, but I don't think that's going to happen!

I'm still feeling a bit yucky, and I have company today. Poor Wheels is snuffling and coughing, so we kept him home from school today with strict orders of rest and plenty of fluids. So far he's done a wonderful job of keeping the couch held down and the t.v. warm! I'm not planning on doing too much, either. I have some paper work that needs attention and I'd like to do some sewing and mending. I think the most ambitious I'll get in regards to house work is to get the kitchen ready for tomorrow's baking. I might have to make a trip to town this evening after dinner, too, but we'll see.

I'm looking into some activities to do with the kids for Johnny Appleseed Day on Monday. We're hoping to go apple picking Sunday after church, but the weather will be the deciding factor. It could rain and the temp looks like it's going to be steamy. We might decide to hold off until the following weekend. This kind of bums me out, but if the kids are under the weather, it might be for the best. (And besides, who wants to pick apples when it's 80 degrees?)

Well, that's all for now. Be sure to stop in tomorrow for a Preparedness Challenge post. I'm thinking of getting together a cold-care kit, so I might be sharing about that. Have a great day!
Blessings,
Kelly

Nesting Boxes, Substituting and Soccer Practice

The new nesting boxes that my father in law built for us.

Attached to the side of the coop. Almost finished!

My planner turned to this week's page, with my apple shaped post-it reminders for the kids' chores and menu planning!

This is the post I thought would never happen! I've tried a few times to get a chance to get it done, but the computer would freeze, or I'd run out of time. It's about quarter after seven, the kids are still showering and need to get to bed, as do I! It's been a crazy day for this Mama, and the week has just begun!

In homesteading news, my father in law got the nesting boxes finished, and my D.H. got them hooked onto the coop with his father's and brother in law's help. The girls are happy, I think, although some are still insisting on squeezing in with Alice, our broody girl! We still have to finish putting on trim, insulating and staining the coop. But we're getting there!

I subbed at the kids' school today, after doing my grocery shopping and some quick chores around the house. I'm truly thankful for my crock pot because Wheels had a soccer game tonight. I bought a whole chicken this morning because they were on sale, got home and threw it in the crock with some onion, garlic, thyme and sage. It was done just in time, and tasted wonderful! There were lots of juices in the crock to make gravy with, and we left the carcass in the crock, so now I'm making stock!

The rest of the week is looking pretty full, with a full day at the school tomorrow, evening soccer practices, a volunteer class in Princess' class and a washing machine that isn't working. That means a trip to the laundromat! I'm wishing I had one of those old ringer washer's right now.

That's all for this evening. I'm hoping to be back Wednesday for another post. Have a lovely evening!
Blessings,
Kelly 

Baking a Week's Worth on Saturday

Eggs and butter warming up on top of the oven.

Quart canning jars with mixes ready to go for Saturday morning.

Welcome back, friends! Saturday means at least two things for this Mama: baking and the weekly Preparedness Challenge link up over at Homestead Revival. The next few weeks will also mean soccer practice for Wheels, so that is what inspired today's post. I know that I have a definite deadline for getting my baking done in the morning because I have to get to town with Wheels, so I've been working on preparing for my baking the day before.

My Saturday baking days prepare me and my family for the coming week because that is when I make the kids' chocolate zuchinni bread and breakfast cookies. The last two Saturdays I have also made a batch of homemade bread dough so that I can make rolls for dinners and breadsticks for the kids' lunch. This week I'm also making snack mix and chocolate chip cookies for the my hubby's and the kids' lunch boxes. (And maybe Mama might sneak some of these treats!)

So, before I even start pulling the canisters out of the cupboards, I like to plan what I am going to be making ahead of time. And I write this down! If I don't, I could forget something. Then I head to the cupboard to start measuring out my dry ingreadients. Last night for my zuchinni bread, I put all of the dry ingredients into a half gallon canning jar, and for the breakfast cookies I put the flour and baking soda, salt, etc. into a quart jar. For my bread dough, I put the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl I used to mix it, stirred it around with a whisk. I then taped a sheet of wax paper (the sheet I had used as a funnel to get the dry ingredients into the jars!) over the bowl. I also measured out the sugars for a batch of cookies into another bowl. Looking back on it now, I could have measured my wet ingredients for the bread dough and put them into a quart jar in the fridge, and measure out the sugars for both cookie doughs, but I was whipped after subbing at the kids' school yesterday.

Breadsticks rising in the microwave on top of my heating pack!

Last Saturday I also thought of an ingenious (if I may say so myself!) way to have a warm place to raise my bread dough. I have used a car parked in a sunny location before to raise my dough. It works very well when it is the afternoon and the sun has heated up the car nicely. However, that isn't the case early in the morning. So, I stood in the kitchen debating about where to put the dough to rise, that was warm and draft free. The microwave is draft-free, but how to keep it warm in there? A light bulb went off: I'll use my large rice bag that I use for a heat (or cold) pack for my back. I'll just set it under the pan, then cover the pan the way I usually do. This worked out really well, and is time and energy conserving.

I've also learned that the best place to soften butter and bring your eggs to room temperature is on top of the stove. (This works on my stove anyway!) As soon as I get into the kitchen, I turn on the oven, then get out the butter and eggs, and put them in my enamel ware dishes, as they conduct the heat the best. (And the different coloroed eggs just look so pretty in the red and white enamel ware!)

Now, in other preparedness news, I've been reading The Woodchuck's Guide to Gardening by Ron Krupp and thumbing through Foraging New England by Tom Seymour. They have both been helpful; however, the Woodchuck's Guide is about more than gardening. It is also about "Foraging for wild plants in the Spring, Planting by the stars in summer, Putting food by in fall and gardening with chilldren all year round." These books belong to my local library, but I'm thinking of investing in the Woodchuck's Guide for my own library.

While taking these books out, I also took out a book about bees and beekeeping. While I'm not nessecarily interested in keeping bees now, it is something that I would like to look into. If I could replace our white sugar use by using honey and maple syrup, that would be great! We already sugar in the spring, which is not only fun, but really satisfying. I love to see all of our canning jars full of the dark amber sweetness! Waffles and pancakes are enjoyed by all in our house, plus with having fresh eggs from the chickens, we have breakfast for dinner once a week. I hate to think how costly it would be if we had to buy maple syrup. It would completely defeat the purpose of having a low budget meal for sure!

Well, that is all for now! If you have a face book account, please be sure to "like" my new Homespun Inspirations page. I plan on sharing news, recipes and tips on the page, especially when I may not have time to write a whole post. I also figured that it might be easier for all of my readers to respond and comment. I really love to get comments and questions from my readers!
Have a lovely weekend, Friends!
Blessings,
Kelly

Getting The Garden Ready for Fall

A new green bean plant poking up in the raised bed.

Our green peppers and green bush beans still growing strong!

Where the cukes, zukes and pumpkins were, and the compost pile in the corner.

Happy Saturday all! I'm joining up with Homestead Revival for the weekly Preparedness Challenge. I was going to write about what I learned from going through Hurricane Irene, however, I'm just not feeling up to it. I'm feeling rather guilty about having come through unscathed while just 3 miles up the road from us my fellow Vermonters are stranded, some having lost their homes. I will share some of the photos that I took from last Sunday, as well as some important things that I learned about emergency preparedness. For today I will be talking (writing!) about getting the garden ready for fall/winter.

I hadn't been out in the garden this past week except to pick a couple of pumpkin and zucchinis. Last Saturday evening my darling hubby and I picked everything we could out of the garden. We had some cukes, zukes, pumpkins and lots of green peppers. That was my last big trip to the garden! So last night I took a good look at the garden and discovered that all but 1 of our "squash" vines had been eaten by grubs. So I harvested what I could and started yanking vines out of their hills. Princess helped by picking up the newspapers that been used for mulch.

We piled all of the weeds, vines and newspapers into one corner of the garden. This is going to be our compost pile for the fall and winter. It was also the night to clean out the coop, so I pulled the wheel barrow up to the coop door and shoveled everything in. I wheeled it up to the garden and shoveled it onto our pile. Then I went over to where our rain buckets are (5 gallon pails that we set under the eaves to catch the rain water!) and filled my watering can a couple of times and watered our pile. I'm truly hoping that we have a good start on our compost so that it will break down over the cold months.
Here are some sites/articles on the basics of composting and how to start:

• Mother Earth News: Compost  an 8 page article, but well worth the time to read!
• Earth Easy: Composting another good read, with a chart for carbon and nitrogen materials
• Earth Easy: Autumn Composting Tips a timely read!

O.k., after reading these, I'm beginning to think I need to re-start my pile! This is one of those times where enthusiasm has trumped knowledge. I just started in without really knowing what I was doing, but luckily, it is easily remedied.

For our fall gardening, I also planted some green bush beans in one of our raised beds that is currently only holding 2 perennial herbs. (For more on my raised beds read here!) I soaked them for about 36 hours before planting them. They've started coming up, so hopefully they will be ready for harvest before it gets too cold. If worse comes to worse, I can always cover them to keep the frost off. (I read this article in Mother Earth News before I planted. (Yes, I have a subscription!) It's on fall gardening.)
I would really like to be able to can some more green beans, but I'm not sure how much more I'm going to get out of my current crop. They currently have blossoms on them, but we have a forecast that includes heavy rain, so we could lose them. Even if I only get 1 harvest off of them, I'd be happy!

It's my plan to clean out the chicken run before we get snow. All of the debris will be added to the compost pile. There will be hay, manure and food bits that the chickens didn't eat. In a way, there is some compost in the run already because they've broken down some grass, hay, wood shavings and fruit/veggie scraps. When I clean out the coop, I usually toss it into the run, where the girls can scratch and break it up for us. And all of our grass clippings go into the run, so the girls can have a snack and it helps keep the smell down. One of Teddy Bear's favorite things to do is to pull the long grass out of Grandma & Grampa's manure pile and feed it to the chickens! I'd also like to let the chickens roam around in the garden after everything has played out. I figure they can help to aerate and fertilize the soil!

While we're on the topic of gardens, I've also began plans for next year's garden. (I can't remember if I shared these or not, but if I have, please forgive me!) We are going to add more raised beds up next to our current garden, and veggies will go in here. Before it gets too late into fall, I plan on moving 2 of my perennial herbs over to the other raised bed, and dedicate their current home to annual herbs and perhaps some lettuce. The "squash" crops will be grown in our fenced in garden plot, with sunflowers in the back. Pole beans will be grown in the front, with the fence for support. In the beds will be our bush beans, peppers, etc. I'm going to save some money in the garden budget for marigolds to plant at the edges to act as insect control. This past spring I tried twice to start them from seed, with no luck. So, this coming spring I'll bite the bullet and just buy a few.



Many Blessings,

Kelly

My Favorite Season!

Hello again! The good Lord has blessed us with another beautiful autumn day here in Vermont. We've been able to enjoy quite a run of them and I'm thankful for the sunshine and blue skies. Fall is my favorite season. I've always loved the back to school rush, the glorious riot of autumn leaves and all of the events that take place. The holidays are fast approaching and baking at our house is in full earnest every Saturday morning!

Last night I made a batch of spiced maple applesauce in the crock pot. My daughter likes to take it for snack at school, and we like to have it with our dinner. This morning the same crock pot is going with Harvest Chicken Soup ( a recipe I made up) for my lunches. I'll let you know how it turns out! I love baking and cooking with natures bounty. Apples, pumpkins, zucchini. I've made breads, muffins, sauces, side dishes and main courses with them! I hope to share some of my favorite recipes in coming posts.

In anticipation of the holidays, I have started a Holiday Planner. I've used ideas from on-line sites and other blogs to make it. I've really enjoyed working on it and feel at peace when I think of the holidays. Of course, I remember that I can plan all I want to, the Lord might have other ideas in store for me!

Today, I encourage you to think about what your favorite thing about this season is and praise God for it! Maybe have a juicy, crisp apple for a snack or light a pumpkin spice candle to enjoy as you go about the day. I'm off to run errands and grocery shop! Come back soon!

Blessings,
Kelly