Winter seems to have arrived in many places. The temperatures continue to drop. In fact, it’s snowing in the northern part of our state, and I have looked out our windows multiple times to make sure it’s not snowing here. I can see our beautiful yellow tree out of the office window. It’s a lovely reminder that autumn is still here.
Scott has been quarantined for the past week, and still has a few more days to go. He is perfectly fine– never got sick– but was exposed at work and had to stay home. We’ve tried to use the time wisely since we don’t get much time together to work on projects.
He helped me finish cleaning up the root cellar so that we can store more food down there. I hope that next year it will be more home-grown food and less grocery store food. Self-sufficiency is the goal! We also pulled up the last of what was growing in the garden. It’s sad to close the garden for the winter. Our garlic has all sprouted and hopefully has a good foundation to make it through the winter. I wish we had planted more!
With the garden “closed”, we are already dreaming of next year. We buy heirloom seeds for our garden each year. The seed catalog from my favorite company is coming next month. I have a homesteading planner that will arrive any day. We have plans to expand our garden next year. It’s all very exciting. The planner will help us not only plan our garden lay out, but also help us to make and stick to a budget.
I feel like I just can’t learn enough. I am seeing why God put this desire in my heart so many years ago. I’ve been watching youtube videos from The Prairie Homestead and The Elliot Homestead, along with a few new channels I’ve discovered. I’ve been reading all of the books I can find, and have several holds on their way to the library. I finally bought this book after checking it out 10+ times from the library.
(Almost) Winter is a strange time. We finished harvesting our garden. Everything has been stored or canned.. or eaten.. It feels like we should be done for the year. But, we aren’t. We have a list of things we need to do prepare for next Spring. Next on the list– I need to mulch our berry bushes. Our chickens need a light on a timer so that they will produce eggs this winter. It’s a race against the clock.
Everyone has been asking if we’ve had eggs yet. The answer is no. Our breeds of chickens start laying eggs between 24 and 48 weeks. They just turned 24 weeks, so it could be any day. It also could be a long time. Since we got them later in the year, I worry we may not get eggs for a long time. The cooler weather and shorter days cause less eggs in established hens. We will see what happens though.
I hope to learn how to crochet will this winter. I know the basics, and can make a square. A square-ish shape. I’ve made a scarf. But, I want to do it well. I’ve seen so many fun projects that I’d love to complete. Winter seems like a great time to learn.
Everyone always dreads winter. I have been working on shifting my mindset over the past few years. Having a rotten attitude won’t change a thing about the weather. I’m going to chose to use the time wisely to learn new things. I’m going to embrace the beauty of the season. I’m going to embrace the coziness of the season. I’m also certainly going to enjoy every last day of autumn.