October!

 

 

 

October is finally here!!!!

 

My favorite month, in my favorite season.

I have had a great start to the month, and I hope that you have too!

I haven't had much time this year to work on any new farming skills, and I wasn't able to garden this year, but I have big plans for next year, and I still planning on widening my knowledge and being as self-sufficient as possible this Fall and Winter, starting with the harvest.

So as a start to my October, the twins and I went apple picking.

 

 

We ended up picking 105 lbs of apples, although 30 of those went to the restaurant, and 10 or so I gave to my mom, so I have about 60 lbs left to use for sauces, and rings, and pie filling.

Now I just have to figure out how to make room for all of the canned goods I will be making.

 

I also was able to spend some time on my boss' farm, learning to drive a tractor, and playing with chickens, and I finally was able to break in my boots.

 

Me holding "Freaky Eye"

 

Be on the lookout for more posts on this blog, and if you are in the mood for a good cup of cocoa, check out my French Style Hot Chocolate recipe on my Bel Sogno blog.

 



Kiwi Picking

 

 So I haven't posted in a while... I had been recovering after getting out of a toxic relationship, becoming better acquainted with myself again, and as a result, my schedule became busier and I always seemed to think of a topic to write for a blog post when I was out and about, away from a computer. Anyways, after half a year, everything finally seems to be falling back into place, and I am so much happier, and just more content with myself and my life, than I have been in a long time.

 

 

 So back to homesteading/homemaking/things-I-created-this-blog-to-write-about.....

 

My friend, Ellen, and I decided to spend a morning a couple weeks ago picking kiwis at a local u-pick kiwi farm. They grow two different types of kiwi there, Hayward (the fuzzy ones) and kiwi berries, or hardy kiwis. I had never eaten hardy kiwis before, but they are just delicious as the bigger ones, about the size of a large grape, and fuzz-less, so you can pop them in your mouth whole. I read somewhere that hardy kiwis are not techniquely kiwis, but I am unsure of the details there.

 

 

Hardy kiwis

Hayward kiwis



After picking a couple buckets worth of kiwis, we headed to a farm stand for some more local fruit (and honey), and then spent a couple of hours making our way through an antique mall.

 

Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves.

 

 




 

Hardy kiwi freezer jam

 I was sure that I had overcommitted kiwi-wise, but after Ellen removed her share of them and I started mashing the hardy kiwis up for freezer jam, I realized that I probably could have gotten a few more, because three jars of jam isn't going to last very

 long...

 

Kiwis ready for ripening

 

 The Hayward kiwis were hard as rocks when we picked them... and two weeks later they still were. Luckily, on the back of the farm's business card there were directions on how to ripen them, so they are now sitting in a brown paper bag with an apple for a few days.



 

 

 

Blossoms

 

I just love all of the blossoms in spring, don't you?

Just Around the Corner...

 

Although only mid February, there definitely seems to be a noticable change in the air. Tulips and daffodils are sprouting up everywhere, the weather is getting warmer, the sun has been peeking out more often, the frogs in the field are croaking at night... I'd say it's starting to feel a lot like Spring! This change in the weather is really getting me in the mood to start planting, and I've been trying to look through my seed catalogues to decide what to plant this year.

There's a problem though....there are too many choices to choose from!!!!

I never had any idea there could be so many varieties of beans or other vegetables, and it's making it extremely hard to really decide on anything! I know I want beans for both eating fresh and drying, and definitely some greens and tomatoes, and that I'll have to get seeds that do wel in containers or in small spaces, as I won't have much room to work with, but I am having the hardest time deciding what I want. Of course, I'm sure part of it is my own fault, as I did order several different seed catologues, which makes it that much harder, as each one makes it that much harder, and now I have to deal with the consequences. Oh darn. ;)

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to figure it out, and in the mean time, at least I've got some interesting reading to keep me busy. Do any of you have the same problem this time of year? If so, how do you narrow down your choices?

New Year "Resolutions"

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

Now, I realize that this is a couple days late, but I wanted to publish a post with New Years resolutions, and decided to think things over a few days. I don't often make resolutions at the beginning of each new year, but I've decided to start doing it, so that I have something specific to work on for the year and have a specific amount of time to complete goals in. New Years resolutions always seem to center around things like losing weight or getting rid of debt, and while I do have goals like this, they are on going and I'm not going to make resolutions like that. Sure, this year I definitely want to make sure that I stay healthy and definitely get rid of any debt I have (and more importantly not incur more), but these won't be my resolutions for the new year, they're ongoing.

 

Nope. This year, I am making goals that include skills to become more self-sufficient, knowledgable, and just to improve my overall quality of life. Some of them may seem small compared to others, but I find them all equally important, and I'm sure I'll end up adding more as I think of them, but here's a starting list:

 

Improve my sewing, knitting, and crocheting skills

Learn to use power tools (besides just a drill)

 

Expand my vegan cooking abilities

 

WRITE MORE

Learn to can

Expand my gardening knowledge

Build or buy a dehydrator

Grow and preserve as much of our food needs as possible for the year, and especially next winter

Shop local as much as possible

...and that's it so far...

Do any of you have resolutions for the new year that you'd like to share?
 

They're Ba-ack

Every summer I end up getting just about eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm not sure why, but they've always seemed to prefer me to anyone else I may be around. My mom always used to tease me, saying that it was because I had "sweet blood". I highly doubt that, but they're obviously attracted to something about me. So far, it's not even June and the tally reads Mosquitoes-3, Hannah-0. I have a feeling this is going to be a long, and itchy, summer.

Bring it on bugs, I can take you.