Sharing the Simple Gifts of Faith, Family and Farm

Windy Night

There is a clear feel that winter is on its way. The leaves have begun to wind their way from tree to forest floor. The grass is slowing its growth, and the animals seem particularly diligent in getting items set aside for winter.

Our part of Tennessee is immune to many of the hard winter concerns that other homesteads might have. While we will get cold, usually our cold sticks around for a week, maybe two and moves on. Likewise snow or ice. Our difficulty in both snow and ice is simply the hills and ability to clean out in a short time.

Tonight just felt like a soup kind of night when I left work. A hearty stew to take the chill away, and to stick to the ribs.

We tried to prepare for the upcoming winter season this weekend by taking down a couple of troublesome trees that were near the barn, by taking down fence that we should have not put up (at least until we had cleaned the woodline to remove shadows in the late day), by cleaning up the gardens to put out a cover crop, and by tightening up the chicken coop.

Part of me was very critical of the idea of bush hogging the garden. Seems like a decent farmer keeps the grass at bay, so at the end of the season, you don’t have to cut the jungle back. In the end, I reconciled that the garden provided what we needed, and was there for utility, and not just for looks. Bush hogging is ok.

The winds continue to switch direction and the back door shivers from the blowing north wind. Should be a great night for a book and sleep.

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