Where has this year gone? I can hardly believe it is already mid-October. But the crisp mornings and fall colors are reminding me each day. Autumn has always been my favorite season, but this year has a bit of a twist. Normally, the garden has long since been put to bed for the year (except for a couple cool crops), but this year we still have a couple more weeks of Farmers Market left. We had a killing freeze around our area early last week. We did a lot of covering (thanks to my husband for putting down all the row sheeting). We tried to make an economical way to protect the plants, so we can have produce for another week or two. Some things we let succumb to Mother Nature, but the green beans, eggplant, peppers, some squash, lettuce, and kale were still so nice, we wanted to try and keep those going. We were discussing at Market with other vendors how we are ready for the season to be over, but yet with just a little extra effort, we can keep nice produce going for a couple more weeks, which choice do you make? I'm not sure where all the time has gone this year, but as soon as Market is finished the end of this month, we kick off craft season in our area. I have so much I plan to get made in the next few weeks, let's hope I can at least get most of it done.
I have some pumpkins, Indian corn, and corn stalks set aside, hoping to get my fall decor set up this week. I leave mine up pretty much through Thanksgiving then. We have some beautiful colored Indian corn this year, in hues of blues & greens. I wonder if any of this can be popped like the red (strawberry) corn? No one I've asked seems to know. I'll have to do a bit of research, or just try it myself. It was an excellent year for us on Pumpkins & Indian corn, but not so on gourds. Those were planted amongst the sweet corn and just didn't get enough moisture. We get a lot of enjoyment watching families pick out a pumpkin during Market.
The meat chickens are growing well, I'm hoping about 3 more weeks until they are full grown. One of our neighboring small towns apparently is cracking down on their animal ordinances, which meant we inherited a few laying hens this last week. I think it is a shame that some towns don't allow residents to have a few laying hens both for enjoyment and eggs, as long as they are well taken care of and aren't a nuisance. We are always happy to take in 'stray' animals, and to give them a happy home to live out their years.
We have started doing a little winter 'tightening' up, putting covers on the barn windows, getting some equipment cleaned up, stored for winter, hard to believe in a few short weeks we will be talking winter, holiday season, etc.
We hope everyone is able to enjoy the remaining few weeks of fall, get out and soak in some cool crisp air, take a walk and enjoy all the beautiful colors that are free for the viewing. Before we know it, the seasons will be changing again.
