Fall Happenings on the Homestead

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  This year it seems that it has arrived a little sooner than usual, or maybe it was that we were extremely busy this summer and the days have just flown by.  The weather still may be warmer here, but the leaves are changing and the days are getting shorter.

The kids and I started in on our 14th year of homeschooling (for me that is!).  I currently have my preciouspeas's in 8th, 6th, 4th and 2nd grade.  The General Manager and I graduated our third child in June.  We couldn't be prouder of Anne!  She is going to glorify God with her life, I just know it.

We planted another big garden this year, so now is the time to harvest.  This morning we were studying about "diligence" and we read Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, you sluggard (lazy person), Learn from their ways and be wise."  Harvesting is hard work, but whoever said that homesteading was easy?  Zucchini was dehydrating in my dehydrator until it overheated.  I have resorted to canning it to save for chicken feed during the winter months as my freezer is too full to store it there.

Some of our pumpkins are ready for harvest and they will be adorning our farm stand for sale soon.  They make for the best pumpkin pies.

Soaps are curing for upcoming holiday sales.  Who needs candles, just have an assortment of soap curing in your house and your home will smell heavenly.  Be sure to check out my etsy shop www.oneblessedacre.etsy.com.  If you happen to be local you can also find my soaps and lotions at the Golden Gait Mercantile in Ferndale.    I have some really great scents for the holidays coming out next month: Vermont Maple Syrup, Spiced Cranberry, Peppermint Stick, Cinnamon Sugar (now a soap to go with the lotion) and Victorian Christmas.  The biggest news is that I changed the name of my shop from Preciouspeas to One Blessed Acre.  I had a friend redesign my labels and she felt that it was a more "grown up" name and much more professional.  But, no worries, my blog will still remain "Preciouspeas."

I brought back goats to our farm.  After injuring my foot last year, I was disheartened when I had to sell our two Nubian does.  They were part of the family and the beginnings of our farm.  This summer I purchased a 2 year old Nubian already in milk and a 2 month old Nigerian Dwarf buckling.  They have been officially named Luna and Doug.  The kids are totally enamored with Doug and love coming out to snuggle with him while Luna is being milked.  I am looking forward to seeing the babies that are produced from these two.  Both are papered with the American Dairy Goat Association which will help in finding homes for the babies that we can't keep.

Happy Fall!