hey friends! How the heck are you? I’m doing really great! I’m actually writing to you from a hotel room in Hyannis! Today’s our last day on the Cape and then I’ll be heading home and staying put for a very long while. I’m glad I got this chance to escape for a few days to my most favorite happy place (other than the homestead, of course). Anyway, I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve checked in so I wanted to just stop by and discuss winter prep. I saw this article while reading my news app yesterday and it got me to thinking about what I need to do to get ready for winter. So let’s chat about it, m’kay?

The List:

I have a list a mile long of things left undone but I’ll start tackling them when I get back. You know how I like a good list, so here’s a big ol’ list for you!

  1. clean the gutters (I’m pretty sure I can do most of them!)
  2. edge the front flower bed
  3. transplant some bulbs and forsythia
  4. take the meat birds to butcher
  5. clean up the meat bird tractor, run–put shavings, etc. into garden beds
  6. pull all the veg plants from the garden beds, mulch with chicken shavings
  7. clean out egg layer coop, run (use the shavings in the garden beds)
  8. finish chalkboard wall
  9. paint upstairs
  10. clean the windows
  11. clean shower heads (taking inspiration from that article above!)
  12. rearrange, inventory freezers and pantry
  13. make and can applesauce
  14. restock spices
  15. inventory and restock emergency supplies (candles, batteries, etc)
  16. test smoke detectors
  17. wax wood furniture (I make my own natural wax and it works wonders on the wood furniture!)
  18. Clearance out products in shop (see the shop for current sale items!)
  19. Clean and organize gardening tools, items, etc.
  20. clean and organize sun porch

I think that’s a pretty good list! We don’t have a wood burning fireplace, sadly, so there’s no ‘stocking up on wood’. Most of our food has been secured for the winter so I feel good about that. So now it’s full steam ahead with the winter prep projects AND booking more classes! That is going really well. I have a couple of ‘on the homestead’ classes coming up and am thinking I might try to plan another one or two before winter really sets in! I’ve also booked a ton of virtual classes and will continue to do that. Oh! And book group is going really well. I’m working on picking the books for the rest of 2020 so stay tuned for those details! So much fun stuff.

Meat Birds:

I guess I should update you on the meat birds. Sadly we had to cull one when I was away last weekend. Something happened and the other birds started attacking him. I think he must have cut himself on the feeder or the wire of the fence and, if you know chickens, once blood is drawn there’s no going back. But the Mister did the right thing and culled him. He was about 3 pounds dressed. So he’s a little small but he’ll be perfect for just the Mister and me. I’ve increased their protein intake to get them to butchering weight. They go to butcher a week from tomorrow. They haven’t had any free range time this past week since I’ve been gone, but they’ll get as much as I can give them next week and then they’ll be off to freezer camp. I won’t lie. I’m looking forward to having them in the freezer. They’re a lot of work. But I’m happy knowing how they were raised and I liked having them on ‘pasture’ this time around. I did a lot of research and I think if I do this again I’ll do it the same way: raise them outside, on grass, from beginning to end with a lower protein food after the first two weeks. Then give them a higher protein food, plus pasture, towards the end.

And the rest of the story…

Oh! And the new firepit is done! I don’t think I told you all about it. I had this vision of using the stones from the old stone walls to make a big firepit! The Mister asked our intern from last year to help out and boy did they deliver! I drove the tractor for loading the stone and bringing it down the hill but our intern really did all the work. The Mister helped when and where he could. It is so so nice! I’ll take a video of it and share it here soon. I’ve also transplanted some herbs-basil, lemon balm, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and tarragon-for the winter.

And finally…I’ve decided to not work outside of the house (i.e. focus on Chicken Librarian) for the winter. Or at least for the next couple of months. Things have been picking up with the business, and with the homestead, so I want to focus on that for right now. We did an excellent job of saving money and stockpiling (I’ll give you an update on all that soon) and I feel comfortable focusing on the business and homestead as we move into fall, and then into winter. I will continue to work at the library in town when they need me. But I’m happy to be settling into my favorite season-fall-and preparing for winter! Do you have a winter prep list?

’til next time
-k
xoxo