October on the Homestead

Despite the fact that it's October - a time when people in my area are no longer growing vegetables, unless they've planted a fall garden (which is sadly rare) - we are still harvesting crops. Although I failed to get anything but a few carrots planted in late summer, the collards and kale I planted last spring are still producing quite a lot of food. Even my spring-planted zucchini is still giving me squash - though at a slower pace than in summer.

I've harvested only a few carrots because I'm still waiting for a good frost to sweeten them up. That goes for the parsnips (which I typically leave in the ground until just ready to use ) and Jerusalem artichokes, too. I did harvest my first batch of ground nuts, but I haven't yet used them because I've just been too busy for experimentation in the kitchen.

Ground nuts.

The main veggie bed, covered with leaves.

 We plucked our first butternut squash out of the garden...Amazingly delicious! All the butternuts are ripe enough to eat now, but I'm waiting for the skins to harden so I can store them long term in a cool location. To test for this, I press my thumbnail into the skin of the squash. If it doesn't leave a mark, the squash is ready. However, the vines may die back before this happens; no worries. We love butternut squash and could probably eat it all within a short amount of time. Otherwise, I can freeze it.

Most of my green tomatoes have already ripened. This year, I had little room to ripen them in my pantry, so I just set them in boxes (single layer) in the kitchen. They are ripening very quickly this way and I'm freezing most of them as they do. The tomato crop was great this year, giving me far more tomatoes than I hoped for, so I think I will try canning some homemade catsup soon.

I'm also doing some light spring prep in the garden. One of my beds has become so overrun with buttercups (an impossible to pull up weed) that I mowed back the weeds and covered the area with cardboard held in place with a few bricks or stones. This should kill off most of the weeds while also making the soil looser and more full of worms and microorganisms next year.

In addition, fall leaves are everywhere, and I'm making good use of them. When they fall in the garden, I leave them be. They will rot and add nutrients to the soil. If they are very thick, I have my husband shred them and we put them in the compost. (For more ideas for using fall leaves in the garden, click here.)

We're getting 5 - 6 eggs per day. This is the morning batch.

Our chickens are still laying quite well. They haven't yet molted and show no signs of slowing down. Australorps, some say, lay better during the cold months than many other breeds of chicken. We'll see.

We thought we were going to loose one of our hens this month. She was quiet, always sitting in some corner far off from the rest of the flock, and not doing much. In the beginning, her symptoms were so subtle, we weren't positive she was sick - and by the time we decided she definitely was, we saw no reason to separate her from the rest of the flock. If she had something contagious, she surely had already given it to the rest of the hens. So we just watched the flock closely.

Then suddenly, our sick hen perked up and was back to normal. It's a reminder than even hens sometimes feel under the weather without being seriously ill.

Kennedy loves maple leaves!

Our rabbit is all set for the colder weather, too. His hutch is already in a sheltered location, but while rabbits have thick fur, in the wild, they get much of their winter warmth from snuggling with other rabbits deep in a rabbit hole. If it gets much colder, we'll line three sides of his cage with cardboard for extra warmth. He has a little house in his hutch, too, which we've lined with hay. As a side note, did you know rabbits purr? I sure didn't. When we pet him, he doesn't make any noise, but you can feel his throat vibrating.

2013 Produce Totals 

(All but the squash and tomatoes were/are from a 12 x 14 ft. garden plot; the squash and tomatoes were in an area measuring 33 x 3 ft.)

Eggs 751

Chicken meat 20 ½ lbs.

Apples 13 1/4  lbs.

Basil 3/4 lb.

Beets 1 lb.

Blackberries 3 lbs.

Blueberries 7 1/2 lb.

Buttercup squash 2 1/2 lbs.

Butternut squash 3 ½ lbs.

Cabbage 6 lb.

Calendula 8 lb.

Carrots 1 3/4 lb.

Chives 6 1/2 lbs.

Cilantro 1 1/8 lb.

Collards 13 3/4 lbs.

Dandelion flowers ½ lb.

Dandelion greens 35 lb.

Dandelion Root 2 1/8 lb.

Garlic: ½ lb. scapes + 1 lb. heads

Green onions 1 lb.

Ground nuts 1 lb.

Kale 17 lbs.

Kohlrabi 1 lb.

Kiwi 1 lb.

Leeks 5 lbs.

Lettuce 11 lb.

Mint 3/4 lb.

Oregano 1 1/2 lb.

Pattypan squash 44  lbs.

Parsnips 1 lb.

Passion vine 1 lb.

Peas 5 1/2 lbs.

Potatoes 11 1/4 lbs.

Radishes 8 lb.

Rosemary 1/2 lb.

Sage 1 1/2 lb.

Spinach 1 1/4 lb.

Squash blossoms 3 1/2 lbs.

Sunchokes 40 lbs.

Strawberry 3 1/2 lbs.

Tomato 38 3/4  lbs. + 28.25 lbs. green

Wild onion 2 lb.

Wonderberries 1 lb.

Zucchini 60 1/2 lbs.