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This is our Homestead Hangout for October. It’s part of a series where we update you on all of the highlights that have happened in the last month on our own homestead. A lot of our content is “how-to” stuff while this gives you a glimpse into our world. We try to keep it real, sharing what’s going well and not so well on the homestead.

Below are the show notes with links to additional content mentioned in the video.

Grow and Tend

Here in garden zone 8b we typically get our first frost in October. This is our third fall on the homestead and so far the first frost usually comes in later October. However early in the month the temperatures got very low at night and with storm warnings coming in, we went ahead and deployed our winter gardening set-up of hoops and agricultural cloth. This system worked very well for us last winter. There were harvest times when icicles hung on the outside of the covers while inside the greens remained juicy and tender. If you are curious to learn more about how we keep growing food year ‘round without a greenhouse, check out our video and article about Growing in the Off Season.

Since spring we’ve been dealing with potentially poisoned compost and mulch. We’ve been experimenting with a solutions, including sourcing fresh compost. We learned that if compost is heated high enough, pathogens and herbicides are broken down. Fortunately we found a local company that produces a compost primarily from municipal vegetable sources and heats it really high. Last month we had 5 yards of compost delivered and added it to our stock tank raised bed garden.

In October we started to see some positive results from our soil remediation efforts. Though at first we weren’t sure what to make of them. One day Julie went out to check on the seedlings and found many small mushrooms popping up in a few beds. That same day she corresponded via social media with Charles Dowding, a well respected gardener in the UK known for his focus on soil health. He said that the mushrooms are a good sign that the soil ecosystem is being restored.

We had lots more compost than we needed for the vegetable garden, so we hustled to get as much moved onto other beds-in-progress as possible before the storms hit.

An exciting new addition to our garden this month is garlic! We’ve never planted it before but we hear it’s easy and low maintenance. There are two common types - soft neck and hard neck. The soft neck varieties have smaller cloves but longer storage capacity. This is the kind you usually see in braids or wreaths. Hard neck varieties have larger cloves but don’t store quite as long. We planted both kinds in our container garden in October. They may grow a bit this fall, but then we expect them to go dormant before continuing to grow in the spring for a June harvest. Stay tuned to see what happens with this crop!

Outdoors and Wildlife

As is expected in the fall, wildlife activity slowed down quite a bit on the homestead. We did see a lot of activity in the sky as migratory birds continued to make their way south. On a visit to town we caught a quick clip of thousands of snow geese overhead. These birds spend the winter in the farm fields around us.

Just in time for Halloween we had our usual display of spiders. It seems like there are more spiders this time of year but there really aren’t; they’ve just grown to a size where their bodies and webs are very noticeable. The most common spider around our homestead is the European cross spider, a species of orb weaver.

Spiders were not the largest predators that were spotted on the homestead in October. Our black bear neighbor visited the homestead at least a few times. We know because both of our trail cameras - one by the house and one in the woods - captured footage of him. In addition, he left his calling card, a giant pile of poop, right on top of our septic mound. This was just another reminder that you don’t really need high tech gear to observe wildlife. Tracks and signs have been used to learn about animals since time immemorial. We highly recommend adding them to your homesteading skillset.

As the fall breeding season went into full swing for deer, we saw lots of these neighbors on and off the homestead. On one trip to town, Julie helped a group who had become confused when one of their yearlings got stuck in a fenced pasture next to the road. We felt good about helping the avoid the fate of another local deer who wasn’t so lucky. On another day we found a dead deer on the road. Someone had hit her and left her on the road, where one of her living herd mates was milling about. To avoid even more roadkill, Julie dragged the dead doe off the road to keep everyone safe.

Back on the homestead we saw many of the usual suspects, including rabbits, opossums, and coyotes.

During the course of the breeding season our trail cameras picked up lots of interest in our cat fur nest material station. You may recall fun footage from previous Homestead Hangouts where birds, raccoons, and even flying squirrels visited the station. This month we noticed that all of the fur is gone. So we brought the cage inside. We continue to collect cat fur at each brushing session. Next spring we will put out a fresh offering.

Very soon the leaves along our forest trail will fall, changing the landscape. This will be the first complete winter we’ve had trail cameras deployed and we are curious to see how our wild neighbors’ behavior changes. We’ll keep you posted in future updates.

Sew and Craft

As the rainy season settles in on our homestead, we begin to turning toward indoor projects. This is the time when most of our sewing and crafting happens. Julie took stock of her fabric cupboard and placed an order with Big Duck Canvas, one of our favorite suppliers, for American made fabric to be used in some exciting new waxed canvas projects.

Home and Construction

You may recall from our July Homestead Hangout that we learned there was significant damage to our siding. We had originally thought we would need to replace just a few boards and repaint the whole house. But further investigation showed that we need a full residing. That project is expected to start any day now. While the cost is heartbreaking for our budget and fun projects like a greenhouse, we know it’s the right thing to do. We are trying to look at the bright side and see this as an opportunity to get a big step in our farmhouse makeover.

We will be replacing the 1990s carriage lights with barn lights. These are reminiscent of the historic barns in the Snoqualmie Valley where we live. They are black metal with white enamel on the inside of the shades. Three will be installed on the ceiling of our covered front porch and two gooseneck versions will be installed on the garage.

Food and Drink

We love incorporating natural, nutritious and immune-boosting recipes into our lives. Each fall we make up a big batch of Fire Cider to fit this need. We are not doctors and do not dispense with medical advice, but on our homestead we love the spicy kick of Fire Cider and consider it to be “food as medicine.” Fire Cider is an age-old tonic made famous by the renowned herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar. There are lots of different versions, all of which are based on apple cider vinegar infused with combination of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

We make a big batch and then use it throughout the winter in all sorts of ways. It’s tasty in sparkling water, marinade, salad dressing, or just as a straight shot.

If you are interested in learning more about Fire Cider, please visit our friends at Mountain Rose Herbs. You can find videos, recipes, and booklets. They even sell pre-made Fire Cider if you don’t feel like going to all the work yourself.

Planning and Mindset

Julie published an article titled, “Digging Down to Our Roots: The History of Homesteading.” She spent months researching the article and following all sorts of related rabbit holes. In the end she synthesized about 200 years of history into an engaging article full of fun facts, historic photos, and further reading suggestions.