Season Endings

I thought about many topics in which to write about this week and most of them I'll get to eventually with this blog, but one came to the fore front of my mind when an Autumn storm blew in. It is the end of the growing season.

I left work last night around 11 pm and stepped outside to a chill wind, not something I yet expected, nor was really prepared for. I had a fleece jacket in the car and wore a long sleeve t-shirt dispite not having needed it earlier in the day when I arrived to work. Perhaps deep down I knew what to expect, but I truly want to hang onto the Warm weather as long as I can, and it may yet still get warm once or twice before the Winter chill really hits. Spring and Summer are my favorite seasons and I am sad to see them go. It is now time to batten down the hatches, so to speak and prepare for another long winter.

Other signs of the approach of the cooler weather are around my family's farm, the surrounding area, and my home.

Hay is cut and either baled or bagged up to four times through out the summer. The last cutting happened about four weeks ago. Once the last cut is baled, then the manure pile that has been growing throughout the spring and summer from the Cattle yard cleaning is spread throughout the fields (our version of fertilizer) in preparation for Spring planting for the next year. The huge bag of hay cutting sits next to the yard, the bales are put up into the hay loft for square bales or hay barn for the round ones so the cattle have food throughout the winter.

Once the hay is in, it's time for the Field Corn. Most of the rows are chopped and bagged for corn silage, which then ferments and has a very distinct smell. The cattle eat a lot of this during the winter. The last few rows will be done when the weather breaks, hopefully this weekend. A few corn acres will also be picked in mid-november. The shucked ears will go in the corn crib for grinding if necessary. Us kids fill buckets with it and give it to the donkeys, chickens, and cows for treats. Once the corn is picked, the stalks are then baled and used as bedding for the donkeys, who live in the barn over the winter.

What I love most about this is that it is a cycle. The manure is used as fertilizer grows the food that the cattle will eat which starts the process all over again.

We picked the remaining Sweet corn the other week and froze about ten bags of it. Green beans were done about three weeks ago with small and large jars stacked in the cupboards. The tomatos and peppers are in now and we have already canned a dozen jars of spaghetti sauce. With the remaining tomatos, we hope to make some pizza sauce. The pumpkins still have a couple of weeks to go, white pumpkins. I could not find any butternuts, which are my favorites, so I'll have to buy those, but I see the local markets have stacks and stacks of them, so they won't be expensive. My herbs and spring onions are gone and used, the last of the flat parsley went into the spaghetti sauce. There are few white onions left, but they won't last long.

Once the first snow, the two Donkey's will be moved inside the barn, as well as the Cats and the chicken house will be closed up and insulated. They don't lay as much in the Winter, but they weather it well provided care is taken. The Jenny Donkey is pregnant and due in early Spring. The calves will be weaned sometime in October, and then sold in November. The mom's are already pregnant with new calves due in April and they will have thick Winter coats to help them weather the cold.

The farmlands around us are much the same with corn, hay, and soybeans coming in and being harvested. The woodlands I drive through on my way to work were green last week and this week are yellow, the splashes of orange and red. Within two weeks, there will be no green left and soon the leaves will be falling leaving the trees skeletal to wait for the first of the fallen snow to coat the branches.

Finally, in our tiny little apartment, the windows are being sealed and locked, the fans that keep us cool on the milder nights when the air conditioning would be too much are being put away. Warm winter pyjama, jeans, long sleeved shirts are now taking the place of billowy skirts, tank tops, and shorts. The little one has a new snow suit, gloves, and hat. New snow boots are not far off. Our warm winter gear, stowed away at the end of last season is now making it's way out. And then there is our gas bill, a easy $10 a month throughout the summer, is now looking to triple with the use of the heat, but the electricity will go down to compensate as we will no longer be using the air conditioner.

Personally, I am busy saving my pennies. I want to buy materials before Winter really sets in to make some projects to sell at next Autumn's local market. I find the Winter a perfect time to curl up with a good movie and a craft project.

I am NOT looking forward to the treacherous commute to and from work on icy highways, and scraping the ice off my car at 9 at night before work, and bundling my poor child off to babysitters when she'd rather be curled up in bed sleeping. They are the number one reasons I dislike the cold so much much.

But the warmth of my house and the memories of spring through the food I'll consume this Winter will keep my thoughts focused on the Upcoming warm seasons again. And I'll be making a post again when the seasons change again from cool to warm.