October on the farm has been about wrapping up the garden and milking seasons. Things have started settling down and winter prep is the main focus now.

October on the Farm – gardens

I received a mini greenhouse for free at the beginning of October. It is not amazing, but it is our first greenhouse – so, I was excited! My husband put it together and we moved some of our tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and stevia plants into it. They have been thriving in there!

We pulled all the cornstalks from the big garden, squash plants from our front garden, and tomato plants from the pots. We fed them to the pigs and chickens.

We cleaned up the front porch by moving the potted plants to line the big garden fence (we plan to keep them there next growing season, in hopes that they will get more sun). We tidied up the front yard (our Abigail Rose Garden and the food garden) and kitchen garden areas by mowing the grass, weed whacking, trimming some of the raspberry rows, and putting sawdust on everything (blueberries, raspberries, raised boxes of garlic, rhubarb, strawberries, etc.).

We harvested one row of sweet potatoes. We still have a few rows of sweet potatoes and one row of carrots left to harvest in the big, fenced garden area.

We picked the last of our peppers and eggplant, except what may be growing in the greenhouse. Mostly, we are DONE harvesting!

Preparing for Winter

We got a tractor! Well, we are borrowing a tractor for a while. My husband’s friend had a tractor just “sitting around” so he brought it to our place to use – until he decides what to do with it. 🙂 I am sure it will come in handy!

Besides tidying up the gardens, putting down mulch, and cleaning the front porch we didn’t do much else to prepare for winter during October – except some extra baking with my children since the weather turned colder. We are doing more now (in November) to prepare for winter (I will share about that in the next farm update).

Dairy Goats Update

I ended October by milking the two dairy goats in the morning only for one week and then quitting altogether. They were acting ornery whenever I milked them (their old habits of stomping and sidestepping were in full force) and they wanted to get to the buck who was “screaming” at them from the woods. We let them join the buck in our wooded area by November 1st, so, we expect kid goats as early as April 1st.

I put my milk kefir grains in the freezer (covered with fresh milk). I also put a container of yogurt in the freezer. I am hoping to revive them both next milking season.

Meat Animals

After moving the goats from the “milk barn” to the woods, my husband and boys enclosed the milk barn with chicken wire and transferred the pigs and most of the hens from the woods there for the winter. This will give them better shelter during the cold months and allow us to grow the pigs out more efficiently before harvesting them.

We also hope the enclosed shelter will encourage the chickens to continue laying eggs – at least, to some degree. We have several roosters left in the woods that need to be culled, along with the pigs, this autumn/winter.