Fall on the Farm

The calendar will be turning to October this week already. It seems like time is slipping thru my hands like sand in an hourglass. September was a crazy, busy month filled with harvest, farm chores, road trips, drs appointments and excitement for things to come. And I know October will be no different. We have so many exciting things coming up in October (my 2nd favourite month of the year!) Beginning with this week when we take a road trip of a lifetime. Its been in the works since the middle of Summer and it is something I am doing for myself and I am so grateful that my little family is coming along for the ride. If you follow me on Instagram, you will be able to follow along as we go!!

This morning I woke up to sunshine and a light breeze, so headed out to mow my lawn for what may be one of the last times this year. I couldn't help but wish I had brought mittens for myself as my hands were freezing!! The weather has changed drastically this weekend. We have had Summer like temps these last couple of weeks, which has allowed us to finally finish harvest (yay!) but now the rains are on the horizon and Fall is officially settling in

I use a zero turn mower to cut my 1 acre yard and it gives me exactly 45 mins to zone out and think about anything and everything. Usually my To Do list comes to mind but today, I dreamt about everything I wanted to achieve this Fall/Winter. I thought about filling my home up with the scents of spice as I create gooey, delicious treats from the farmhouse kitchen and dreamt about having a wood burning fireplace in our living room and the sound of the wood crackling as we snuggled underneath our homemade afghans and told stories of our days..

and then I thought about dressing up Hudson in the cutest plaid shirt and taking him outside while I rake leaves only to have him sit and play with them and shriek as he enjoys the sounds of the crunching underneath him..

which of course then led me to get excited about his very first halloween and dressing him up in his cute little costume. Or going out to the pumpkin patch and picking pumpkins as a family while sipping warm apple cider to keep our bodies going as the air gets crisp..

I have loved fall for as long as I can possibly remember but this year? This year just feels so much more exciting. I took Hudson outside the other week and sat him on the grass next to a fallen leaf and watched him as he picked it up, examined it, smiled and giggled (then proceeded to eat it, of course)

showing your baby all his firsts in the world is such a privilege. How on earth did we get so lucky?

yes Fall has come to the farm again and I couldn't be more excited. I grab my camera daily and walk around to capture everything I can to sum up how I see the beauty around me. heck today I was basking in the smell of autumn and trying to figure out how to describe it. Musky? Earthy? well, if you love the outdoors as much as I do, then you know what I am talking out. That smell of autumn should be bottled and kept forever..if only I could

this October I plan to:

- make caramel apples

- research apple varieties to grow in our climate and find a reliable nursery to order from for next    Spring

- celebrate thanksgiving with my family (so much to be thankful for)

- finish pulling the flower beds, pulling bulbs to save for next year

- make a list of flower seeds to order this Winter

- plant Fall garlic and Spring bulbs

- go on a roadtrip with my family

- take my family to a pumpkin patch and corn maze

- book our winter trip to Hawaii

- take Halloween photos for clients

- dress Hudson up for his very first halloween and do a little photoshoot

- carve pumpkins

- bake...a lot!

- celebrate my farmers' birthday

- celebrate halloween

you guys..I am so so SO excited for October. Lets keep our fingers crossed for warm, golden afternoons, cool, crisp evenings, lots of pumpkin flavoured goodies and warm and cozy evenings snuggled under blankets with loved ones

Happy Sunday everyone!

Garden Cleanup

This past weekend I took to cleaning up my vegetable garden as well as cut down most annuals that I had lost in last weeks frost. The weekend weather was absolutely gorgeous..yet another reason why I love Fall the way I do. Its warm but not overly so and the light..oh the gorgeous Autumn light..I could hope for Fall all year long except I think I'd rather miss the anticipation of it more so ;)

Normally I feel sadness when pulling out all my vegetables but, as you know, this year was definitely not normal. Slow growing, poor soil and mosquitoes..oh the friggin mosquitoes!! How they haven't died yet with the frosts is beyond me but this week they are absolutely terrible! Bring on the frost again Mother Nature..those bugs have got to go! Anyways, I put my music on, wore my wellies and got to work! Pulling, cutting and tossing into the compost pile (I started composting this year, did I tell you that? I feel like an all star now..haha) and all I could feel was excitement. Excitement for my plans for this space. Excitement for the chicken coop that will be built in here this Winter to share the space with my vegetables (just typing that makes me excited. Nerdy, I know..but hey..I love it!) I could visualize while I pulled out the rows where my beds would be next year, what I would plant and how it would look in 5 years when I really get this place roaring ;)

Still, I do not regret planting my garden this year (why would I?) Of course, I did it for the wrong intentions (who says I can't do it all? Why can't I be a new mom with a baby and take on a brand new 1 acre yard along with a 3,000 sq ft garden that has never grown a thing before?) But, it kept me on my toes, I learned its soil, I learned about its light and how things will grow in there, I learned about the weeds and how to control them, I sometimes just stood in there to get away from everything else going on, even for just 5 minutes and, let me tell you, it was all worth it. Growing your own food is always a good idea. Sure, you don't need a huge garden like I have..just some dirt and a pot and you will never, ever regret planting a seed.

One thing that made me laugh this year were my pumpkins. Normally by September my vines are full of yellow/orange globes of goodness..the good 'ol jack o lanterns for our carving fun in October. But this year? I don't even know what happened..they just kind of..snailed along! 2 weeks ago my vines were still covered in blooms!! I knew I wouldn't get a single decent pumpkin out of my patch this year..as a matter of fact, this is the largest pumpkin I grew in 2014

Its so small and cute..makes me smile

All in all, I am glad the work is done now for another year. We still have lots to do in there this Fall with soil prep for next Spring (we want to level the ground, bring in new soil, possibly create raised beds and of course, prep the area where the chicken coop will be going in the West of the garden)

Not all was lost though, I grew plenty of beans, carrots, potatoes, onions and corn to supply us with numerous meals this coming Winter..

and I even grew a zucchini! You know you have poor soil when you grow just one of these guys

and I left most of my sunflowers for now because their cheery yellow faces just feel even more so in Autumn. Plus, I wanted to give these little guys as much pollen as they could get while the weather is still warm

Happy Wednesday everyone! Hope you are having a great week so far!!