NEW ROOMMATES.
With cold temperatures in the forecast (25 degrees to be exact), we had to spend this past Thursday doing a very extensive relocation project. Remember all those butternut squash we stored in the loft of the barn? Well, those guys don't do so well in during freezing temps...so we had to move them. Indoors.Nearly 300 of them went into the Smith's cabin, under the beds of their children. And the rest (along with an abundance of acorn squash and pumpkins and ginger and sweet potatoes) came into our house.It is kind of lovely to live among your food. To be surrounded by bookshelves and windowsills nearly overflowing with food. This is literally what we will eat this winter - there won't be much else growing once January sets in. I feel comforted by the sight of this produce, crowding our tiny cabin, a visual reminder of food security and the rewards of a bountiful season.- Hannah.
FOUR.
This little Olivia just turned four last week. I kind of can't believe it. When Jesse first interned at Bugtussle, she was just 6 months old! We were happy to join in the celebration, spending a cold afternoon with some chocolate cake, chai tea, and some of our favorite people in this world.Happy birthday, Livi.
PATCHY FROST.
This weekend, after a few teasers, we finally got our first frost. And many plants were effectively toasted. But what a season it has been! We could not have asked for a better year here in Bugtussle to get established. It was never very dry, it was never very hot, it was always sort of wet––albeit occasionally too wet––but it has been a near perfect vintage (if one is allowed to apply that term to vegetable farming) throughout.We don't, of course, expect it to last. We expect drought years and floods, heat waves and sudden, unwelcome cold snaps, but in many ways we felt we were shown some true Southern Hospitality this year. And we're extremely thankful for it.Of course, this doesn't mean the season is over necessarily, just the growing season, the tomato season, the peppers, eggplant and summer crop season. With a frost, in fact, comes a lot of sweetness. Carrots will officially become the sweet, odd little roots we all know and love. Kale will lose its lightly bitter edge and replace it with a touch of sugar. Salad turnips will suddenly go from chubby, spicy vegetables to chubby, spicy apples. If someone were to ask me what my favorite time of year is, it wouldn't be as simple as fall or spring, summer or winter. It's right before the first fall frost, and right after. It's right now, amid the sweetening.- Jesse.
WALKING THE PERIMETER.
Lately, we have sort of been lamenting the fact that Wendell is, in fact, not a good guard dog. During the day, he is basically useless - asleep to the point of comatose - leaving our chickens free for the taking. He is SUPER active at night (as his breed should be), barking and running up and down the road constantly. But even then, he never roams the woods that surround the majority of the house....he just paces the main driveway.Then, just a few days ago, we added a new element to our daily family walk. We started walking the perimeter of the farm, mainly because of the cooler weather and the fall leaves and the realization that we hadn't visited certain parts of the property in months. Wendell was happy to join us. And now? Wendell nightly walks the perimeter. We hear him barking in slow-moving circles all around the farm, deep in the woods. It makes sense - before we showed him the border, he stuck to the driveway where he saw us daily coming and going. He was just protecting what he knew. So I guess we will keep our opinions on his guard-dog abilities to ourselves for a bit, and just keep walking the woods and forming a new path, learning our land and adding a new ritual to these cold, autumn days.- Hannah.
