Pumpkin, Garlic, Chicken
Not a Soup Recipe, But an Exciting Announcement!
October was marked by harvest festivals, a good harvest, and an annual Fox Hollow Halloween party in the theme of Over the Garden Wall. At one of the earlier harvest festivals, a local native plant nursery had a booth selling heaps of native trees and shrubs, of which we added a few paw paws and wild hydrangeas to our collection. The Halloween party was a blast, bringing together old and new friends, neighbors, and family to celebrate the season with food, an outdoor projector viewing of the classic autumn show, Over the Garden Wall, a talent show, and overall merriment.
October was unusually warm and extremely dry. So warm and dry, in fact, that our county was under a burn ban for several weeks. Leaves on oaks and hickories remained green with life even through mid October. Finally, in early November, they turned to vibrant hues of yellow, orange, red, and brown, and began to fall. It is now mid-November as I am writing this, and cold weather has finally started to settle in, well past our expected first frost date of November fifth. Warm autumn temperatures prompted new blooms in the pumpkin patch and among the zinnias and nasturtiums. Even our tomato and okra plants had fresh blooms up until the last few days.
Chickens & Deep Litter
Soon, I will dig up the sweet potatoes, whose saga you may have been following since I started slips in spring. In the meantime, we have prepared our garden beds for winter, utilizing all of the rich compost from our chickens and our compost pile. Since we use a deep litter method, we only clean our chicken coop about twice a year, just before winter and in the spring. The deep litter method just means that we pile up several inches of bedding material in the coop: cut grass, mulch, hay, etc. and let the bottom layers decompose over time, along with the manure the chickens leave. Over several months, those layers turn into nitrogen-rich compost that we then clean out and use in our garden beds. After a good cleaning, we pile up several inches of material and start the process over again. Bagged compost is expensive, comes in plastic bags, and is not guaranteed to be free of added chemicals. Using our chickens’ compost costs only what it takes to keep them fed and the cost of the occasional bale of straw or hay (plus, as we keep them fed and happy, they also produce eggs, saving us that part of our grocery bill), so this method keeps things very cost effective.
Although our chickens lay eggs consistently throughout most of the year, molting season is a different story. If you’ve seen photos and videos I’ve shared over the past few months of our chickens with scruffy, disheveled feathers, it’s because they’ve been molting. During this time, they shed a good portion of their feathers and use most of their energy to grow new ones, putting off egg production. They look quite sad and unhealthy during this time, but with lots of good treats and plenty of protein, they look extra chic in a matter of months and get back to laying eggs regularly.
Pumpkins, etc.
I’m thrilled to report that our late planted pumpkin patch has done exceedingly well! In coming years, I think we’re going to always wait until July, after the squash bugs have gone back to the depths of hell where they belong, to plant pumpkins. So far that’s been the best squash bug solution we have found. I’m over the moon that we have a whole pile of pumpkins to show for our efforts– and the patch is still blooming, though I think we’ll finally get that killing frost before more pumpkins can grow.
Garlic Growin’
I’ve been looking forward to another round of garlic planting since our first planting last year. I love the slow, steady, unbothered way it grows throughout vastly different seasons. Putting down its roots during fall, weathering the cold, sometimes freezing winter days and any snow and ice that may come its way, garlic shoots up lovely, green leaves in early spring, adapting to the warmth and return of the sun. Not only does it produce beautiful bulbs that are bursting with flavor, but we also get to enjoy the scapes while the bulbs grow as big as possible throughout the early summer. Incredible!
In order to have an even larger harvest than last year, we used some of our best bulbs for planting in addition to placing an order of new bulbs. Those new bulbs arrived in early October, but we waited until the weather cooled down (from high in the 90s to highs in the mid-70’s) to prepare and plant the garlic beds.
To prepare the beds for garlic planting, we cut down the overgrown summer garden at the base of the plants, leaving the plant material on top of the soil. We added chicken manure, compost, and decided to lightly till it into just the top layer. We then plugged in clove after clove in the newly made beds, covering them with a combination of straw and wood mulch afterward. We were very lucky to receive heavy rains the very next day after months of drought, getting them off to a great start.
November has brought an end to daylight savings time (a concept I have a lot of contempt for; I much prefer when it ends). Days are much shorter now, and the weather is more consistently chilly, which obviously means it’s soup and bread season. Our back-porch-sitting evenings have turned into cozy evenings inside and our sweaty garden days have become the most pleasant outside work days. With cozy inside time increasing comes more time for creative projects not related to the garden… like the annual lunar calendar design.
A Lunar Announcement!
I’m happy to announce that the 2025 lunar calendar is in the works! It’s almost finished and I will be releasing the design and more info in the coming weeks. It’s one of my favorite creative projects and I look forward to its release all year. This year’s design involves a different approach, in which I am incorporating linoleum block printing, ink, and watercolor into the final product. The calendar itself includes the most important lunar phases and dates throughout each month of the year, as well as the folk names for each month’s full moon. If you want one for yourself or as a holiday gift, keep an eye out on our social media pages (instagram and facebook) for more details!
In the next few weeks, I’ll share more on the lunar calendar, soapmaking, herbal remedy-making, and lots more. Thank you for reading and following along with us. I hope your November includes plenty of cold weather, warm soup, and cozy activities.
Cheers,
Allyson
Looking forward to seeing the lunar calendar design!
🙌🏼