Harvest Time

One of our hopes is to become more self-sufficient.  The first step was planting our 9 fruit trees, and six blueberry bushes this spring.
 
The second step was to create an area for planting area for seasonal crops.  The best place to do this was the south side of our house.  The challenge was that the yard had a steep slope there that needed to be tamed.

Chris began this task (with the help of the boys) in April.  The process not only involved building retaining walls but also moving many tons of fill dirt, adding drainage, installing rain barrels and a compost bin.

I'm happy to say that the walls, after most recently putting in 9 cu.yds of compost and 12 cu.yds. of mulch are finally complete.  Now I have the winter to plan what we are going to plant in the spring.

To help protect the garden from pests and other birds the boys are building Carolina Wren nests, since we know we have them and they are territorial insectivores.  Titus was the first to complete a house this week.

This year wasn't all preparation though, we did manage to yield one Asian pear, a couple Honey crisp apples and Fuji apples this year.  I'm not sure if it was because we grew them they tasted so good or if they were really that much better than any other apple I've ever had.

To help us prepare for planting next year, we went on a Farm Tour last Sunday.  Like the Tour de Coop,  this was an organized tour of various urban farms in the area.  We learned a bit more about chickens, and enough to think about ducks.  Our concerns about goats remain but are still we think manageable in the future.  We learned which types of peppers, ocra, and various other plants that farmers are having success growing organically near our home; which should increase our chance of success greatly.  The kids had fun playing with the animals, sampling the produce and playing on the tractors.

We had a new visitor to the yard this week - a box turtle! After all the attention he got, I doubt he'll wander this far up from the creek again but it was neat opportunity for everyone to see God's incredible design for this unique animal. They are the only turtles that can completely close themselves in their shell.

It seems fitting after all this talk of harvest that we finished today with our Michaelmas Party.  This was the first year we have ever had it at our home.  We rearranged the inside to provide a serving area in kitchen and seating in the chimney room and out on the attached deck.  We had 28 friends stop by in waves throughout the afternoon.  Much to my pleasure everything worked out beautifully. The kids were so busy playing outside, it was hard to get them to stop to eat.  At the same time it was nice that the adults could sit and chat.  One thing I've always enjoyed about Michaelmas is seeing my friends get to know each other that have nothing in common except a friendship with us. 

This has truly been a wonderful Harvest Time.