Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Autumn


A rainy spell has settled into hickery holler. A cold rain has fallen off and on for the last week including today. In between rains, when the sun does come out, the hills and hollers seem to be on fire with color. The show is here for only a short time until the rain knocks the leaves to the ground and then it will be over until next autumn so we enjoy it while we can. This is one of my favorite times of the year here on the farmstead and I wonder how I survived the South without ever experiencing a true fall show of the colors. Every location I have ever lived in has it's own unique beauty and here is no exception. The sunrises and sunsets on these colors are simply breathtaking.  


And as the leaves fall in the yard we rake and fill the compost piles with as many as possible to add to that supply of compost for next year. A rake that pulls behind the lawn tractor makes a really easy job of getting all those leaves up. 


Our neighbor across the road called and offered us some walnuts as it seems his trees made this year. Mine did not. They are much younger and the late spring snow seems to have pretty well done in the  walnut crop for this year. His bloom at a different time. So O wise One and I went and picked up walnuts and they are now in the gravel driveway to e ran over by the tractor and cars to break off the shells.  

We also picked up our first small bowl of pecans last week.  



We have butchered 18 chickens so far and still have turkeys, rabbits and turtles left to butcher. Lots of good healthy meat and broth is going in the freezer and pantry.  


I also wanted to give a heads up to those of you new to maintaining a pantry. Now is a great time for cutting those baking supply coupons. Things like flour, salt, sugar, condensed and evaporated milk, creamed soups, chocolate chips and yeasts always go on sale this time of year with everyone baking for the holidays. It's a great time to take advantage of those coupons in the Sunday paper and those Holiday sales and stock up for the year.  I bought sugar, flour and some canned milk and chocolate chips to store while it was cheaper and I had coupons. Found some great deals! This is the time of the year to buy sugar especially. 


Also I wanted to give you a heads up that NOW is a great time to order seeds. Many of the seeds companies run clearance sales in the late fall. Some will even put them on ebay for clearance. I bought some small pea seeds at a deep discount and some lettuce seeds. Stored in a cool and dark place they will be ready to plant come March when I need them and at some great prices too. This is a great way to build up that stock of seeds at a savings. Many seeds if stored properly last for years! 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter


13 comments:

  1. Love your colorful pictures. I agree that now is the time to stock up on baking supplies. I have stocked up on flour and some chocolate chips so far. And for those of us that don't have our own home grown turkeys, now is the time to stock up on those as well. Christmas and Easter are the best times to stock up on hams.

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  2. I have been meaning to put my garden seed order in before Christmas. If I wait, I usually wait too long so I thought I would make sure I didn't lose my window by getting them in early. I never thought about the fact that they might be on sale! duh!

    Enjoy those colors! Everything is brown and drab around here- but we have a few 50 degree days ahead where we can hopefully get the garden buttoned up for the winter. Happy Fall to you!

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  3. Thanks for the tips CQ. I don't recall you mentioning turtles before. We have a LOT of turtles in our pond in the country & they are helping themselves to a LOT of fish. Looking forward to reading how you process them.

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  4. Beautiful colors! I'm also curious about the turtles... please share!

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  6. (Sorry for the deleted comment. Found 2 error after posting. Geesh.) I saw that SavALot has C & H brand sugar on for $1.99 but I haven't purchased sugar in over a year and I'm not sure if that's a good price. I'll have to check my local store to find out. I like C & H because it's cane sugar as opposed to sugar beet sugar...which is GMO. I'm just waiting, and not very patiently I might add, for the grocery stores to run butter and cheese on sale. I intend to can it like crazy this fall/winter....cream cheese too. Can't wait to get a new supply of it on my pantry shelves. Loved the gorgeous fall picture. I almost called you Sunday to see if we could drive up and visit a few minutes. I figured the leaves were turning and thought it would be a beautiful drive. Hope to see you soon.

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    1. I like C&H too! There are some printable coupons out there that will take 75 cents off every 2 and bring that down even further. I have seen it as low as 1.49 a bag last year. Add coupons to that if I can find them and I like to stock up! Butter and cream cheese are great holiday sale items too. I hope to can some this year as well.

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  7. I thought it was not safe to can butter, only freeze it!

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    1. There are lots of people that can butter successfully with no problems what so ever and have for years. If you are comfortable canning butter then by all means try it. However you are correct that the powers that be do not recommend it.

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  8. I would love to hear about the Turtle harvest and how you cook with it. I have only ever heard of turtle soup. Do you raise turtles or pick them up when you find them and put them in a "pen" until its time for harvest?

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  9. Hi CQ!
    Good to hear from you and thanks for the update. Turtles and canned butter.....I can't wait to learn more. I love learning! Don't work too hard.
    Fern

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  10. I too would love to hear about the turtles! I have had it before, but I don't remember what it taste like.

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