Autumn is here

    Autumn is here in full force.  We actually got our first snow a week ago, just a few days after that adorable picture of the kids playing in the park.  That's how Utah is.  That day was nice, then snow, and now it's nice again.  The snow made the the netting roof of the chicken run collapse, but they hated the snow and didn't try to escape.  Now that it's nice they are hopping the fence to eat everything.  It guess it's ok though, all the plants are done for the year and will come back in the Spring.  The only bad thing about it is that our new puppy who is four months old likes to chase and chew on our while leghorn, Angel.  So far she hasn't been hurt, so I think he is just trying to play.  Still, we can't have a chicken eater so he needs to learn not to chew on the chickens.

        I don't plan to write again for awhile. Winter is for garden dreams, not garden work.  My girls and I are planning a sunflower house they can use for their secret hideout with friends.  They helped me harvest sunflower seeds.  I don't know why, but most of the seeds from our mammoth sunflower were empty, no seed in the shell!  It could have been drought, poor pollination, or poor nitrogen in the soil.  It put a wrench in my daughters plans to make millions selling sunflower seeds at the local market. :'D

        I love autumn.  The harvest.  Winding down for the season, like the Earth needs a rest as much as I do.  Preserving the harvest, mine and what others give me, knowing I'll use it.  This week my kids and I spent all day Thursday bottling apple sauce.  We got 17 bottles of applesauce, plus two bottles of grape juice, 4 bottles of peppers pickled and one bottle of beets pickled.  I'm disappointed I didn't get any peaches this year.  I just can't wait until my peach trees are big enough to give me a good harvest to preserve.  I can never get enough peaches!

        I hope you have a lovely winter. I'll see you in the Spring!