Autumn

Some part of me wishes I could craft a wistful blogpost about the changing of seasons, but I find that most of all, I am exhausted in the fall.

 With the changing of the leaves comes harvest after harvest, each demanding its own type of attention. Corn cobs and sunflower heads still hold their bounty, and when the more perishable food is put up, these will be addressed.   Three afternoons of sweet potato digging have yielding a happy harvest, although thinner than I expected.  This afternoon, I will be stripping sorghum heads.  This is new to me, so I anticipate plenty of problems and slow going.

 Most of the neighboring farms have harvested their sorghum as well (albeit on a much larger scale than my own), although I think a few were caught in the rain and have to wait for the fields to dry.

 After the frost of last week, the garden is done.  I have been tearing out tomato refuse and piling it for burning.  All but two rows of fencing are down.  Cooler weather makes this task easier, but I also find the mornings are already too chill for the boys to accompany me, which makes outdoor tasks hard to accomplish.

When the sun rises and sets with less and less daylight, my body responds by reminding me how little sleep I got in the summer.  Summer was a time of up at dawn and to bed after the sun.  Necessary, but the body can only take it for so long.  Now I still have plenty to do, but am feeling slower and slower.

Not only are there plenty of harvest chores to attend to, but with the arrival of frost comes cold weather considerations: how will we over-winter our chickens, what can be left outside to the elements, dealing with dead trees, preparing ourselves with plenty of firewood.  The list goes on.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.