Octobers Frost Embraces November.

As September rolled into October we started to get into the swing of the new school year schedule as well as reflecting on this years growing season. The final push of dahlias flooded our vases and gave us the abundance we had hoped for as the pollinators and other critters started hording the resources offered as the night time temps started to plummet and old man frost knocked on our door.

Its funny how even the tiniest creatures in nature seem to have the wisdom of the seasons change, observing their behavior will always teach me more than any youtube video or homestead handbook.

Catching the sleeping bumble bees heavy with morning dew as the morning light warms them back into an afternoon frenzy always brings me joy!

Dahlia dazzlers all around giving a show and rewarding us for our spring compost amendments and frequent waterings. 

Not sure if it was the drought or just a more abundant predator insect population that led to much less japanese beetle pressure this year, either way it was nice to not seem to have to fight the beetles for every bloom like last year.

We had a few varieties that didn't shine as much as we'd hoped and a few that we lost due to what I believe to be chipmunk pressure. Apparently in a drought, those plump tubers become alluring snacks!

Maple always enjoys a new bouquet to inspect while perched in one of her favorite windows.

The blooms were so plentiful that after filling our drying hooks we got creative and made use of the excess when we found time.

As September faded into October we welcomed some rainy days, even if they landed on the few days off I took for my birthday. With Hazel in school, Cassi and I took advantage of a quiet morning exploring Two Lights and even found a little inspiration to paint away a couple hours of time.

Sometimes I daydream what it would be like to just paint for a living... finding the time and the creative energy to stay productive while being a present and supportive father and husband can be very difficult. 

Though as the waves crash into the jagged Maine coastline and the tides ebb and flow with the gravitational pull of the cosmos... I am reminded how small and insignificant a piece of art can be in the greater zeitgeist of nature. It humbles me that maybe my most important role is to pass on and share my passion for exploring, observing and enjoying the ride of creativity and connection with this place and time we call home. Though like the horizon on a foggy, stormy day these goals and ambitions can become blurred by ego and the" look at me" culture that social media age instills in society.

Slowing down and finding these moments to observe, reflect and create will always ground me and focus my priorities and make me appreciate all that I do have to be thankful for.

Speaking of being grateful... 

Big shot out to my favorite Autumn apple stop... Sweetser's Apple Barrel in Cumberland!

I look forward to this lil gem being open every year, they always have a great selection of Maine heirloom apples, cider, winter squash and of course baked goods!

Only thing better than a tall glass of cider on a crisp autumn day is getting to go see David Byrne when the sun goes down...

A rare occasion, Cassi and I got out for a date night and after securing some tickets early this summer we were anxious to have one as October began! It was a bit hectic getting all the stars to align but after a lot of juggling and some generous help from Cassi's sister Jessi, we found ourselves able to enjoy a quite dinner of sushi followed by an inspiring performance by the creative and ever quirky David Byrne!

A great show full of energy, positivity and artistic expression. 

October 8th -Merrill Auditorium- Portland Maine

Setlist

Heaven

Everybody Laughs

Strange Overtones

Houses in Motion

T Shirt

Nothing but Flowers

This Must Be the Place

What is the Reason for It?

Like Humans Do

Independence Day

Slippery People

I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party

My Apartment is My Friend

Hard Times

Psycho Killer

Life During Wartime

Once in a Lifetime

Encore

Everybodys Coming to My House

Burning Down the House

As October wound down the colors faded from bright crimsons and yellow to brown as the nights grow longer and the frost blankets take longer and longer to thaw in the afternoon sun as it gleams through the blue autumn sky. 

Our minds begin starting our winter checklist of storm windows being hung, dry firewood stacked, hoses and garden tools being exchanged for rakes and tarps and studio organizing. We also are getting ready to celebrate Hazels birthday, Thanksgiving and the final plunge into the holiday season of 2025!

But before we start on all of that, we did reach a milestone... as Hazel inquisitively watched me carve "magic wands" for her Harry Potter themed party, she insisted it was "taking too long and she was bored..." after thinking about when I got my first jack knife I started to think... she can do this!

So after talking to her about respecting sharp tools and guiding her through the process of always carving away from you, she was well on her way helping in the process. Though, it also gave her a little respect for the work I was doing after finishing up her first wand, she decided watching wasn't so bad!

Autumn changes, leaves and falls.

Autumn is closing in on the homestead and leaves are being kissed by frost as heavy clouds of warm breath flow from my mouth.  I find myself spending more time rubbing my hands together than actually getting work done. My wife doesn't find my morning fires quite so strange now that the chill has creeped into the mornings and the stacked wood is alread starting to be brought in to take the edge off from time to time.

We still have been putting as much jars and bags of greens away in preparation for the upcoming winter where the tasty summer treats and sun ripened fruits will be a distant memory. 

Our adorable kitty Merrimac is awaiting the snow when yard work will dwindle and lap time by the fire will be more abundant.

Our most recent canning project included a gift of over ripe peaches from a secret source that I will never divulge the location of.

Step one was to blanch the ripe peaches in boiling water to remove the skins.

We then proceeded to boil them down in a solution of local Frith Farm honey and our own maple syrup.

After the mixture became thickened and the peaches started breaking up we added heaps of our homegrown hot peppers as well as a touch of apple cider vinegar and a little adult libations.

By a touch I mean about a bottle minus a small glass for the chefs.

Pureed and canned into a big batch of our secret spicy peach whiskey sauce !

So far we have used it to marinate chicken, pork and salmon as well as just using it as a salsa.

Few more batches of Tomato Sauce to make sure the cellar is thoroughly stocked.

We ended up with 5 slightly different batches making just under 48 jars of tomato sauce !

 Besides cooking pot after pot of tomato sauce and boiling and canning to help take off the early morning chill, we also spent lots of time splitting and stacking wood for the winter. I always remember reading the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing as they talk the truth about how wood provides heat twice. Once when you have to split and stack it and again when you burn it. No truer words have been spoken !

We got about four rows filled with easy access to the basement for hauling in throughout the winter.

I used old pallets from work that will keep the wood off the ground and left about a foot in between each stack to allow it to further season for optimal heating.

To keep the stacks tidy I side stacked a few pallets and devised a pretty clever way of using a few pieces of rebar I had laying around and wedging them between some long branches to keep the pallets lined up and supported so they would not just fall over and ruin the stack.

Ill let you know how well it holds up through the season.

We decided to stack a small amount right on our back deck for super easy access. Will keep this pile stocked until the snow pack makes it to difficult to wheelbarrow it up the hill and around the house.

Wild Turkeys heard they were welcome here... they were safe I couldn't get them into a peach sauce this time !

Autumn colors abound !

The cold weather has been spotty but the colors are amazing and the garden is finishing up nicely too.

Beautiful late season chard.

Too much to handle... chop it up seal it in some plastic freezer bags for a winters day.

Late season kale crop from early mid-October.

Final harvest and slowly putting the beds to rest.

Time for some dinner.

Farmhouse Eggplant Parm.

Fill a pan with as much hot peppers, rainbow chard and of course eggplant.

Roast it till your house smells amazing and everything starts to meld together... add a bunch of fresh herbs and cover in some mozzarella.

Do not forget to go down to the cellar and pull out a great wine to accompany your dish !

Wait I forgot something... Dessert !

Stack up all your leftover apples from your wifes day of picking apples with her Dad, sister and niece and start peeling. Add a stick of butter some local oats and a generous gulp of honey and cinnamon. Bake it to perfection and whip up some bourbon whip cream using some deliciously farmy local raw cream from Misty Brook Farm and a touch of homestead maple syrup and presto !

I was so anxious to get it in my bowl I didn't take an artsy food shot of the final crisp !

As the heavier frosts have pushed on I have been slowly drying out the herbs we have left in the herb gardens.

This guy appeared at the end of October and was shockingly large... we have plenty of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers around but this was our first Pileated Woodpecker. He must have been close to 20" long and when he flew off into the deep woods as I tried to get a better picture his wingspan was astounding !

Fallen leaves and lots of work to do...

The raking process unearthed many interesting varieties of fungus.

Ok enough mushroom hunting back to the leaves.

The good thing about living in the woods is your really just moving leaves... most of our 5 acres are woods so we decided it would be nice to clear them from our small lawn in front and pull the layers away from the house to keep the moisture away from our foundation but really we just filled the tarp and dragged it out into the woods and spread em out. We also are utilizing as much as we need for our compost pile and to cover our raised beds to protect them from the harsh winter weather and add some additional nutrients to the soil.

Round One of raking is complete but there are still plenty of leaves on the oak trees for a round two. Now to put some of these leaves to good use.

Garlic Planting Time !

Our garlic bed full of compost.

Organic Garlic Seed from a local farm.

Poke some holes about finger deep, 3 or so inches.

Fill each hole with a garlic bulb with the pointy side up.

Spaced them about 6 inches apart knowing the soil is very fertile and the bed is a few feet deep.

All in all about 100 planted so far. Hoping to build one more similar sized bed in the first week or so of November.

Dirty hands are busy hands, spread a layer of soil over the planted garlic.

Emptied my last lawnmower bag of grass clipping and mulched leaves on top of the cover garlic.

Top off with some dried piles of oak leaves and watered liberally.

I think planting garlic on the first day that you see geese starting their winter migration is a good rule of thumb. 

Speaking of birds we stocked up on winter feed for our little feathered friends !

Time to relax with a little fire and a morning camp coffee... "camp" is code for spiked, a little bourbon for breakfast on my day off is usually well deserved !

After some campfire time we covered the rest of our beds with leaves for the winter but the chard is still holding on for dear life.

Another batch for the freezer.

Sealed and waiting for a winter stir fry.

I like the self vacuum seal method using some old fashion lung power.

Also excited that the Katahdin Mint I bought a bunch of from Crown of Maine rooted... I've always secretly wished I had this variety which is a mint that was foraged from the shadows of Mt. Katahdin. I decided to try to root a cutting and it worked. Now to keep it happy till the Spring so I can plant it in our herb garden.

The other winter addition to the homestead, not pictured here but the old goat shed was prepared for its arrival was an old Ariens Snowblower my father salvaged from a barn in MA and restored to working order. I do enjoy shoveling but with plans to expand the homestead to include livestock in the coming years I foresee us having many more important projects than shoveling and the usefulness of a snowblower will be much appreciated.

That being said, after we drove the behemoth snowblower into the shed we both agreed a door would be a good idea to shelter the toolshed from the elements.

A week later and a few trips to the lumber store and the goat shelter is now a secured shed ! 

 As I finish typing this recent post it is now November 8th. Autumn had came in with some fierce frost in late September but from mid October till present, things have gotten strangely mild and the outdoor projects are continuing to get accomplished. Next on the list are chopping down a few trees in order to open up some daylight for a small greenhouse as well as open up a place to plant some fruit trees come spring. We also hope to finish building another raised bed or two, one to get some more garlic planted and another to visualize what we will have for growing space come Spring.  We are anxiously awaiting this years seed catalogs and plan on planting some much more obscure heirloom varieties of vegetables this upcoming season.

Stay tuned for more notes from the localrootz project.

As you can see this has almost just become a homestead journal for ourselves to look back on the things we have learned, the things we have accomplished and the things we dream about. I hope some information is interesting to the friends and followers that pass through to find out whats new with the localrootz project.  

Feel free to leave comments, questions or ideas if you have them.

Till next post.