Fall update

It's getting colder here now, and I hadn't factored in the potential of days and days and days of rain at this time of year - not since we were practically dealing with a heat wave and drought for our first summer at the property.  We'd only mowed the grass twice in our first three months - it wasn't growing since it certainly wasn't getting any additional irrigation from us.  Now, the past weeks of rain have brought on new growth that I want to cut for adding to the orchard beds and to the compost pile, and the leaves are coming down, and the wood is being delivered, and I have things to do in the garden and orchard.....and we wind up running inside soaking wet when the rain finally gets too bad to work in.

The mushrooms started to spring up everywhere in mid-October, and though there are many new appearances each week, the main flush is starting to look a little worse for wear - in some instances being grazed or trampled by our deer.

The kits were getting some time out on the grass before it just got too rainy for us to leave them outside on the wet ground. They'll be 9 weeks this weekend, and the kits out of Spot and Anna are huge! Well, huge compared to some of the other kits we've been breeding. I'm trying to make up for the lack of play time with plenty of assorted greens brought to them - and apple slices too, from those apples too affected by scab to be easily processed. We've dehydrated 6 full dehydrator loads of apple slices for the winter months, which will work nicely with a bit of chicken scratch and some sunflower seeds for a burst of inner warmth for the bunnies on the coldest nights. The best apples have gone to the pantry for fresh eating, and slightly damaged apples are now being chopped, dipped in sugar/lemon water, and frozen in portions for small apple crisps throughout the winter. *Next year* we'll look at steaming some apple juice, or renting a cider press, or think about making more applesauce and apple butter.  For now, we have a supply of canned sauce from our apple trees back in Surrey.  Hopefully our care in the orchard will reward us in the years to come

After weeks of frustration, trying to lock in a delivery of firewood, we have about half of what I believe we will need for the cold season.  Luckily, our woodstove is in good shape, and the winters on the Island are not quite as harsh as elsewhere in BC.  The temperature hasn't ducked too low, so we've slowly been learning how to manage the heat output - our chimney sweep assured us that each stove has a personality and we'll be pros in no time. We scavenged some pallets to keep the wood off the ground, and started to stack the 2 cords we had dumped in the driveway....before the rain returned.

It's a work in progress.....

Of note, we finally had enough blue sky to do a full hive inspection.  We went into our secondary hive, which we artificially split from the main hive last spring, and sadly verified that there was only one small section of older brood, and no evidence of a queen. Their stores were all over the hive, and located largely towards the back side of the box. Much like we transplanted honey to them on our last month's inspection when they seemed to be struggling, we decided to try and help them replace their missing queen.  We found a frame in the strong hive that had evidence of eggs laid within the last 3 days, and transplanted it to the middle of their hive. Luckily, Adrian got a visual on our queen, so we could be sure we didn't move her with the brood.  If the girls don't manage to hatch a new queen within the next couple of weeks, they will not make it through the winter.  If she emerges, she may not be able to mate at this time of year. We figured it was worth a try.

Our original colony is settling in for the winter, and the queen has cut way back on laying brood.  There are no drones left in the hive, and they are set for honey and pollen, given their smaller numbers. I removed a couple of largely empty frames, to encourage them to tighten up their stores, and with the bottom board put on last week, we may not go back in to the hive again unless there is an emergency.

The Reveal

We're heading in to winter, and have hosted some friends and family at Front Porch Farm this summer and fall as we finally got ourselves sorted.  Everyone has liked the bright new paintwork and neutral flooring, and now it's just the nit-picky things that go in to making final decisions about what fits where and how rooms will work for our needs.  We're quite pleased with the results of our decisions and efforts, and thrilled to call this our home. There are still a few boxes hiding in cupboards, and tools to be (neatly) returned to the workshop - which itself needs an overhaul.  The kitchen will be a winter project as we strip wallpaper, try and clean things up with some paint, and figure out a way to keep the old cupboard doors closed until we can afford to replace them.  For now, I've been asked for some before and after pics...

Almost all of the carpeting came out, due to age and stains.  The carpet in the living room required extra attention, because the underlay was glued down.  We painted all of the main rooms and hallways, and primed and painted the plastic faux wood walls to either side of the woodstove to make the room brighter.  We also replaced the fan, and are on the way to deciding on art placement and getting blinds installed - which will help prevent our heat from escaping the room as the temperature drops.

  

The upstairs rec room, formerly home to a lovely orange and brown couch from the seventies, has been upgraded to a comfortable boardgame playing area, with armchairs for reading and playing video games.

Everything in the guest bedroom needed attention - the nailed-together, narrow shelves were pulled out, leaving many holes and scratches on the walls, and the dark ceiling trim and corner gaps took a lot of work to seal and paint.

But now, my mother is happy to come and visit!

The upstairs bedroom is largely unchanged, but a new bed, dressers, black out blinds and and some personal items have helped to make it a bit more to our taste.

The master bedroom downstairs has been made over with a softer palette, and a is now a  place to curl up under the covers.... 

We're also preparing the fruit trees for next spring - pulling grass, killing off weeds with cardboard, and preparing areas for mulching and an after-the-fact form of hugulkultur.  We've started to work on one of the large piles of wood debris piled in the corner of the orchard, and are cutting straight poles for next year's peas and beans while we move old, and sometimes punky branches to form raised berms around and between the established trees. My hope is that the branches, manure, and mulching we put down around the trees will help to retain moisture, and the plants we locate there will increase beneficial insect presence, entice pollinators to the fruit blossoms, and improve the fertility and bounty of the area, while at the same time reducing our need to water and mow grass where little benefit will be seen.