September 2018

Early September carries the whiff of summer. It’s warm, the trees are lush and green, and the vegetable garden still pushes out reams of produce. We hop around bound up in our summer lives: mowing fields and grasses, harvesting and preserving vegetables, playing in the creek, and picking late blackberries.

Early September on our homestead

But mid-September begins to portend a change. Temperatures dip and we find ourselves closing the windows and reaching for sweaters and socks, long folded in drawers. Mr. Frugalwoods ramps up his firewood chopping, splitting, and stacking regimen. I put away the children’s summer clothes.

By late September, the leaves are in transition. Green is still dominant, but the landscape is flecked with red, orange, and yellow. We know now what’s coming. And I don’t hesitate to decorate for fall and Halloween–it suddenly feels like there’s no time to waste. We have to relish our fleeting fall before snow sets in and ensconces us in winter.

If you’re just tuning in, this is a recurring series in which I document each month of our lives out here on our 66-acre Vermont homestead. After leaving urban Cambridge, MA in May 2016 to chart this wholly different life, we’re experiencing a constant learning curve of exploration and plenty of stupid novice moments. Check out last month’s installment here and enjoy the best and worst (ok, mostly the worst) moments of our first year on the homestead here. Wondering if it’s less expensive to live rurally? Check out: City vs. Country: Which Is Cheaper? The Ultimate Cost Of Living Showdown.

Apples!

Babywoods: massive fan of unripe apples…

Remember the crates upon crates upon heaps of apples we harvested last year? Good. Keep that memory alive because it didn’t happen this year. We had a low production year, which–based on our informal data collection methodology over the last three years–is consistent with our hypothesis that our apple trees are biennial producers.

This is not uncommon for apple trees, particularly those that are undergoing a pruning and rehabilitation process, such as ours are. We first set eyes on our property in late October 2015 and the trees were riddled with apples. One of the first things we did was pick a few and sit on the porch, trying to imagine what our lives could be like out here. Next fall, after we’d moved in, Mr. Frugalwoods began educating himself on the art of fruit tree pruning. He took several classes (thankfully all offered locally!), the most helpful of which took place on someone’s land where they hiked around with the instructor and pruned trees under his tutelage. He also devoured books and, of course, YouTube videos (if you’re looking for a good time, google apple pruning videos. Some are certifiably hilarious). At any rate, what we quickly deduced is that our little apple orchard–which consists of ten cultivated trees in our yard and a bunch of wild apple trees in our woods–was overgrown. Apple trees need to be pruned regularly in order to encourage proper growth and fruiting. And our trees had been neglected for a few years. I have several posts devoted to our tree pruning regimen, so check here and here if you’re interested in more info. We also spray our trees with an organic clay compound to deter bugs, which I explain in detail here.

The Red Duchess does not disappoint

One of our apples trees–the Red Duchess–did produce at a normal rate this year. I don’t know if it’s the siting of the tree, the soil, the variety of apple, the phase of the moon, or what, but that tree puts out stellar apples every year (well, all three years that we’ve known it). Despite undergoing the same pruning regimen as the other trees, the Red Duchess seems undaunted. This is also the tree that my nemesis–Pork U. Pine–managed to scuttle up into and knock an entire branch out of (varmint!!!!!!). Downed branch aside, we netted a decent apple crop from the Red Duchess. There were about five apples on the other trees combined, so I didn’t even bother harvesting them in a serious way. We plucked a few apples off to munch, but beyond that, I left them up there.

Last year, we made our first batches of hard apple cider, which turned out surprisingly delicious. I say surprising because we’d never made cider before. But we made a ton and still have two carboys of cider in our basement! Hence, before knowing the totality of our apple crop, I’d planned to make apple cider vinegar this year. Alas, not enough apples came forth. Maybe next year!

So what do you do with too many apples to eat but not enough apples to press into cider or vinegar? Make apple butter!!!

An early September outdoor playtime

I’d never eaten apple butter prior to Mr. FW whipping some up last year, so I have no idea how “authentic” ours is, but it is darn tasty. We make it in a crockpot, which simmers overnight and makes the house smell like FALL. If you are selling a house, I highly recommend you simmer some apple butter in your kitchen–people will want to move in ASAP.

Here’s our basic apple butter recipe:

  • Use a peeler/corer to peel and core a bunch of apples
  • Chop the apples into quarters and fill your crock pot/slow cooker/whatever it is the kids are using these days
  • Add fresh ground clove, cinnamon, white sugar, brown sugar, and molasses (but not very much!)
  • Simmer in crock pot for twelve hours
  • Mix with a stick blender to remove any remaining chunks
  • We can ours using a water bath canning system. Please refer to safe canning methods and recipes if you too would like to can your apple butter.

Our apple butter isn’t terribly sweet–it’s more of a deep, earthy, smoky flavor, but we love it! Last year, I dehydrator a bunch of apples using our dehydrator and, while they taste OK, we haven’t been consuming them as quickly as I’d imagined we would and we still have some left from last year (that’s an affiliate link). So, I skipped that system this year in favor of making more apple butter!

Plums

Gone! All gone!

Here’s a story sad but true: some creature ate our plums boo hoo. Ok not ALL of the plums, but I want to say the VAST majority. We’re talking VAST. Join me in a trip down memory lane…

When we first moved to our homestead, we noticed three clusters of what looked like dead sticks coming out of the ground. Huh, we thought. I guess we should rip those out. Upon inspection, we noted small tags encircling the (not dead yet) branches that contained a lot of information, including the words “PLUM TREES.” Cool, thought we! And so, we embarked on–you guessed it–a plum tree rehabilitation project. And these babies look glorious now! Thanks to Mr. FW’s ministrations of applying clay surround, delicate pruning, and sheet mulching, these erstwhile kindling bunches are now legit trees.

Babywoods, triumphant with a plum (one of the few we ate… ). And yes, she usually wears this outfit outside, which is why she’s wearing it in almost every single photo… it’s efficient because we change clothes as soon as we go inside (as part of my ongoing effort to keep dirt outside only).

Last year, our fledging rehab plum trees put in all their effort and squeezed out… exactly one plum. It was the return of the prodigal plum and we rejoiced. Also we ate the plum and it was delicious. End of that story.

This year, our teenage plum trees were looking good and they set a record amount of fruit. I didn’t have the chance to count all the plums that could have been, but there must’ve been at least 50. Yes, FIFTY. I began harvesting them as soon as they came ripe and we–particularly Babywoods–relished these literal fruits of our labors. One day I languidly photographed the plums (picture above!), not realizing that this would be the last time I would see them alive. I tested their plummy selves and, finding them still too firm to pluck, decided to leave them on the trees to ripen a tad more.

Little did I know, this decision spelled their doom. Some varmint of indeterminate species managed to make off with every last plum. Not a single pit was left behind. Not a rind, not a speck, not a drop of plum in its terrorizing wake. I posit this to be the work of squirrels, known to squirrel away food whole, but I can’t be sure. In other news, I’m now sourcing squirrel stew recipes…

Winter Preparations

Firewood stacked in our recently built woodshed

Although easy to reckon that summer just left us, we know that winter will nip at our heels all too soon. Winter is largely our season of buttoning up and hunkering down, but there’s much to do to prepare ourselves and our land for its impending visit. Chiefly, we have to keep ourselves warm. This is largely accomplished by our woodstove, fueled by wood that Mr. FW chops from our land, and so in September, he initiated project winter porch.

In the summer months, our porch is a nexus of activity. There’s a picnic table, a baby pool, an obscene number of baby toys rattling around, a grill, etc… basically a giant, fun mess. But for wintertime? This all gets streamlined. Away go the tables and chairs, the cushions, the mini pool. Away go the gardening tools and little bikes and trikes. Out comes the porch wood rack. Built by Mr. FW two years ago, the porch wood rack (pictured below) is a utilitarian system that holds the wood we’ll burn in the woodstove this winter. Our porch is covered and the rack keeps the wood from touching the floor of the porch and the exterior of the house, which means it still receives some airflow as it awaits its turn in the stove. The rack holds about 1.5 cords of wood and we burn approximately 3 cords per year, so Mr. FW refills the rack mid-way through the winter. For now, we’re sorted and stacked.

Mr. FW’s handmade porch wood rack

I also performed my annual ritual of calling around to every propane and oil company that delivers to our area to find out their prices per gallon. I order our fuels in the fall to ensure we’re stocked for winter since fuel delivery trucks can’t make it down (or more aptly back up) our driveway in winter.

People, did you know that you can shop your propane and oil business around every year? You can! And you should!! Unless you’ve signed a longterm contract with a company, you can (and should) switch companies every year in order to get the lowest price per gallon on your fuels. The first year I did this, it took me HOURS of time. It was arduous and painful, because I had to compile a spreadsheet of all the info I needed and every company that will deliver to my address. But this year, I felt like a slick oil slicker (that might not be the best choice of words… ).

Since I already know all the companies that’ll deliver to me, and I know the size of all my tanks and the amount of fuel I need, it was a breeze! Truly, I felt some fresh air come through the window as if to reward my persistence. I discussed this process last year too (because I’m a nerd and also very proud of myself) and so check out that post if you have more questions. Since I have local readers, I’m including my spreadsheets below for your reference with the prices I was quoted, just in case this is helpful to anyone (and please let me know if it is–since I do this work anyway, I’ll be happy to let you know what prices I find next year!):

CHEAPEST BY PROPANE 2018
Company Propane Price Per Gallon Oil Price Per Gallon
Suburban $2.39 $2.94
Irving $2.97 $2.74
Dead River $2.99 $2.91
Perry $3.99 $2.89
Rymes $4.43 $2.79
Gillespie $4.55 $2.92

 

CHEAPEST BY OIL 2018
Company Propane Price Per Gallon Oil Price Per Gallon
Rymes $4.43 $2.79
Irving $2.97 $2.84
Perry $3.99 $2.89
Dead River $2.99 $2.91
Gillespie $4.55 $2.92
Suburban $2.39 $2.94

I’ll also point out here that there’s no need to get both your propane and oil from the same company. Many companies offer a bulk discount for buying both your fuels from them, HOWEVER, I calculated out that I’d save more by going with two different companies, due to the overall price per gallon. As you can see from my spreadsheets (I know they’re hotttt), there’s a $2.16 difference between the cheapest and most expensive propane suppliers and a $0.15 difference in oil prices. This doesn’t sound like much until you consider the quantities of propane and oil you’re likely to order. If you’re getting, say, 250 gallons of propane, that’s $540 you’d save by calling around to find the cheapest provider! Not insignificant.

This year, things were slightly different for me since we recently converted our hot water heater from propane to high-efficient electric, in order to take advantage of the fact that we now have solar panels. Hence, I needed to reduce the size of our propane tanks and ultimately order a lot less propane this year since we now use it solely for our cook stove. Given how little propane we estimate we’ll use now, I also looked into buying our own propane tank and having it filled at Tractor Supply or West Lebanon Feed and Supply. However, their prices per gallon weren’t low enough to merit me investing in a tank, since the propane companies provide their tanks free of charge.

In terms of oil, we don’t use all that much heating oil every year, but it’s our back-up form of heat (for when we’re out of town or otherwise not able to feed the woodstove) and we like to ensure we have a topped-up tank at the start of each winter.

Pay In Full

Another crucial note here is that the above prices are all the pay-in-full at the time of delivery prices. If you need to finance your propane or spread the payments out, the price per gallon will be higher. But, if you can swing paying the full amount at the time of the delivery, you will save save save.

The girls enjoying their “dirt patch,” with a view of our old propane tanks in the background, waiting to be picked up

Another logistics note: switching oil providers is a breeze since most folks own their oil tanks. Switching propane companies is a tad more involved since most of us don’t own our propane tanks. But, as long as your propane tanks are above ground (and not buried), it’s actually not all that difficult. Your new propane company will remove the former company’s tanks and set their tanks.

Then, you call your former propane company and let them know they need to pick up their tanks. They will do so and they then must refund you for any propane remaining in the tanks. This all takes a few phone calls and coordination, but you stand to save hundreds–if not thousands–of dollars every year. Worth a few phone calls to me!

The County Fair!

Babywoods refusing to look at the camera while inspecting the largest pumpkin at the fair

The reason I had children was to take them to the county fair. Ok, that’s not the only reason I had kids, but it’s in the top 10 for sure. I LOVE festivals and gatherings and potlucks and fairs and holidays and costumes and food and all things nostalgic. Enter the Tunbridge World’s Fair to fulfill all my dreams.

Located in Tunbridge, VT, the aptly named Tunbridge Fair happens every year in September and has happened every year since 1867. I love New England. Much as I adore all things festival-related, this was actually our first year attending because it was the first year that Babywoods–who is almost three–could really appreciate the festivities.

I’m not a fan of dragging tiny kids to stuff that they can’t enjoy (although that’s exactly what we did with poor Littlewoods… ) and so we waited two long years before we felt Babywoods was ready to experience the fair to the fullest. Plus, it costs $10 per person (mercifully kids are free) and I didn’t want to waste $20 to have a baby scream her way outta there in thirty minutes. Turns out, almost-three-years-old is the PERFECT fair age.

Did I mention there were BABY ANIMALS???

We went on a Friday morning, ideal because it was decidedly uncrowded and the weather was crisp and cool and the noisy carnival rides weren’t operating yet. Babywoods clasped Mr. FW’s hand and walked, with wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder, through what she called “the pumpkin fair,” amazed that such miracles exist outside of books.

Sidenote: we love the Little House On the Prairie County Fair book because it emphasizes the animals, community, and crop aspects of fairs and not the games and rides aspect. 

We gazed at the enormous pumpkins and gourds, we marveled at the prize-winning carrots (arrayed on plates in the Flower Hall), and had to pull Babywoods back from trying to grab-and-munch the blue ribbon snap peas and cherry tomatoes. We saw friends and neighbors. We toured the historic village, which was Mr. FW’s favorite fair element as it featured a bunch of guys standing around a vast array of antique hit-and-miss engines, all belching voluminous smoke clouds and rattling cantankerously. I almost had to leave him there.

Late September: fall is on the way

There were sheep, goats, chickens, cows, pigs, oxen, horses, and rabbits. We watched a few horse shows and petted a cow or two and Babywoods was “baaaaaed” at by a rowdy goat, which caused her to leap into the air and dissolve into laughter. Then, wonder of all wonders, we indulged in fair food.

We bought a small basket of cheese fries and shared it between the three of us (drinking the water we’d brought in our water bottles, of course) and Babywoods was agog. Never before had this child had french fries–let alone cheesy french fries–and she silently and methodically munched each one.

We’d planned to take Babywoods on her first carousel ride and buy her first ice cream cone, but alas, this wasn’t to be. By the time the carousel started running–long about noon–our little crew was done. Babywoods, who’d been a remarkably good sport and had walked by herself all morning long, was rubbing her eyes and asking to be carried. Littlewoods, who’d fallen asleep in the stroller after staring glassy-eyed at all the inscrutable movement and color, was beginning to fuss. The sun was heating up the grounds and there crowds were starting to throng. It was time for us to return to our quiet den in the woods and look forward to the promise of a carousel and ice cream next year.

Want More Fotos?!

Babywoods “assisting” in the veggie garden in late September

While I only document homestead life once a month here on the blog, I post photos to Instagram (almost every day!) and updates to Facebook with much greater regularity! Join me there if you want more of our frugal woods.

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Onward to October, frugal comrades!

How was September on your own personal homestead?

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54 Comments

  1. I’m in search of an apple jam recipe. My family is not a fan of regular apple butters, but a jam for muffins, biscuits etc. would be delicious. Ideas? Your fall pictures are wonderful.

    1. One Hundred Dollars A Month has a wonderful recipe for ‘apple pie jam’ that we like. I am not a big fan of mushiness, so don’t care that much for apple butter. But this stuff is REALLY good.

      https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/canning-101-apple-pie-jam-recipe/

      She has a link to ‘carrot cake jam’ in the post that I’d like to try, as well.

      Thanks so much, Mrs. Frugalwoods, for the county fair description. We couldn’t go this year — were out of town — but it sure made me think about next summer!

  2. I’d love to know more about the solar panels! I know it’s on your list, but I thought I’d mention it. How much did they cost? Materials/installation. What’s your estimated payback time frame? Did you install them yourself? Any concerns with the age or condition of the roof? Are you grid tied, getting some credit for unused solar energy? etc…

    If you can’t tell, solar panels are something I’ve been considering.

    1. I’ll add to Jason’s comment – especially as solar tech is changing so rapidly, I am curious what your experience and decision was like!

    2. Hi Jason, I don’t know much about solar, but my Dad does! At least on the western side of the states. He may have an Eastern contact since my mom is from Vermont. Give him a call if you want. Dan the Solar Man: 208-484-6444.

      Good luck!
      -Ariel

    3. I’m also curious about your experience with solar panels. I had a company come out to evaluate my house, but since I Airbnb and write off most of the electrical expenses anyway, it actually made more financial sense to stick with normal electric for the time being. Also, with big groups in and out regularly, it was difficult to gauge my true electrical consumption and what would really be needed for the long term.

  3. I’ve enjoyed your writing for some time but especially like your initial description of the changes from early to late September. Here in urban Somerville, MA, there are many more cloudy days. Still mostly green, with some streets of bright yellow and striking red/orange. This week I took a brief trip to the local farmer’s market–honey crisp apples, Bosc pears, Asian pears, red onion, Daikon radish, kale, and cider.
    Also interesting to see how the girls are growing and changing.
    Thanks so much for sharing!

  4. If you can buy your fuel in the Spring or Summer, it will be even cheaper! Fuel prices swing widely around seasonality, and go up when demand is high.

    1. Yeah, I buy in the fall so that we’re stocked for winter since the delivery trucks can’t navigate our driveway during the winter and we don’t want to run out :)!

        1. Very true! We’ll have to keep an eye on our consumption now that we’re just down to the stove. TBD :)!

  5. I love reading about your dreamy little life. It is so meaningful to me. I am eternally grateful to live vicariously through your adventures until maybe someday I can find a similar dream of my own. 🙂

  6. I am really enjoying these blogs…though I now live in NC, I’m a New Engländer at heart, especially in the fall. Give my regards to Reva S…still hoping to see pics of her new house…and have a glorious October!

  7. I’m so sorry about your plums! I’d be mad. I’m a haphazard gardener at best, but I still want to eat what I grow! The fair looks like fun. We’ve covered the Giant Pumpkin Festival and a Fall Jamboree in our neck of the woods. Aside from that, September was fairly rainy, so our land turned to mud. Hoping for a drier October.

  8. I haven’t had apple butter since I was a kid and I really hated it then. Of course, that’s been 40 years now so probably I should give it a go. We are appled out right now. We don’t have any trees that produce apples we want to eat but I stopped at an orchard to load up. Then a friend stopped by with a lot of apples.
    Also, thanks for the tip about the propane prices. I don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me to shop around. I do it for everything else. We heat with propane and I have a gas range. I guess I haven’t because I figured it would just be an enormous hassle since we don’t own our tank. Also, in coastal, rural Maine, we don’t have a ton of suppliers. But, there’s a handful so I guess I should make some calls.

  9. I recently saw (and am collecting cores for) a recipe for scrap vinegar from Zero Waste Chef – she uses the apple cores and peels to make ACV. Likely not strong enough to use for canning if that was your goal, but a nice way to use up some scraps & would be great for cleaning or just adding a splash to broth & soup!

  10. Thanks for sharing local information. I’m local to the Upper Valley so love to hear tips and information. FYI I have used Simple Energy locally which currently offers 2.75 on propane. They were great last year and showed up in all types of weather and even in the middle of the night with an emergency tank when needed. They also were one of the few who did not run out of propane last year during the the cold spell in January.

    1. I also live in the Upper Valley and recommend Simple Energy. Their customer service is excellent. We have used Irving in the past for the lower prices per gallon, but with many customer service issues, we decided it wasn’t actually a savings.

  11. The way our pre-buy oil Program works is that while you pre-pay in the summer, the delivery/ies happen in the fall & winter. If you can make it the whole winter with one tank, the first fall delivery would do you. Do the math to buy the amount of oil your tank can hold and if you overestimate just a bit you’ll have a credit toward next year’s purchase.

  12. We love the county fair, and I can identify with Mr. FW on the antique hit-or-miss engines. I could stand there all day. So many moving parts, and what a racket! And I can attest to the power of the apple butter smell. I must’ve made a few gallons for Christmas gifts one year, and the smell was INTENSE and probably stuck around for a WEEK.

  13. We loved those Little House on the Prairie picture books…still do, actually. Those books are among the tried and true favorites that I am saving for my grandchildren. Take your girls to Laura’s house in Missouri when they are a little older. They will love it. You will, too.

  14. You have real apples! We have teeny tiny crab apples in our urban backyard which are as sour as a lemon in apple form. My toddler adores these awful little apples. She likes to pick them and has learned with practice not to eat the entire thing (stem and seeds and all). My favorite aspect of this tree is definitely not the fruit – I love the flowers before the fruit comes out. A couple years ago we made apple cider from the crab apples. We found a place that will press your apples for you if you don’t own a presser. It was delicious!

  15. Have you considered covering your plumb trees to discourage the critters? You can use bird netting or if you can scrounge them up old lace curtains or tablecloths. I vote for racoons stealing the plumbs. Tree rats are usually messy and bury seeds and acorns where they find them. Racoons usually take stuff and hide it elsewhere. See what comes up around the base of the trees next year. That may give you a clue to the visitors.

  16. RACCOONS. That’s my vote for the plum thief. We had a huge (pounds and pounds) harvest of grapes from our most productive vine stolen this year by the smart little buggers before we could get them wrapped…. Like your plums, they were close to ripe but not quite there. I’ll be curious to hear what you find for a solution.

  17. I love your columns so much! I always save them for when I can sit down, focus & enjoy!

    Have you written a column about how you keep your home clean? I’ve always wondered about the logistics when everyone has muddy boots. I’m an urban/suburban girl whose feet don’t touch dirt on a typical day so I am fascinated by how this would work.

    1. A good question! The answer: no shoes in the house! Ever! It’s a Vermont tradition and one that we’ve done for years. We (and almost everyone else here) have a mudroom at the entrance of our home and everyone who comes over takes their shoes off before coming into the house. The mudroom has a tile floor that’s easy for me to keep clean. We wear socks or slippers inside and many guests bring their own slippers with them–as do we when we go to friends’ homes :).

  18. Thanks for the wonderful monthly update. There is definitely a perk in your step which is terrific to see/read.

  19. Aww, so much cuteness in one post! I’m so jealous/impressed by your apples. Our poor peach tree was just attacked by deer, so I feel ya on the pest woes. I can’t imagine how many more nuisances there are when you’re in the woods!

    September was a good yet stressful month. We finally paid off our student loans (!), which was a huge achievement. Now I get to be self-employed starting on Monday, which is both TERRIFYING and amazing. Hopefully that’ll give me more flexibility to do more homestead-y things around the house.

  20. This post makes me want to move to rural Vermont…. although it may be more practical to just make apple butter😊
    What is the Little House on the Prairie County Fair book? Who is the author?

  21. I loved reading this! Our state fair was supposed to start yesterday…but that pesky hurricane got in the way… littlewoods and babywoods don’t know what they missed not gorging in all the fairfood! outrageous. 🙂 any age is the right for the fair!

  22. Holy wow, that pumpkin is bigger than Babywoods! We love the county fair too, so much so we generally live there all summer. They are all neat and different and host some truly interesting things. Once we got to try log rolling (which we aren’t any good at, but boy was it fun).

  23. I was inspired by you making things with your apples last year (we had a good crop but I was so burned out from canning, I did nothing with our apples, oh the humanity). The apples were producing again this year. I ordered an apple peeler/corer from ebay. 2 days after peeler showed up I was drinking my morning coffee and watched a racoon climb an apple tree, drop the apples, and a deer eat those apples. The little sh##s were in cahoots with each other! We didn’t get one apple this year, not one!

  24. Deer as the plum bandits? It explains the lack of mess, the lack of pits and the fact that the tree was picked clean, even the higher branches. Deer usually find plum tree leaves too bitter, but will go after the fruit and your still maturing trees would allow deer to reach every branch easily. A deer family can clean a plum tree in an evening.

  25. That pumpkin is quite the size! We love going to the farmers markets around here. This year we will also be going to a corn maze!

  26. We’re not very handy in the garden, but I’m so sorry about those plums!!!! Robbers! My end of September/October so far has been more money conscientious, I have managed to keep down our credit card debt and paid for things using cash. After paying a huge bill last month(flights for an upcoming trip, etc), I didn’t want it to rise to those levels again! Now I’m looking ahead to the holidays and figuring out ways to save before I spend on food and gifts!!

  27. I looked for a Search box for your blog but didn’t find it, apologies if you have already covered my question.
    I was wondering if your home-grown food harvesting might include hunting? My father-in-law, in reference to deer, said “If I feed ’em, I’ll eat ’em!” They had a large family and a BIG garden, and if there was meat for dinner, usually someone shot it. Whether or not the deer ate all your plums this time, I’m sure they (and the rabbits) have munched on your gardens.
    Kind of like woodcutting, hunting and processing require specialty tools and training to be safe and successful. Or if Mr. F and you don’t want to add to your already long to-do list, let a friend/neighbor hunt in exchange for meat?

  28. I hate to hear about your plums! I planted beets this summer and I’m pretty sure our pesky backyard squirrels nabbed every last one. They also like to tease our dogs and eat all of the hazelnuts from our tree before they’re ripe, so they’re kind of my enemy #1.

    Loved your description of taking Babywoods to the fair. I have a slightly older niece and it’s so fun seeing the world through her eyes. I can only imagine how exciting a first french fry would be!

  29. Sorry about the plums! As the trees age and grow that Problem will hopefully go away. Do you have the round plums or or Damson plums?

  30. I am in the process of making apple sauce. I have 3 bushels of apple that I got for free from various neighbors with apple trees. We eat apple sauce with almost all of our meals. It is delicious and healthy if you don’t add to much sugar. I put cinnamon in it. I have the best apple peeler ever and I can make a big batch in short order. I think your girls would love it. If you have an abundance of apples next year you should try it.

  31. Have you tried to thin the amount of apples on the heavy years? I heard that one of the reasons you get apples only every other year is because the tree’s nutrients are depleeted in the heavy year so if you thin the tree considerably that year you’ll have fewer apples then but you should have apples every year at least. Perhaps something to try on one of the trees next time :).

  32. Caution re: all the firewood you have stacked on your porch. Your porch may not be strong enough long term. We were storing overflow firewood on one of our decks. As I was stacking, I heard a loud creak and the deck moved. Long story short the prior owner did not ensure the posts were not sitting in standing water and hence started to rot.

  33. Congratulations on your apple harvest!

    While pruning can affect the biennial-ness of your apple harvest, so can the size of your harvest. Most fruit trees put out too much fruit if allowed to do so. The energy of the tree is stored in the fruiting limbs; so when you get a large harvest one year, the fruiting limbs are depleted of energy. The tree will use the energy the next year to store, thus creating the two year cycle. If it really bothers you, you can pluck some of the immature fruit off. This will give you larger apples and a more annual cycle. If it doesn’t bother you, then just enjoy the apples when you have them.

    Hope that helps!

  34. I am loving your website and have a question! We are hoping to move to Vermont (where I went to college many years ago) from California in the next few years. We will be closer to family and living a lifestyle that is much closer to our values. However, my biggest fear about the move to Vermont (and the northeast in general) is Lyme disease (I have a cousin who suffered from chronic Lyme for many many years). Have you had many issues with ticks, living in the woods? Do you know of many people near you who have Lyme?

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