Where did fall go? I became so consumed with the beautiful weather and comfortable fall rhythms I blinked and it’s mid-November! I had a list one mile long of all the garden and farm tasks to complete last month that was lost somewhere in the shuffle. But here we are! Just weeks away from the holiday season. I hope you consider popping by to grab some additions for your holiday table.

The garden season was generously long this year and I have a few items for sale from the garden still: yellow peppers, jalapeños, and even a few more tomatoes.

We are fully restocked on Fair Share Farm Ferments. We just adore these guys. I had the pleasure of bringing my mom with me to pick up the ferments last week and showing her the beautiful farm where the ingredients are grown. It never ceases to amaze me the degree of freshness they offer through their fermentation on site which not only preserves but even enhances the nutrition offered by the vegetables. We are so lucky to have them here in KC. We have sauerkraut, garlic pickles, carrot pickles, hot sauce, and elderberry vinegar. You MUST try the carrot pickles. The girls and I almost polished a jar in one sitting during homeschool last week. The elderberry vinegar will be a perfect twist on your favorite salads for Thanksgiving. It lends a slight berry flavor while delivering the tang we all love in vinegar. It would be so delicious on a brussels sprout salad.

We are fully restocked on all sizes of honey from Golden Rule. The honey has been flying lately. I imagine sore throats have returned and it really is nature’s best cough syrup. We are big fans of making oxymels with herbs foraged and grown as a home remedy for many mild wintertime ailments. Raw honey and raw apple cider vinegar surrounding herbs of your choice, working its magic for six weeks, strained and voila. My kids call it, “honey medicine”.

We have a beautiful display of ceramics from Earth Sewn Pottery. Her playful designs are a perfect way to treat yourself or a friend this holiday season.

There are three types of flour from Marion Milling available. We have been using rye flour weekly in this season. It’s richer flavor, and light texture make for such delicious pancakes or crepes. The texture is smooth, almost the way clay feels, and I just love how silky it is in cakes and pancakes. And we have some more Eulah, our dehydrated sourdough starter.

Finally, candles! We are definitely into candle season. Our family lights a candle with dinner every night. It’s a beautiful ritual and it helps little ones stay seated while we eat. If they wiggle, we remind them “while the candle is lit, we stay and sit”. It’s mostly effective. I started to make plan votives this year as well. They are compatible with all your votive holders in a classic profile, but made from 100% pure local beeswax. Beeswax is an incredible natural product that burns clean and is even said to improve indoor air quality with it’s negative ion release. The flame is bright and with no draughts it doesn’t even drip. They are the most beautiful golden hue with a subtly sweet smell of honey. For sale now we have 10″ tapers, classic votives, beehive votives, and pinecones. I also made some beeswax dipped leaves this year that will be darling on a holiday table display.

Click here complete list of items and prices available right now in the Mercantile.

Update from family life on our homestead.

In a final act of gratitude for our garden, we’ve been canning and preserving. So far, we’ve put up some pints of tomato sauce, and frozen lots of roasted green chilis. and dried herbs. We’re still eating potatoes, onions, and garlic, and even some fresh radishes, arugula, and kale. We did a final harvest of all the green tomatoes a couple weeks ago and they are ripening fast. The first flush to ripen made 9 pints of sauce. There’s probably at least 3 more canning sessions. As I wrap up my MU Extension Master Gardener’s course, I’m chomping at the bit to start fresh next year with lots of ideas to improve practices and increase yields and efficiency.

Our sheep are so happy they can finally breathe and graze with ease again in the cooler weather. They wore their fleece all year after our shearer couldn’t come this year. They have their big haircuts scheduled for February and I have some exciting plans for the viable wool. The summer was very hard on the flock, we lost a couple to heat, and more to predation during the heatwaves. They are regaining their strength and improving body condition. This means that we’ll bring more in to process later than expected as they have time to recover.

We have been spending most of our spare time completing a couple house projects that we hope to fully wrap up before winter. We have one final step on our hearth pad project and have already installed our wood burning stove. We’ve dreamed of a wood burner at home for years and the time has finally come. We opted for a model that is used for heat and optional cooking and baking. We’ve made chicken noodle soup on it, baked muffins, and reheated leftovers already. I foresee lots of cozy, fire cooked meals this winter. The last big project of the year for us is finishing a mudroom renovation. This space was an addition to the original farmhouse and is the last space we’ve touched since moving almost 6 years ago. We’ve rebuilt the subfloor and laid our new flooring. Presently we are insulating the walls with our leftover wool insulation from the house renovation a couple years ago. We’re very hopeful these updates ease our winter utility bills and I anticipate they will. It’s forecasted to be a cold one!

I’m still about 90% off of social media and I apologize if I’ve been slow to respond to your messages on FB or IG. I find that my energy and presence is much improved the more I’m away from those online spaces, but I do truly miss connecting with people there. I think I’m beginning to strike a healthy balance of retaining the connection while reclaiming my time sovereignty.