November 2024 On The Homestead
The month of November passed with a blink of the eye. It was great; mellow, but busy at times. Below you’ll find November 2024 on the homestead!
FYI these homestead recaps tend to be photo heavy, and may contain affiliate links.
CLEAN UP & PROJECTS
As the chill air and rain rolled in, the outdoor property work slowed way down. I did a little blackberry brush control and raked up some fallen leaves, but I usually like to leave them in place to help bugs during the winter.
The woodstove was cleaned out and we started our seasonal fires. We unfortunately didn’t get very much wood chopped this season, so I’m not looking forward to our electricity bill the next couple months!
IN THE GARDEN
It’s the off season for the garden. We’ve been able to soak up some beautiful sunrises and sunsets! We didn’t harvest much in the garden during the month of November, besides herbs, a few carrots and kale. Sadly, I didn’t get any cool-season crops planted, hopefully next year I’ll do better.
We did get a nice big pile of woodchips delivered to us from ChipDrop. I’ll be working on mulching areas this winter and I’m also letting some of it sit to compost. Have you ever used ChipDrop? I’d love to know if you’ve had logs dropped by them, what’s been your experience? I’m looking to stockpile more firewood for next year.
If you’re looking for a fun gift idea for your child, Anthony Porter’s My Epic Nature Journal is great! We loved exploring with it last month, and it’d make a great stocking stuffer too!
ANIMALS ON THE HOMESTEAD
Chickens are all good, yes, we STILL have all the little roosters. Hoping they’ll be gone this week(fingers crossed). All the other animals are doing great, just patiently waiting for winter to pass.
We are also adding honeybees to the homestead this spring. We’ve purchased everything but a few tools, and will be pre-ordering bees soon. We can’t wait!
IN THE KITCHEN
The kitchen was busy in November. One of my goals when we moved in a couple years ago was to start growing my own tea. This past summer I was able to preserve a lot of my own herbs for cooking and tea.
We’ve also been making more meals at home and eating out less, we use the dutch ovens, and slow cooker often. I also had to restart my sourdough again, we’ve made lots so far with the discard – rolls, waffles, pancakes, and breads.
Homemade Hamburger Helper & Sourdough Focaccia Bread!
Made broth with our turkey carcass, not letting anything go to waste.
It’s woodstove season, we love using it for cooking or making drinks too! The woodstove really helps warm up our 1500 sq foot house, with a little help from a stove fan.
Our Thanksgiving ended up being just our family of 4, but honestly, it was very nice. Mellow, and delicious!
LIFE & WHAT I’M LOVING
In November my oldest, and I joined the local gym. I’ve been trying to go 4-5 days a week, depending on the schedule for the week. It’s felt amazing, I even enjoy going in the evening. I’m in worst shape than I’d like to be at 40.
Beautiful sunset at the gym
We’ve also done some hiking, mushroom hunting, went to Hollydaze Cafe for a school fundraiser, Christmas shopping, and a mom’s night out.
My youngest, and I saw Wicked opening weekend. It was a little long for her, but she did good. The movie was absolutely amazing! If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly suggest you do.
Hope your November was just as good, and are enjoying the holiday season. I’m really going to start working on being back sooner for these monthly recaps. I’d love to hear from you in the comments, what are you enjoying this season?
