Category: Seasons

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons
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Back in the spring, I spent a Saturday making Traditional Cheddar. Apparently, I didn’t document the experience, and I don’t seem to have a clear memory about it. It took all day, but most hard cheeses do. Six months later, I opened it up for tacos last week and discovered My Best Hard Cheese Yet. The other cheeses, the gouda, the jack, the colby – they each came out ok, if harder and drier and sharper than expected. But the cheddar Actually Tastes Like Cheddar! I’m rather pleased about that. So the plan for next spring is to make as …

homesteading, Seasons
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I’ve given up waiting for the first light frost I thought I was waiting for and put the plot in the p-patch to bed for the winter. One last weeding, tucking in the garlic and asparagus under a mulch of maple leaves, raking in a sowing of cover-crop seeds (thanks to Celeste!). Maybe I misread the how-to sheet that came with my garlic, but I thought I needed to wait for a light frost before putting the garlic in; now I’m wondering if I misremembered, putting in the garlic three weeks late. The cover-crop labeling certainly seemed to think we …

Caitlyn, Seasons
 

Big shout out to our neighborhood’s park’s maintenance crew, who has left a huge pile of leaves in the park across the street from us. I don’t know if they planned this deliberately for the enjoyment of the neighborhood’s kids or if they’ve just gotten busy elsewhere. Doesn’t matter, and I don’t care – this pile has been leapt in, rolled in, scuffed through, thrown in all directions both before and after school, and will be one of Caitlyn’s favorite fall memories for at least the next 12 months. Save

Caitlyn, Seasons, sewing
 

It can rain now. The trick or treating is over, Caitlyn has an enormous haul of sugar (yay for our neighborhood and Columbia City businesses – no gum or jaw breakers this year and lots of Reese’s, Milky Ways, and Whoppers!), and we had gorgeous weather despite previous forecasts that had us trying to adjust Caitlyn’s expectations into last year’s costume. But while the clouds did move in this afternoon, the rain held off. And so Caitlyn wore the new costume. It’s a little too big in the top, and the hemline will probably start marching toward her knees next …