Good morning, from the mountains of Kentucky. Fall in the mountains is one of my favorite times of year. I love the vibrant colors of the mountains. The leaves go through change that ranges from green to yellow, to red, and orange. The colors remind me of my mamaw’s colorful patchwork quilts made from random scraps of fabric. I love the aroma of fall in the mountains as the leaves fall. The flavors change in our cooking, teas, diffusers, and in the local coffee shops. Lots of pumpkin spices, carrot cakes, pumpkin lattes, and more. I love the sweaters and boots that come with fall. It’s a beautiful time to live in the mountains of Appalachia.

Fall on the homestead is more than just pumpkin spice and colorful leaves, it’s a time of hard work. It is time to dig the late potatoes and onions. Once the potatoes are dug, they’ll be stored in the basement for winter potatoes and left overs will become seed potatoes next year. Once the onions are dug, they’ll be placed in a large box on the porch in filtered sunlight to allow the skins to dry. When the skins are dry, the onions are stored in the basement for the winter. Fall is also the time for cleaning up the garden, rolling up fence rows, clearing away the debris from spent plants, and rolling up plastic used to help prevent weeds. It’s also time to collect remaining plants for seeds.

With the remnants of beans left on the fence, we pick the shriveled pods and place them in a large breathable box in the basement to continue drying for bean seed. Once the bean hulls have dried completely the beans are removed and allowed to dry an additional couple of days and then stored in a clean jar for seed next year. Don’t forget to always label your jars as it can get confusing which bean is which once they’re shelled. Fall is also a time to can delicious apple butter for the year. We usually can apple butter every other year. Apple for frying are put away yearly.

Once the potatoes and onions are dug, the seeds are collected from remnant tomatoes, and beans and the garden is cleared from dying plants, it’s time to clear the ground and burn some wood in the garden to richen the soil with necessary magnesium, phosphate, zinc, and other nutrients required to grow a healthy garden. The land will then be plowed and the wood ash turned under the soil. We’ll then sew a cover crop for the winter.

Finally, fall is a time to collect herbs for drying. The herbs are dried for culinary purposes, oils, and salves. We’ve been richly blessed this year with an abundance of basil, oregano, yarrow, and sage all of which are delicious additions to dishes, oils, and for medicinal purposes. With all the outdoor work winding down, fall is also a time to reorganize the many jars of food we’ve preserved over the year with moving the fresher jars to the back of the shelves to ensure we are using the preciously canned jars first. It’s also a time to reorganize the spice and tea cabinets. Herbs and spices that are older than three years are emptied into the compost bin to help enrich the compost with antioxidants. Some of the older tea leaves are reserved for weak teas to water house plants.

That’s just a few things that happens on the homestead in the fall. There’s more work, but also some fun activities. During the fall we have cookouts, nights with toasting marshmallows, roasting wieners, and big fall dinners for all the family. It’s a time that we enjoy baking pumpkin bread, and other fall favorites. Fall is when we dehydrate apples to enjoy during the winter. It’s also the best time to porch sit with a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy the beautiful fall leaves in the mountains.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into our life during the fall on the homestead. Feel free to like, subscribe, comment or follow. May the Lord bless you with a wonderful and peaceful fall. God bless from the mountains of Kentucky.