And thank God! Boy, are we ever busy since our daughter, Jenna, left. Will’s been cutting more hay, breaking down, fixing it, cutting, fixing, and today, more cutting. And praying, I’m sure! Meanwhile, I’m seeding out more tomatoes, seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel” with just a few more varieties to go. I’m also canning more tomato sauce and helping Will split more firewood when he’s got time. It’s so rewarding to not only see lots of seeds in the bins but also overflowing pantry shelves and a woodshed that’s slowly filling up.
It’s funny how some folks “only” burn birch, ash, or oak. We burn anything that makes fire. Some of it is nice hard, dead wood where other is kind of punky on one side fir or pine. It’s all good. For us. Hey, we keep nice and warm all winter, only burning wood, even cooking with it on the kitchen range. We like to clean up whatever dead wood is out there, from solid poplar that the beavers cut down, ash that has blown down, and dead fir and spruce that a combination of insect-kill and wind have taken down. We try to keep fairly clean woods. Not for looks but for the ever-present danger of forest fire. (We very seldom cut down live trees for firewood the next year.)
This morning, I had to laugh. Back 11 years ago, our friend, Tom, had gone to southern Wisconsin on a family visit and brought me back a bag of black walnuts. I shelled a bunch and canned them up. But I also planted one on the edge of the house garden. Everyone said it wouldn’t ever grow or live as it’s a Zone 4 tree. I shrugged and watched it come up the next spring. And every spring afterward. This spring it graced us with flowers and then tiny walnuts. Now, the nuts are big, and the golden leaves are falling. We’ll be eating some black walnuts but I’m also going to plant a few on the edges of the woods. No, I probably won’t be around to see them produce nuts. But, hey, you never know and someone, hopefully, in the future, will enjoy them.
Then there are the Grandpa Ott’s morning glories in the front flower bed. Last year I had planted them — they bloomed and finally froze. I meant to start some plants this spring, but got busy and didn’t get it done. Guess what? The seeds had fallen from the previous flowers and started growing. Now, we have beautiful flowers on the trellis that I didn’t even plant.
Our nights have been blessed with extreme-colored Northern Lights most clear evenings. It’s such a wonderful sight in the dark, star-studded night sky to see waves of green, red, yellow, and orange wave through the darkness. One more benefit of living in the northern woods; stars, black sky, and gorgeous colors. Add a wolf howl or two and you have perfection!
— Jackie
Oh what fabulous photos! Nothing better than our dark north sky and the lights that dance from time to time.
Jackie have you ever done an article or cookbook about cooking on a woodstove?
I bet that would be a welcome topic. Although probably a challenge since every stove and every cook would be a little different.
Ah, yes, the Northern Lights. I miss those, having grown up in northern Minnesota. Occasionally we even have them here in middle Iowa, but being further south and having more town lights does dim them. Our farm home is situated so it blocks neighbor’s lights, and I can see the Milky Way, the space station when it zooms over, falling stars…a person realizes how small we are in the great wonders of the sky. If only people in the city could have the experience of serenity of land and sky to calm their minds, and this satisfying labor-of-love of preserving bounties we have for our family. Preparedness lessens fear. The self-sufficiency of homesteading is good for body, soul and mind.
Yes, I totally agree with you. We stand out and look at the night sky often. I’m so glad we have no light pollution here or anywhere near us at all. It’s so satisfying to know you have everything you need and even a few things you wanted. By working toward a goal diligently, it can be accomplished in time. Patience is the key. A lot of folks want the best of this and that, right now. Not realistic. We are usually satisfied with what we have and are grateful for it.
Beautiful sky! Aurora borealis! Seen here only a few times . Always beauty. Wills hard at hay/fixin breakdown s. ‘End of the tunnel’ isn’t it nice to see when you’re seeding or finishing up a produce. Canned 2 batches of grape jelly and put the last grapes in juice. . Nothing beats a glass of homemade grape juice,especially in the heat of summer!
Happy harvesting!
Funny, we just had a conversation with our city neighbor about wood. He heats his house with a wood burner. His source? Wood pallets that city people give away for free just to get rid of them! He breaks them up and then cuts them to stove length with his chop saw! I asked him if he worried about pressure treated pallets, to which replied he tried to stay away from them, but in the end, wood is wood and if its burns he’ll use it!
I agree, living in the Wisconsin Northwoods is wonderful 😊 I’m sorry for all of our farmers who are experiencing problems due to bad government….
Hmmm, we live in Zone 3 so everything I’ve read said they were only hardy to Zone 4 on up. We live in Northern Minnesota, 90 miles south of Canada.
Dear Jackie, we are all so blessed. I know some things are bad; but I try to focus on the good and it normally outweighs the bad. I am truly looking forward to winter and a quieter time. We have had 11 inches of rain 2 weeks ago and still in a drought here in Southern Middle Tennessee. But we had a bountiful harvest early on and will do good this winter. It normally rains the whole month of November so I am hoping that will be at least partially true this year. It is time to settle down and enjoy the seasonal times and our harvest canning. We never “really” get to rest. There is always something to do! Take care.
Yes, that’s sure true. I’m really enjoying harvest time this year. We had such crazy weather I wondered if we would get anything. Now we’re struggling with abundance. I’m so grateful!!
I have heated our various living spaces with wood for over 40 years as I’m sure you have too. I do avoid pine and walnut because of creosote and pitch. But I do not avoid any available wood source. I too only cut up dead trees but I have quit “dropping” trees (frankly, too dangerous). It seems we have enough trees that fall with the storms. I’m on an annual mission planting maple seedlings each spring. Our winters have been much milder. We love the night sky and stars-we turn off barn “dusk to dawn” light. We do hit “the hay” as early as 9-9:30 and up at 5am. Crazy-as a youth I struggled to get up early and now don’t need an alarm. Is that a benefit of aging? The soy beans are averaging 60 plus bushel/acre but no market or price. So it goes! Enjoy the quiet of home.
We’re really careful to burn a very hot fire every morning to keep any creosote from forming in the stove pipes. Yep, pine can sure gum up things if you choke the fire down at night and don’t burn it hot in every morning!! Will doesn’t mind cutting down trees; he was a faller for a logging company then ran a one-guy select-cut logging outfit with horses and mules. But we have so many dead ones, he only cuts down those, when still standing.
We love the night sky too and often just stand in the yard and look up at the stars.
Hello! Faithful reader…non-existent commenter. Have lived with black walnut trees all my life, and I want to warn you about that walnut tree. The juglone in every part of that tree makes it hard, if not impossible, for many plants to do well within 40 feet of it. Don’t compost the leaves, even. Some plants do okay but you need to look into this. You depend on your gardens so much! Best wishes!
Yes. I’m well aware of the juglone problem with walnuts. However, we have lusty daylilies and iris growing right under it and our house garden is only ten feet away and does well. Go figure, huh? It’s far away from our Main Garden or any of the other ones. On purpose. Mom and Dad had several black walnuts in their yard when I was young so I’m well aware of their problems.
Black walnut is a 4a to 9 (likely doesn’t do as well in 9 IMHO) so whoever told you that was not totally informed. Climate change is a game changer plus plants, like animals, adapt. Some people in my area hate black walnut trees but not me – so what if not a lot of grass. And honestly, the nuts that drop will quickly be consumed by the wildlife. The walnuts on our other property are HUGE this year. My folks had a walnut tree (as did some neighbors – welcome after all the American Elm succumbed to Dutch Elm disease in the mid-1960s). But I don’t remember the nuts being as big as they are this year.
I was quite clear when I told the restoration company to not touch black walnut trees on our other 5 acres.
We need rain which is forecast next week. We’ve already picked our usual amount of ear corn for wildlife – it is only October 1 (even earlier than last year). My sympathy to farmers and US taxpayers. Trying to curry favor by means of billions in aid (to a foreign country) which ultimately resulted in cancellation of soybean contracts.
2025 garden is put to bed (though I need to weed the perennials and if it doesn’t rain soon, I will need to water-2-weed). Garlic will be planted this weekend. We too enjoy the sanity and solace of our homestead and ongoing quasi prairie restoration of our other property. I have a few more items on my stock up list – I hate it when I find an item in a store THEN finding it again is a scavenger hunt.