The hay is in- alfalfa to be exact, and we’re finishing harvests from fruit to slaughter here at EEC Forest Stewardship. This is one of my favorite times of year, because the larder and the other stores for coming winter are topped off. This includes wood for heat and food to eat. I’m actually doing a freezer space shuffle right now to make sure there is room enough for the large blacktail buck I harvested in late October. What a feast for the eyes! All this hard work will earn a rest through the dark lean times to come. It may seem like small milestones, but after many months of planning, gathering, and processing, most of the major tasks this fall are done.
Getting the wood to heat the house is one of the most labor intensive tasks here on the farm. This year, for the first time, I did everything myself. It starts with cutting logs at the tree farm, hauling them home and unloading them in a sunny spot to season over the summer, and then bucking and splitting them in early fall to make sure they are stacked and covered before the rains come. I do borrow a splitter from a neighbor, because axing all that wood at once would break my body. Ten years ago I did my own splitting by hand, now I am thankful to have a machine to help. The stacking takes time too, but it’s such a reward to see all that seasoned wood piled up in the shed. This year, because of timing and an incoming weather pattern, I split and stacked most of the wood in 2 days. It was quite a task, and my back is now a little sore, but very muscular. Thanks to a body that keeps holding enough strength to carry through the hard labors. Within the next few years, I might have to shift how I process wood, because as we age, we don’t get stronger. Thankfully there is great body care to come in wonderful massage from my incredible therapist who keeps my body tuned up for the work to come.
All the signs of Fall this year point to a hard winter to come. There was a lot of goof fruit, mushrooms, and nuts to harvest this year. My buck was heavy with fat- the most I’ve ever seen on a deer I’ve processed. He was also mature, but putting on that extra fat because he also reads the signs of nature’s agenda. There is already snow on the lower peaks around here- a rare thing these days. I recall a few years ago when it was still 90F in October and the woods nearby were on fire. Luckily, this year the rains have come and we had a gentle summer of light heat and a enough rain to keep the pastures green. I’m still grazing my sheep on the land- usually I have them in the barn on hay by now, so it’s a great year for the sheep too. As the light fades and days shorten, I’m grateful for all the bounty and abundance in this life and the wonderful people I share it with.
EEC Forest Stewardship 