State of the Homestead, Fall 2025

We finally finished the deck extension for the greenhouse. This will give me back my front deck and I can move my bigger plants and citrus trees to the back. Less direct sun.

In the meantime, I lamented to Greg that the bed I designated as my asparagus bed was not working out. He offered to build me a new, dedicated bed. I had ordered fresh asparagus roots and decided that a 10x10 foot bed should suffice.

Somehow, Greg bought 12 foot long boards instead of 10 foot, so now I have a 12 x 12 foot bed. I'm a little peeved because I didn't want it to take up so much room, plus I didn't buy enough asparagus for the extra 44 sq feet. 

Luckily strawberries are good companions for asparagus. Strawberry roots are shallow, and their plentiful leaves will, theoretically, make a great weed suppressant. I just happened to have a bunch of strawberry plants in pots. I think they'll be a lot happier in a big garden bed.

We situated the new bed next to the greenhouse. It required that we move the septic sprinkler further into the woods. It was a hassle, digging a trench and laying new pipe, but it was for the best. Now we don't have to worry about hitting it whenever we mow in that area. 

Sadly, we'll probably have to fence the asparagus bed. Deer LOVED to bed down in my old asparagus bed. This one is even comfier, plus now they can nibble on strawberry plants, so a-fencing we must go.

Still on my schedule is painting my back porch, a breezeway that extends nearly the length of the house, about 140 feet.

I asked for a quote from professional painters and their estimate was nearly $2000. That's too rich for my blood. I hate painting ceilings, but I think I can tough it out and save myself some serious cash. 

My biggest expense will be for paint that can withstand moisture since it's open to the elements except for the screens and a short wall.

The short wall is about 30 inches high and runs all the way across the breezeway. What I'd love is to put up is a colorful mosaic of tile on said wall. Something Mediterranean. Greg will never go for it though. Too much $$. Too bad. I think it would look outstanding and increase the value of the house.

I'm hoping I can get it started in a few weeks. 

The fall garden is coming along. I'll also be overwintering a few pepper plants so I can get an early start next year. Mostly, pimento and a couple of jalapeno for fresh eating.

I don't plan on growing too many peppers next year because we had a bumper crop this year. That harvest will easily last me two years. I freeze dried most of those peppers, so I'm in good stead.

Speaking of pimento, I made my own sweet paprika powder from this year's crop. I freeze dried it, then powdered it. I swear it tastes like it just came out of the garden. 

I'm also thrilled that I'm getting cucumbers in mid November. These are Persian cucumbers that don't need pollinators, just warmth. 

I do plan on growing more beans next year. I've never been happy with the green beans I've stored in the freezer, even with blanching them ahead of time. Next year, I plan to freeze dry them instead. I'm told they're much more edible freeze dried, but what will the texture be like? I guess I can buy some green beans next week, and test them out on the freeze dryer to see how they'll taste.

Potatoes are also high on my list though I'm already growing a fall harvest. I'm experimenting with a winter harvest too. I want to plant some potatoes in pots and grow them under grow lights. I'll let you know next year if it worked.

Greg loves the potatoes I grow so much that we run out every time, so I'm making a concerted effort to grow them year round. This way I won't have to store them.

The only thing left is garlic. Currently, I'm storing them in a crisper drawer in the fridge. I won't plant them until late November/early December when the temps come down. I bought hard neck garlic which is typically grown in northern climates. Although they don't keep as well soft neck garlic, only hard neck garlic give me garlic scapes, which I love.

My niece tried a garlic scape pesto and now I'm anxious to try it too. Next year, I hope. 

My long range plan was not to have any more big projects once Greg turned 70. We kind of missed that mark, but hopefully this year will be the last of big building/remodeling projects. (I know I'll probably eat those words. LOL!)

As we get older I don't want us to hurt ourselves doing projects. That's one reason I want to get the exterior painting done before I turn 70. I like to paint, but even I know I'm not as agile as I used to be. I try to be very careful climbing ladders.

Ultimately, I don't want to do anything more strenuous than mowing, raking the acreage, or weeding our gardens as we navigate our 70s. We'll still have to cut down trees from time to time, but even now, we use the tractor to make sure a tree falls where we want it to fall. 

There is a lot of brush cutting we have to do this year. It's starting to encroach on our out buildings so we need to thin that out. It's amazing how fast nature takes over if you let it. 

Nana is still with us. She's now on Librela every 3 weeks. I'm hoping it will keep her around until after the holidays, but we take it day by day. If it keeps her comfortable, it's worth the cost. She's our kid. 

Our vet has been wonderful. She comes to the house to give her the shot. It's much less stressful for her.

It's a blessing when you have someone so empathetic to your pets. 

In the meantime, I'm getting ready for he holidays. There's a lot to do. I think we're invited for Thanksgiving elsewhere, but I still have to buy a turkey for Greg. He wants to be sure he gets his turkey leg. 

I'm also getting ready for Black Friday. All year long I put down things on my Amazon Wish List, and wait for them to go down in price. I almost always get the best prices during Black Friday weekend.

Another thing I do is to put any earlier purchases to arrive on "Amazon Days" which gives me 6% back. We've made some high dollar purchases this year, so it's really added up. I've been accumulating these points all year just to spend them on Black Friday. It really is my favorite time of year, not just for the holidays, but for the savings. Christmas is already expensive. Saving my points until the end of the year does a lot to relieve the extra crunch of bills.

Are you ready for the holidays? What's on your To-Do List?

 

**I'm an Amazon affiliate. If you happen to be shopping Amazon, be a pal and start from this link. Thanks! I appreciate it.

This post may contain affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Click here for my disclosure policy