Fall on the farm
- scabbott
- Oct 15
- 3 min read
As the season winds down, there are still a lot of things to do on the farm. I checked the bees about a month ago. My rule of thumb is to not take honey after Labor Day. It was just past Labor Day, but I would have collected my last batch if I felt the bees could afford it. But, I did not find honey outside the broodnest of any amount, so I left them as is. I flipped the middle inner cover in my blue long hive. I am still deciding whether to insulate this fall or not. The tan long hive is double walled, so it does not need to be insulated. The blue long hive is snuggled in the corner of my windbreaks between the other two hives. The vertical hive apparently survived last winter on its own. It was very nasty this summer. That either means it went queenless and was in the process of re-queening itself, or it is just plain mean. I think I will just leave it as is and see what survives the winter. So, I am leaning toward leaving them as is and seeing what spring brings.
Today we started breeding our goats for spring kidding. We bred Crocus - our Lamancha/Nubian cross doe to our mostly Lamancha buck Daniel. The projected kidding date is March 14, 2026. We will breed two more does this year. Our bucks are looking the best they have ever looked this year. I think putting them on pasture for most of the season was very beneficial. We had to pull them off the end of August because they began to go into rut and destroyed two of their virtual fence collars fighting with each other. Fortunately the company, which must not have much experience with dairy goat bucks in rut, has a five year warranty on the collars, so they were replaced free of charge. I will not take too much advantage of that. Next year I will proactively pull them earlier from pasture. But I got everything cleaned up and stored so I can get them on pasture earlier next spring than I did this year.
October 25, 2025 is our official chicken/turkey butchering day. I pay my help in birds. I do not have extra birds to sell, but I am thankful for the help that I have and for the system as it has been working for the past two years. This will be our third year doing this with this team.
We recently got over an inch of rain in a nice slow form. This has produced a big flush of shiitake mushrooms for us. It has been a dry year, so the mushrooms have come but sparsely this season. This looks to make up for it.
Our CSA is winding down, but in spite of the hot and dry summer and a late start we will be able to complete the 16 week season. There will likely be open spots for next season, so let us know if you are interested in snagging one.
As things slow down, I have more time to teach classes. I will teach some cheese classes in November. If you are interested in any classes this fall, contact me and we will try to schedule them.
reading about the farms wrapping up their season, the bees tucked in and the goats getting ready for spring literally reminded me of my own writing cycle preparing, revising, waiting for the right moment to move forward. In the thick of editing my research I felt a lot like the farmer deciding whether to insulate the hive or let nature run its course, and that’s when I chose to hire UK assignment editor, treating the work like a living ecosystem of ideas needing careful tending rather than one big leap.
I really enjoyed reading this post it captures the challenges and joys of working through difficult tasks in such a relatable way. As a doctoral student, juggling research, deadlines, and personal commitments can feel overwhelming at times. There are moments when I wish I could get some help with doctoral-level exams just to manage the workload better. Posts like this remind me that it’s okay to seek support and that every step, even the hard ones, contributes to growth.