It was hard to see the beauty through the smoke this summer.
There was true smoke—smoke from British Columbia that slunk down into our valley during the night, and remained, unable to climb its way back out again, for weeks on end.
And there was soul smoke—loss, grief, and exhaustion that choked the lungs and stung the eyes.
Only just this week has it cleared, yet the memory still hangs over us, thick and gray.
We lost our beloved, guardian-dog Yeti this summer. It hurts deeply even to type that sentence. It was sudden and so much like a nightmare that I kept waking each morning, expecting that a nightmare it had been, for many days and even weeks afterward, only to remember and mourn his loss all over again.
One day, I will share the story of what happened to Yeti, our first guardian of the homestead.
The memories are too fresh now. Their roots are still deep in the ground, though the foliage is changing color and beginning to wither.
Here I sit, merely waiting for it all to go to seed; to blow away on the wind, leaving behind only faded memories, the remains of stalks and branches to be buried under feet of snow and make the soil new again.
The summer load was heavy in June and the first weeks of July. But after we lost Yeti, the burden of it all seemed to crush us. I don’t know if the load truly grew heavier as the weeks wore on, or if we had merely grown weaker from all the work and heartache. Either way, our family is longing to close the garden gate on this season; to huddle together and learn to remember our days in the summer sun with Yeti through smiles instead of tears.
There has been rain which is slowly washing this land and the keepers of it. The symbolism is not lost on any of us as we watch dust and smoke drain out of the clearing.
And new mercies are on the wing; I see them arriving already. The hummingbirds have left, but since then, all the fall birds have come rushing in to take their place; robber jays, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and flickers.
The changing of the guard and our guardian, too.
R.I.P Yeti
~guardian of the homestead; lover of shade and snow, hater of deer and crow, fierce and noble heart, brave and gentle soul~
Everything We Learned Our Fifth Summer on the Homestead
*Click the post link so you don’t miss out on any of the slideshows*
Harvesting and Hunting are not synonymous.
meat chicks, two days old 
two days old 
two days old 
meat chicks, six weeks old 
out to pasture 
finally, a lawn with purpose 
getting fat 
uh-oh… hens are looking tasty 
one paw forward for all of canine-kind 
our hen shepherd 
our hen shepherd 
our hen shepherd 
as close to the slaughter station as I dared 
chicken feet and veggie broth 
feet broth, anyone?
We raised and slaughtered 31 chickens this summer (we lost one little bantam rooster to Mr. Otis). If it looks like it was easy, it wasn’t.
There was feeding, and watering, and herding, and fencing, and pasturing, and sheltering, and butchering, and processing, and cleaning it all up afterwards.
To sum it all up for you in two quick sentences, I give you my husband and my exchange at midnight on butchering night as he wrapped the last of the 31 birds in wax paper and plastic wrap atop my open truck bed, under the glare of a flood light in the slaughter field:
Me: “So. Was it worth it?”
Him: “I think I’ll just shoot two deer next year and call it done.”
What we learned: Layer hens are a lovely enterprise. Meat birds are not.
How we plan to do it differently next year: We plan to NOT. Instead, we’ll aim to put two deer into the freezer and just skip on the chickens. No feeding, watering, chasing, flapping, penning, trimming, bedding, or filth required.
When life gives you lettuce, make it a wrap!
We had to get creative this summer to use as much lettuce as we could! Even still, we gave buckets away, and fed more buckets full to the chickens!
We made these super yummy Veggie Burger Lettuce Plates by laying lettuce leaves down, then drizzling them in a cashew, honey mustard sauce I whipped up, and then topped them with buffalo cauliflower bites and loads of avocado. This was a super easy, fast, and healthy dinner to save us from another standard salad!
For a little culture this summer, I also made these delicious Thai Peanut Lettuce Wraps. I baked up some tofu tossed in soy sauce and sesame oil, roasted some teriyaki carrots and mushrooms, toasted some peanuts, and loaded the lot of it onto a bed of lettuce leaves with some cooled jasmine rice. Then, I simply garnished with fresh cilantro and WHAM! A fun, flavor-packed way to use up some lettuce.
When friends give you berries, make immune syrup!
We were gifted some aronia berries and a whole lot of elderberries from two sweet friends this summer. So, I whipped up some immune syrups for the fast-approaching cold and flu season!
What we’re learning: Make hay while the sun shines or immune syrup when the berries are ripe for the taking!
Not every crop can thrive in the same season
peas, peas, and more peas! 
purple pods 
sugar snap 
teepea tunnels 
purple and green 
pretty little sweet pea 
Time to come out of your shell! 
gardening for color 
shortcake, anyone? 
Tea’s abrewing! 
A barrage of borage. 
Carrots and spinach and shallots, oh my! 
Here we grow! 
Growing! 
We grew! 
Honeynuts, here we come! 
The future looks orange. 
The Shalllot Patch 
carrots and sage 
potatoes growing 
potatoes growing 
potato plants dying… 
purple potatoes, beets, and carrots
What we learned: Of course, we all want to do everything great all of the time. But the reality, whether in the garden or not, is that we can only do some things great, some of the time. I don’t like it either, friends. I’m a glutton for beauty and bounty and lots of it.
In short, we had a handful of bumper crops this year, and a handful of bummer crops, as well.
HARVEST HITS:
- Strawberries (hurray for perennials-a-plenty!)
- Asparagus
- Peas, peas, and more peas!
- Lettuce
- Herbs (sage, thyme, mints of all kinds, lavender, chives, oregano, borage)
- Carrots
- Onions & Shallots
- Garlic
- Peppers
- Pumpkins, Butternuts, & Delicata (on their way!!)
HARVEST MISSES:
- Potatoes (Our first sad spuds yet! We have some good potatoes, just a sparse harvest and we are not sure as to the cause yet.)
- Tomatoes (my heart!)
- Green Beans (the peas were outcompeting them)
- Spinach
- Brassicas (the cabbage loopers won)
What we’ll be doing different next year: Just like with siblings on long car rides, we would be wise to give everyone more space to stretch out in the future… and more regular feedings.
Gardens are good, but orchards are gold.
What we’re learning: Perennials have your back. Also, they have your butts. As in, they let you sit on them and have a glass of iced tea.
What we’ll be doing different next year: Slacking off on all the annuals a bit more, and just sitting in the shade of the orchard and enjoying the view!
Summer should be served under dumplings.
from stable to table 
roasted the bird 
grabbed veg from the garden 
roasted the veg 
stripped the bird 
cut it all up into chunks 
made a broth using the chicken bones 
simmered a celebratory meal 
added our frozen spring peas and chicken chunks 
covered it with dumplings like mama used to make 
ate it up so fast, we forgot to take a good picture!
This meal was a big deal, my friends. We have eaten a lot of farm-fresh dinners, but this one was extra-celebratory as it was full of everything homegrown! Our chicken and dumplings served up our own home-raised chicken along with all our own homegrown vegetables–carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, thyme, and peas! This dinner was so yummy, you could almost talk us into raising meat birds again, but not quite.
What we’ve learned: Nothing tastes as good as homegrown and home-raised.
Building a treehouse means believing in next summer.
This must be a magic treehouse, because somehow it keeps growing. What began as a simple, little play-fort concept has ballooned into a sort of off-grid getaway cabin in the woods. As you can see, it is no where near being complete, but we have faith that summer will come again and bring with it family sleepovers and star-gazing parties.
What we learned: The TajmaTreehouse wasn’t built in one summer.
What we’ll be doing differently: Tackling fewer big projects per season.
Summer’s youth and beauty is short, so soak it all in while you can.
I have never described myself as a cat person… until now. These kittens are seriously the sweetest cats I’ve ever been around. They follow me on my morning walks and try to ride my feet until I pick them up and cradle them for the rest of my laps as they try to wake the forest with their purring. Then, in the afternoon, they follow us out into the garden and try to clamber up our legs and backs so they can actually perch on our shoulders like parrots and watch what we are doing in those fascinating raised beds.
As for hollyhocks and baby chicks, well, I needed no convincing there.
What we’re learning: All these creatures great and small are the lifeblood of the homestead. Tomorrow is not certain, so pet the kitties, hug the dog, smell the flowers, watch the sunset, and have that picnic.
Thank you for following the joys and sorrows of our homestead life. Please hug your dog for me.
Love, Candace Arden
Remembering Yeti…
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. ~Isaiah 40:8
