It’s that time of year again; the days are getting shorter, the clocks are turned back, and the holidays are fast approaching. Here on the farm, it also means time for yard clean-up, and getting the gardens and chicken coop ready for the winter.
There’s no shortage of things to do, but there is a shortage this year of nice, sunny days to get that outside work done! Everything is wet, and we are running behind on our projects. A coop expansion is also being planned, though we haven’t seen our contractor yet, so I’m not sure if that will get done before winter or not. That might have something to do with all the rain, and before we know it that other kind of precipitation will probably be here too!
At least on all these rainy days I’m stuck inside, I have plenty to keep me busy with trying to get my online store up and running and also getting ready for a big local crafts fair where I’m going to be bringing some of our products to sell. Somehow Luke and I have been able to time our daily walks in-between rain showers and have only missed one here and there. It is so wet everywhere, and areas that are usually only wet in the springtime are full of water.
We finally got a “kind of” sunny day on Sunday, with high clouds blocking the warmth of it and temperatures barely in the 40’s, but at least it was not raining! I was able to get most of my small clean-up done after our walk; herbs harvested for drying and for the coop (we like to put fresh herbs in the nesting boxes), and a small garden bed almost ready for planting some garlic.
Thank goodness for my garden helper: Luke starting pulling up plants all on his own! All help is appreciated; what would I do without him?
Are you and your pets and home ready for the coming winter?
We have winners for our recent giveaways! Congratulations to Bryn from A Dog Walks Into a Bar, and Crystal from Crystal & Daisy Mae’s Photo Blogging Site, on each winning a prize pack from our own Barking Dog Organic Farm! Stay tuned for our store to be opening soon!
Also, congratulations to all the winners of the Trick or Treat Giveaway Hop:
- Grand Prize – $350 Petco Gift Card – Kate Pelletier
- Second Prize – sponsored by Kong – Joseline Lovett
- Third Prize – sponsored by Wellness – Katherine Spangler
- Fourth Prize – sponsored by Petcurean – Laurie Nykaza
- Fifth Prize – sponsored by Only Natural Pet – Trisha McKee
- Sixth Prize – sponsored by DogTV – Susan Pertierra
- Seventh Prize – sponsored by Caru – Adrianna P Gonzales
- Eighth Prize – sponsored by Treatibles – Sonya Allstun
- Ninth Prize – sponsored by Noah’s Bark – Sarak Skylark
- Tenth Prize – sponsored by West Paw – Ellen Beck
- Eleventh Prize – sponsored by P.L.A.Y. – Helga Romoser
This is not the kind of fall weather I love! I’m glad you have a helper to assist with the chores though, that’s right handy!
Fall was pretty short-lived too, wasn’t it? We were not even done preparing for winter yet, and boom – it’s here! We have a foot of snow on the ground already!
Luke you are such the big helper!! We don’t really do much fur winter since it’s always a toss up if it will be cold for pushing 90 degrees 😉 Mama always threatens Daddy on Christmas dat if it isn’t cold she is staying inside wif the AC cranked so she can pawtend 😉
xoxo,
Matt & Matilda
Heehee, good thinking on Mama’s part – we’d want to do that too! 🙂
Luke is a wonderful and helpful nut!!!
He’s helpful AND entertaining! 🙂
It’s actually been pretty nice here this fall…I’ll try and send you some of our sun!
We did receive some, but it didn’t last very long! 🙂
You make quite the helper, Luke! I hope that spot isn’t always puddled or you plan to add dirt to make it more elevated because that could be quite a mess. We can’t wait to see how the expansion turns out!
I think they plan to add some fill there anyway, or they will be now anyway!
Luke is a good helper and so fashionable. Congrats to all the lucky winners !
He loves his coats and sweaters!
We don’t have to do anything except wrap our outside pipes for the automatic water sprinkler and the water spigots. It just doesn’t get cold here.
Lucky you!! 🙂
Thank cod you have Luke to help with the fall clean up. 😉
And he works for treats instead of cash! 🙂
Congrats to all the winners! Love that Luke helps pulling herbs. Maybe you could ‘farm’ him out! BOL
BOL!! Good one!
You are doing a wonderful job Luke and you sure look great in red!
Red is definitely his color!
Luke your such a great helper.
He sure thinks he is!! 🙂
We’re thinking about winter. We’re in the middle of Fall and the trees are almost bare. It’s cold sometimes rainy and we could get our first snow this weekend. We’ve already had a bunch of killing frosts. Good luck. I’m so excited I won. Can hardly wait to get my prize pack.
We are so pleased that you’re excited! We hope you like the products. Did you get any snow yet? We might get some tomorrow night.
We haven’t really started to think about Winter yet. We have been so focused on earning titles before the end if the year. (I’ve become a bit obsessed!). But I know it’s right around the corner, I’m not ready!
I’ve been distracted by a lot of other things this year too, so I’m amazed I’ve gotten done what I needed to (with no help from the weather either)!
we are probably not ready… it came way tooooo fast this year… next month is christmas… unbelievable ;O) Congrats to all winners!!!!
We are never ready either!!
We’ve had mostly dry days so far, but we got some rain yesterday and forecast is for more this morning. We’ll see. I’m not big on gardening, either – like Joy – but I would like to have some lavender plants to keep the mosquitoes away.
My biggest plan for today is to go vote.
Good job getting out to vote! I was sure to do that as well. I want to grow lavender next year as well. I tried this year but the seeds never came up; no idea why.
We don’t do much winter preparation. I mowed the lawn a last time to mulch up some of the leaves, but that is about it. Gardening and yard work are not really my thing. It’s not fun for me, and I don’t know much about it.
You sound just like my oldest sister, mowing the lawn is the extent of yard work she wants to do as well! 🙂
It’s spring in Australia at the moment and we are getting ready for the warm days ahead. We have garlic, onions, tomatoes & butternut pumpkin in our garden now (the pumpkin came up by itself thanks to our compost).
Merlin likes to help also lol. He is not a digger which i’m thankful for.
Oh, lucky you, all those crops to look forward to! The one thing I miss the most in the winter is our own fresh veggies.
Luke loves to dig, so in season I keep the herbs fenced off so he can’t get to them! 🙂 He doesn’t have access to the other gardens.