Parts of northern Minnesota had snow last night

We haven’t had any yet, but are expecting it very soon. That’s why we’ve kicked into overdrive around here. I’ve been seeding crops like mad to prevent them from getting rotten. When not doing that, I’m running the wood splitter while Will does the grunt work to get a lot of dry wood in the shed before it gets wet, wet. Yes, we did get some rain the day before yesterday. And, yes, it’s cold, with a high today of 43 degrees F. But thankfully, that darned wind died down today, and the sun came out from time to time. So, it wasn’t as cold, working outside as it was yesterday when it was cloudy, windy and wet.

We did pull the 50-foot row of beets yesterday as it’s supposed to be down to the mid-twenties tonight. Beets will take a lot of cold, but there is a point … Will ran the heaters in both hoop houses and the greenhouse, where we have a bunch of onions, squash, and some corn drying down. We wanted to be safe, rather than sorry. We’ve got a whole lot of peppers in both hoop houses that need further ripening. I especially love the Venice Bootleg hot peppers. They’re not only tasty but beautiful too. As they grow upright, they form a “flower” grouping on the ends of branches. They almost look like poinsettias!

Today I’m seeding out muskmelons and cucumbers. Boy, do my fingers get cold from squishing out the cucumber seeds as the cukes have been out in the cold garden! Will has been hauling loads of big round bales home, trying to get ahead of snow time. Fortunately, he only has three more loads to go. Wonderful! He put out two bales in the cow yard today. We’re thankful that our Catahoula dog, Hondo, taught our mastiff, Sarge, to work cattle. Sarge is not a cattle dog breed, but boy does he do a great job keeping the cattle away from the gate while the tractor goes in and out. It takes a lot of work off my shoulders, for sure! Homestead dogs are great partners as well as friends.

— Jackie