Today, we expect to receive our new flock of baby chicks. We ordered 25 NH Reds from Murray McMurray hatchery a couple months ago. Plus, we get a “free rare exotic chick”. We can’t wait to see what that one is. It seems like we have been waiting forever for them to arrive. This will give us one rooster and 49 hens. By March, we should get around 50 eggs a day. By then, we will also have out goat, and possibly a pig or two. In spring, we will add to our flock to have a fresh supply of free range organic eggs, as well as the meat. We will not only sell the eggs, but the organic chicken by the pound.

I know it sounds silly to most, but we were so excited when I went into the coop and discovered this beautiful white egg. I had been looking daily for so long, I had wondered if it was a fake.
I know it is only an egg, but we are proud to be “grandparents”.

Tonight is the first night that we are expecting a frost. We knew it was coming, but we were hoping to get at least another week out of the season.
We now have 60 pounds of green tomatoes! So, I guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow. Yes, green tomato chutney, green tomato relish, green tomato cake, green tomato jam, and any other recipe I can come up with. Plus, I have about 20 pounds or more of red tomatoes that I will be making into tomato sauce.
We also picked the sweet potatoes as well. This was our first year with sweet potatoes. We didn’t get as much as we were expecting. We are not sure if it is the variety that we planted, or the soil we planted in. This will be one of the winter projects we learn about.

The gardens are starting to wind down. I am glad in a way,  but sad in others. It will give me a chance to get some other projects done. It gives me time to get all my canning done before we have to start getting the yard and gardens ready for winter.
Today, I will be making and canning tomato sauce. I think tomorrow, we will work on gathering apples from the neighbors and cidering them for juice for the winter. We froze the juice last year, but this year, I am going to can in quart jars. It will save room in the freezer for other things we need to stock up on. We plan on stocking up and hunkering down for the winter. Since the grocery store is about 40 minutes away, we want to make sure we have all that we need to get us through most of the cold winter months.
Stacking wood will be next!

I found out today that I will have to do the kitchen all over again. It would be the best way to stop the paint from chipping off now, and in the future. I won’t have to do the wainscotting I uncovered which I am thankful for. I will have to strip and sand the trim and anything else that had been painted blue. I am not looking forward to that.
I am looking forward to doing the Celebrate Effinhgam Chili Cook Off again. I can’t believe it is next weekend. It came up on me so quickly. I have ordered my special spices, and I will have to shop for the meat next week.  We have put up the signs at various locations, and we hope to get atleast a couple more participants before the deadline.

On Saturday,  September 20 Celebrate Effingham will be holding their 2nd Annual Chili Cook Off. I am the chair of the committee again this year, and have been busy getting everything ready. There is much to do to make the event a success again this year. We have several participants who are defending their titles from last year, and we have a few new people on board. This year we have a few vendors as well.

I finally finished the kitchen. It is all painted and it is beautiful. It came out just like we wanted. Then I found out that it was oil paint underneath the latex I had just painted. I had sanded most surfaces, but when it gets wet, the paint just peels right off. It is very disappointing. I fear that most of it will have to be stripped or scraped off and then primed, and then repainted. After hours and hours of painting, I will have to start all over again. Sigh…

While in the big city of Conway today, we decided to look into getting a new, and smaller fridge. The one we had was a bit too big for us. Also, it did not fit in with the back dating of our 1940’s kitchen. We bought a small one that would fit under the counter. The old one went out on the porch with a free sign, and we were happy to see it go. It opened up the kitchen so much more.
Our next task is to find an old icebox or old fridge with the compressor on top. As long as it is in presentable condition, we can use it for storage. Just a few more tweaks, and we will  have our 1940’s kitchen. The 1920’s hoosier is now all fixed up.
The microwave is gone, along with the dishwasher and washer and dryer. Gone are the modern appliances. Gone are the teflon pans, replaced with pots from the late 30’s. If you walk into our kitchen, you would be hardpressed to know what year it is.
I see many pictures online where they say they have a “1950 kitchen”. They have all these “gadgets” hanging about to make it look like the 1950’s. Then I see a microwave on the counter and I have to laugh.

The unofficial end of summer is of course today Labor Day. The kids will go back to school and most vacations have ended.
Around here, summer will not end until September 21, which according to history is the Autumn Solstice.
From then forward we will prepare the gardens, animals, and house for the coming winter months. Not an easy task. It the spring tasks in reverse. Putting the hoses aways, tilling in the compost and other such chores. This year, we will build a chicken coop for the new chickens as well. We will too get ready for the goats that will arrive in the spring.
While summer vacation is over for most, life here on the farm is as busy as ever.