First Frost

Last night we had our first frost here in the Southeast.  Before it melted and before I was fully awake, I snapped a few photos:

See the tiny bit of orange at the small chicken house?  That's Byron letting the Barred Rocks (and their man) out this morning.

We novices were concerned as to how the cows would fare during the sudden chill, but they seemed as content as usual today.

Knowing of the cold to come, we hoped to find the guineas alive this morning, since they still refuse to roost under shelter and have taken to nesting in this tree:

Happily, they were alive and well.

 We also had to dig into our stockpile and fire up the woodstove!

Since we don't want to deplete our wood before, um, Thanksgiving, we're glad it's supposed to warm up again this week.

With the cold weather upon us, however, we also have been collecting leaves to spread between the rows in the garden:

Our friend, Don, was kind enough to load up our truck with a few loads of leaves from his place last weekend.

And here they wait for me to spread...though the kids have been enjoying jumping in them!

Final harvest: I pulled up the last few basil plants and am drying them out in the barn.  I plan to save the seeds to start (hopefully successful) new plantings in the spring.

We are also planning on building a hoop house like this one for the chickens, and to serve as a greenhouse in the spring.  We'll also build a pole-structure shelter for the cows within the next month.  Then we'll retire indoors and start attacking the many renovations awaiting us inside!

How are you getting ready for winter?