Homesteading has many challenges but the rewards are bountiful. As winter has stripped away all vestiges of life from most of the trees and vines we have plenty of chickens, ducks and pigs to keep the spirit alive till spring. Speaking of chickens, we quadrupled our chicken population this year and with the addition of the hoop coop they are sheltered from the winter rains and cool temperatures. Art has repurposed the muck from the coop to fertilize new pomegranate trees planted to round out the orchard to just over eight hundred trees. That's right we are 800 strong not including the two hundred various trees in the garden. We've created a food forest that produces from May to December.
Our garden transformation this year included a few new additions to the annual raised beds from aronia, mint, chamomile, bay leaf tree, strawberries, wild mountain tea, lavender, hithra, and blueberry bushes. We have restocked our herbal tea supply which we drink daily. After assessing the shelves, our food storage and canned food surplus from the summer will last until late spring before the garden starts it evolution of life.
The wine is aging nicely in the oak barrels. We've bottled last years wine and are enjoying it a little at the time. Art brewed the last batch of grape raki last week and the quality was top notch.
We did venture out and collect another round of wild pomegranates and squeezed another 100 liters of juice to freeze. The hike to the fort over the lake was not as bountiful as years before. Mostly, because we were late but it was a stunning day to hike.
We received a new partner for Polly the Duck. His name is Jolly and they are very happy companions. Quacking along and love intimidating the chickens.
Art and I have explored many caves behind the house but haven't been back to a few in years because the paths were overgrown. We cut through to check them out and were surprised that one had nearly collapsed but the other was still holding strong. And may try our hand at growing white, portabella, or lion's mane mushrooms.
We are constantly discussing on how/where to build an accommodation on the property. Ideas from a tree house, tiny a-frame, garden hut, yurt and RV. We haven't landed only on a game plan yet but know that we are working on it. I want to share this with others and in order to do so we need to expand our footprint a bit. Fingers crossed we can make that happen in 2024.
I have also hit my max storage capacity for images here on this blog so check out our year end video to see what we've been up to.