A Leaf In the Table

Homestead Report: November 2025

The Homestead Report is a periodic recap of what’s been happening here on the homestead, in our family, and with our homestead supply business, Farmstead Supplies. Some links may lead to products we carry there, while others may be affiliate links for which I may receive a small commission.

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Fall, Leaves, Fall

by Emily Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night’s decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

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I used to loathe November. To come from October, in all its fiery glory, into this gray-brown decay with its ever-shortening days was too much for me. But ever since I left my 9-5, and actually got to experience true November, it has become one of my favorite times of the year.

And one of the busiest, oddly enough.

Just because the garden isn’t in full bloom doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot happening. Quite the opposite, actually.

Here are some of the things we achieved since the last report.

Cut, Split, Stack, Repeat

With the cold weather comes the need for firewood. And while we don’t rely on our fireplace for heat, it is a central part of life at home during the colder months.

Keeping a fire in the grate throughout the day does take the edge off a chilly day in the rooms we frequent most, so it’s worth the effort of putting up a cord or so of firewood each year.

Thankfully, we have an abundance of standing firewood on and around our property. So we don’t have to go far to source it. The Emerald Ash Borer has been wreaking havoc on the ash tree population here in the Northeast for decades, leaving the carcasses of these once-majestic hardwoods standing and good for only one thing—firewood. Even that’s a gamble, though. The longer they stand, the punkier they get, so the grade varies wildly. But it will all burn, and we’re not picky. It all has to come down anyway.

All told, I took down about six trees. Bucked, split, and stacked—they’ll get us through the winter.

Winterizing the Chicken Brothel

An auctioneer friend of mine had these 2x8 corrugated plastic panels available for about half the retail cost. So I snatched them up.

I’d been looking for a way to keep the winter weather out of the chicken run, or at least to a minimum. These panels will withstand the winds that whip through all winter and protect from rain and snow, without sacrificing sunlight. The result will be a drier run with a slight bump in temperatures during the day, so our chickens will be a bit more comfortable in the cold weather.

We don’t heat our coop—what we affectionately call the Chicken Brothel—but we do try to keep it as dry as possible. Not having rain-soaked bedding in the run will help a lot.

We’ve had great success using the deep litter method of maintaining the coop, so there’s not much to do in getting it ready for winter.

With these shorter days, we provide supplemental light from 5 AM–8 AM and 3 PM-9 PM. Adding light is one of the only things that has actually worked for keeping egg production from completely tanking during the winter.

Oh, and we have another rooster.

Can I Get Your Input?

I’m kicking around the idea of a private homestead/farmstead community where we walk out the next 1–5 years together—plans, tools, finances, what to actually do next on your land, livestock management, etc.

If you’d be even remotely interested in that, would you answer 4 quick questions for me? It’ll take less than a minute.

Upgrading the Old Quad

I inherited a quad from my brother-in-law a few years ago. It’s a 2001 Honda Rancher that sat untouched for well over a decade before I brought it to the homestead. After replacing the spark plug, carburetor, air filter, and an oil change, it’s running well.

We have a long driveway—for a residential neighborhood—and I don’t like to pay people to do things I can do myself. So I use the quad to plow during the winter.

The plow setup, however, left a lot to be desired. The manual lifting bar never quite worked right, so I had to rig it up with a come-along to adjust the height. It was cumbersome, to say the least. So I picked up a 2500 lb winch and mounted it to the front of the quad last week. Now I have push-button control over the height of the plow, which will be very useful when the snow comes.

I also picked up four new all-terrain tires for it. I doubt this machine has ever had a new set. It sure beats putting chains on the old bald tires.

With the new tires, winch, and plow all set, I’m ready for the snow to fly.

There’s really something to be said for equipment that you can work on yourself. I’ve always preferred to learn by doing, but so much modern machinery is too complicated to work on. I’d rather have an old machine I can fix than a new one that I can’t.

The New Seed Catalogs Are Here!

Every year when the new seed catalogs start arriving, I think of that scene from the classic Steve Martin movie, The Jerk, where he goes crazy over the new phonebook arriving. “I’m somebody now!”

I feel that.

This year, I’m starting from scratch with my personal seed bank. I was careless with my previous seed supply and everything got drenched in a downpour, so it’s going to be a big year for seed purchases.

I’m a fairly practical gardener. I grow things we’ll eat. After years of growing way too much kale and such, I finally decided to refocus my efforts on making a dent in the grocery budget. That means growing the things we use on a regular basis and store well. For us, that’s carrots, onions, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, peas, green beans, cabbage, and other common cooking vegetables. There are so many things I’d love to learn to grow, but in a limited space and with a goal of reducing food costs, the energy and resources need to go into the more pragmatic choices.

But when the seed catalogs arrive, all that wisdom temporarily goes out the window and my eyes get bigger than my stomach (and my budget). I’m sure you have no idea what I’m talking about 😉.

Putting A Leaf In the Table

I really enjoy Thanksgiving—maybe even more than Christmas. Is that weird?

We hosted family this year, and I cooked the whole meal. It was a two-day marathon, but absolutely worth it. Cooking real food from scratch is one of my favorite ways to show my family how much I love them.

In the past few years, our traditions have been shifting. Hosting duties are changing hands, the rhythms are different, and you can feel the family passing quietly into a new season. As a dad in my forties with a six-year-old and twin two-year-olds, I notice it more. There’s a perspective I didn’t have in my twenties—one that makes me work harder to shape holidays my kids will remember, and one that makes me take far less for granted.

Family has become central in a way it wasn’t before. I find myself cherishing these gatherings—not for the big moments, but for the simple ones.

Like slipping the extra leaf into the dining table.

It hit me harder than it should have: this small act of opening the table, of making room, of welcoming people in. It feels like something from another age. But maybe that’s exactly why it matters. Maybe we need more of that—more space, more hospitality, more intentional belonging.

At least, I know I do.

Other Homestead Happenings

• A letter I sent to a neighbor about the possibility of farming his land was answered enthusiastically. There may be an opportunity there for me to put some sheep on the land. That conversation led me to another with an area Merino sheep farmer who is interested in putting together a co-op. We may have the beginnings of a farm here.

• Whitetail deer season just opened in PA. I’m planning to get out a few times to see if I can harvest a buck this season. If I’m fortunate enough to harvest one, I’ll likely turn most of it into jerky and sausage. I’ll be looking for your favorite recipes!

• Our pullets have started laying! In July, we expanded our flock with 15 new birds—five each of Rhode Island Reds, Whiting True Blue, and Whiting True Green. We suffered some losses, and our two roosters are from that flock, so we’re down to eight or nine of those original birds. But we’re excited to see our egg production starting to improve. The Whiting breeds are from Murray McMurray hatchery and are supposed to be high-production layers of green and blue eggs (my wife loves the Instagrammable egg colors).

• I changed the name of this newsletter to reflect the broader online presence we’re building as “This Is How We Homestead” You can find us on Facebook and Instagram under that handle. We’d love for you to follow our homesteading journey!

• If you missed it above, I’m mulling the idea of building a private paid community for homesteaders. I’d love your input on the idea. Take this super-short survey to weigh in.

We have an opportunity here to learn from each other. I’d love to hear what’s happening in your neck of the woods. Drop a comment and let me know what’s up!