As the summer starts to wrap up, the homestead is in full production. From eggs and growing meat to garden vegetables. I am currently canning away to preserve the taste of summer. We love enjoying canned vegetables from the garden in the winter months. I also freeze a lot of things like shredded zucchini to make zucchini bread (recipe located under the recipes tab) on those cold snowy mornings. The Jams and jellies  however, are now finished as the height of the berry season, typically July in MN, has come to a halt. I will have some blackberries coming in still until the freeze though.
     The piglets I A.I'd (see below for more on pigs) are being sold and I have decided to keep a few for breeding stock.
Since closing on the land I have done very little to prepare it for other adventures. Myself and some of my friends/helpers came out to the homestead for a tree planting BBQ in which we planted over 200 hybrid willow trees to create a screened fence from the neighbors fields and my new added property. We will need to do this to one more side of the new property (BBQ anyone, I promise I'm a good cook ;) ). So much development needs to be accomplished for the new land itself: a road, more trees, apple/fruit orchard, a barn, fencing.... oye! But it's all part of the adventure. I hope to develop most of the new land with permaculture principles, field/crop rotation, and pasture rotation. Given the different types of animals we have, making this a reality will be amazing. I have yet to find it done on less than 30 acres now - a - days. Planning and use of farming techniques used centuries ago are critical to the success of this 10 acre project. But it's so exciting to be in my brain and start to develop the foreground, I just can't contain myself!
     I still have several animals I would like to add to complete my circle of yum, or life I mean including beef cows and a couple milking goats.  Some of these animals have to wait for the barn to be built but I will paaaaaaaaatiently wait.
Somethings in life are so grounding, personal and stress relieving. Farming is my happy, yet not to be confused with easy. Raising and reaping the benefits of meat, milk, eggs, honey, and vegetables is such a blessing and a grounding process for me. Feeling a connection with nature and animals as well as procreation and life is a process that cannot be replaced in my life now. I think also, it's the journey. The journey of researching, building knowledge, and developing the idea that makes it all so interesting for me. Most everything I have done at my homestead has been self- taught, read and practiced through books or University thesis papers. The pride of passing down true homesteading onto the next generation, my three little ones, is knowledge they can use. How to eat, how raise your food, and self-reliance are all valuable assets to their future families they raise. 
It will soon be fall. The scents of cinnamon and clove, pumpkin and apple,  and warm tea and cider make this my favorite time of year. The air will soon become more crisp, riding away summer and her humid skies. Our cheeks and noses will be cool with the outdoor chores. And butchering season will once again be upon us.