The Homestead, September One

I pulled ten eggs from the chicken coop last night. That plus the okra picked from plants as tall as me and the morning and the evening milking made up the day’s harvest. A dozen eggs have eluded us for quite some time now; high summer being our flock’s off season.

Walking to the coop with a baby on my hip felt good after a day spent in the big city picking up supplies. I don’t know that I’ll ever be comfortable in a place where grass is concrete and the only real food to be found came from halfway across the country.

With the egg crate full, the cast-iron skillet saw pancakes, sausage, and eggs this morning while I sipped my coffee. I piled their plates high when they came in with the milk pail. Still, after all that, they were hungry.

After breakfast I brushed and braided the girls’ hair, pulled cheese out of a makeshift cheese mold, and then spent the morning putting away groceries and washing dishes. After lunch I told Annabelle she could do the dishes all by herself and she would have been no more excited if I had presented her with a new car.

The herb, lettuce, and cabbage seedlings we planted are starting to sprout in the windows. The garden beds are all sprouting up with roots and greens. The black-eyed peas and okra are still giving and I don’t know that we’ve ever been this prepared for a fall garden in Texas.

Then again, I don’t know that Texas has ever presented us such a gentle ease into September. So I guess we’ll just keep planting.