Our family just celebrated the equinox and, honestly, this is my favorite part of the year.
The time between the fall equinox and the winter solstice is busy, exciting, colorful, and beautiful.
Our house smells like pumpkin spice and thunderstorms.
We have skeletons and cauldrons and fall leaves all over the place.
Tomatoes are being canned.
Hay is being stacked.
Herbs are being hung to dry.
Onions are being cured.
And meat is being packed into freezers.
The long sleeves, warm, soft sweaters and boots with the fur have been pulled from the recesses of our closets.
The apple cider has been warmed.
And the holiday plans have begun.
Autumn is a season I didn’t get to experience as a child….at least, not really.
I grew up in a desert town that didn’t have fall, just a slightly cooler summer.
Yes, the leaves turned brown by January, but there was little orange and red to be found.
And farming…well, it was year-round.
The temperature dropped into the 80’s, instead of the 120’s.
And we had Halloween and Thanksgiving.
But now….
Now I live in a valley surrounded by mountains. Where it properly snows in January, brings up tulips in March, and is warm enough to grow tomatoes by August.
And I get to watch the leaves change to reds and oranges, the squirrels gather acorns, and the farmers bring in their final harvest of the year.
The growing season ends here.
I get to have a real fall!
Not pumpkin spice season (though I love that, too).
But a season where we get enjoy the fruits of our labor, see all the hard work of the year pay off, and know that rest is coming.
To pick apples, cut hay, gather in wheat, and make mead!
To prepare for the long, cold, stay-inside winter.
But also, to revel in the beauty that comes with changing seasons and less hard labor.
Here, fall means everything, including the land, is getting ready for rest.
It’s the stage of the year where everyone pulls up a warm blanket, grabs a hot drink (preferably with lots of whipped cream), opens a jar of canned peaches and bakes a cobbler, and then curls up with a book in their favorite spot while the thunder rages outside.
Fall is cozy.
And purposeful.
And magical.
(And not a million degrees outside).
And I’m always way too excited about welcoming autumn into my home!
1. Bring Out the Comfort
One of the things I do when I feel that first chill in the air is start pulling out sweaters, jackets, boots, gloves, and blankets.
So many blankets.
Something about fall makes me want to be covered in soft fluff from head to toe.
And its not the freezing cold that I know is coming.
It just….feels like a big hug.
A signal that it’s ok to slow down. Relax. Get comfortable.
Usually, I’m a blue jeans, t-shirt, and flip flops girl.
But in the fall, there are pink sweaters, fuzzy boots, warm socks, and soft pajama pants.
Sometimes my husband finds me writing at the computer at 4 am, wearing his hoodie with blankets piled up on my lap.
Because, at 4am, it’s cold enough to do that.
This time also gives me a chance to check the fit of winter clothes (for me and the kids) before we absolutely need them in the winter.
Fall is a chance to sneak in comfort and warmth, instead of relying on it.
And that makes it a fun, whimsical thing.
Especially when it means wearing my cloak and walking around like a certain Howard’s professor during morning lessons.
2. Treats, So Many Treats
The summer months mean heat. And that means avoiding oven use, especially in an old house with no a/c.
But one of my favorite things to do is bake.
And the cold mornings, and cool days, and autumn breezes through my windows mean I can start making the treats I love.
This year, we started with pumpkin s’more cookies. (We found the recipe here)
Apple cider.
Hot cocoa.
And pumpkin spice coffee.
Cobblers and crumbles (see my quick crumble recipe here).
Pumpkin rolls. Cinnamon rolls. Caramel apples. And all kinds of breads.
And Walmart has an amazing pumpkin spice pancake mix.
Even casseroles, stews, and roasts bring that warm, full feeling.
Fall food is comforting. And happy. And fall calories don’t count because I am preparing for the winter.
3. Speaking of Preparing for Winter
Historically, fall was a time of gathering in the harvest.
It was a busy season that was at the mercy of weather, time restraints, animals, and pests.
It meant cutting and picking crops, getting them inside, and making them safe to eat through the winter when things didn’t grow…all before they rotted or were lost to everything else that was hungry.
Often, it also meant harvesting animals and preserving the meat. This meant protein through the cold and less feed that needed to be prepared for winter.
In our house, it means canning, dehydrating, freezing, hanging herbs, buying extra feed, straw, and hay, and planning ahead.
Over the summer, we gather from our garden weekly and preserve what we don’t use as we go.
This year we made jams, pickled a bunch of different veggies, preserved salsa, dried peppers, made tomato sauce, and canned different types of fruit. We stocked up on different vitamin C rich drink concentrates (lemonade, limeade) that are canned and shelf stable.
We also froze a pig, butchered chickens, and bought 1/4 cow from a local 4-H kid.
Finally, we used any extra money we had in our grocery budget to purchase one or two extra…..whatever we use.
Some days, it was an extra box of pasta. Others, it was a Costco-sized bag of berries.
Anything that we could sneak in during a grocery trip, we just put on the shelf.
What we couldn’t grow, we bought from local farmers.
Our peaches came from a farm just a few miles from our home. Our chickens, from a country block away. Our corn was just down the street, our straw just across the freeway, and our hay was grown in a field we can see from our house.
And yes, I could’ve bought already-canned peaches or already-made jams and saved a bunch of time.
But there’s something satisfying about eating spaghetti with sauce you grew and canned in September in the dead of winter.
There’s something magical in opening the peaches your neighbor sold you in July, still good and juicy, for your Thanksgiving cobbler.
Fresh, local food just tastes different. Even months after it is preserved.
And there’s a pride in knowing you, and your community, can grow and save those things, with ingredients you want, to survive on through the winter.
4. Cleansing and Blessing the House
In addition to preserving food, our ancestors knew that fall was the gateway to the cold, hopeless, death of winter.
Many cultures believed that it awoke evil spirits that killed the earth and brought sickness and starvation to mortals.
In fact, Halloween started as Samhain- the end of the harvest and start of winter.
A time when the sun forsakes the earth for a while and only the strong and prepared survive.
Jack-o-lanterns were carved from turnips, then squash, and finally pumpkins to scare away evil spirits from the home with their horrible faces.
Costumes were meant to protect the wearer from influence and possession of evil spirits as they went about during this dangerous time.
Trinkets, offerings, spells, and prayers were placed around homes and on crops to ward off evil.
Candles were lit to mimic the light of the sun and keep darkness at bay until it returned in its full glory.
Then the Christians came.
And during the Tudor-era, Michaelmas began.
Like the modern-day Thanksgiving, it was a time to celebrate the harvest. The land was blessed, homes were stocked up, and prayers and protections were carefully placed. During this time, those who lived on the property would walk the perimeter holding a cross, stopping at each corner to say a prayer of gratitude and protection.
Then, the cross was placed at the doorway, a symbol of divine protection that would stay put through the winter.
At our house?
I turn into a slightly crazy, but sorta scientifically accurate fall witch.
I make a simmer pot by putting some water, a couple cinnamon sticks, some vanilla, and some pumpkin pie spice on very low heat on the stove. If I feel fancy, I’ll add nutmeg, too.
The house smells amazing.
Then, I sprinkle ground cinnamon around all my doorways and spray diluted mint oil on my window screens.
Keeps the evil spirits away.
(And the mice, spiders, beetles, and ants outside.)
Then, the kids and I make fall scent bags (see my method here) that include spices that bugs don’t like. These are placed in closets and cupboards around the house to repel moths and spiders. They also make the house smell amazing.
Outside, I fertilize the yard, trim the trees and bushes, and start to put away things (like our fairy village) for the winter.
Our tools get cleaned, repaired, and put away for the season.
Our chicken run gets a layer of leaves to prevent mud and ice.
Our pigs get a wall of shower curtain liners on the south side of their pens to hold in heat.
And our goats get moving blanket doors over the openings of their houses.
The heat pads, electric waters, and heat lamps come out of storage.
And everyone gets extra, high-protein feed from equinox to equinox.
Windows get cleaned inside and out to let in more light.
Emergency supplies get checked and restocked, if needed.
And a variety of teas get ordered.
We oil the doors, polish the wood floors, and do a general deep cleaning inside the house.
After cleaning, each of the furthest points in each of the four directions on our property gets blessed.
Sometimes with cake and mead.
Sometimes with a cross and a prayer.
Most of the time, both.
Because….why not thank all the gods?
Just in case.
And, as a family, we light the first fire of the season. Either in our fireplace in the library, or in the fire pit in the backyard.
For warmth and protection from the darkness.
And as a reminder that light is always there, even if it sometimes doesn’t seem like it.
5. Putting the Garden to Bed
At our house, the garden and the pasture get to rest for the winter, too.
Though we do plant a few over-winter crops (like garlic), we pull out our garden each year before the snow falls.
The final harvest is picked, seeds are preserved for next year, and the plants are pulled out.
Most get fed to animals or added to the compost.
This year, we are trying to preserve our pepper plants by transplanting them into pots to bring inside for the winter. The plan is to replant them outside in the spring.
Compost is laid on top of the bare soil.
The water lines and tomato cages come inside.
And the garden sleeps.
Which allows the soil to recover, beneficial microorganisms to increase, pests to die off in the cold, and moisture to replenish.
It also means less work for us to do in the snow and cold, too.
The herb garden comes back inside and finds its place in pots on the windowsill.
And the perennial plants go dormant, hunker down through the cold, and return in the spring on their own.
6. Stocking up on Animal Essentials
Fall isn’t just for our family. Everyone around us is gathering in their harvest and preparing.
This means wheat is being cut and straw is being baled.
Corn is being picked and ground.
And the last cut of alfalfa is being cut, raked, and baled.
Rather than driving back and forth to neighbor’s houses through the winter, we use fall as a stocking-up time.
Our hay barn gets filled with enough straw to change and clean animal bedding throughout the winter and enough hay to feed everyone while the pasture is dormant.
Our feed barrels get filled with high protein treats like wheat berries, dried meal worms, sunflower seeds, and extra eggs that we cook and feed to the chickens and pigs.
We also stock up on mineral supplements, check our at-home vet bag and refill it as needed, and catch up on any grooming, deworming, or treatments that we may have let slip in the healthier months of summer, as well as deep-cleaning and disinfecting all pens, coops, and cages.
7. Celebrating
While this is not unique to us, we make a point of celebrating in the fall at our house.
So much so, in fact, that our oldest now refuses to accept anything Christmas related in the home until after Thanksgiving.
No music, no wish lists, no decorations until the turkey is put away and the pies are gone.
We have a special treat and begin our fall activities on the Equinox, with a goal to be prepared for winter before Halloween. This process is filled with both fun activities and work and really helps us reflect upon the changing of the season.
Then, we celebrate Halloween with costumes, pumpkins, decorations, and candy, just like most people do.
Finally, we have a huge Thanksgiving Feast after spending the entire day together.
We make a point of quietly reflecting on the year and showing gratitude for what we have and how far we’ve come since the previous year.
Maybe it was my fall-less childhood, but I feel like this season is the best for teaching about change, enjoying and reflecting on the past, and hoping for the new. There’s something about gathering in the food, preparing for winter, and looking ahead to the hope of spring that no other time of the year provides. It’s a time to revel in the work you’ve done, be grateful for how far you’ve come, prepare for hard times ahead, and pray for the renewal that will eventually come. This unique place makes fall beautiful beyond the leaf colors, cool breezes, and pumpkin spice lattes. It gives it a quiet magic and a special place in my heart.