11/02/2025
Monthly Farm Update - October 2025
Is 2025 really almost over? It went by so quickly!
Well, it seems like we have gone from Summer to Winter with no in-between in the Florida Panhandle. What has been beautiful, sunny weather for weeks turns to wet and windy right before a family camping trip. We did cut into a handful of Persimmon seeds for this Winters forecast and got a pretty clear prediction - nothing but Knives. So, these icy winds should not have been a surprise. For those that don't know, seeing a knife means cutting cold winds, spoon means shoveling lots of snow / eating lots of soup, while a fork is a mild winter. Last year we had 5 knives and 3 spoons and the Florida Panhandle got a rare 5" snowstorm. Needless to say, we believe the Persimmon seed.
While I am not a huge fan of the cold weather, we are looking forward to doing some cold weather things around the farm. We have been swinging the metal detector around the farm for work, more than pleasure, and we would like to change that. With these cooler days, we cannot wait to see what all lays below the soil. Papa dropped a clip for the Tractors 3 pt hitch on the back 40 in over 100 deg temps. We swung that metal detector and got plenty of hits, but no clip and nothing worth investigating in the heat. Just this month I dropped my keys while pouring concrete & digging holes. We hit tons of targets to dig, but when you are looking for keys, it's not worth the search. So, with these cooler temps we will be swinging the metal detector for pleasure, more than work. We will let you know what we find! If it's anything like my magnet fishing, it will be nothing but bottle caps and beer cans.
Another cool weather project is the oil change lineup around the farm. I cannot begin to explain how much money and time is saved by us doing all the farm maintenance we possibly can. So, when you enter the shop, there is quite a lineup of different colored oil jugs with little oil filters in front of each one. Looks like the Tractor is due for a full service, Lawn Mower is getting oil and blades, Jeep XJ is due for a change, Farm Truck is probably past-due, and the family SUV gets fresh oil too. It's not too bad, but always makes you re-consider the size of the lineup in the 'horse stable'. Once we get through all of this, it's on to wiring the electric to the shop. I always joke - these are under the 'other tasks as assigned' section of the job description.
One thing I am always working on is my 'training sheet'. In corporate America, it's typically a spreadsheet showing all the job related tasks and if you have been certified / trained / tested for approval. Most folks jump through all the hoops for a monetary raise or promotion consideration, while I was always pretty bored and just wanted new things to learn. Well, lately I have been working on backing with trailers. Yep, I started with the lawn mower and cart attached. Then, I moved up to trying the farm truck and little trailer. I grabbed Papa's keys and volunteered to back up the truck trailer combo under supervision for final approval. "Want a good show?" I honestly didn't know how it would go. Perfect! Approved. Now, I don't know how I will do backing up the boat to launch at the boat ramp. Most of the ramps around here are pretty angled. But, I can guarantee I won't leave everything jackknifed in the middle of the ramp while hollering "You just do it!" and walking off.
My next task is working on the tractor 'Ole Bessie'. She does have a HST transmission which makes things very, very nice - even though I do know how to drive clutch. So far I am only approved to run her up and down the driveway toting piles of wood to the fire pit. When it gets sandy, Papa worries and won't even let me do that. So, I have been trying to get the box blade down pat. I figure I could at least scrape the fire breaks / back roads and maybe Papa would open it up to off-roading in my Jeep more, if I could fix it. Well, the box blade reacts much slower than you would think, I go from digging too deep and bogging down to raising too high and not scraping a thing. This results in piles of dirt that papa had coined 'bunny p**p piles'. He says he can always tell when I have been scraping, it's my signature. Needless to say, I have not been approved on the Box Blade. "Just stop" was the last feedback I received.
Well, while I was supposed to be scraping the back fire break, I decided to carve my own path in the woods on the furthest corner of the property. I've been looking at building a little guest cabin way back there and just figured I would get a head start. Well, I learned quickly you do not clear from downhill as it will bog down the tractor in this sugar sand. The best approach is from uphill and pushing trees towards the bottom. Well, I worked a little then went back to what I was supposed to be doing......a few days in a row. It was a couple months ago, so I forgot, but Papa just ran across my 'stomping grounds' this month. He said "I was really concerned, because I haven't done any clearing back there. But, then I noticed your piles of bunny p**p and knew exactly who cleared it!".
We have been busy collecting all of the seeds that seem to be ready sooner than normal. The Beautyberries on our main farm were so dry they actually turned white. Thankfully a wetter, shadier mini-farm had beautiful plump berries just ready for picking. Inkberries were ready early this year too. We harvested quite a bit. The Sparkleberries are dropping early so we collected quite a bag of them. All of these are currently fermenting and will be available soon.
Yaupon Holly berries are red already and although we are hesitant to pick early, I've popped a few and they are ready! We will be collecting these in the next few days. The Long-Leaf Pines have been dropping seeds, but we are getting maybe 2 good ones for every 25 seeds we pick up. We raked the pine straw out of the driveway to use for mulch and we used this time as a 'seed reset'. The next batch that fell was the same, horrible results. It's like the seeds are getting eaten before they even fall. This last week we did another rake & reset. Now, we are getting about 75% good seeds! What looked like a bummer year may turn out alright. The folks in Texas have been having a horrible time with Pine Beetles and would love to get ahold of some fresh seeds to repopulate the forests.
The Liatris species is one to watch this year. It looks like the Elegant Blazingstar is seeding great and the Bluffs Gayfeather hasn't seeded yet, but appears to be blooming alright. The Chapmans Blazingstar is looking absolutely horrible. They tried to bloom in the drought and the seeds just don't look well developed. We are going to check out our mini-farms to see if we can find some good seed. We discovered another Liatris species growing out here and still have some research to do. It blooms on just the top 4" of the plant and we collected just a few stalks of seeds. Summer Farewell is looking a little rough too, but we are hoping its just the first to seed that look this frazzled.
If you are growing Roselle for the first time, the question most likely you are asking is "When to harvest?". Well, that answer depends on quite a few things.......Be sure to harvest the calyx before your first freeze. Now, if it's like a 'light' freeze for a couple hours, it may be ok. But a few days of all night freezes will ruin your crop. The next thing is size and purpose. The calyx will almost double in size during the last month of growth. I have smaller hands and can only fit 3 mature calyxes in my hand, while Papa has larger hands and can fit 4. Now, the last thing is purpose. If you are looking forward to making tea - go for the largest calyxes possible. If you are looking to make jelly - Be sure to harvest when the seed pod inside is still green. Not so much looking for size, but that the seed pod has enough natural pectin for jelly Making. Hope this helps! The Roselle is growing well on the farm and we have had almost weekly inquiries into when we will re-stock the Red Roselle seeds. Well, mark your calendars as we are within a month of harvest & restock! The White Roselle seeds are currently running low too, we might have enough to make it until re-stock.
I know it's technically the year of the snake, but in our book it's the year of the bee. We really have never had any problems out here, but this year the wasps, ground bees and yellow jackets are just wearing us out! Papa was doing just a little yaupon trimming in the nursery and accidently pulled a whole nest of wasps towards him. He got stung 4 times in the back of the head and 3 times on his belly as the nest got stuck under his shirt. The Ground Bees that we typically watch speed around 3 inches off the ground are now visiting us while we sit outside for coffee or tea. They have started biting us with their jaws many times in a row. If you do aggravate one enough to sting, it's sting is so powerful that is has left bruises on me. We tried to spray-paint something on the farm and it stoked up a swarm of hundreds. We moved the spray table probably 100 feet to the West and it attracted just as many. "Spray then lets get out of here!"
Another visitor on the farm is Papa's Hummingbird Moth. At our old house we had a huge plumbago growing outside of the office. Papa hollered every morning and afternoon that his hummingbird was back. "That don't look like any hummingbird I've seen", I remarked. Papa swore up and down it IS a hummingbird. Well, a little research later and it was hummingbird moths. So, we are sitting outside having coffee in the early morning this month and we were buzzed by no other than a hummingbird moth. Nice! Now, we sit in a new coffee spot almost every morning as long as we can face East to watch the sun rise. This little Hummingbird moth has buzzed us every single morning. Some spots over 1500 feet apart, but he finds us. "It's my Hummingbird" Papa still proclaims.
The farm cats are always up to something new and this month, we gave them technology. Yep, after things started growing legs and walking we have stepped up security around the farm. Now, when the cats congregate at the front door for breakfast or dinner time, we now get notifications sent to our phones. The more antsy they get, the more notifications that are sent. So you can bet your bottom dollar the farm cats will not get fed late!
Hunter Boy is usually pretty standoffish and stubbornly independent. You know the cat that will coax you into thinking he is there for love, but only to run you to the food bowl. Yep, well Hunter Boy has sweetened up quite a bit. If it's dark outside and no other cats are around, we are getting a lap cat with a need for biscuit making. It's so not like him, but we will take it!
Well, don't forget to feed the birds & sow some seeds!
Happy Planting!
H & H
Chill Hill Farms
