Fall is my favourite season. Okay, I do lament the end of summer – those long afternoons at the beach, swimming in the warm salty ocean, a lush and abundant garden, no need for real shoes. But, when the temperatures starts to cool down, I seem to have more energy for creative activities, and I find the Fall colours, crisp skies, and smell of wood smoke so inspiring.
My children also love Fall because suddenly mama is excited about crafts, hikes, and baking again (things that don’t happen as often in Summer). 😉
Fall offers up so many inexpensive and zero-waste possibilities for fun – from enjoying the harvest, the perfect temperatures, and festivals and holidays. Here are ten zero waste Fall activities that my family returns to – so often they have become traditions – when the leaves begin to change colour and the frosty mornings return.
1. Make wild fruit jam
In late summer and early Fall, we like to forage for wild fruit in nearby forests and trails. We find blackberries, huckleberries, plums, wild apples, and chokecherries and make our own locally flavoured blend of fruit for jam or jelly. We often freeze the berries until the apples and plums are ripe. The kids absolutely love every part of this activity, especially recalling the memory of picking fruit together when we eat jam on toast through the winter. (Read more about our family foraging adventures). And using package free wild food and glass jars makes this zero waste!
2. Visit the cranberry u-pick
Did you know that Lunenburg County is home to the first and only cranberry u-pick in Nova Scotia? In October (starting October 1st this year), Terra Beata Cranberry Farm opens up its field to the public. You can fill a pail with fresh, local cranberries for next to nothing and enjoy the gorgeous Fall foliage and farm experience – just in time for Thanksgiving! Pass on the plastic bags of berries at the store and bring your own containers to pick them yourself.
3. Make applesauce
This is another great one for children, because the entire activity can be stretched out over many hours or even a whole day and most of it can be done outside. You could visit a U-pick (bring your own cloth bags) or pick wild apples. Our property is surrounded by old wild apples trees. The fruit isn’t the best for eating, but it is perfect for applesauce. We take our baskets and our apple picking tool into the orchards and pick as many as we can. Then we set up a station outside with our nifty manual apple corer, peeler, and slicer and I help the kids prepare the apples. Then we fill a pot with apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and water and cook it down into applesauce. You can either can it or freeze it and enjoy it all winter. So great!
4. Create a zero waste Fall centrepiece
I love how much free and natural decoration is available in Fall. We like to gather pine cones, colourful leaves, acorns, branches, greenery, and combine them with beeswax candles to make a seasonal centrepiece for our dining table. Easy peasy zero waste Fall décor! It makes dinnertime a bit more festive and candles are so very Hygge. 😉
5. Thrift a unique Halloween costume
This is the perfect time to visit thrift stores and snag the best Halloween costume pieces before everyone else! A feather boa here, a fur coat there, maybe an evening gown or uniform – pull several pieces together to make your costume idea come to life! Thrift stores often have a lot of ready-made costumes, too, but package-free. There is little reason to buy a new costume and the hunt is fun, too. While you’re there, why not grab a used pillowcase to decorate (or not) for trick-or-treating!
6. Carve a pumpkin and roast the seeds
Do you have childhood memories of carving a Halloween pumpkin? I loved to scoop out the slimy seeds, decide on a face, and watch the glowing jack-o-lanterns in the dark. Carrying on the tradition, our family heads to a local Farm Market every October to choose the biggest, smallest, or strangest looking pumpkins to carve for Halloween decorations. I always buy a few extra for Fall decor and cook some pumpkin to put in the freezer. We save the seeds to roast with oil, spices and sugar for a crunchy treat.
If you’re not into pumpkin carving, you can use the cooked pumpkin to make a batch of yummy Pumpkin Muffins.
7. Make fall leaf art
My kids can’t resist gathering beautiful brightly coloured leaves on our Fall walks (and acorns and pinecones and special rocks of course). So we bring them home and make art and zero waste Fall decor! We have made everything from wreaths, to beeswax dipped garlands, to faces and animals, pressed and painted leaves. Sometimes we just make art right on the forest floor, using all kinds of found materials. Handmade Charlotte shares 7 ways to turn your Fall leaf collection into art.
8. Start a gratitude jar for Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a few weeks away. I really like the idea of filling a gratitude jar throughout the year, or even in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Family members write down memories and things they feel grateful for on slips of paper and add them to the jar, then read them together at the Thanksgiving table. Isn’t that a lovely family holiday tradition?
9. Share homemade chili around a bonfire
I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to the backyard firepit we enjoyed all summer just because the nights are a bit nippy. There is nothing cozier than bundling up and gathering round a warm fire under a crisp, cool starry sky. We love to make a big pot of chili or soup to warm our hands as we watch the flames dance and the moon rise. Jen’s Mom’s Chili recipe would be just perfect.
10. Go for a hike
My favourite Fall activities are simple, free, and outside – what could be simpler than a walk outside, just taking in the scents of the forest, and the stunning Fall foliage. Visit Hike Nova Scotia to find a trail near you. Bring your own litterless lunch for a zero-waste picnic, and you could also pick up any trash you find along the trail to help care for our natural spaces.
What are your favourite Fall activities or rituals? Is there something you intentionally make space for year after year that brings back happy memories?
Margaret Hoegg is a Simple Local Life Contributor, writer, editor, and sustainability advocate on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. She muses on food, minimalism, homesteading, and simple family living on her blog dulse and maple and on Instagram @dulseandmaple or @margaretannehoegg.
