Winterizing the Homestead
There's a freeze coming!
If you haven’t figured it out yet, my little homestead is in northern Alabama. We get some cold weather in the winter, but the temperatures normally stay above single digits and the cold snap is usually short lived. Next week, all the weathermen are forecasting freezing temps lasing around 5-7 days. Daytime temps are predicted to remain in the low 30’s and we could see temps dropping into the teens at night.
We began our preparations this week. Our main source of heat inside our home is an old Ashley wood stove, so there is a huge stack of firewood cut, split, stacked and ready to burn. We have a small propane heater as back-up. Our propane tank is about half-full so definitely enough to make it through a few days of cold weather, if needed. We also cook with propane, or I can cook stews in the cast iron dutch oven on top of the wood stove.
Chores left to complete include, insulating water lines, putting extra hay to the cow, donkey, pigs and inside the chicken coops, stuffing the rabbit hutches with extra bedding and having buckets ready to haul water from inside the house to the animals on the days that the temp does not go above freezing.
This cold front, or “arctic blast”, will be moving in behind a round of heavy rain and storms on Sunday. If we add the extra hay and bedding too soon, the animals will wallow it out and waste it, so that will be Saturday’s big chore for Hubby, while I am at work.
The pigs are currently in a pen with a concrete floor and no shelter. They will be moved into another pen that has old pallets as flooring and a corner with walls and a roof so we can make them a bed of hay inside the shelter.
The ducks and free-range rabbit can take shelter and find warmth inside the barn.
Today has been a sunny day, so I’ve been working on laundry all day, washing our heavy winter clothes, our favorite warm and fuzzy clothes, and quilts and blankets.
Even insulating water lines will not prevent some of the outside faucets and hoses from freezing at certain points, and the troughts will freeze over. I’ll use a shovel to break through the ice on the troughs and carry buckets of warm water to the animals at least twice (but preferabbly more often) each day so their water will be thawed long enough to get a drink.
Since I chose to forego planting a fall garden this year, there are no plants to cover or protect.
These temperatures may not seem excessively cold for some areas, but they are on the colder end of what we normally get, so I guess we are a bit overly cautious. Thankfully we do NOT have any animals pregnant or near giving birth during this freeze. We have had house-goats during previous cold snaps when a nanny has kidded on the coldest night of the year. Damn, I wish I could find the pictures of the little billy that made himself at home, curled up in front of the wood stove!
Our barn cats will have many places to find shelter and warmth outside. Our spoiled housecat and three inside dogs will, of course, be inside snuggling with us. They give off a lot of heat :)
We have two other dogs that live in our back yard. Bear has hair like a husky and prefers cold weather. Peanut has short hair, but he hugs up to Bear to keep warm. They also have shelter under the back porch.
I believe we are doing as much as we can to prevent any weather-related casualties; human and animal.
I believe that winter is a time for rest and recuperation, moving a little slower. We run and rush through spring with garden preparation, planting, and caring for baby animals. The long days of summer are filled with keeping animals cool and watered. In the garden, we are constantly weeding, watering, and battling pests and disease. Late summer and early fall are for harvesting and preserving our bounty. This is usually the time that I scavenge through the weeds and wildflowers searching for the ones that can be used in medicinal tinctures. In early winter, we process animals for meat once the temps are cool enough. But in the heart of winter, I dream of slowing down.
For a homesteader, the fantasy of slowing down because the days are shorter, is simply that.. a fantasy. In reality, we are still up early milking the cow and tending to water troughs even when the air outside is so cold it hurts my face. Afterwards, I prep and cook meals inside while the fire is burning hot. We scramble most days to catch up on lost time from schoolwork and try to find time to feed our souls with creativity. Evenings are spent in the barn with a flashlight, milking the cow again, checking water troughs and making sure all the animals have enough warm bedding.
We depend on our farm for our survival. We grow what we eat and we eat what we grow. The current U.S. food and healthcare system is a toxic joke and we chose to have no part of it. This is not a hobby farm for us. This farm is our life.
Anyway, in the evenings, after the animals are cared for, and the family is fed, if I can hold my eyes open for just a little while longer, I enjoy sitting at my desk with a candle or oil lamp burning. This is when I take time to write in my journal and entertain my own thoughts for just a little while before my eyes are ready to close for the night.
At 50 years old, I believe I am somewere in the Autumn of my lifecycle. I haven’t yet felt the cold ache of winter, but I know it will come. For now, I reflect on the path that led me to where I am today and how I can better prepare for when my Winter season begins.