Observing
Winter is a valuable time in the garden if we take the time to observe. We can see how the wind moves, where snow drifts and where the ground is blown completely bare. We can see where the snow melts first and what areas are soggy when it does.
I spend a good amount of time watching the garden this time of year. What I find most important are the snow drifts. I’m figuring out where I shouldn’t plant really tender plants and where I can. I’m figuring out where I should plant windbreaks and where I should plant tough shrubs to act as drift fences. I now know which spots thaws fist in spring and would be a fantastic spring woodland garden filled with early snowdrops, hellebores and other spring beauties. I also know where I shouldn’t plant hydrangeas.
It’s very true what they say about spending a few years observing a garden before you begin to plant and make big changes. It’s especially important to watch through a few winters to see what they bring. The longer I garden the more patient I become and the more I value time spent in observing the space around me.
Do you take the time to observe your garden in winter? Does what you see affect where/how you plant?
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Friday Favorite: Icicles
I’ve always loved icicles, they’re such wondrous things in winter. I love the way they catch the sun and how they drip and grow long on sunny days. Yesterday I wanted these icicles outside of our living room window grow from about a foot long to four feet long.
We never had a ton of icicles on our home in Ohio, it was newer and well insulated. I’ll enjoy them while I can.
What’s your favorite winter wonder?
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Here it Comes….
No doubt you’ve heard on the news about the impending blizzard. One of the great things about living simply and maintaining a pantry is that you are always prepared for big weather events like this one. I keep a stockpile of grain for the birds, freezers full of meat for us along with the dogs and cats. There’s also a pantry full of dry goods to keep us fed.
I spent the day yesterday battening down the hatches around here. A large load of grain was purchased and moved to the back porch, shavings for coop bedding is also stockpiled in case the birds have to stay cooped up for a while. Water jugs are filled in preparation for possibly losing power. Here’s hoping we are prepared and don’t need it – keep your fingers crossed with us! Stay tuned for photos, or if you don’t hear from me, we’re out of power and/or internet.
Are you forecasted to get any crazy weather from this big storm?
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The Snow Can Fly
We’ve already had two big snowstorms this year. One dumped 16-18 inches, the other dumped 12-14 inches. We were totally unprepared for the first one and didn’t even realize there was going to be that much snow. That was way back on November 2nd. The second snowstorm hit on Thanksgiving morning and delayed our travel to Ohio until the afternoon. Unfortunately for both of these storms our plow truck was out of commission.
The poor thing was in the shop getting a new fuel system and getting the carb rebuilt. With a truck as old as this one, finding parts can be a challenge. Luckily we have a great mechanic that likes a challenge.
Earlier this week, we finally picked up the old red truck and it’s running like a top. Hopefully the plow will go on this weekend and we’ll actually be ready for our next snowstorm. We’re also hoping to get some snow this weekend because we want to feature this fabulous vehicle on our Christmas cards.
Have you had any weather recently that you’ve been totally unprepared for?
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Paring Down
It’s that time of the year to whittle down the number of birds in my flock. While I’d love to keep them all, they are expensive to maintain over the winter when there is no pasture and I don’t like keeping too many birds cooped up in the winter. I’d rather overwinter a smaller flock so they have ample space.
The guineas all get to stay, they provide the valuable service of tick control. Some of the muscovies will get to stay, I’m hoping to cut down to 2-5 birds. That means I have about 15-18 birds to get rid of. I’m also getting rid of all but one of my Ancona drakes.
With the 15 chickens that hatched out this summer I also need to cull a few roosters, there are probably 3 of those that need to head off to Iceland, otherwise the snowy days in the coop will be lively ones! The hens will stick around to augment our laying flock and make up for some of the predator losses from hawks we’ve sustained this fall.
This is the difficult part of keeping animals. While it would be nice to keep them all, the nature of keeping birds as livestock means that there are far fewer losses to predators and thus more survive. Their numbers will steadily grow until you have way too many birds. The good thing is that I don’t usually have too much trouble getting rid of them. In the spring I sold off most of my extra stock to make way for the new hatches this summer. I definitely am looking forward to paring down on the number of birds I maintain throughout the winter. Feeding fermented feed will be easier and cheaper if I can keep the number of birds below 40!
Do you have to pare down on any livestock for the winter?
