Tag: farm animals

Whoa Nellie!!! It’s Cold Outside!!!!!!

On By debweeksIn Animals on the Farm, Homesteading, Self-Sufficiency2 Comments

Burrrrrr!!!!

Teeth chattering!!!!

Frost bite warning!!!!!

It’s been dangerously cold here this past week.  We also got snow.  Not a lot.  Only 3-4 inches, but enough that I needed to shovel the driveway, especially the end of the driveway where the snow plow pushed all the snow off the road.

When I shovel, I have time to think about things.  It’s something that terrifies my husband – me thinking, not me shoveling.  This time, I was thinking about the bitter cold and whether or not I’m prepared to deal with it on our farm one day.  Do I have the attire necessary for working in these types of conditions?

No!  I’ll need to make some purchases.  Like this . . . . .

 

And this . . . .

 

These look like a good addition to the wardrobe . . . .

A warm cap that adds some color . . . .

Warm socks are a must . . . .


And work gloves.  Nice warm work gloves . . . .

But it’s not just preparing my attire for winter on the farm, but being prepared to take care of the animals in winter.  I know what I need to keep myself safe and warm from the elements, but am I as prepared to keep my animals safe and warm from the elements?

Each season requires something a little different for the animals, but for me, winter feels as if it may be a bit more challenging.

Trekking thru the snow toward the barn as the wind tosses snow and ice crystals into my face.  That reminds me . . . I need to add a scarf or face mask to my winter farm attire.


Maybe a hat like this for those extra cold and windy days . . . .

It’s not as easy as throwing layers of clothing on the animals.
They need to always have fresh water to drink. Water freezes quickly in these conditions.
There are differences in food needs in the winter. They don’t have fresh green grass, weeds, bugs, etc. to graze/peck on this time of the year and since I want my animals to be feed good quality, chemical free, non-GMO foods, I need to be prepared for that.
They need adequate shelter from the conditions and good bedding to keep them warm.
What else do they need different in the winter than other times of the year?

There is so much to learn!

Both hubby and I have read books, magazines, blogs, forums, etc.  We are learning from those with experience, but it doesn’t erase the fact that so much of the knowledge we gain will be a result of our own experiences on our little farm.

So I prepare as best I can now and then wait for the experience that teaches us so much, at times more than what we learn from books.

We are new to the whole farming gig. There is a learning curve and while we certainly need the book knowledge and/or knowledge of those with experience, we will still have to learn things for ourselves.

Until then,  it’s time to break out the reading material I have put away. Time to arm myself with some of the knowledge necessary to farming in the winter as well as other times of the year.

If you have a favorite homesteading/farming book, please leave me a comment.  If you have knowledge you wish to share, please do.  I need all the power I can get for my future adventures on the farm.

Planning A New Plan?

On By debweeksIn Animals on the Farm, Challenges, Changes, Homesteading, Motivation, Positive Living9 Comments

For the last 18 months, we have been in planning mode.  Planning a change of job for hubby; planning the sell of our house; planning the purchase of property; planning our move to the country; planning for animals;  planning for outbuildings;  planning . . . . planning . . . . planning . . . .

The problem with all of our planning is that it really isn’t moving us any closer to our goal.  While we have certainly been busy planning, we have not been busy living on our homestead.  We’re not busy planting the trees for our orchard.  We’re not putting in our raised beds for our garden.  We’re not building a chicken coop which means we’re not raising chickens.  We’re not putting up fencing.  We’re not putting up a barn.  We don’t have goats.  We don’t have sheep.  No ducks, pigs, horses, guinea fowl, or any other animals we’ve talked about having on our little homestead.  I’m frustrated!!!  Hubby is frustrated!!!

Planning isn’t a bad thing.  For a matter-of-fact, a life change as big as the one we are trying to make means planning is necessary .  But hubby and I had to begin asking ourselves if all our plans made sense.  Was it time to scrap all the plans we had made and start all over again?  Should we keep some of the plans and change others?  Should we keep things the way they are and just wait?  Would changing the order of our plan create forward movement?

Ultimately we decided that it was time to make changes.  It was time to start planning a new plan.  We had begun to define insanity – doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. We need a more workable plan that gets us on our homestead more quickly.  A plan that moves us toward our goal instead of walking in a circle.  A plan that allows me to sooner, rather than later, begin sharing stories of the joys and struggles on our property.  Pictures of our land, our orchard, our garden, our animals and our home.   A plan that creates positive momentum.

I wish I had wonderful details to share about our new plan, but there is still a lot of discussion taking place as we are planning our new plan.  What I can tell you is that it feels good to let go of the insanity.  It feels good to look at things from a different angle and to start over again.  While the plan may change, our goal won’t change.  We will one day be living our homesteading life.  Now we just need to figure out a faster and better way of getting there.