What are you all doing to prepare for winter?

[Britesea]

We need to get the RV in to be winterized; I put a space heater in there to keep things warm enough that the plumbing won't freeze. Finally dug up the volunteer potatoes- 25 pounds! Good haul for something we didn't plant. Slowly getting wood cut and stacked- even though we can heat with gas, I want to make the switch to wood.
I still need to put storm windows up, and shutters over the coop windows, and a better latch on the greenhouse door.

 

[Britesea]

We like to use a combination of pellets and logs in our stove- DH bought a special screen to hold the pellets, and they are great for quick heat and then the logs give the fire staying power.

Anyway, we bought a pallet load of pellets on sale, and when my friend heard about it, she offered their (used) moving truck for delivery- then they helped us unload it at the other end. Saved us $75 in delivery fees, plus we had help with the unload that made it go super fast. I love having a MAG (Mutual Aid Group)!

Got the cottonwood cut down, which gives the solar panel several more hours of full sun a day. And now we have a big pile of wood chips again-- they had nearly half a load from their previous appointments and they dumped that plus the chippings from our tree

And the contractor finally had some time to come and fix the bathroom floor in the RV. It just needs to be winterized once they make sure there's no leaks.

No snow, but it's supposed to get down into the mid to high 20's tonight.

 

[flowerbug]

we've been running the heat most evenings lately - haven't had the AC on in a few weeks now. i sure don't miss it.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I'm doing precious little. I'm lucky if I get outside for an hour/day. Still have potatoes to harvest. Hubby has been working on a CP duck house. Framework is done. We picked up the tarp covering today, and 1/2" hdw cloth was delivered a couple days ago. Hope to get it done by the end of this week, and get the ducks moved. We're not burning wood this season b/c my Dad needs consistent heat. Might do a few smudges to keep the living room warm during the day, then have the furnace take over for afternoon/evening/and night. Still 12 cockerels to process. Selling off a few of my older hens.

 

[tortoise]

DH bought a new motor for the wood splitter and installed it yesterday. I'm relieved! The old motor was repeatedly broken and rigged together - an explosion waiting to happen if you ask me. DH hopes it is quieter.

DH prefers to split wood in spring and fall. Its freezing and snowy here but we're going to split wood today. We are behind on wood splitting and only have 1 "basement full". Sorry, I dont know how much it is! I know we could use 3x to 5x more during a very cold long winter. I like to have 2 winters worth of split wood in the pole shed all the time. One of those security things. If DH keels over dead, it would be great to be able to heat the house while sorting everything out. I cant imagine being able to run the farm alone with my health problems (which prevent me from being able to use a tractor, heck I cant remember how to use a riding mower)

I dont want to work on wood today! 😅 I bought new boots yesterday. I was going to get them for DS13, but his feet are getting close enough to mine (and growing so fast!!!!) that I bought my size so I could have them when he outgrows them. By the time I got home, I decided to keep them. He gets my barn boots that need waterproofing and an insole. He wears them more than I do anyway! 😂

This is the year DS13 needs all new winter gear. I buy winter gear large so kids can wear it for 2 years, and alternate years to spread out the cost. Kids and I need gloves and mittens this year. I need a hat, but I have everything I need to sew it myself. ... I should do that now before DH gets up and wants to start wood!

 

[flowerbug]

My winter prep:
FINALLY going to break down and get myself a pair of Mucks rubber boots. Now to go shopping........ at least it will be a feed store, so it won't be too bad. (I hate shopping)

me too, i'm one of those people who has a list and rarely wanders around looking at other things, i'm in and out and as quickly as possible...

 

[flowerbug]

i think i should be able to get something done today for a change, but i don't know exactly what yet. i have a large tomato garden that will need some holes dug deep enough to bury all the tomato plants and whatever weeds need to be scraped. i may get interrupted so it may not all get done today. we'll see what happens...

 

[flowerbug]

i love my winter Sorells, we both share mine when we have to shovel since Mom always buys boots that don't end up fitting her and within a while she ends up getting rid of them. mine are several sizes too large so they fit loose and then i wear big socks and my feet don't get pinched and cold from reduced blood circulation. the felt liners are pretty old but as of yet i've not needed to replace them. i haven't even had to wash them out. they don't smell and they don't get used that often any more but i have many many miles on them from walking in the snows and blizzards up north when i was living there.

there was always something about walking in the snows and storms at night for me after spending all day and most of time i ever had sitting in front of computer screens. it was a good way to get away. some nights were crystal clear and cold with no breeze at all, you could look up and see the moon and the snow would come drifting down just coming right out of the air it was so cold. you could even hear the snow flakes hitting the ground if you held your breath and listened...

i don't walk at night in the storms around here in the winter, either i'd get run over by the people who think they know where the road is at or i'd get body checked by deer.

 

[baymule]

We had so many jalapenos that we made poppers, half baked them, then vacuum sealed them for the freezer. @FarmerJamie if you premake stuffed peppers and cook them, then vacuum seal, it's a real easy meal for those days y'all don't want to cook.

 

[baymule]

With nights dipping down in the mid 30’s I was afraid of frost. So yesterday I picked all the Giant Pink Banana Squash. What a haul! I need to weigh the big ones. It took 2 wagon loads to get them to the house. Then I put 2 of the big ones in a laundry basket to carry them in the house. I couldn’t carry 3 at a time. Several of the big ones are maturing and so are some of the medium sized ones. The little ones will serve as Sheep treats. Now, what to do with all this?? LOL

The dark colored ones in the lower left corner are the first ones I harvested a couple months ago.

I have 3 vines. They have overtaken 1/3 of the garden, gone over the fence and up a tree. I planted these because it looked like a good way to produce a lot of food. I'll be trying different ways of preparing them besides pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. LOL